Lagging Arms

[SeaDisWon?]

Whats up BROS! Thanks in advance for any input.....

Heres my situation: ive always been able to make my back and chest grow and consider them my strongest pparts...however my biceps and triceps somewhat have always lagged behind...i kno alot has to do with genetics, but is there any insight in making them spark into growing...

My arms measure close to 18 inches now, but am working to that haloed 20 inch mark...

I currently have a four day training split:
Back bis monday
Chest tris tues
Legs wed or thurs
And shoulders on friday or saturday

I was think of throwing another session at the end of the week to hit arms again...your input would be greatly appreciated

[BSill]

Try grouping biceps and triceps and forearms together. Some people are able to still kill it after back or chest. But honestly, if you are busting your ass on back, you're probably not going to have a lot of energy to properly hit them as hard as your normally could otherwise.

Maybe focus on some mass building exercises for them, which might be...

Biceps

Straight bar curls.
Alternating DB curls.
Incline alternating DB curls.
ez bar close grip curls.

For peak, maybe try...
alternating DB preacher
concentration
standing cables
overhead cables

Triceps mass maybe try...

close grip press
skullcrushers
dips
straight bar press down
double arm overhead extensions


EDIT: What are your reps/sets/weight like?

Example, for biceps you don't exactly need heavy weight, you could go heavier on the db curls and db hammer curls...But if your going to use a straight bar movement, use a weight that you can get around 10 reps for, then force out another 5, for 15 hard reps for about 4 sets, just burn the hell out of it. Same with close grip ez bar curl movement, don't worry about the weight, just burn it out, 12 reps, 15 reps...

[SeaDisWon?]

Try grouping biceps and triceps and forearms together. Some people are able to still kill it after back or chest. But honestly, if you are busting your ass on back, you're probably not going to have a lot of energy to properly hit them as hard as your normally could otherwise.

Maybe focus on some mass building exercises for them, which might be...

Biceps

Straight bar curls.
Alternating DB curls.
Incline alternating DB curls.
ez bar close grip curls.

For peak, maybe try...
alternating DB preacher
concentration
standing cables
overhead cables

Triceps mass maybe try...

close grip press
skullcrushers
dips
straight bar press down
double arm overhead extensions


EDIT: What are your reps/sets/weight like?

Example, for biceps you don't exactly need heavy weight, you could go heavier on the db curls and db hammer curls...But if your going to use a straight bar movement, use a weight that you can get around 10 reps for, then force out another 5, for 15 hard reps for about 4 sets, just burn the hell out of it. Same with close grip ez bar curl movement, don't worry about the weight, just burn it out, 12 reps, 15 reps...

Usually for biceps i do 3 - 4 excercises for them alternating from workout to workout...

For example on monday for bis idid:
5 sets ez bar curls ( first set being a warmup with weight i could 20 to 30 reps with)
Then sets 2-5 heavy enuff weight to do 8 to 12 reps with proper form pyramiding up in weight

Then 4 sets of hammerstrength preacher curls (same approach as above)
4 sets of DB curls (same as above)
4 sets of cable curls (same as above- last set being a drop/strip set)

[The_Legacy]

just experiement, try 2 times a week for a month or so and if they dosent work try other things. Definatly try those mass excercises, they are what packs on the muscle.

[SeaDisWon?]

just experiement, try 2 times a week for a month or so and if they dosent work try other things. Definatly try those mass excercises, they are what packs on the muscle.

Thanks doot

[Elite]

At 6 '2, 235lbs & 13% BF with 18" Arms, you must be doing something right already.

[SeaDisWon?]

At 6 '2, 235lbs & 13% BF with 18" Arms, you must be doing something right already.

Lol its the rice and beans man....puerto rican food = perfect mass building food lol

I actually forgot i had those stats in my sig lol....

[TigerAce01]

Schak's routine helped me beef my arms up to over 18 inches...I highly recommend it...

http://www.animalpak.com/html/article_details.cfm?ID=272&section=training

-Ace

[Birdman]

try giving your arms there own day...
Monday-chest
Tuesday-back
Wednesday-off
Thursday-shoulder
Friday-legs
Saturday-arms
Sunday-off

With their own day they will be fresh and ready for a heavier more involved workout

[Mr.X]

i would say 3 exercises is enough for biceps depending on rep/wieght

i personally get best results from heavy ass weights but another trick is about your grip bro,

try this straight barbell (if you've been using the ez bar, always good for change) got your hands facing up

hammer curls-got your hands facing each other

concentrated reverse grip preacher curls

(and to really get every last bit of blood flowing through your bi's standing cable curls, nice and slow with a good seconds flex between each rep)

just a lil advice not saying its the best but variety helps to fuck up the bodys train of thought on iron day

remember those shakes pre-post and animal paks along with a strong diet and sleep

[ironshaolin]

At 6 '2, 235lbs & 13% BF with 18" Arms, you must be doing something right already.

I second that!!! In reality, MANY pros are actually around that mark. The 20+inches is sometimes a lie. There was an interview done with someone who knew arnold, and said that they actually measured around 19 inches. According to Charles Poloquin, you need 10-15lbs of additional bodyweight for 1 inch on your arms. He has stated that in order for arnold to have 22 inch biceps, he would've had to weigh 320lbs.

So my suggestion is to gain some weight. Get your bodyweight up 20lbs and see if they're bigger.

[theharjmann]

Whats up BROS! Thanks in advance for any input.....

Heres my situation: ive always been able to make my back and chest grow and consider them my strongest pparts...however my biceps and triceps somewhat have always lagged behind...i kno alot has to do with genetics, but is there any insight in making them spark into growing...

My arms measure close to 18 inches now, but am working to that haloed 20 inch mark...

I currently have a four day training split:
Back bis monday
Chest tris tues
Legs wed or thurs
And shoulders on friday or saturday

I was think of throwing another session at the end of the week to hit arms again...your input would be greatly appreciated


hey. i suppose it all depends from person to person.

i personally feel that training more than 4 times a week is excessive...whether you take steroids or not.

i used to train biceps after back and triceps after chest, however felt that i couldnt push as much weight through my arms since they were pre exhausted.

i then changed my routine up so i was training back with rear delts, chest with biceps and shoulders (consisting of one pressing movement, one lateral movement to hit the side delts and one shrug movement for traps - rear delts are hit with back) with triceps.

that way i could really hammer my arms, but with slow, controlled movements. Also, from reading up a bit, i found that pre exhausting the arms first with a more "isolation" exercise was also beneficial. for instance for biceps i would start on concentration curls on a preacher curl bench to really destroy my biceps. that way when i came to do standing barbell curls i would be able to dial in on my biceps with low weight and not worry about lifting heavy weight which would ultimately result in me recruiting a lot of front delt into the movement...if you get my drift.

And for triceps maybe start on cable pushdowns and skull crushers then end on dips/close grip bench as opposed to other way round.

doing the above really helped the growth of my arms. it may not necessarily work for you but experiment and remember to eat/sleep enough which im sure you are already aware of. and give it time....rome wasnt built in a day.


one trend that ive noticed also is that although all the pros etc. shift HUGE weights for compound exercises (deadlifts, rows, bench, pulldowns etc.) they all still use relatively low weights for arms since the arm muscles are tiny compared to legs/back/pecs.

i guess it just goes to show that you dont need to use stupidly heavy weights for arms....just slow controlled movements with a lot of squeezing on the contraction and emphasis on the negative portion of the movement to stimulate growth....ive seen ronnie coleman in his workout videos put no more than a 45lb plate on each end of a bar when he trains biceps/triceps and look at the size of his arms....and i see guys in my gym shifting the same weight with arms a third of the size of his! i mean i know genetics play a huge part, but i still strongly believe that you dont need a lot of weight to illicit arm growth.

good luck man.