Arm Training: Right Approach?

[cmollick]

I have been weightlifting rather seriously for about 10 years now and have made, what I think, is pretty decent progress. I am currently sitting at 5'10", 215 lbs, 12% bf. I competed a few times and am always either trying to get bigger or stay ripped. I have now decided to stick with getting as big as I can so I have adopted a more DC/HIT type of training style to increase size as I was sitting around 200 lbs and around 8 percent BF, but want to be bigger so I increased eating and decreased volume with upping the intensity. I have made tremendous gains in a rather short period of time in all areas except arms. This is a problem I have ALWAYS had no matter what I have done. I have tried many different things to get them to grow but my results have been lackluster. It seems the only thing I haven't done is severely decrease the volume. So I'll give it a whirl. If you have the time please read the following training regime and diet and let me know if you have any suggestions.

Diet: (Typical Day)

1: 1 scoop whey protein, 3 whole eggs, 3 whites, 1 piece whole wheat bread, 1 cup oikos honey yogurt

2: 1 scoop whey, 6 ozs chicken, salad, low cal salad dressing, apple

3: 10 ozs chicken, 1 cp brown or white rice, 1 cp green veggies

4: 2 scoop casein/whey mix, 1 cp oatmeal, 1 cup blueberries

5: 10 ozs red meat or liver, large salad w/ low cal dressing, 1 large potato

6: 3 whole eggs, 3 egg whites, 1 cup oatmeal, 1 square 90% cocoa chocolate

7: 2 scoops casein, 2 tblspoons p-nut butter

on training days I add a post workout shake with 2 scoops of whey and 2 eat 2 twizzler twist and peels. Another meal will also be added.

Training split:

Mon- Chest, Shoulders, Tris

Wed- Legs, Calves

Fri- Back, Bis

For all bodyparts (besides bis and tris) I will do 3 major working sets that are in the 6-10 rep range with 2 rest pause. I have just decreased my bis and tris to 2 working sets with the 2 rest pauses added. I have also incorporated extreme stretching and, with inspiration from Shelby, have slowed my negatives down to a 4-5 second count. I rotate my exercises in a two-week rotation so I am doing the same exercise every 14 days.

Please ask an other necessary questions and let me know if you have any suggestions soley on arm growth as everything else is growing at a rather good pace. Thanks!

 

[natabolic]

I have been weightlifting rather seriously for about 10 years now and have made, what I think, is pretty decent progress. I am currently sitting at 5'10", 215 lbs, 12% bf. I competed a few times and am always either trying to get bigger or stay ripped. I have now decided to stick with getting as big as I can so I have adopted a more DC/HIT type of training style to increase size as I was sitting around 200 lbs and around 8 percent BF, but want to be bigger so I increased eating and decreased volume with upping the intensity. I have made tremendous gains in a rather short period of time in all areas except arms. This is a problem I have ALWAYS had no matter what I have done. I have tried many different things to get them to grow but my results have been lackluster. It seems the only thing I haven't done is severely decrease the volume. So I'll give it a whirl. If you have the time please read the following training regime and diet and let me know if you have any suggestions.

Diet: (Typical Day)

1: 1 scoop whey protein, 3 whole eggs, 3 whites, 1 piece whole wheat bread, 1 cup oikos honey yogurt

2: 1 scoop whey, 6 ozs chicken, salad, low cal salad dressing, apple

3: 10 ozs chicken, 1 cp brown or white rice, 1 cp green veggies

4: 2 scoop casein/whey mix, 1 cp oatmeal, 1 cup blueberries

5: 10 ozs red meat or liver, large salad w/ low cal dressing, 1 large potato

6: 3 whole eggs, 3 egg whites, 1 cup oatmeal, 1 square 90% cocoa chocolate

7: 2 scoops casein, 2 tblspoons p-nut butter

on training days I add a post workout shake with 2 scoops of whey and 2 eat 2 twizzler twist and peels. Another meal will also be added.

Training split:

Mon- Chest, Shoulders, Tris

Wed- Legs, Calves

Fri- Back, Bis

For all bodyparts (besides bis and tris) I will do 3 major working sets that are in the 6-10 rep range with 2 rest pause. I have just decreased my bis and tris to 2 working sets with the 2 rest pauses added. I have also incorporated extreme stretching and, with inspiration from Shelby, have slowed my negatives down to a 4-5 second count. I rotate my exercises in a two-week rotation so I am doing the same exercise every 14 days.

Please ask an other necessary questions and let me know if you have any suggestions soley on arm growth as everything else is growing at a rather good pace. Thanks!

why are you on the three way dc split?

 

[maldorf]

Decreasing volume worked awhile for me until I hit another plateu. Give it a try is all you can do. I used to do up to 9 sets just for biceps,lol. When I cut it down to just 3-6 sets I put on about 1 inch or so on my arms. Im sure you are aware that the arms get worked so hard on other movements that you really dont need to do too many isolation movements for them. The big compound movements nail them.

 

[cmollick]

cmollick,

The salient points in my opinion are above. And here is what
I think, not knowing you, what exactly you have done or having
watched you train.

Your arms may be at their genetic best for your current bodyweight
and supplement use if any. If they were to grow they would have
in conjunction with your other body parts assuming equal training
modalities and attention.

I had my best results using a pre-exhaust routine for my arms.
If you have not tried it, give it a "whirl." Won't bore everybody else
here with the details which I have posted here many times before,
the info is out there, use the search engine if you please.

Decreased volume may work, and again, if you have not tried it,
you have nothing to lose. Speaking for myself though, arms 3X per
week worked best. And if I ignored working them directly, with iso-
lation exercises, they shrank. Plain and simple.

For the most part, I rarely, if ever changed exercises, performed the
same exercise in the fashion for very long periods of time with no ill
effects. Find the best movement / exercise for you, ones that you "feel"
the most, ones that allow for meaningful progression, and stick with it.
I never achieved satisfactory results changing things all the time.
Variety was not the spice of life for me.

I'll leave the diet part up to somebody else.

And like you said, everything else is growing at a rather good pace,
so that should tell you something. Your body is capable of growing
more, but your arms may be at their limit. It could be that simple.

Might not be what you wanted to hear but I wish I was six feet tall
and had a full head of hair, but I'm not and I don't. Make the best
of what you have and be happy with it.

I wish you all the best in your quest for additional arm size.

Alfresco,

Thanks for the feedback. You have said pretty much what I was unfortunately thinking in terms of genetic limit. However, I will keep plugging away and let the chips fall where they may.

C

 

[cmollick]

Decreasing volume worked awhile for me until I hit another plateu. Give it a try is all you can do. I used to do up to 9 sets just for biceps,lol. When I cut it down to just 3-6 sets I put on about 1 inch or so on my arms. Im sure you are aware that the arms get worked so hard on other movements that you really dont need to do too many isolation movements for them. The big compound movements nail them.

Thanks Maldorf! That's exactly where my thought process was when deciding on decreasing volume....Hitting them in many compound movements. Thanks for the input.

 

[cmollick]

why are you on the three way dc split?

Natabolic,

I have not studied DC training completely so I was unaware that I was even on a 3-way split. I have read a few of the ideas that have come out of it and adopted them into my training.

 

[RazorCuts]

Genetics play a huge part. I think you are on the right track with your training.
You should make sure to incorporate a stretch overload movement to bi's and tri's to take advantage of hyperplaysia. As you gain more muscle/bodyweight your arm size should increase also.

 

[cmollick]

Genetics play a huge part. I think you are on the right track with your training.
You should make sure to incorporate a stretch overload movement to bi's and tri's to take advantage of hyperplaysia. As you gain more muscle/bodyweight your arm size should increase also.

RC,

Just so I'm on the same page stretch overload exercise is something like an incline db curl for biceps and an overhead db extension for tris, correct? Thanks again for your input.

 

[RazorCuts]

Bicep:
Dumbbell curls: 2x8-12
Incline DB curls: 2x8-12
Concentration curls: 2x8-12

Triceps:
Close grip bench or French Press 2x8-12
Overhead extensions (ropes on cable stack) 2x8-12
1 arm pushdown 2x8-12

 

[cmollick]

Bicep:
Dumbbell curls: 2x8-12
Incline DB curls: 2x8-12
Concentration curls: 2x8-12

Triceps:
Close grip bench or French Press 2x8-12
Overhead extensions (ropes on cable stack) 2x8-12
1 arm pushdown 2x8-12

Thanks, man. I appreciate it!

 

[jotun]

Bicep:
Dumbbell curls: 2x8-12
Incline DB curls: 2x8-12
Concentration curls: 2x8-12

Triceps:
Close grip bench or French Press 2x8-12
Overhead extensions (ropes on cable stack) 2x8-12
1 arm pushdown 2x8-12

I'll second this one.

Solid POF routine. Heavy weights for the first movement, focus on the stretch on the second movement, and focus on the peak contraction on the final movement.

 

[dabeast75]

my advice

hey cmollick,

if your arms are lagging behind, try something TOTALLY unorthodox like focusing ONLY on bi's and tri's for a few weeks (after you have tried all these things the other bros have said of course )

My arms were small and I did the following routine for a few weeks and my arms blew up big time. Monday did chest and tri's, but focused primarily on tri's. Tuesday back and bi's, again focusing on bi's rather than back. Wednesday was legs and shoulders. Then a day off. Then repeat days 1 - 3. That way i got in bi's and tri's TWICE in one week. I used a bit of deca so that the joints were well lubricated. Nothing more than 200mg/week.

I couldnt go longer than 6 weeks and then I felt a need to stop this routine. Even with the deca. But by then I had gained over an inch on my arms, which I still have today. Other body parts responded too, but arms PRIMARILY.

Yea, its totally unorthodox and lots of bros on here will tell you to do otherwise and cite lots of experience and studies that contradict me. Thats fine. Go ahead bros and tear me a new asshole if you want since it is unorthodox. But the bottom line is: it worked for me, and it might for you.

BTW - Are you a brit? lol You sure sound like one. Dont know anyone who uses the word "rather" as much as brits do.

 

[cmollick]

hey cmollick,

if your arms are lagging behind, try something TOTALLY unorthodox like focusing ONLY on bi's and tri's for a few weeks (after you have tried all these things the other bros have said of course )

My arms were small and I did the following routine for a few weeks and my arms blew up big time. Monday did chest and tri's, but focused primarily on tri's. Tuesday back and bi's, again focusing on bi's rather than back. Wednesday was legs and shoulders. Then a day off. Then repeat days 1 - 3. That way i got in bi's and tri's TWICE in one week. I used a bit of deca so that the joints were well lubricated. Nothing more than 200mg/week.

I couldnt go longer than 6 weeks and then I felt a need to stop this routine. Even with the deca. But by then I had gained over an inch on my arms, which I still have today. Other body parts responded too, but arms PRIMARILY.

Yea, its totally unorthodox and lots of bros on here will tell you to do otherwise and cite lots of experience and studies that contradict me. Thats fine. Go ahead bros and tear me a new asshole if you want since it is unorthodox. But the bottom line is: it worked for me, and it might for you.

BTW - Are you a brit? lol You sure sound like one. Dont know anyone who uses the word "rather" as much as brits do.

Thanks, man. And no, I'm not a brit. I live in Florida. I guess I do use rather, rather alot.

 

[lvnlrge]

Arm workout

Best workout for me was training arms 5 times a week at 20 sets a day. I started my workout with cotton balls and eventually got up to a small volkswagon. Last year I had to have an arm reduction because they were 30in. Well i'm sorry I can't help you much i've just never had an issue with arms since i started training them 5 days a week.

 

[cmollick]

Best workout for me was training arms 5 times a week at 20 sets a day. I started my workout with cotton balls and eventually got up to a small volkswagon. Last year I had to have an arm reduction because they were 30in. Well i'm sorry I can't help you much i've just never had an issue with arms since i started training them 5 days a week.

Good to hear from you, B. However, I know the only thing you work 5 days a week is the Pizza Hut buffet. And extra skin and fat don't count as inches on your arms. Lol! I''l talk with you later, bro.

 

[LATS]

for most of us, whne the arms are not growing it is because of overtraining.. you use them on every upper body movement.. then you hit them again by themselves.. gotta let them rest..

 

[cmollick]

for most of us, whne the arms are not growing it is because of overtraining.. you use them on every upper body movement.. then you hit them again by themselves.. gotta let them rest..

Thanks....I am going to cut back, see what happens and go from there.

c

 

[T TOTAL]

for most of us, whne the arms are not growing it is because of overtraining.. you use them on every upper body movement.. then you hit them again by themselves.. gotta let them rest..

This makes me think what about gymnasts who have huge over proportioned arms, both biceps and triceps, and purely through the nature of their training they get hit daily yet arms are still huge as i said...hmmmmm..

 

[LATS]

YES.. BUT COMING FROM A GYMNAST BACKGROUND i can tell ya that they do not do arm work unless it is on their own.. alot of whole body movements.. they train the body was a whole.. dips, chins, pullups along with their floor and rings movements.. it would be folly to then do arm work like curls and pushdowns.. like i stated above if we do back work, chest work, shoulder work ect do we really need a day devoted to arm work.. wouldnt it be simplier to hit with with a movements after back or chest and be done with it.. maybe three sets max.. i have gone months without direct arm work and they were none worse for the wear.. but i was hitting back, pec, delts ect at least for times in a given week..(meaning that the arms were hit indirectly 4 times a week..)

 

[RazorCuts]

I think this is why full body routines really work for size. You tend to get more rest when doing a full body workout 2-3x a week. I think a Mon-Wed-Fri workout is still king for putting on size since you get that rest day after each workout. Like Lats said doing a 5 day split working out everyday there is still so much indirect work for every muscle group you either have to keep your sets low or limit the amount of stimulus directly to smaller body parts.