Arms just wont grow!

[roadcrayon]

I agree. Go a few months without doing ANY direct arm work. What can it hurt. I think you'll be surprised.

well i come to this site for wisdom and adivce from experienced guys so if this seems to be the collective agreement then ill give it a shot.

btw stats...

21 years old
220lbs
approx 13%bf
cold meausrements on guns are currently 18" wich has remain the same for the past year...

 

[thebrick]

Your total body mass will have to increase to have bigger arms. I like the stop training just the arms idea. Concentrate on the heavy compound movements that pack on the size, squats, deads, bench coupled with a comparable diet.

 

[roadcrayon]

Your total body mass will have to increase to have bigger arms. I like the stop training just the arms idea. Concentrate on the heavy compound movements that pack on the size, squats, deads, bench coupled with a comparable diet.

that's how ive always trained. i LOVE dealifts and squats. there is nothing better than looking down at 500 pounds and seeing what your made of...

 

[roadcrayon]

on a side note, alot of the older guys at the gym see how i train and always tell me "when your older..." they say you dont need to life heavy to gain size and its only a matter of time my joint wont take it anymore lifting the way i do. whats your opinion?

 

[thebrick]

on a side note, alot of the older guys at the gym see how i train and always tell me "when your older..." they say you dont need to life heavy to gain size and its only a matter of time my joint wont take it anymore lifting the way i do. whats your opinion?

The way I see that is… yes and no. I made my best quality mass gains when I kept it simple, heavy and intense. Now that I am older do (or can) I go as heavy? No. But I have retained a lot of those earlier gains by continuing to train and I don't think I would have got to that point without the heavy stuff early on.

 

[big-O]

try doing a more restrictive movement at the beginning of your workout to pre exhaust them. try doing concentration curls or preacher curls first then do dumbells or barbell curls

 

[eclipse]

Try preacher curls. Sounds like you have a bad mind/muscle link with your bi's. Go light and squeeze your bis as if you were doing a bicep pose. You probably have a good neurological link to them but aren't activating the pathways when you directly exercise them. The flexing should reprogram that link.

 

[oldfella]

The way I see that is… yes and no. I made my best quality mass gains when I kept it simple, heavy and intense. Now that I am older do (or can) I go as heavy? No. But I have retained a lot of those earlier gains by continuing to train and I don't think I would have got to that point without the heavy stuff early on.

I'll second what brick is saying. While you are young lift hard and heavy but be smart. Rest when you need to. Just focus on getting bigger and stronger, forget about your arms for now. Let them come along for the ride. As you gain body mass all over they will grow right along with the rest of you. I, like Brick paid my dues as a young man. It has paved the way for the size I carry now. I am by no means a monster, but at 49 I am in the best condition I have ever been and bigger than I was 5 years ago. Sitting on 255 six pack visible. I have never been this heavy with this kind of condition. I have made this progress over the last 2 years. I have backed off the volume on my arm training and low and behold, they are bigger. More is not better in this game, remember those words well.

 

[Phidias]

Im sorry, but i disagree with everyone, obviously he isnt training them hard enough. I recommend you triple the amount of sets you are doing now, since the arms recover the fastest increase your arm workouts to twice weekly if you arent already, and quadruple your protein intake. Train like this for 3 months before changing anything.(three months is how long it takes to see any results) If you need me I will be in my basement drinking coffee all night.

I'm ready to bet good money with you that if he follows your advice his arms will actually end up smaller than what they are today...

If arms recovered as fast as you seem to believe, then every guy doing countless sets of curls eod after their "intense" bench press session - lol - would walk with 21+ inches guns. Not really the case...

 

[Quad-smack]

Like many here have said: stop working them directly. Its very easy to underestimate how much work the arms do with all of your other compound movements. What are your workout splits currently like?

Also, put the power of your mind behind your goal. Instead of saying (& believing) that your arms just wont grow - visualize them as you want them to be. They will grow, there is a way and you will achieve it...

 

[tkav1980]

if you cant make yourself back off for a month, i know id have trouble doing it, then lower your volume. maybe 2 exercises for each muscle one set of each exercise to failure.

 

[Muay Thai]

ill bet its over training

like the guys said, your bis and tris arent giant muscles, you get enough stimulation through compound movements

so when you lift them, lift briefly and light, make sure you are focusing on what muscle you are trying to work. i hate training guys who cant stay focused....

take a week off the LIFTING and do ONLY CARDIO, you will come back a lot stronger

eveyr 6 months i take 1-2 weeks of actual lifting off

 

[DOGGCRAPP]

well i come to this site for wisdom and adivce from experienced guys so if this seems to be the collective agreement then ill give it a shot.

btw stats...

21 years old
220lbs
approx 13%bf
cold meausrements on guns are currently 18" wich has remain the same for the past year...

Im with Brick on this one....he is 21 years old and 220 with 18 inch arms....how many 220lb guys who arent 33 years old and 5'4" do you see walking around with 20 inch guns?....sounds like you are right where you are supposed to be and your overthinking all this and the bottom line is

235 = 19 inches
250 = 20 inches
+
you 220 = 18 inches

 

[Tough Old Man]

Im with Brick on this one....he is 21 years old and 220 with 18 inch arms....how many 220lb guys who arent 33 years old and 5'4" do you see walking around with 20 inch guns?....sounds like you are right where you are supposed to be and your overthinking all this and the bottom line is

235 = 19 inches
250 = 20 inches
+
you 220 = 18 inches

Dante is that the rule of thumb..15 lbs per inch..I always thought it was 20 lbs to gain 1" per arm..

 

[DOGGCRAPP]

no rule of thumb....just throwing it out there

 

[Golgo13]

+1 on the non direct training.

I do SO much better with compound movements. The CNS interprets the signals better, compound movements are what your body does.

 

[Ashop]

in the past year or so my arms have really been lagging behind the rest of my body in terms of growth. this sucks becuase arms used to be a strong suit of mine.... no matter what i do i just cant get the same pump i used to in them and the next day they never hurt. i've been experimenting with everything from going extra heavy to very light and high reps (20+ range) and still they have a shitty pump and i feel like my shoulders and upper pecs are doing the brunt of the work. obviously i have been trying to do all isolation excercises to focus soely on the bicept but still no progress.... any suggestions?

Stopping direct bicep exercises and just doing compound movements for big groups helped me. for example when I do back,,,my biceps are already heavily involved. I think i was overtraining mine.

 

[parrajm]

this may be simple but i'm throwing it out there in case its not being utilized. don't rely on the weight to flex your muscles for you, contract them yourself while you move the weight to get as many muscle fibers as possible working. if you haven't been doing this, it will make a world of difference.

 

[cpesloco]

Im with Brick on this one....he is 21 years old and 220 with 18 inch arms....how many 220lb guys who arent 33 years old and 5'4" do you see walking around with 20 inch guns?....sounds like you are right where you are supposed to be and your overthinking all this and the bottom line is

235 = 19 inches
250 = 20 inches
+
you 220 = 18 inches

I know two people specifically I train with one is 197 with 17" arms and the other is 205 with 18's. I think genetics play a big part.
The guy with 17's is around 13-14% Bf and the guy with 18's pretty much has abs year round.
Neither one of these guys eat properly in the big picture. They train hard when they train but will go through times of training then no training. Very inconsistant.
oh both guys are 5'10

 

[DOGGCRAPP]

I know two people specifically I train with one is 197 with 17" arms and the other is 205 with 18's. I think genetics play a big part.
The guy with 17's is around 13-14% Bf and the guy with 18's pretty much has abs year round.
Neither one of these guys eat properly in the big picture. They train hard when they train but will go through times of training then no training. Very inconsistant.
oh both guys are 5'10

Heres the question though---would the guy with the great genetics sporting 18's at 205 have 20 inch guns if he did everything right but stayed at 205 pounds. Ive never seen a guy that low of bodyweight have 20 inch arms except if he is massive and short ala priest and Dave H.