Arms!

[T1DMMA2BB]

Ok so I am a pretty big guy but my arms do not match the rest of me. They are small (well I think so). Currently about 16.5 inches. I have not been able to get them larger even after hitting them twice a week. I want a routine that will help with this. Already in cycle and eating pretty clean and taking in the necessary protein. Ideas?

 

[BikerTrash]

Ok so I am a pretty big guy but my arms do not match the rest of me. They are small (well I think so). Currently about 16.5 inches. I have not been able to get them larger even after hitting them twice a day. I want a routine that will help with this. Already in cycle and eating pretty clean and taking in the necessary protein. Ideas?

Your hitting your arms twice a day? Sounds to me like you need to give them a rest , Possibly over training them and not giving them time to heal and grow

 

[T1DMMA2BB]

Your hitting your arms twice a day? Sounds to me like you need to give them a rest , Possibly over training them and not giving them time to heal and grow

Sorry Biker I meant twice a week. Post corrected.

 

[BikerTrash]

Ahh , that makes sense now ,
I always work mine twice a week ,I do Bicep with Back day and Tricep with Chest day .
The arms get used in so many different ways and lifts that there easily over trained with little to no time to recover.
Do you switch up the routine you use to train bicep and tricep ?
I have found that switching it up from week to week seems to help a lot . I will use the easy curl bar one week for biceps and next week use the straight bar and mix in dumbbell curls as well with hammer's

 

[T1DMMA2BB]

I have tried so many different workouts for arms. Im not sure if I should tax them harder when training or switch up the routines that I am doing. I do do the one exercise with back and chest for bi's and tri's. What do you usually do for arms? I always do DB's and incorporate the EZ bar quite a bit or cables. I havent used the straight bar in a long time actually. I should get that in the mix.

 

[Dawgpound_Hank]

Ok so I am a pretty big guy but my arms do not match the rest of me. They are small (well I think so). Currently about 16.5 inches. I have not been able to get them larger even after hitting them twice a week. I want a routine that will help with this. Already in cycle and eating pretty clean and taking in the necessary protein. Ideas?

No magic bro - just plain ol' hard work on the basics. Barbell curls, dumbell curls & preacher curls for bi's, and close-grip bench, skullcrushers & cable pushdowns for tri's are enough to build guns for any stage. If that don't do it, just chalk it up to genetics. Try dropping back to 1x per week for arms - sounds like you might be overtraining them.

 

[A.B]

I was in the same boat for years. Smaller arms and when I was running a decent cycle this is how I made them grow.

I've always been a heavy lifter. Go big or go home mentality. I rarely hit arms. But what I did was biceps with back and triceps with chest. When I lifted them though I went light weight, and very high reps, always too failure.

I know this sparked a growth in my arms cause of all the years of heavy lifting my arms got used to it. Heavy bench, heavy deads, heavy military press, weighted pull ups. Switching to low weight high reps sparked the growth I wasn't getting from years of just heavy

 

[DGAF]

I got pretty big arms and I train them once a week, bis and tris together. My routine takes about 20-25 mins total in and out of the gym. I do 3 exercises for bis and 3 exercises for tris. I do 10,8,6 reps each exercise.

Biceps:
*Alt. db curls- 3 sets, 24 reps total
*Alt. db hammer curls- 3 sets- 24 reps total
*Seated db concentration curl- 3 sets- 24 reps total

Triceps:
*Cable push downs(cambered bar)- 2 sets(10,8) in and 2 sets out(10,8)- 36 reps total
*Tricep curl(reverse grip on cambered bar)- 3 sets- 24 reps total
*Tricep rope- 3 sets- 24 reps total

That's my basic routine, takes about 25 mins. My arms are sore and tight afterwards.

 

[T1DMMA2BB]

No magic bro - just plain ol' hard work on the basics. Barbell curls, dumbell curls & preacher curls for bi's, and close-grip bench, skullcrushers & cable pushdowns for tri's are enough to build guns for any stage. If that don't do it, just chalk it up to genetics. Try dropping back to 1x per week for arms - sounds like you might be overtraining them.

I was in the same boat for years. Smaller arms and when I was running a decent cycle this is how I made them grow.

I've always been a heavy lifter. Go big or go home mentality. I rarely hit arms. But what I did was biceps with back and triceps with chest. When I lifted them though I went light weight, and very high reps, always too failure.

I know this sparked a growth in my arms cause of all the years of heavy lifting my arms got used to it. Heavy bench, heavy deads, heavy military press, weighted pull ups. Switching to low weight high reps sparked the growth I wasn't getting from years of just heavy

I got pretty big arms and I train them once a week, bis and tris together. My routine takes about 20-25 mins total in and out of the gym. I do 3 exercises for bis and 3 exercises for tris. I do 10,8,6 reps each exercise.

Biceps:
*Alt. db curls- 3 sets, 24 reps total
*Alt. db hammer curls- 3 sets- 24 reps total
*Seated db concentration curl- 3 sets- 24 reps total

Triceps:
*Cable push downs(cambered bar)- 2 sets(10,8) in and 2 sets out(10,8)- 36 reps total
*Tricep curl(reverse grip on cambered bar)- 3 sets- 24 reps total
*Tricep rope- 3 sets- 24 reps total

That's my basic routine, takes about 25 mins. My arms are sore and tight afterwards.

Thanks guys I appreciate it. Ill try dropping back to once a week and going till failure. I also wanted to ask what rep range high reps is. I have quite a bit of endurance from MMA. Should I still go till failure if it means I can knock out 20+ or should I just increase the weight? I appreciate the help for sure.

DGAF do you increase the weight for your sets?

 

[DGAF]

Thanks guys I appreciate it. Ill try dropping back to once a week and going till failure. I also wanted to ask what rep range high reps is. I have quite a bit of endurance from MMA. Should I still go till failure if it means I can knock out 20+ or should I just increase the weight? I appreciate the help for sure.

DGAF do you increase the weight for your sets?

Yup, increase weight and lower reps.

 

[Dawgpound_Hank]

I got pretty big arms and I train them once a week, bis and tris together. My routine takes about 20-25 mins total in and out of the gym. I do 3 exercises for bis and 3 exercises for tris. I do 10,8,6 reps each exercise.

Biceps:
*Alt. db curls- 3 sets, 24 reps total
*Alt. db hammer curls- 3 sets- 24 reps total
*Seated db concentration curl- 3 sets- 24 reps total

Triceps:
*Cable push downs(cambered bar)- 2 sets(10,8) in and 2 sets out(10,8)- 36 reps total
*Tricep curl(reverse grip on cambered bar)- 3 sets- 24 reps total
*Tricep rope- 3 sets- 24 reps total

That's my basic routine, takes about 25 mins. My arms are sore and tight afterwards.

How can one rest/recover enuff between sets to use heavy weights when performing 19 sets in 25 minutes dude?

 

[Dawgpound_Hank]

Thanks guys I appreciate it. Ill try dropping back to once a week and going till failure. I also wanted to ask what rep range high reps is. I have quite a bit of endurance from MMA. Should I still go till failure if it means I can knock out 20+ or should I just increase the weight? I appreciate the help for sure.

DGAF do you increase the weight for your sets?

Typically going 20+ reps isn't going to build much size for arms. However, you may not fit into that "typical" category and may benefit from the advice A.B gave you. However, before going that unorthodox route, it would be wise to post the routine, reps, total scheme you have done in the past that has given you 16.5" arms. Only then can one give you a more tailored program.

Also, how long have you been hitting the iron seriously? If not so long, you will get bigger pipes just from hitting the Mac Daddy exercises like bench, militaries, bent rows, chins, etc etc.

 

[DGAF]

How can one rest/recover enuff between sets to use heavy weights when performing 19 sets in 25 minutes dude?

A set of 10 reps only takes about 15-20 seconds if you bust them out, so even at 30 seconds per set that is only nine and a half mins of actual lifting, so I got time in between sets to rest and recover. I don't have to be in the gym an hour to do 6 exercises for arms, cause they are easy to do and I don't have to change the weights or anything, just pick up the dumbells and rock n roll. If it takes you any longer than a half hour to do arms then IMO you are either over training them or you are not doing them correctly and using way to heavy of a weight where you take 5 mins each rep or you are talking to much. My arms are a good size at almost 19" and that's all I do for them and they grow like crazy. I curl a lot too bro, I am working my way up to 100lb dumbells , I am on 75lb dumbells right now for my last set of 6 reps. When I did do barbell curls I could curl 205lbs for 2 reps on a max set after all my other sets, and all the while I was only in the gym less than a half hour training on arm day.

 

[DGAF]

My advice for the original poster would be to go in the gym and try a few different ideas out and see which works well for him. Like go in there for a month or two and try doing a few exercises for bis and a few for tris and do a scheme like I do and see if it works, if not try more sets, less reps each set, or more weight, or till failure. Trial and error, everyone is different so everyone will respond to something different than the other guy. I know guys that don't train calves at all and theirs are huge and cut, and I know guys that train them 2-3 times a week heavy and got nothing.

 

[reps]

I have big arms and didn't always have big arms. I found that years of heavy lifting didn't get me to where I needed to be in muscular stature. I mix it up everyworkout for example doing bis I do seated dumbbell curls, hammer curls, one arm preacher curls and then finish with one arm cable curls light weight strict form. I do tris with two arm overhead dumbbell ext, skull crushers, machine pushdowns then do cable single arm reverse grip pushdowns light weight strict for contracting all the way through the movement. a lot of people miss the mind muscle connection and just lift the weight, this takes practice to get down and hard work, you gotta feel the weight to be a bb and lift the weight to be a pl or ol. good luck
reps

 

[DGAF]

I agree. I change my workouts every week to keep my body guessing so it will have to grow to adapt. I will do db exercises one week and the next do machine exercises, I will take an exercise out and replace it with another or do the exercises in reverse order. I do anything just to keep from being repetitive and routine. You will be surprised at what a slight change or variation each week can do for growth.

 

[Dawgpound_Hank]

A set of 10 reps only takes about 15-20 seconds if you bust them out, so even at 30 seconds per set that is only nine and a half mins of actual lifting, so I got time in between sets to rest and recover. I don't have to be in the gym an hour to do 6 exercises for arms, cause they are easy to do and I don't have to change the weights or anything, just pick up the dumbells and rock n roll. If it takes you any longer than a half hour to do arms then IMO you are either over training them or you are not doing them correctly and using way to heavy of a weight where you take 5 mins each rep or you are talking to much. My arms are a good size at almost 19" and that's all I do for them and they grow like crazy. I curl a lot too bro, I am working my way up to 100lb dumbells , I am on 75lb dumbells right now for my last set of 6 reps. When I did do barbell curls I could curl 205lbs for 2 reps on a max set after all my other sets, and all the while I was only in the gym less than a half hour training on arm day.

So your rest times between sets is only like 30-45 seconds. That's very brief, almost like pre-contest work for many. Most guys poundages would suffer bigtime on a Mac Daddy exercise like close grip benches, skullcrushers, bb curls, etc resting that briefly. Shit if you're getting the 75's for 6 on db curls after only resting 30-45 seconds, I'm betting you could get the 85's for 6 had you rested 90 seconds. I am far from a volume guy and mostly train HIT - have for years. I'm not one to live in the gym. However, on the flipside, when it comes time for that all-out, bust-ass workset, I want to be able to give it 110% with max weight, hence, I rest long enough to recup so I can do that.

But hey, just like assholes, we all have opinions haha. Arnie vs Mentzer styles, Yates vs Wheeler styles, Coleman vs Jay styles, etc etc. You have found what works for you, so that's all that counts. Good luck on getting those 100's 1 day dude

 

[DGAF]

So your rest times between sets is only like 30-45 seconds. That's very brief, almost like pre-contest work for many. Most guys poundages would suffer bigtime on a Mac Daddy exercise like close grip benches, skullcrushers, bb curls, etc resting that briefly. Shit if you're getting the 75's for 6 on db curls after only resting 30-45 seconds, I'm betting you could get the 85's for 6 had you rested 90 seconds. I am far from a volume guy and mostly train HIT - have for years. I'm not one to live in the gym. However, on the flipside, when it comes time for that all-out, bust-ass workset, I want to be able to give it 110% with max weight, hence, I rest long enough to recup so I can do that.

But hey, just like assholes, we all have opinions haha. Arnie vs Mentzer styles, Yates vs Wheeler styles, Coleman vs Jay styles, etc etc. You have found what works for you, so that's all that counts. Good luck on getting those 100's 1 day dude

Yea I go in there to get it done, in and out, no bs`ing around, one set bam rest for a min then bam next set. Bust them out and my arms are sore as hell by the time I am done, but they grow like mad and I get real strong. I have stood in front of the 80`s before and was like f`it and tried them but only got 1 and almost a second rep but couldn't. I don't live in the gym, only there an hour or less a day 5 days a week, been like that for 25 years. I don't do close grip bench or anything with a straight bar anymore cause of my shoulders but I will kill it with some dumbells. It really isn't the weight you are doing anyway when you are doing like I am set after set, it is how you do them that counts, your body don't know the weight you are using, hell you could be spent on your last set and curling 30lbs and it feels like it is 60lbs, your body will grow from the 30lbs just like it will from the 60lbs when they feel the same.

And your right brother everyone has an opinion and that's cool. Everyone is different and by everyone giving their opinions it gives people many options and avenues to try to see what suits them well.

Its all good brother. And one day I will get those 100`s!

 

[Freezerdude]

Well Dgaf evidently it's working for you brother because looking at your pics your one big fucker!

 

[Freezerdude]

To the OP I would try what the guys have said and also throw in some heavy compounds and if your not doing them do some pull-ups!! they've always help my bi's grow good...

 

[DGAF]

Well Dgaf evidently it's working for you brother because looking at your pics your one big fucker!

Thank you brother.

 

[T1DMMA2BB]

Typically going 20+ reps isn't going to build much size for arms. However, you may not fit into that "typical" category and may benefit from the advice A.B gave you. However, before going that unorthodox route, it would be wise to post the routine, reps, total scheme you have done in the past that has given you 16.5" arms. Only then can one give you a more tailored program.

Also, how long have you been hitting the iron seriously? If not so long, you will get bigger pipes just from hitting the Mac Daddy exercises like bench, militaries, bent rows, chins, etc etc.

I like the advice A.B. gave me too. I have been doing different things for years but have never achieved bigger arms (My father is the same way, not big arms and he still lifts). Im about four to five days a week right now it really depends on work schedule. I have been doing increasing weight with a 12/10/8/6 rep range

DB curls/then DB over head extensions for tri's.
DB Hammer curls/skullcrushers
Cable rope curls/bent over cable rope extensions
EZ bar curls/tri push downs with Vbar or rope

I have followed this for years since I have always seen gains off of it but recently have really stopped seeing any gains. Great swole but no growth. Back and chest have grown from this and still are but nothing with arms.

 

[T1DMMA2BB]

To the OP I would try what the guys have said and also throw in some heavy compounds and if your not doing them do some pull-ups!! they've always help my bi's grow good...

I will do that!

 

[willsgotrythm]

I have to be careful with working my arms but they grow like weeds anyway!! Like most I do bi's on back day and tri's on chest and shoulder day. Usually what I do is three sets of ten reps single arm preacher curls for bi's. For tri's I do close grip bench with light weight and usually about 3 sets of 10 to 12 reps or to failure. Lately I've also been doing cable push downs to really burn them out. The reason I have to be careful is, I've pulled tendons in both elbows IMO from doing heavy straight bar curls and also heavy easy bar skull crushers. I've thought about going back to them for a while though...

 

[A.B]

21's and excercises keeping my reps between 12-20 til failur works well. It's not overly lift but you're not curling 200lbs.