[Irish Cannon]

Everything else seems to grow on me. Some body parts faster than others. The problem is, my arms NEVER seem to get any bigger. They may change slightly here and there but not much at all. I've tried less reps, more reps, low rep range, high rep range. I don't know what to do. My triceps are the main trouble spot. My biceps will grow somewhat, but my triceps dont really every budge. Any advice would be appreciated.

[Iron Warrior]

Have you tried more frequency ? Did the trick for me

[Cuffs]

How often do you train your arms? What lifts are you doing, how many sets and what's your split look like? You may want to try and shock your arms by going from one style of training for a time, to a different one.

I wish my legs would grow like my arms do...lol.

[jonesboy]

I like the HST method. If you have never tried it, it will sound a little wierd at first but it will work. First find what your max is on one set of 10 of lets say standing barbell curls. Maybe it's 100lbs break it down over 6 workouts. So monday you would do 75lbs for 2 sets and your biceps are done. Wednesday 80lbs for 2 sets done, Friday 85lbs for 2 sets done. Monday 90lbs, Wednesday 95lbs, Friday 100lbs for 2 sets. Notice you are only going to falure once every two weeks. After you are done with your 10's move down to sets of 8 using the same method for two weeks then move down to 5's but with 3 set's. The most important aspects of this method is to train every 48hrs, progressive load and not training to failure. Here is a link to HST if you are interested. Hypertrophy-Specific Nutrition™

and here is a pdf describing some of the princibles. Good Luck !!

[thesinner]

I think there's a little more to it than just the number of reps per set.

[jonesboy]

The number of reps per set really has a lot to do with it. There are studies that show that the total number of reps per excersice for optimum hypertrophy is between 15-20 reps. that is why you only do 2 sets of 10 two sets of 8 and 3 sets of 5. Add in progressive load and changing your number of reps every two weeks and i guarentee you he will see growth. This is not a strength program. You will get stronger but the main objective is for hypertrophy. Heck if you don't want to listen to me do a search on what others here have said about HST. I have yet to find a bad thing said about it. Why because it works.

Now the assumption is that he also has his diet in order, which is a given for any type of growth to happen.

[mixedup]

I couldn't get mine to grow for like a 8 month period nothing worked my lifts got stronger but they hit a sticking point this past cycle I started a MAX OT workout and they finally started improving.

[guyfromkop2]

how much are you eating?

[thesinner]

Originally Posted by jonesboy

The number of reps per set really has a lot to do with it. There are studies that show that the total number of reps per excersice for optimum hypertrophy is between 15-20 reps. that is why you only do 2 sets of 10 two sets of 8 and 3 sets of 5. Add in progressive load and changing your number of reps every two weeks and i guarentee you he will see growth. This is not a strength program. You will get stronger but the main objective is for hypertrophy. Heck if you don't want to listen to me do a search on what others here have said about HST. I have yet to find a bad thing said about it. Why because it works.

Now the assumption is that he also has his diet in order, which is a given for any type of growth to happen.

You're not looking at what he hasn't told us. He could very well be doing 3 sets of kickbacksand 3 sets of concentration curls at various rep ranges, chewing down a protein bar from GNC, and wondering why he's not growing.


I think it's more important to know WHAT he is doing, before we get into how many reps he does. I'm sure if you went to Hypertrophyspecific.com and read thier info, you'd see that there's more to it than just decreasing your RM by 5 every other week.


BTW, I wasn't trying to down on your HST post (It's worked wonders for me in the past). My previous post was geared more towards Irish Cannon for not being specific enough for his problem.

[CHAPS]

What's your diet and are you progressively overloading your arms? Keep track of your weights and reps, you should always be trying for more even if your only adding 2.5lb plates, it adds up.

[jonesboy]

Originally Posted by thesinner

You're not looking at what he hasn't told us. He could very well be doing 3 sets of kickbacksand 3 sets of concentration curls at various rep ranges, chewing down a protein bar from GNC, and wondering why he's not growing.


I think it's more important to know WHAT he is doing, before we get into how many reps he does. I'm sure if you went to Hypertrophyspecific.com and read thier info, you'd see that there's more to it than just decreasing your RM by 5 every other week.


BTW, I wasn't trying to down on your HST post (It's worked wonders for me in the past). My previous post was geared more towards Irish Cannon for not being specific enough for his problem.

I agree we need to figure out what he is doing and how he is dieting. He might need to take a week off due to overtraining we won't know anything i guess until he gives us some more info. If i mentioned or mislead on decreasing your RM by 5 everyweek i am sorry that is not correct your RM should increase every two weeks due to the lower number of reps.

[Rocky82]

I'd recommend an inventory on diet. once that's out of the way I'd suggest MaxOT, HIT, or Dorian Yates' style training (they're all VERY similar). You should train a lagging bodypart less often than you think. Increasing training frequency might be ok for a few weeks to shock the muscles, but long term you may be lagging in recovery.

But I'd bet my bottom dollar that the lack of growth here is coming from the diet.

[jonesboy]

Originally Posted by Rocky82

I'd recommend an inventory on diet. once that's out of the way I'd suggest MaxOT, HIT, or Dorian Yates' style training (they're all VERY similar). You should train a lagging bodypart less often than you think. Increasing training frequency might be ok for a few weeks to shock the muscles, but long term you may be lagging in recovery.

But I'd bet my bottom dollar that the lack of growth here is coming from the diet.

Now i just don't want the guy confused with regards to frequency if you are referring to my posts. At the most he is only going to do two to three sets per workout depending on the total number of reps that he is doing during that week. He is not going to failure but once every two weeks. Over a given week he will have done a total of 6 to 9 sets for that body part. Training every 48hrs will have the following benefits and i quote
"2) Acute vs. Chronic Stimuli
In order for the loading to result in significant hypertrophy, the stimulus must be applied with sufficient frequency to create a new "environment", as opposed to seemingly random and acute assaults on the mechanical integrity of the tissue. The downside of taking a week of rest every time you load a muscle is that many of the acute responses to training like increased protein synthesis, prostaglandins, IGF-1 levels, and mRNA levels all return to normal in about 36 hours. So, you spend 2 days growing and half a week in a semi-anticatabolic state returning to normal (some people call this recovery), when research shows us that recovery can take place unabated even if a the muscle is loaded again in 48 hours. So true anabolism from loading only lasts 2 days at best once the load is removed. The rest of the time you are simply balancing nitrogen retention without adding to it. "

Increasing the frequency while spreading out the total number of sets over a week and not training to failure will be less taxing on his cns and provide a better enviroment for muscle growth.

Since the guy has yet to respond with any details on his diet or current routine we could all sit here and debate which method is best. And why he is not growing. With everything being even it is cool that a lot of people are here to try and help the guy out. NOw if my calves would just grow like the rest of my body i would be a happy man.

[Irish Cannon]

ive already mentioned my diet not being a problem. everything else is growing. my arms wont. my legs are my strong point. always have been. my upper body is a little lagging but is doing ok. shoulders have grown quite well within the past year and so has my chest. back has always been good. my arms just dont seem to grow. i train every muscle group every six days...last week this was my arm day...

triceps
weighted dip - 15,10,8,8
skullcrusher- 10,9,9
pushdown- 8.8.8

biceps
standing bb curl- 10,8,8,7
hammer curl- 10,8,8
preacher curl- 12,10,10

my biceps are better off than my triceps, but still not great. i have been throwing in 2 sets of triceps on my chest day just to add a little more frequency and see what happens. just to add, i am on a test/tren cycle.

[jonesboy]

Ok imo i think you are over doing it. You are doing 91 reps for biceps and 93 reps for triceps. I know that after doing all those reps a suggestion of just doing two sets of 10 without going to failure sounds a little wierd. Give HST a try. It is a workout based on scientific research on how to grow muscle. It works for a lot of people. If nothing else it really can't hurt you.

Good Luck!!

[InYuco]

You might want to check into HST like jonesboy said...i use it and i have been working out only about a month and a half and i already notice massive increases in my arms and chest

[thesinner]

Might I suggest doing drop sets or rest-pauses, and less sets?

Also, you might try doing some other exercises such as close-grip bench, or overhead DB press.


For some reason, heavy sets of pullovers (using a curl bar) have really added some major size to my triceps over the past 6 months that I've been doing them.


I don't think HST would be wise while on a cycle, but definitely beneficial when you come off the cycle.