Help me build my arms!

[matt21irby21]

Don't pay attention to my core, I don't want to go into details, but my daughter passed away recently so my not so clean diet ruined my abs, I need help building my arms. especially my forearms. My chest/shoulders/legs/traps/back always get sore when I workout. and they get stronger. my tris/bis/forearms sometimes get sore. but never grow. I've done just about every workout known to man to try to get them bigger. I've done low reps. high reps. and moderate reps. Idk why they wont grow. people in the gym tell me my shoulders/traps and chest look amazing. but then hit me with the "why don't you workout your arms more?" I work them out just as much as I do the rest of my muscles. they just dont seem to want to grow. Anyone have any advice for me?

 

[Jakethaniel]

What frequency do you hit them? If you want to work on them you should be doing them 3-4 times a week. Play around with frequency, you could even try to get in some light pump work everyday along with your regular arm workouts.

 

[Joshlm69]

The thing which saw my arms grow an incredible amount in a short time was doing weighted, neutral grip pullups 5 x a week. Every week id add 1.25kg to the weight belt. Once I got up to 5x5 with 35 around my waist, arms put on serious size.

Also deadlift more, will build your arms out and add thickness

 

[matt21irby21]

I tried doing the same routine everyone else was doing as far as muscle groups. Pretty much hitting each muscle group once a week then taking two days off. For example Monday chest/bis. Tuesday Back/tris. Wednesday Legs. Thursday Shoulders. Maybe two core days a week. This seems to work for everyone else. I really dot like it. I recover fast. No matter how sore I get, I recover after four days at the very most. But everyone tells me doing each muscle group more then once a week isn't going to do anything. I'm sure that can be debatable. But on arm days bicep days I'd hit straight bar curls 8-10x4 single arm curls 8-10x4 preacher curls 8-10x3 incline cable curls 10-15x3 and maybe two other bicep workouts If I still have the energy for it. Tricep days are about the same as far as reps and how many workouts I do. Idk maybe I should start lifting heavier? Or maybe doing arm days more often? How many rest days should I have in between the days I work them? I will try what you guys said though.

 

[Joshlm69]

I tried doing the same routine everyone else was doing as far as muscle groups. Pretty much hitting each muscle group once a week then taking two days off. For example Monday chest/bis. Tuesday Back/tris. Wednesday Legs. Thursday Shoulders. Maybe two core days a week. This seems to work for everyone else. I really dot like it. I recover fast. No matter how sore I get, I recover after four days at the very most. But everyone tells me doing each muscle group more then once a week isn't going to do anything. I'm sure that can be debatable. But on arm days bicep days I'd hit straight bar curls 8-10x4 single arm curls 8-10x4 preacher curls 8-10x3 incline cable curls 10-15x3 and maybe two other bicep workouts If I still have the energy for it. Tricep days are about the same as far as reps and how many workouts I do. Idk maybe I should start lifting heavier? Or maybe doing arm days more often? How many rest days should I have in between the days I work them? I will try what you guys said though.

Like I said , do weighted pull-ups EVERY time you go to the gym, your arms will grow

 

[Jakethaniel]

I agree with Josh, weighted pull-ups are an awesome exercise. Along with those for biceps you should do incline DB curls and Cross Body Hammer Curls.

For Triceps hit Close Grip Bench Press, Dips, and Skull Crushers.
For the skull crushers you want to do them a special way or there really is not much point in doing them when you do the other 2. What you want to do is get your head on the edge/slightly hanging off of the bench and when you bring the bar down bring it so it comes down behind your head. What this does is it hits the long head of the triceps hard and that is the biggest part of the triceps.

For a training split
M Do the full arms routine.
T Start your workout off with light dips and pullups to get a pump in your arms then continue on to Squats
W Do the full arms routine.
T Start your workout off with light dips and pullups to get a pump in your arms then continue on to Deadlifts
F Do the full arms routine.
S Start your workout off with light dips and pullups to get a pump in your arms then continue on to Squats
S Rest day, but if you can get in some light dips and pullups on this day too then do it.

You should not worry about hitting chest or lats during this time because the arms and deadlift work will work them enough.

Work in the 5-6 reps range for the Close Grip Bench Press and Pull-ups on the arms day.
Work in the 7-10 reps range for the Dips and Cross Body Hammer Curls on the arms day.
Work in the 10-15 reps range for the Skull Crushers and Incline DB curls on the arms day.
You can always play around with that by going heavy so that to get into the rep range you hit failure, when doing this only do 3-5 sets on each exercise.
You can also go light and get into that range without much problem, when doing this you can do 5-10 sets on each exercise.

For the days when you just do pullups and dips you do not want to get close to failure at all.

Good luck!

 

[matt21irby21]

Thanks bros. I'll give it a try.

 

[kisaj]

Squat more.

Sorry about your loss, that is terrible to hear.

 

[R1balla]

This is how I do it

Compound lifts I go heavy (dips for example). Everything else I do slow negatives, focus on blood flow and lots of drop sets.

 

[smshannon001]

Volume volume volume.

I hit arms hard with heavy weight and 6-10 reps, but as the guy above said hitting them with drops/strip sets really helped.

Keep the form strict with the heavy weights and drop when the form gets loose.

Full ROM to stretch that bicep!

 

[R1balla]

Volume volume volume.

I hit arms hard with heavy weight and 6-10 reps, but as the guy above said hitting them with drops/strip sets really helped.

Keep the form strict with the heavy weights and drop when the form gets loose.

Full ROM to stretch that bicep!

Yup

 

[Joshlm69]

I agree with Josh, weighted pull-ups are an awesome exercise. Along with those for biceps you should do incline DB curls and Cross Body Hammer Curls.

For Triceps hit Close Grip Bench Press, Dips, and Skull Crushers.
For the skull crushers you want to do them a special way or there really is not much point in doing them when you do the other 2. What you want to do is get your head on the edge/slightly hanging off of the bench and when you bring the bar down bring it so it comes down behind your head. What this does is it hits the long head of the triceps hard and that is the biggest part of the triceps.

For a training split
M Do the full arms routine.
T Start your workout off with light dips and pullups to get a pump in your arms then continue on to Squats
W Do the full arms routine.
T Start your workout off with light dips and pullups to get a pump in your arms then continue on to Deadlifts
F Do the full arms routine.
S Start your workout off with light dips and pullups to get a pump in your arms then continue on to Squats
S Rest day, but if you can get in some light dips and pullups on this day too then do it.

You should not worry about hitting chest or lats during this time because the arms and deadlift work will work them enough.

Work in the 5-6 reps range for the Close Grip Bench Press and Pull-ups on the arms day.
Work in the 7-10 reps range for the Dips and Cross Body Hammer Curls on the arms day.
Work in the 10-15 reps range for the Skull Crushers and Incline DB curls on the arms day.
You can always play around with that by going heavy so that to get into the rep range you hit failure, when doing this only do 3-5 sets on each exercise.
You can also go light and get into that range without much problem, when doing this you can do 5-10 sets on each exercise.

For the days when you just do pullups and dips you do not want to get close to failure at all.

Good luck!

I actually disagree re skulls. I think doing the skulls, on an incline, to the top of your forehead is much more effective for isolating the tricep, you feel the burn so much more, and youre not using your laats to pull the bar back up when its down past your head.

Heavy weight , to your forhead, keeping tension, gets very painful very quickly. Only do skulls if your elbows can handle it though, I know a lot of people it causes pretty severe pain for.

Cant go wrong with heavy dips though

Top advice though mate

 

[Jiigzz]

Bench heavy, row heavy, deadlift heavy

 

[Abe Lincoln]

Barbell hack squats and deadlifts for arms. With enough calories these got my pretty far.

 

[matt21irby21]

I was a little unorthodox with my workouts today but just bare with me lol. I wanted to see how heavy dips/deadlifts/rows would feel on my arms so I did them all last night. Also hit the weighted pull ups. I have to say, the top of my forearms and biceps are extremely sore. My triceps didn't get as sore. But I'm also used to doing weighted dips. Great advice though guys. I'm definitely going to start doing all these exorcises more often.

 

[R1balla]

My 2 favorite tricep lifts are shoulder width reverse grip bench and weighted dips.

For biceps I like 21s, incline DB curl and preacher.

Of course I do way more but these are my go-to lifts for arms

 

[kisaj]

Rows have always been great for my arm development and really helps build forearms. I rarely ever do direct arm work, but rows, pullups, dips, farmer walks, and deads have all helped grow them.

 

[R1balla]

Rows have always been great for my arm development and really helps build forearms. I rarely ever do direct arm work, but rows, pullups, dips, farmer walks, and deads have all helped grow them.

Pull ups for sure!

Do different grips as well

 

[hvactech]

It doesn't make any sense for one's arms not to grow if they're doing proper compound lifts...

 

[matt21irby21]

I don't know what to tell you man cause I went from only being able to do single arm curls at 30 pounds ten times each, to doing 45 pounds ten times each. I used to only be able to do forty pounds of reverse grip curls and now I can do 60s. And my triceps can do 20-40 pounds more on every workout the. They used to be able to. I'm very strong for my size but I my arms never seems to get any bigger. So far though I've been taking a lot of advice from people on this thread. Obviously I won't notice size in only a week. But I'm definitely a lot more sore then I'm used to being which is always nice

 

[Abe Lincoln]

Eat more. Compound lifts. Isolation lifts. Push more weights each workout. Really focus on the muscle, use forced reps, drop sets, rest-pause, etc..

 

[kisaj]

http://anabolicminds.com/forum/content/advanced-bodybuilding-heavy-6409/

 

[R1balla]

http://anabolicminds.com/forum/content/advanced-bodybuilding-heavy-6409/

Ya I remember reading a study on this a while back. I train legs to make my legs grow, not my biceps lol

 

[kisaj]

It's more for overall mass, which will obviously help with arm development.

 

[matt21irby21]

This dude told me to do workouts that bump a lot of blood into my arms. Even very reps of like 15-30. But I'm pretty sure he's on anabolics so idk If his advice is worth listening to lol

 

[R1balla]

This dude told me to do workouts that bump a lot of blood into my arms. Even very reps of like 15-30. But I'm pretty sure he's on anabolics so idk If his advice is worth listening to lol

The only time I go that high is on drop sets. 10 reps, lower the weights then 10 more ...etc. I almost always do drop sets on my last set of every arm exercise

 

[EMPIREMIND]

Sometimes your body prioritizes what you prioritize in your workouts. Maybe try Training your arms first thing in your wrkouts.

Personally I agree with heavy deads and weighted pull ups and dips.

 

[R1balla]

Sometimes your body prioritizes what you prioritize in your workouts. Maybe try Training your arms first thing in your wrkouts.

Personally I agree with heavy deads and weighted pull ups and dips.

So do i. I just disagree with squats and arm growth.

 

[herderdude]

For me, It's always lots of food, two heavy triceps exercises a week, usually JM presses or close grip bench press off of two boards. I like close grip two board for 3-5 sets of 5-8 and the same with JMs. I use bands or chains or a slingshot so there's less weight when my triceps tendon is on stretch and tons of weight at the top. Then I do two or three light high rep triceps exercises for the pump. This is split over two upper body sessions per week. For biceps I like heavy ass hammer curls twice a week with incline curls or preacher curls for a good stretch and pump. My biceps aren't awesome, I do them for elbow health, but I'm pretty happy with my triceps development.

 

[EMPIREMIND]

​

So do i. I just disagree with squats and arm growth.

Yea Lol I dont know about that one...

 

[kisaj]

whoa, whoa, guys...it doesn't have to be back squats, it can also be front. let's not get this twisted.

 

[Jakethaniel]

We are all making this too complicated. You wanna grow your arms? Pick compound and isolation exercises that work. Hit them frequently and vary your rep range.

Obviously do not neglect squats, deads, etc., but if you want to focus on arms, do exactly that.

 

[Dru32]

I'm sure I'll catch **** from someone but check out ct Fletcher's armed warfare on YouTube. Gave me some new ideas

 

[R1balla]

We are all making this too complicated. You wanna grow your arms? Pick compound and isolation exercises that work. Hit them frequently and vary your rep range.

Obviously do not neglect squats, deads, etc., but if you want to focus on arms, do exactly that.

exactly

 

[Max Builder]

Ok I have a short story about leg workouts and arm growth. I am 44 years old and when I was 18-20 I had this guy I use to get workout advise from, he taught me nutrition, workouts etc. Now understand this guy was HUGE... 280-300 pounds of solid muscle. Yes the big guy who knew what he was doing. I am not a small guy but this guy mad me feel tiny. I was your typical young kid in a gym all I cared about was big chest and arms. Never did legs. I got to a point where my workouts were not doing much more for me and I went and talked to him. He evaluated my workouts and said I have to do legs... Squats etc. Of course I didn't want to do legs and kept changing up my upper body routine but not much was changing. What he told me was you have to work your legs.... His reasoning was your body knows and will stop growing if it doesn't have a trunk to support it. I thought it was a bunch of B.S. So I kept doing what I was doing. and then a few years later I actually changed my routine to include the major movements and also a bunch of leg work... Ok I should have listened to this guy along time ago. My complete upper body started to grow and I was actually doing less upper body workouts. Now understand I am not a small guy I am 6' 2" 250-260lbs.... I always think back to what this guy said and yes it works. I also believe EAT, EAT, EAT! But yes for me it made a huge noticable difference! I can't explain why and yes it doesn't make sense.... But it worked for me! Hope this helps.

 

[kisaj]

Yeah, I tried to provide that advice and was shunned. lol Sometimes people need to learn the hard way.

 

[Billy R]

Sometimes, people forget that there is more involved in the upper arm than just bicep and tricep, there is also the brachialis muscle which makes up a good percentage of the arm muscle. Perhaps you are not working that muscle as hard as you should? Maybe try some hammercurls to remedy that....

 

[matt21irby21]

I think a lot of my problem was doing arms tomany times in a week instead of letting them heal. Also I was resting to much between sets. It's funny too cause I've been sick the past two weeks and zoning absent been to the gym and my arms actually look bigger lol

 

[Billy R]

That makes sense. Its easy to forget that muscles actually grow during the rest periods.

I think a lot of my problem was doing arms tomany times in a week instead of letting them heal. Also I was resting to much between sets. It's funny too cause I've been sick the past two weeks and zoning absent been to the gym and my arms actually look bigger lol