Posted: 11/25/2007 12:22:45 PM EDT
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Anyone have a good regime to add significant size to the upper arms? I hit the biceps and triceps twice a week, typically spending a little over an hour on them;combo sets of preacher curls/weighted dips; straight bar curls/French press; incline curls/single arm extensions--5-10 sets per exercise...6-12 reps...strict form, 30-60 rest between sets. My arms are ripped, strong...but they just do not bulk up. Could all my outdoor cardio (hiking, running, biking) be adversely effecting muscle growth? |
I hit my shoulder particularly hard. And although I only have one weight day focused on chest and back, push-ups and pull-ups are done daily at sporadic periods when time allots. But those arms just do not want to build up--it's frustrating! |
Guess I'll keep at it and see what happens. 
You are a victim of the Flex magazine syndrome and are doing way too much arm isolation. Consider that you are working your triceps when you do any of your shoulder or chest pressing lifts. You work biceps when you do any of your back pulling lifts (rows, pullups, etc). Your arms aren't getting a break and without sufficient rest, they're not going to grow. Try cutting back to just one bicep/one tricep lift once/week. Just try it for eight weeks and see what happens. |
I have the same issues. I gave up, and just work on everything else. |
I've often wondered if I could shock the muscles into growing, hitting them hard and heavy every other day, forcing them into getting their act together. Then again I'll probably just end up doing more harm than good. 
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If you hit both biceps and triceps twice a week for an hour a pop (that's 4 hours of arms a week plus any peripheral effect you get with other exercises during the week) you might be overtraining a little. I wonder if perhaps you backed off a little (not a lot, just a little) if you'd see more growth, or perhaps jacked the weight some and shortened the duration of the workout. I also (personally) got my best results when I split bis and tris (I did bis/back tris/chest on different days) Anyway, it might be worth a try for a few weeks to see if you see any differences. You can always go back to your old routine |
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Several people have told you the answer a few different ways. You're doing too much of the wrong thing. If you want hyyuuuuuge biceps doing a workout you got from a BB.com or FLEX article, go buy the latest protein supp and have at it 4-5x a week. Maybe it will work, maybe it won't. If you want noticeably proportioned and functional arm size and strength 100% of the time, start fresh with the simple compound movements that have been around as long as modern human anatomy: rows and presses. Done properly (with an olympic barbell  ), these movements are a natural extension of skeletal anatomy and musculature.
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I worded that badly...I gave up working specifically on my arms. Now I do rows/presses whenever I can. Much better improvements all over, not just in a few places. |
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I agree that you need to give your arms more rest.Not only are you not growing your likely to end up with a injury.When I was younger I got to a point that my elbows hurt so bad I had to completely stop lifting upper body for 4 months. Hit your arms once a week hard.Fry them and let them rest. IMO the best exercise for building arm mass is close-grip bench presses.Hands about six inches apart.Elbows in.Go heavy.Get a spotter. Try some skull-crushers on a decline bench.Triceps at an angle.Kick the weight out not straight up.Get a spotter. Your triceps make up 2/3's of your arm.Hit them hard.Free weights rule for size.Leave the cables and other crap for definition.Keep your time between sets to a minimum.If your spending more then 45 minutes on your arms you are either over doing it or need to up the intensity. For biceps I have found preacher curls to give me most of my size.Extend your arms all the way down.Don't bounch.Control the weight through the whole movement.Take them to failure.Get a spotter. Change up your arm routine frequently.Get a protein shake and some carbs in you before you leave the gym.Eat a good meal within an hour. Yes you could be doing to much cardio. Take a week off ocassionally.Hell take a month off once a year. Everones body is different.You need to learn what works for you. Whats your age,height,weight,waist-size,bone structure? YMMV. |
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I agree that you need to give your arms more rest.Not only are you not growing your likely to end up with a injury.When I was younger I got to a point that my elbows hurt so bad I had to completely stop lifting upper body for 4 months. Hit your arms once a week hard.Fry them and let them rest. IMO the best exercise for building arm mass is close-grip bench presses.Hands about six inches apart.Elbows in.Go heavy.Get a spotter. Try some skull-crushers on a decline bench.Triceps at an angle.Kick the weight out not straight up.Get a spotter. Your triceps make up 2/3's of your arm.Hit them hard.Free weights rule for size.Leave the cables and other crap for definition.Keep your time between sets to a minimum.If your spending more then 45 minutes on your arms you are either over doing it or need to up the intensity. For biceps I have found preacher curls to give me most of my size.Extend your arms all the way down.Don't bounch.Control the weight through the whole movement.Take them to failure.Get a spotter. Change up your arm routine frequently.Get a protein shake and some carbs in you before you leave the gym.Eat a good meal within an hour. Yes you could be doing to much cardio. Take a week off ocassionally.Hell take a month off once a year. Everones body is different.You need to learn what works for you. Whats your age,height,weight,waist-size,bone structure? YMMV. |
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Massive overtraining. I would say back off and not work arms directly for a couple of weeks, then work them once a week. Remember, bis and tris are small muscles compared to chest, delts, quads, etc. If you are growing your other areas well, look at the volume you are using. Don't do the same number of sets for bis/tris you would for chest. Go w/ 60-75%. YMMV |