Question for women with awesome arms

CJ_Holmes
CJ_Holmes Posts: 759 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I saw this woman last night with the most awesome arms! I could see her muscles, especially her shoulders, while she just stood there. I now have a goal "look" in mind. I want the defined shape when my arms are just hanging around, not flexing.

I'm slowly working towards my goal weight and am getting stronger. I eat at a very tiny deficit. I primarily do body-weight exercises, since they are fun and endlessly challenging. I can do about 25 pushups at a go, 8-10 dips, and 2 pull-ups. Friends have begun to comment on my arms, so I think I have the potential for awesomeness.

So is getting that arm look mostly a matter of lowering my body fat, or would it require a rigorous program with bulk/cut cycles or something?

Replies

  • NovemberJune
    NovemberJune Posts: 2,525 Member
    Hey awesome on the pull ups! That's a long term goal of mine :)
    Having awesome arms is another goal of mine lol. IMO it's hard to tell if you'd need to bulk/cut to get the arms you want because we don't know how muscley you want your arms! ;) But I think to just have a bit of definition, losing just a teensy bit more body fat would do it. Stalking your pics, it looks like you have great definition while flexing (not to mention awesome abs) so I'd guess you're so close.
    I always wonder the same things about myself so I just thought I'd throw out a reply even though it's just my uninformed opinion :flowerforyou:
  • mkakids
    mkakids Posts: 1,913 Member
    Sounds to me like you have quite a bit of muscle already. I dont know what your bf% is but the lower it is the more the muscle will show. If your bf is low already, try lifting heavier and eating a surplus to put on muscle.
  • Sarge516
    Sarge516 Posts: 256 Member
    Sorry, I'm a guy with OK arms...but I am a Certified Personal Trainer - does that count? :)

    My advice would be to incorporate some strength training into your workouts (weight lifting, resistance bands, etc).

    Body weight exercises are good, but given what you goal is, I would strongly (no pun intended :)) suggest some strength training be added.

    My opinion is that no, you will not need any super intense bulk/cut cycles. Just some clean eating and good old fashioned hard work. Go for it!
  • Hexahedra
    Hexahedra Posts: 894 Member
    Getting well defined muscles with body weight alone is tough, unless you know what you're doing or learn from a book like Convict Conditioning. In short, you need to get busy with some dumbbells, barbells or other forms of strength training with tools.

    I'm a guy, but my wife has the kind of arm and shoulder you're talking about, so I know what it takes.
  • NovemberJune
    NovemberJune Posts: 2,525 Member
    I'm a barbell lover but I respectfully disagree with the others. :wink: It sounds like you have a good progressive program going on. I'd say if you ever feel you're not getting challenged with your current program, then you could look into barbell training. Or I've heard great things about the convict conditioning book too. But it sounds to me like you're doing great with what you're doing. But, again, I suppose it depends on what your goal really is.
  • Leadfoot_Lewis
    Leadfoot_Lewis Posts: 1,623 Member
    I think I have pretty good arms for a woman. :) I eat right and workout a lot so I'm pretty lean (5'6" 125ish lbs) When I say "workout" I mean I lift 5x a week, 3x week upper body, 2x week lower body, with cardio about twice a week. For the majority of women it is VERY difficult to gain muscle so you need to be very consistent and frequent with your lifting if you want real results, but not to a point where you're overtraining and not able to recover from your workouts. A good combination of compound lifts and isolation lifts (yes, I said ISOLATION lifts) with a good diet will get you there. That is what has worked for me.
  • CJ_Holmes
    CJ_Holmes Posts: 759 Member
    Thanks for the replies! You women look amazing, btw! Thanks so much, June, for the compliment. :flowerforyou:

    I'd put you in the "awesome" category, Leadfoot- "pretty good" is humble.

    I did forget to mention that I have been doing dumbell biceps curls as well (just moved up from 15 pound dumbells to 20 pound. They look so much cooler!). That's isolation, yes? Maybe I could add a few more moves with the dumbells.

    Sounds like if I keep doing what I'm doing and lower my bf% more, I will be able to see what I'm working with and re-*kitten* from there. I'll need new goals when I reach my goal weight, so that may be a good time to start a more structured program.

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