I want bigger arms???

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I think its genetics but I've never been happy with the size of my arms( forearm and upper arm ) My shoulders are developing well and so is everywhere else but I always think my arms are too small.
I have a well rounded routine and know I need to do a fair amount of compound movements, mixed in with isolations too. Is there something I can do to increase arm size?

My routine is:

Day 1

Chest and triceps. I have added some Bicep curls in too.

Day 2

Back and Biceps

Day 3

Shoulders and Legs. I have added a tricep set in too.

Any advice would be great.
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Replies

  • delmc1
    delmc1 Posts: 331 Member
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    put up what bi's and tri's lift your doing .sets reps
  • UponThisRock
    UponThisRock Posts: 4,522 Member
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    are you eating a caloric surplus?
  • Sidesteal
    Sidesteal Posts: 5,510 Member
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    Are you in the squat cage while curling?
  • AlmondTheGreat
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    Yeah I'm eating a surplus of calories and have my diet set to 30% protein. I do 4 different exercises for triceps and biceps on the routines. Not sure what you mean about curling in the squat cage??
  • AlmondTheGreat
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    Isolation movements or whole routine?
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    I think its genetics but I've never been happy with the size of my arms( forearm and upper arm ) My shoulders are developing well and so is everywhere else but I always think my arms are too small.
    I have a well rounded routine and know I need to do a fair amount of compound movements, mixed in with isolations too. Is there something I can do to increase arm size?

    My routine is:

    Day 1

    Chest and triceps. I have added some Bicep curls in too.

    Day 2

    Back and Biceps

    Day 3

    Shoulders and Legs. I have added a tricep set in too.

    Any advice would be great.

    Are your workout days back to back, or do you have a day off in between. I as as you should not work bis 2 days in a row, they won't have time to build and recover.

    The four exercises for bis and tris may be overdoing it a little, unless you are only doing 2 sets of each exercise. if you are doing 3 sets that is 12 sets on top of the work they get from the compound lifts, which may be too much.
  • AlmondTheGreat
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    No I have rest days in between workout days and am eating plenty. I am developing everywhere else fine but my arms always lag behind??

    My routine

    Day 1

    chest and triceps

    Day 2

    rest

    Day 3

    Back and Biceps

    Dat 4

    rest

    Day 5

    Shoulders and legs

    Day 6 and 7

    Rest
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    No I have rest days in between workout days and am eating plenty. I am developing everywhere else fine but my arms always lag behind??

    I am not judging here, I just want to point out what I see based on your avatar. It appears your arms are more developed (relatively larger) than your chest. In other words you arms don't look small when compared to the rest of your body that you can see in the picture.
  • AlmondTheGreat
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    Lol my chest is massive and I wish that was true. Criticism is welcome mate if its gonna help
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    Lol my chest is massive and I wish that was true. Criticism is welcome mate if its gonna help

    Not criticizing, just pointing out what I see, but all I can go on is your pic.

    How many sets/reps are you doing on the bis and tris?
  • AlmondTheGreat
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    I stick with the 8 - 12 reps and mainly do 3 sets. I have changed a couple of exercises to 4 sets just to mix it up a little.
  • UponThisRock
    UponThisRock Posts: 4,522 Member
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    Yeah I'm eating a surplus of calories and have my diet set to 30% protein. I do 4 different exercises for triceps and biceps on the routines. Not sure what you mean about curling in the squat cage??

    how long have you been in a surplus and how much weight have you gained?
  • AlmondTheGreat
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    Probably 6 months and gained about 8 pounds I'd say. Don't want to be gaining too much as it would be mostly fat.
  • UponThisRock
    UponThisRock Posts: 4,522 Member
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    Probably 6 months and gained about 8 pounds I'd say. Don't want to be gaining too much as it would be mostly fat.

    If you want to bulk slow to minimize fat gains that's fine, but don't expect your muscle mass to increase by leaps and bounds either.
  • AlmondTheGreat
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    From my research and knowledge, the natural body builder can only put from 6 to 8 pounds of muscle on in a year anyway. Anything else would be fat. My gains are good its just my arms I am trying to improve...
  • UponThisRock
    UponThisRock Posts: 4,522 Member
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    From my research and knowledge, the natural body builder can only put from 6 to 8 pounds of muscle on in a year anyway. Anything else would be fat. My gains are good its just my arms I am trying to improve...

    True, but that doesn't mean that if you gained 8 lbs in a year it would all be muscle.

    But again, the point is if you're set on gaining slow, then you're going to have to accept gaining slow.
  • AlmondTheGreat
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    So how would you suggest gain faster? I have added 8 pounds already in 6 months lol. I wish there was a faster way to do it naturally lol.
  • Arleigh7
    Arleigh7 Posts: 150 Member
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    Perhaps I can share my experience. I've been lifting for over 30 years and even though I'm in my 50's now I've added some great mass to my arms over the past year that might even exceed what I did in my 20's.

    In the past year both due to work travel and reading about Mike Metzner and Dorian Yates I've reduced my # of workouts a week from 5 to 3 and my sets from 12 to 5 to 8 depending on the body part. However I've been pushing HARD to lift HEAVY. so as an example I used to do 6 sets of Incline Dumbell presses starting with 70 lb dumbells and then went to 75, 80, 85, 90 and finally 95. Reps was 15, 12, 10, 8, 6, 6. Now I do 5 sets....70, 80, 90, 110 and 115 (took me awhile to get there) and the 115's I only do 4 or 5 reps. So the 1st 3 sets are basiclly warmup and the last 2 sets are where all the work happens. Also rest 2 to 3 mins. between those sets. So applying this to arms I've reduced Triceps from 9 sets to 6 and Biceps from 6 sets to 4. 1st 3 sets are to get everything warmed up and the last 3 I use as much weight as I can handle with good form but don't go above 6 reps.

    I make sure I get a rest day inbetween every workout and east 160 to 200 grams of protein (really good proten no junk food) every day. My arms grew an inch over the past year to over 18" now and I'm over 50.

    So one note...don't jump into this too fast. It takes the joints and tendons longer to handle heavy weights than the muscles. And of course no guarantee this will work for you as everyone is different but oh how I wish I could bo back 30 years when I used to do 12 to 15 sets per body part. It's all about Quallity not Quantity. And Quality is strict form with the heaviest weight you can handle for 4 to 6 reps once your warmed up.

    Hope this helps!
  • UponThisRock
    UponThisRock Posts: 4,522 Member
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    So how would you suggest gain faster? I have added 8 pounds already in 6 months lol. I wish there was a faster way to do it naturally lol.

    Eat more
  • AlmondTheGreat
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    I appreciate the advice an will take your experience on board my friend.

    So you are suggesting going to lower reps and increasing the amount of sets I do? So would I have to drop the number of exercises per body part to achieve this? If not I may be in the gym for hours, doing 5 or 6 sets although the lower rep range would speed things a little iI suppose.