Bigger Arms - Frequency/Types of exercises
tonyt_1982
Posts: 8 Member
Hi all,
Not sure if I am in the best sub-forum as I want to make my arms bigger (biceps, triceps, forearms) but am not looking to gain weight either.
So far I have done a decent job of losing weight while doing weights 4 to 5 times a week. The weight loss to me is probably more attributed to the calories i'm consuming. I feel like my body looks better however while doing the weights.
Something I really want to do is grow my arms a bit more. I have found that my forearms are smaller, biceps/triceps are ok. Most people say my chest and shoulders are quite broad.
I'm just curious of any exercises, reps, frequency advice that I could do to maybe help that out a bit? I don't think working on the same muscle group back to back is a good idea but could be wrong.
Thanks!
Not sure if I am in the best sub-forum as I want to make my arms bigger (biceps, triceps, forearms) but am not looking to gain weight either.
So far I have done a decent job of losing weight while doing weights 4 to 5 times a week. The weight loss to me is probably more attributed to the calories i'm consuming. I feel like my body looks better however while doing the weights.
Something I really want to do is grow my arms a bit more. I have found that my forearms are smaller, biceps/triceps are ok. Most people say my chest and shoulders are quite broad.
I'm just curious of any exercises, reps, frequency advice that I could do to maybe help that out a bit? I don't think working on the same muscle group back to back is a good idea but could be wrong.
Thanks!
0
Replies
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Let me guess..You're a dude?1
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instead of focusing on isolating your arms, why not look into a program with compound movements that will improve overall strength and body composition?1
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Ironandwine69 wrote: »Let me guess..You're a dude?
this helps the OP, how?5 -
If you're not willing to gain any weight then you won't get any bigger. Simple fact that for muscle hypertrophy to occur you must be in a hyper caloric state. Can't make somethin out of nothin bro. But for exercises start with big compounds- close grip bench for tris chin ups for bis4
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Please don't skip leg day!6
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TavistockToad wrote: »Please don't skip leg day!
this...2 -
Yeah, don't skip leg day.
... ask me how I know. lol. I embarrassed my wife Friday after I set a PR of a 225# squat.... by walking around clucking like a chicken showing off my skinny legs.
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If you want bigger arms, you need to gain muscle. Muscle has weight therefore the scales will increase.
There is no magic formula: find what works for you. I've tried low volume, heavy weights and high volume, low weights, low frequency, high frequency and everything in between. All work if they provide enough stimulus to the muscle.0 -
To get started: Do lots of pullups, pushups and dips, which are compound exercises that work your grip, forearms, biceps, triceps, delts, pecs, lats and core. No need to do bicep curls or any other muscle isolated lifts. You'll be lifting more of your own body weight doing pullups, pushups and dips.
When you can do 5x10 pullups, 5x20 pushups and 5x15 dips unweighted add a weighted vest to make the exercises more difficult which will stimulate strength development and muscle growth coupled w/a high protein diet to match your overall weight goals.
You're arms, shoulders snd pecs will get defined and pumped but don't except those bodyvparts to get BIG unlesscyou are eating more and gaining weight too.5 -
You said you want to add some size but not gain weight. If you are eating your caloric equilibrium, it is unlikely you will gain any sizable muscle mass.
Caloric surplus with the right foods coupled with proper training and rest.0 -
To get started: Do lots of pullups, pushups and dips, which are compound exercises that work your grip, forearms, biceps, triceps, delts, pecs, lats and core. No need to do bicep curls or any other muscle isolated lifts. You'll be lifting more of your own body weight doing pullups, pushups and dips.
When you can do 5x10 pullups, 5x20 pushups and 5x15 dips unweighted add a weighted vest to make the exercises more difficult which will stimulate strength development and muscle growth coupled w/a high protein diet to match your overall weight goals.
You're arms, shoulders snd pecs will get defined and pumped but don't except those bodyvparts to get BIG unlesscyou are eating more and gaining weight too.
You should get a prize for being the only one who answered the question! Man, everyone is so quick to prove what they know, that they forget to answer the question.6 -
tonyt_1982 wrote: »Hi all,
Not sure if I am in the best sub-forum as I want to make my arms bigger (biceps, triceps, forearms) but am not looking to gain weight either.
So far I have done a decent job of losing weight while doing weights 4 to 5 times a week. The weight loss to me is probably more attributed to the calories i'm consuming. I feel like my body looks better however while doing the weights.
Something I really want to do is grow my arms a bit more. I have found that my forearms are smaller, biceps/triceps are ok. Most people say my chest and shoulders are quite broad.
I'm just curious of any exercises, reps, frequency advice that I could do to maybe help that out a bit? I don't think working on the same muscle group back to back is a good idea but could be wrong.
Thanks!
This is an interesting topic.
I wonder what is optimal for frequency and volume, and if it depends on the type of muscle.
For example, the glutes.. they respond best to high frequency and volume.. so I work them very often 4-6x per week (especially when I am bulking/in surplus) results have been fantastic. However, would this work the same for biceps, chest, quads, hamstrings etc? I would imagine programming has to be very specific to spread the volume over the week as to not overly fatigue the muscles to allow for adequate recovery so they can be worked more frequently.
Maybe someone more knowledgeable can weigh in!3 -
Hi all - sorry I didn't explain myself properly last time.
In my opinion I need to lose fat but was hoping to gain muscle at the same time. So I guess when I mentioned I wanted to lose weight I probably should have said i'd like to get leaner but stronger. I wouldn't mind being the weight I am now (215 lbs - 6 ft) if my waist was much smaller and my body fat percentage was lower.
I think the ideal me is somewhere in the 180-190 range.0 -
tonyt_1982 wrote: »Hi all - sorry I didn't explain myself properly last time.
In my opinion I need to lose fat but was hoping to gain muscle at the same time. So I guess when I mentioned I wanted to lose weight I probably should have said i'd like to get leaner but stronger. I wouldn't mind being the weight I am now (215 lbs - 6 ft) if my waist was much smaller and my body fat percentage was lower.
I think the ideal me is somewhere in the 180-190 range.
You won't build muscle and lose fat. Many of the mechanisms are mutually exclusive, namely caloric intake. Muscle gain requires a caloric suplus, fat loss requires a deficit.1 -
tonyt_1982 wrote: »Hi all - sorry I didn't explain myself properly last time.
In my opinion I need to lose fat but was hoping to gain muscle at the same time. So I guess when I mentioned I wanted to lose weight I probably should have said i'd like to get leaner but stronger. I wouldn't mind being the weight I am now (215 lbs - 6 ft) if my waist was much smaller and my body fat percentage was lower.
I think the ideal me is somewhere in the 180-190 range.
Ultimately, you have to pick a priority. You can either lose the body fat, or work to gain mass. And while some can recomp where you lose fat and gain muscle while eating at maintenance, it's going to be more effective is you are relatively lean.
Overall, your arms will look bigger once you lose the extra fat. But if you are losing weight, you probably won't see a lot or any growth in size. But like others have pointed out, pick a well structured program that focuses on the core compound lifts. They will develop all of your muscles, including your arms. If you want some accessory work, then find a program that has a focus on OHP, Bench, DL and Squat but adds in the additional exercises you want. You could look at Bigger Leaner Strong as I found it has a good combination of both. Most of the focus is on the key lifts, but does include 1 or 2 accessories.
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10332083/which-lifting-program-is-the-best-for-you/p10 -
To get started: Do lots of pullups, pushups and dips, which are compound exercises that work your grip, forearms, biceps, triceps, delts, pecs, lats and core. No need to do bicep curls or any other muscle isolated lifts. You'll be lifting more of your own body weight doing pullups, pushups and dips.
When you can do 5x10 pullups, 5x20 pushups and 5x15 dips unweighted add a weighted vest to make the exercises more difficult which will stimulate strength development and muscle growth coupled w/a high protein diet to match your overall weight goals.
You're arms, shoulders snd pecs will get defined and pumped but don't except those bodyvparts to get BIG unlesscyou are eating more and gaining weight too.
Nice thoughts. Loaded carries are another compound exercise that will do wonders for the core and grip.0 -
tonyt_1982 wrote: »Hi all - sorry I didn't explain myself properly last time.
In my opinion I need to lose fat but was hoping to gain muscle at the same time. So I guess when I mentioned I wanted to lose weight I probably should have said i'd like to get leaner but stronger. I wouldn't mind being the weight I am now (215 lbs - 6 ft) if my waist was much smaller and my body fat percentage was lower.
I think the ideal me is somewhere in the 180-190 range.
keep eating in a small calorie deficit - 250 calories - and get on a structured lifting program that will work your whole body....0 -
Thanks all - will give it a go and try to find a workout plan that works for me. I like to workout from home using free weights.
When I was looking at some of the full-body workout programs they were structured around 3/week. I was a bit confused as I always thought I didn't really need the cardio and to do what I enjoy. If I go down to 3 weight workouts per week, should I be doing some cardio as well on the in-between days?0 -
tonyt_1982 wrote: »Thanks all - will give it a go and try to find a workout plan that works for me. I like to workout from home using free weights.
When I was looking at some of the full-body workout programs they were structured around 3/week. I was a bit confused as I always thought I didn't really need the cardio and to do what I enjoy. If I go down to 3 weight workouts per week, should I be doing some cardio as well on the in-between days?
you can mix in cardio on off days if you want to, or not, that is up to you ...
when I first starting losing weight I was lifting three times a week and running about three times a week with one day of rest....0 -
I'm old and female but I'm putting up a couple of pics anyway. The first one about 5 or 6 weeks ago (pink shirt) and the other two days ago. I'm eating at a deficit now and the difference in weight is only 4 or 5 lbs, but as you lose, the muscles become more defined as long as you're working them as suggested in many of the comments above. At my age I'll probably never do a cut/bulk cycle but I have taken diet breaks where I eat at maintenance for a few weeks, just came off one of those, and then go back to deficit to lose the remaining stubborn fat.
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Noted!loftus4827 wrote: »If you're not willing to gain any weight then you won't get any bigger. Simple fact that for muscle hypertrophy to occur you must be in a hyper caloric state. Can't make somethin out of nothin bro....
Listening and learning!
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you want big arms you need to lift heavy and I also full rang of motion on every rep and concentrate and hold at the top of the movement almost like im flexing the tissue during every rep.... there is no special formula just give it time and they will grow good luck0
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It's funny how you get advice from some people that don't have big arms. But they are an authority on the subject. It's like I don't have big arms but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night. Been lifting for 6 months type of people and now they are experts,lol.8
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you can do forearm curls and reverse grip forearm curls. they will add strength and size to your forearms. I would also prioritize triceps. they are the larger arm muscle and you wont ever have arms that are powerful or look powerful without big triceps. I know losing weight is important but remember once you lose the weight whatever you have under there is what your going to look like. if you want to be skinny or skinny fat than just lose weight. if you want to be toned or muscular you need to build a nice muscular base.1
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It's funny how you get advice from some people that don't have big arms. But they are an authority on the subject. It's like I don't have big arms but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night. Been lifting for 6 months type of people and now they are experts,lol.
How you defining big arms? Because this is the equivalent of saying overweight people cant give you advice on weight loss.1 -
It's funny how you get advice from some people that don't have big arms. But they are an authority on the subject. It's like I don't have big arms but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night. Been lifting for 6 months type of people and now they are experts,lol.
How you defining big arms? Because this is the equivalent of saying overweight people cant give you advice on weight loss.
Yeah, and? Would you ask a salesman how to fix a car or a mechanic?
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It's funny how you get advice from some people that don't have big arms. But they are an authority on the subject. It's like I don't have big arms but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night. Been lifting for 6 months type of people and now they are experts,lol.
How you defining big arms? Because this is the equivalent of saying overweight people cant give you advice on weight loss.
well yea... Just like on here... they can... But I wouldn't listen to them 0 -
My arms are kind of big for a girl, but I'm not going to give advice based on that.
All I was going to say is that Shaun Stafford often posts his workouts on Instagram, and those are some SERIOUS arms right there!0 -
Funny how these discussions digress. LOL!
A lot of it comes down to pure volume. Whether it's once a week or split-up multiple times a week, it doesn't seem to matter a whole lot. Dr. Schoenfeld posted some research about this topic a couple years ago and you can probably still find it on his web-site, I'd suggest giving it a read.0 -
It's funny how you get advice from some people that don't have big arms. But they are an authority on the subject. It's like I don't have big arms but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night. Been lifting for 6 months type of people and now they are experts,lol.
How you defining big arms? Because this is the equivalent of saying overweight people cant give you advice on weight loss.
Yeah, and? Would you ask a salesman how to fix a car or a mechanic?
Not exactly a good analogy. Because someone can get big arms through the use of a good coach. In fact, they only need to follow a prescribed plan, work hard, with little to no knowledge. Hell, you can go onto Instagram of FB and find tons of these clowns.
So if your definition based on 16", 18", 20"? Do they have to be natty? How much do they have to lift? Or is this, you know it when you see it type thing?3
This discussion has been closed.
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