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2003/05/26, 09:14 PM
Info I found on getting big arms
What limits the size of our arms?
The first limit to upper arm size is overall mass. The human body needs to stay in proportion or else it will get injured, it's as simple as that. If your bicep is much stronger than your back, your back will not be able to handle the same force as your arms can, this imbalance will likely result in a back injury. Although a small difference can be made by direct arm training, the largest difference will be made by simply eating more and training the large compound movements such as deadlifts, squats, dips, bench press, military press and the like. I've heard it said that every 10lbs of lean body mass will add 1" to your arms, I find that a little exaggerated but it's along the right lines.
The second limitation to arm size is the size of the synergists that work with the arms. In the case of the upper arms this could be said to be particularly the forearms and shoulders. Have you ever seen a guy with tiny shoulders that flow into massive upper arms? It's anatomically impossible. In the same way have you ever seen a guy with tiny stringy forearms that flow into massive 20" upper arms? No, nor have I. So the lesson here is, train your forearms and your shoulders hard if you want larger arms. For shoulders I would recommend military press as a primary exercise, and side laterals secondly. For forearms heavy deadlifts, grippers, wrist curls, reverse curls, farmers walk, anything that involves grip will build bigger upper arms.
Other Upper Arm Muscles
Whilst everyone is concentrating on the bicep and tricep the brachialis often gets forgotten. It is essential that the brachilias is trained in order to get a look of thickness to the arms. The brachialis lies between the tricep and bicep and its primary function is to help flex the elbow with the forearm pronated. It is best worked by hammer curls, hammer curls are an essential movement in every arm routine.
How to build your biceps
The biceps perform two roles, they flex the elbow and they supinate the forearm. A supinated forearm is one in which the palm is facing upwards, pronated the palm is facing downwards. To create the most bicep involvement the palm needs to be facing upwards throughout the curling motion. This is why barbell curls are the best all round bicep exercise, they force your hands to be supinated throughout the movement and also they allow you to handle the most weight. EZ curl bars are not ideal as they force your hands to be slightly pronated. Dumbell curls are another good mass builder as they allow you to concentrate on one arm at a time, they allow you to supinate/pronate the arm to the degree of your choice, and as an added bonus they require more torso/oblique stabilisation. Preacher curls have the bonus isolating the bicep, they don't allow you to swing or cheat the weight up. Any other exercise is just a variation of the above.
What would a good bicep routine look like?
As long as it includes barbell curls and hammer curls it's a good bicep routine. If you wish to include a third exercise it may be best to change it each week and keep barbell curls and hammer curls constant as your core exercises. In terms of volume I would perform between 4-8 sets, the biceps are a small muscle and easily overworked, don't forget that. Also they get worked heavily during all kinds of rows for the back, pulldowns and chins. So overtraining the biceps is a strong possibility.
How to build your triceps
The triceps make up something like 2/3 of upper arm mass, if you want bigger arms the triceps are the muscles to build. The triceps are a powerful muscle, they have a much higher percentage of fast twitch muscle fibres than the biceps. If you want to build them, you need to take advantage of this and use movements where you shift some serious weight. The best movements for direct tricep work is undoubtedly skullcrushers. Lay on a bench and bring the bar down to your face, not over the back of your head; if you bring it down to your face you stop the deltoids taking the strain and make the triceps work harder. Any other direct tricep movements such as pushdowns and kickbacks can and should be used to change things up, but not as a core exercise.
The triceps are involved heavily in nearly all chest movements, and it is these movements that will really add meat to your triceps. The two primary movements being narrow grip bench press, and parallel dips. Narrow grip bench press speaks for itself, the narrower you go the more the triceps do the work, but don't go so narrow that it severely affects the amount of weight you can push. Just narrower than shoulder width is fine. The second primary movement is dips on parallel bars. If you want to hit your triceps more than chest you need to be using the narrowest section of the bars, (assuming they do narrow) keeping your body upright, and have your elbows tucked close to your body.
If your routine has dips, narrow grip bench and skullcrushers in it you cannot fail to build good triceps. I find that three sets of each is plenty but volume is an individual thing.
Remember if you want bigger arms.. eat more.
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2003/05/27, 01:20 PM
This is an excellent article. Overall body workout is needed. A message to all who try to just work chest and arms for instance. Balance in physique is essential for normal strength and gains to occur. Do not sluff off on any body part. A lagging part will do nothing but hold you back, and eventually get you hurt. Look at a guy like Frank Zane, a former Mr. Olympia, not the largest, but so very proportioned.
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As far as genetics go, the skies the limit. You are limited only by your mental perception of it.
Ron
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