# Need help adding size to arms!



## 502 (Mar 4, 2014)

Okay, I'm eating 3-3500 calories a day, on test and npp currently. I'm gaining size everywhere except arms. My chest has grown, my quads, calves, lats, spinal erectors, abs, everything has grown except my arms. I have set aside a full workout for just arms. They have gotten stronger but don't seem to be growing to keep up with the rest of my body. I'll give an example of my arm workout.

Tri push downs cables- 200lb(max weight on the machine) 3-5 sets of 15 1 day and sets of 8-10 on chest day
Single arm tri pushdowns on cables 70lb 5x12-15 on each arm
Cable curls 100lb 3-5 sets of 15
Skull crushers- 75lb bar 5x12
dumbbell curls 35lb dumbbells 5x12
tri push downs on the machine i think it goes to 220lbs I'm doing that 5x10
Reverse grip curls 50lb ez curl bar 5x10

What am i doing wrong? Arms are definately stronger than ever but I'm not seeing the size increase I want. My arms are only 15" maybe 15 1/4".


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## 502 (Mar 4, 2014)

I guess I should add i do plumbing, so i'm constantly lifting heavy ass shit such as jack hammers and shit at work too. Maybe overtraining them? I don't believe in overtraining but maybe I'm wrong.


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## losieloos (Mar 4, 2014)

Do 4-6 exercises for both the bis and tris. Focus on higher volume and getting a lot of blood in there. dont have an arm day that's a douche move. Just train them with chest or back. Arm day....lol waste of ****ing time


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## PillarofBalance (Mar 4, 2014)

Probably not over training them. Best thing that got my arms to grow was to seriously push my bench training.  Heavy bench, floor press, bench with a sling shot, JM Press and a shitload of pushdowns a few nights per week.  For biceps I really only hit some dumbbell curls and really only enough to keep my elbows healthy. Maybe 6 sets per week?


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## widehips71 (Mar 4, 2014)

Too much machines, not enough weighted dips and heavy close grip bench.  IMO that is.  And keep those elbows tucked in close!


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## amore169 (Mar 4, 2014)

What's your current body weight and your height?


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## jennerrator (Mar 4, 2014)

hammers, preachers and BB curls


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## mistah187 (Mar 4, 2014)

More reps. Shock ur body.  Do things u never do. Get up to 20 25 reps. Look up rich piana arm blast on youtube. He does some odd stuff that has my arms screamin lately.


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## 502 (Mar 4, 2014)

amore169 said:


> What's your current body weight and your height?



5'7 175lbs

Yea pob that's what i've been doing. Few nights a week, if nothing else hitting the shit after my main workout for the night. Yes i've watched rich piana's arm blast. I actually follow a lot of rich's video's. I actually had a conversation with him or his publicist on facebook one night whoever it was.

I am going to start doing more dips though. I slacked off on them due to shoulder pain, but i just won't go as deep and i'll be fine. my bench is up to 295 right now POB. not bad, not reached my goal of 315 yet but i'm getting there. I do sets of 10 with 225 and then do a few sets of 5 with 250.


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## Assassin32 (Mar 4, 2014)

Close grip bench and skull crushers are my favs. Also get a great pump from cable overhead tricep extensions. I never do more than 3 exercises for tris. Bis are a kind of a bust for me due to a full distal bicep rupture 2 years ago. I barely get a pump in my right bicep. Just gotta find what works best for you. Good luck 503.


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## Azog (Mar 4, 2014)

Only thing that works for me is slow controlled reps. Really stretch that shit on the negative. Be fairly explosive on the positive, but actively squeeze the target muscle. Make the weight as hard as possible. Reps between 6-12. Superset bis/tris for nasty blood flow and pump. I like deadhang curls on preachers or over the back of incline benches. Cable curls are great too if done properly. Do lot's of hammer.type curls. They will add width/thickness to the bi.

Biggest tip: DON'T ****ING EGO LIFT!!!!


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## AlphaD (Mar 4, 2014)

My arms have always responded through my major lifts.  In fact I never devote a day to arms and do not hit them with multiple arm focused sets.  What has worked for me is Dips (weighted), Skull crushers (flat and Incline), Strict BB curls, and any hammer movements (really squeezing).


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## halfwit (Mar 4, 2014)

PillarofBalance said:


> Probably not over training them. Best thing that got my arms to grow was to seriously push my bench training.  Heavy bench, floor press, bench with a sling shot, *JM Press and a shitload of pushdowns* a few nights per week.  For biceps I really only hit some dumbbell curls and really only enough to keep my elbows healthy. Maybe 6 sets per week?



If the bolded doesn't add size to your arms, nothing will.  Be prepared for a lot of difficulty doing anything afterwards though.  JM presses are not for the faint of heart, that's for sure.

Not sure why having an "arm day" is a douche move.  If you run a 5-6 day split, you can easily have arms on their own day, as long as it's not before a compound day involving that muscle group.  Ex:  Biceps before back day, triceps before chest day, etc.

Be sure to stretch those forearms too.  I see way too many guys moving their wrists only to have problems because those poor tendons aren't all warmed up.  I think of it as the same thing as doing rotator stretches on chest day (if you're not, you really should be) or a good back/core stretch on back day.  A little prevention goes a long way.  

My .02c


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## shenky (Mar 4, 2014)

Did not know what a JM press was until now.


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## Fsuphisig (Mar 4, 2014)

my biceps got their biggest when i did zero bicep exercises but devoted a good amount of energy and time into hangcleans and pullups
as with triceps plenty of overhead press and dips to 100, do them in as little sets as you can and try to knock it down each week
maybe try tracking your weights with them to make sure your doing things youve never done before, and bump up the cals


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## windycityamateur (Mar 4, 2014)

I've found the best results by switching exercises only semi frequently. I.E. do dumbbell curls almost exclusively (~6-8 working sets), then finish off with a machine (light drop sets usually), constantly increasing weight and reps for 8-10 weeks. Then, 8-10 weeks later, switch to BB curls as a main focus. This has worked for me recently (not on cycle currently), but when i was actually on gear it didn't matter too much what I did: they just grew non stop w/ everything else.


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## scott_vass (Mar 27, 2014)

I agree with halfwit, seems you're forgetting forearms. Train forearms first, triceps next then finish with biceps. Lately I've been throwing in some bicep sets on back day and triceps sets on chest/shoulder days just to keep them pumped up and have noticed some pretty satisfactory gains.


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## BigGameHunter (Mar 27, 2014)

widehips71 said:


> Too much machines, not enough weighted dips and heavy close grip bench.  IMO that is.  And keep those elbows tucked in close!



Dips are a must if want to grow and look good.  They hit your chest and triceps hard.  I do them on chest day and shoulder and tris day.  

You get to the point you can do 3 sets of 12 with proper form, your ready for a weight belt and some steel attached to it.  

Warning: if you don't have the form you will jack up your back and neck.  Be careful and keep us posted.

Oh start dating larger MILFS.


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## nightster (Mar 27, 2014)

I read that a close grip row works well on bi's  the curls catch more of one the second one is more engaged with the row..   I may have read wrong though.


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## Anabolic Reality (Mar 27, 2014)

I have big arms. My secret is chronic masturbation. Not just a ginger stroke or two. Gotta really work it over...kinda like the shake weight.


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## nightster (Mar 27, 2014)

Anabolic Reality said:


> I have big arms. My secret is chronic masturbation. Not just a ginger stroke or two. Gotta really work it over...kinda like the shake weight.




ha ha ha ......


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## Dtownry (Mar 28, 2014)

What all the other guys are saying.  I don't really even train arms directly and my arms aren't huge but they aren't small either...

Look at what POB and widehips said.

When you lift heavy shi$ a side effect is that you get big arms.


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## Anabolic Reality (Mar 28, 2014)

Dtownry said:


> What all the other guys are saying.  I don't really even train arms directly and my arms aren't huge but they aren't small either...
> 
> Look at what POB and widehips said.
> 
> When you lift heavy shi$ a side effect is that you get big arms.



Agreed. In all seriousness, forearm training is a joke. If you lift weight without assistance (straps) you're essentially always utilizing your forearms. All pulling exercises work biceps and all pushing tris (obviously). So lift heavy and ur arms will grow. Genetically they just might not be your strong area....

Jacking off joke was more entertaining though...


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## Achilles (Apr 15, 2014)

Get away from machines, your body has adapted. Got to heavy barbell curls, hammer, preacher. Skull crushers, overhead dumbell extensions, dips You could also do supersets on all these excercises to really push the blood and tear those muscle fibers down in a hurry. Got to keep your protein intake up and stay hydrated.


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