Stop Worrying About Arms

camarosuper6 · 12-24-2006, 11:51 AM

Ive been a member of this board for a little over three years, and quite honestly joining this board back in 03 literally opened my eyes and caused a dramatic change in the way I trained forever.

There are a lot of good stickies, great information and quite a few good guys who have accumilated a lot of good knowledge and experience over the years.

However, one thing that never fails to amaze me, after all the stickies and information Robert and crew have provided for new people and veterans alike, is the amount of time people spend worrying about bringing up their arms.

Obviously everyone wants big arms... seeing that they are probably the prime showoff muscle other than abs, and big arms seem to define a highschoolers "cool" factor in PE class.

What lots of new guys and even some veteran guys dont realize is that arms are involved in virtually every upper body movement you can do (save a select few), and are usually the most overtrained bodypart by FAR.

People read the magazine articles about multiple sets, reps, rest-pauses, high volume, iso tension, flexion, twist the wrist 30 degrees right, so on and so on for "huge" arms. What most people dont realize is that they are so terribly weak in their prime compound movements, they not only do not have the strength or neuro-coordination to yet have large arms, but their POTENTIAL for much larger arms is being hampered by their lack of total body strength in heavy compound movements.

Take a look at yourself. What are your bodybuilding goals? Have you acheived them yet? Answer is almost surely no, and if your like me, your probably not even close to being where you want to be. Let me share with you my thought proccess when I see where I want to be...

My goal is to because bascially as strong and massive as I can, using minimal supplments and other products. I would like to achieve the 275 lb mark this year at a bodyfat level under 14 percent. What is the fastest and most logical way to get there..... doing bicep curls and tricep extension for 10 sets twice a week?

No.

Heavy squats, deadlifts, rows, dips, presses, etc, etc, etc. Show me a person who rows over 350 lbs and presses two times his bodyweight and I will show you a person who doenst worry about direct arm movements or lying tricep pullovers.

Because your arms are directly involved in all upper body compound movements, why waste your time on curling a measly 100lbs when you could be working on rowing or chinning 250 plus? Which do you think is going to build stronger, bigger triceps.... 80lb extensions, or weighted dips with 100 lbs strapped to your waist?

Not that I am saying direct arms work is BAD... its not. I do believe that for OPTIMAL arm size a very small amount of direct arm work is probably needed, although with minimal volume..... probably less than half most people do now.
( I do one direct bicep and one direct tricep movement on my upper days.. my arms arent suffering one bit)

Unless you are a very advanced trainee who is well into their upper strength limits or are completely satisfied with your current status...(I would sure hope nobody is completely satisfied with themselves).. then quit worrying about pumping your guns, and worry about increasing your total body strength, and watch your arms take care of themselves.

Good day

plewser2006 · 12-24-2006, 01:00 PM

agreed...

but coming from my scronny ass maybe i should just shut up...
[12 inch arms]

**Gazhole** · 12-24-2006, 01:15 PM

This got a standing ovation from me, lol.

The next step is to get people to believe it.

TheCurse · 12-24-2006, 01:38 PM

i dont train anything but arms.

juggernaut · 12-24-2006, 02:16 PM

I am guilty of wondering about arms, as far as asking for some arm routines.
However, I am a competitive bodybuilder and have a thing for being very symmetrical. If I ask about arms, or if i am willing to specialize, its only because I want to bring them up so that i feel more confident or want to present a better overall package on stage and not because I'm vain. I should also mention that my workouts are surrounded by compound exercises because they are simple and they work.

camarosuper6 · 12-24-2006, 02:23 PM

A few things Ive noticed....

Rack deads and pulls do much more for my traps than shrugs... Ill never do shrugs again.

Chins destroy my biceps...even more than heavy barbell curls. I rotate three bicep exercises... barbell curls, one arm dumbell curls and closegrip chins.

Military Pressreally hammers my triceps... along with heavy dips for my and close grip bench on a smith machine for safety.

Overhead pressing movements are all I need for shoulders. I no longer do laterals....although I do see the validity for using them. I do believe they cap the shoulders well.

I do not hate machines... as long as the weight is heavy, I use free weights, smith and hammer strength. Granted free weight being my first choice, I see nothing wrong with using smith and hammer for saftey puposes. As long as your overload is progressive... you will get larger.

Squats and deadlifts period.

If your doing all the above exercises.... your core gets very strong, so doing direct core work should be kept at minimal volume, or if will effect your other lifts.

AKIRA · 12-24-2006, 03:50 PM

Weighted or even BW Chinups do give my biceps a unique burn not felt in direct bicep movements.

I did arms today! After 1 incline DB Press, 1 Stading Overhead Press, 1 Wide Grip Pullup, and 1 Bent Over Row. Hah, but I did 2 sets of light curls and 2 sets of light extensions. Only 2 exercises total.

Squaggleboggin · 12-24-2006, 06:35 PM

One-arm BB benches, overhead Bulgarian squats and Turkish get ups work the shoulders and triceps quite a bit. It's hard to force your body to stabilize more than that. They're definitely not very popular exercises, but damn do they work, as only a few other examples.

zl214 · 12-24-2006, 08:54 PM

bicep curls worked quite well for me, i now can curl as much as deadlift....

**Prince** · 12-24-2006, 08:58 PM

just get arm implants.

vortrit · 12-24-2006, 09:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by plewser2006

agreed...

but coming from my scronny ass maybe i should just shut up...
[12 inch arms]

Yay! I've got bigger arms than somebody (13). Personally, when the get to about 15 or maybe less it's all maintenance for me.

zl214 · 12-24-2006, 10:31 PM

BTW, can anyone explain waht core strength is?

juggernaut · 12-25-2006, 12:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Prince

just get arm implants.

juggernaut · 12-25-2006, 12:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zl214

BTW, can anyone explain waht core strength is?

Triple Threat · 12-25-2006, 10:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zl214

BTW, can anyone explain waht core strength is?

Center of the body strength. For me that means abs, obliques, lower back, hips, and glutes.

juggernaut · 12-25-2006, 12:43 PM

core strength is kind of overrated; whenever you do compounds your core is utilized, as well as several other exercises. I believe that "core strength" got its popularity from the fatasses that merely sit on their fat fucking asses looking for the latest gadget found on tv that will work their core strength or in their pencilneck minds burn the fat while building abs. We as BBers and fitness enthusiasts alike work our core most of the time when we pick a weight up.
I actually FUHHHHCKING hate saying those two words. It makes me think of a really bad movie called Perfect with when Jamie Lee Curtis was actually hot, or those dumb fucking Tony Little commercials.

KarlW · 12-25-2006, 07:51 PM

Ahhh..... dips with several pounds of weight dangling between your legs. There's no better feeling.

zl214 · 12-25-2006, 08:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Triple Threat

Center of the body strength. For me that means abs, obliques, lower back, hips, and glutes.

Quote:

Originally Posted by juggernaut

core strength is kind of overrated; whenever you do compounds your core is utilized, as well as several other exercises. I believe that "core strength" got its popularity from the fatasses that merely sit on their fat fucking asses looking for the latest gadget found on tv that will work their core strength or in their pencilneck minds burn the fat while building abs. We as BBers and fitness enthusiasts alike work our core most of the time when we pick a weight up.
I actually FUHHHHCKING hate saying those two words. It makes me think of a really bad movie called Perfect with when Jamie Lee Curtis was actually hot, or those dumb fucking Tony Little commercials.

I dont do direct ab workout at all, but i do other compound exercises such as front squating, DL, Power clean. can these compound exercises replace direct ab exercises?

Witchblade · 12-25-2006, 08:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zl214

I dont do direct ab workout at all, but i do other compound exercises such as front squating, DL, Power clean. can these compound exercises replace direct ab exercises?

No need to do direct ab work then. You could do some leg raises or reverse crunches once a month or something if you have some time left.

**CowPimp** · 12-25-2006, 11:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by camarosuper6

A few things Ive noticed....

Rack deads and pulls do much more for my traps than shrugs... Ill never do shrugs again.

Chins destroy my biceps...even more than heavy barbell curls. I rotate three bicep exercises... barbell curls, one arm dumbell curls and closegrip chins.

Military Pressreally hammers my triceps... along with heavy dips for my and close grip bench on a smith machine for safety.

Overhead pressing movements are all I need for shoulders. I no longer do laterals....although I do see the validity for using them. I do believe they cap the shoulders well.

I do not hate machines... as long as the weight is heavy, I use free weights, smith and hammer strength. Granted free weight being my first choice, I see nothing wrong with using smith and hammer for saftey puposes. As long as your overload is progressive... you will get larger.

Squats and deadlifts period.

If your doing all the above exercises.... your core gets very strong, so doing direct core work should be kept at minimal volume, or if will effect your other lifts.

I agree with a lot of those selections. I pretty much never do shrugs, except once in a while with dumbbells for some challenge to my grip. Deadlift variations, good mornings, farmer's walks, and good ol' rows take care of the traps.

I also like the mention of overhead pressing being great for triceps. Triceps always seems to make or break my overhead pressing; it's pretty much always a question of locking out.

Do I do direct arm work? Yes, sometimes. Do I think direct arm work, and isolation work all around is bad? No, but as stated, a lot of people overdo it. Get a good balanced base of compound movements down, and throw in some beach/extra shit for your weak points and call it a day.

zl214 · 12-25-2006, 11:33 PM

interesting enough, This is something i came across today.

i was laughing my head off when i saw this pic.

KarlW · 12-25-2006, 11:44 PM

Quote:

Deadlift variations, good mornings, farmer's walks, and good ol' rows take care of the traps.

Not to mention power cleans

**CowPimp** · 12-26-2006, 12:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by juggernaut

core strength is kind of overrated; whenever you do compounds your core is utilized, as well as several other exercises. I believe that "core strength" got its popularity from the fatasses that merely sit on their fat fucking asses looking for the latest gadget found on tv that will work their core strength or in their pencilneck minds burn the fat while building abs. We as BBers and fitness enthusiasts alike work our core most of the time when we pick a weight up.
I actually FUHHHHCKING hate saying those two words. It makes me think of a really bad movie called Perfect with when Jamie Lee Curtis was actually hot, or those dumb fucking Tony Little commercials.

There are some very intense core exercises. I'm not talking about doing stability ball overhead extensions. Have you ever tried core statics with a band? Wow, those are fucking hard.

Strongwarrior · 12-26-2006, 01:43 AM

Arms are very important! Show me a bodybuilder with small arms, and I'll automaticaly think he is pathetic! It's also about proportion too, you can't just have huge legs, chest and back, and have spaggetii arms, it just looks bad

StanUk · 12-26-2006, 04:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zl214

interesting enough, This is something i came across today.

i was laughing my head off when i saw this pic.

Wow, that guys arms are huge compared to his chest, that just doesnt look right at all!

zl214 · 12-26-2006, 05:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Strongwarrior

Arms are very important! Show me a bodybuilder with small arms, and I'll automaticaly think he is pathetic! It's also about proportion too, you can't just have huge legs, chest and back, and have spaggetii arms, it just looks bad

the original post was about the redundancy of direct arm exercise, not about the actual arm size.

i think the point of this post is that if you have a huge back/chest/legs, you will have huge arms. that is why excessive direct arm workout (which many people are using) is not necessary.

12-24-2006, 11:51 AM	#1
camarosuper6 Back Home In SOCAL Elite Member Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: California Posts: 3,354	Stop Worrying About Arms Ive been a member of this board for a little over three years, and quite honestly joining this board back in 03 literally opened my eyes and caused a dramatic change in the way I trained forever. There are a lot of good stickies, great information and quite a few good guys who have accumilated a lot of good knowledge and experience over the years. However, one thing that never fails to amaze me, after all the stickies and information Robert and crew have provided for new people and veterans alike, is the amount of time people spend worrying about bringing up their arms. Obviously everyone wants big arms... seeing that they are probably the prime showoff muscle other than abs, and big arms seem to define a highschoolers "cool" factor in PE class. What lots of new guys and even some veteran guys dont realize is that arms are involved in virtually every upper body movement you can do (save a select few), and are usually the most overtrained bodypart by FAR. People read the magazine articles about multiple sets, reps, rest-pauses, high volume, iso tension, flexion, twist the wrist 30 degrees right, so on and so on for "huge" arms. What most people dont realize is that they are so terribly weak in their prime compound movements, they not only do not have the strength or neuro-coordination to yet have large arms, but their POTENTIAL for much larger arms is being hampered by their lack of total body strength in heavy compound movements. Take a look at yourself. What are your bodybuilding goals? Have you acheived them yet? Answer is almost surely no, and if your like me, your probably not even close to being where you want to be. Let me share with you my thought proccess when I see where I want to be... My goal is to because bascially as strong and massive as I can, using minimal supplments and other products. I would like to achieve the 275 lb mark this year at a bodyfat level under 14 percent. What is the fastest and most logical way to get there..... doing bicep curls and tricep extension for 10 sets twice a week? No. Heavy squats, deadlifts, rows, dips, presses, etc, etc, etc. Show me a person who rows over 350 lbs and presses two times his bodyweight and I will show you a person who doenst worry about direct arm movements or lying tricep pullovers. Because your arms are directly involved in all upper body compound movements, why waste your time on curling a measly 100lbs when you could be working on rowing or chinning 250 plus? Which do you think is going to build stronger, bigger triceps.... 80lb extensions, or weighted dips with 100 lbs strapped to your waist? Not that I am saying direct arms work is BAD... its not. I do believe that for OPTIMAL arm size a very small amount of direct arm work is probably needed, although with minimal volume..... probably less than half most people do now. ( I do one direct bicep and one direct tricep movement on my upper days.. my arms arent suffering one bit) Unless you are a very advanced trainee who is well into their upper strength limits or are completely satisfied with your current status...(I would sure hope nobody is completely satisfied with themselves).. then quit worrying about pumping your guns, and worry about increasing your total body strength, and watch your arms take care of themselves. Good day
	"TOLERANCE is the virtue of a man without convictions" G.K.Chesterton Boot Shine and Polish $15. New Uniforms: $250 New gun and holster: $450 Looking like a stud in uniform: Priceless Girl: Me and this new guy are getting kinda chummy. Me: Good chummy? Like friends forever? Girl: Ya Me: Or Chummy like, spank my ass chummy?

12-24-2006, 01:15 PM	#3
Gazhole iwillmakeyousmelltheglove Moderator Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Wales, UK Posts: 6,535 Photos: 18	This got a standing ovation from me, lol. The next step is to get people to believe it.
	http://sdatrainingprograms.blogspot.com - Updated 02/12/08 "Do i not like that? No, i do not not like that, i LIKE that!"

12-24-2006, 01:38 PM	#4
TheCurse Barbell Ninja Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Dago Posts: 767 Photos: 6	i dont train anything but arms.
	Still Alive.

12-24-2006, 02:16 PM	#5
juggernaut hybrid of machine & skin Elite Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Mars Posts: 4,148 Photos: 2	I am guilty of wondering about arms, as far as asking for some arm routines. However, I am a competitive bodybuilder and have a thing for being very symmetrical. If I ask about arms, or if i am willing to specialize, its only because I want to bring them up so that i feel more confident or want to present a better overall package on stage and not because I'm vain. I should also mention that my workouts are surrounded by compound exercises because they are simple and they work.
	Eat well, train daily, die anyway.

12-24-2006, 02:23 PM	#6
camarosuper6 Back Home In SOCAL Elite Member Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: California Posts: 3,354	A few things Ive noticed.... Rack deads and pulls do much more for my traps than shrugs... Ill never do shrugs again. Chins destroy my biceps...even more than heavy barbell curls. I rotate three bicep exercises... barbell curls, one arm dumbell curls and closegrip chins. Military Pressreally hammers my triceps... along with heavy dips for my and close grip bench on a smith machine for safety. Overhead pressing movements are all I need for shoulders. I no longer do laterals....although I do see the validity for using them. I do believe they cap the shoulders well. I do not hate machines... as long as the weight is heavy, I use free weights, smith and hammer strength. Granted free weight being my first choice, I see nothing wrong with using smith and hammer for saftey puposes. As long as your overload is progressive... you will get larger. Squats and deadlifts period. If your doing all the above exercises.... your core gets very strong, so doing direct core work should be kept at minimal volume, or if will effect your other lifts.
	"TOLERANCE is the virtue of a man without convictions" G.K.Chesterton Boot Shine and Polish $15. New Uniforms: $250 New gun and holster: $450 Looking like a stud in uniform: Priceless Girl: Me and this new guy are getting kinda chummy. Me: Good chummy? Like friends forever? Girl: Ya Me: Or Chummy like, spank my ass chummy?

12-24-2006, 01:00 PM	#2
plewser2006 Young & Dumb User Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Florida Posts: 90 Photos: 2	agreed... but coming from my scronny ass maybe i should just shut up... [12 inch arms]

12-24-2006, 03:50 PM	#7
AKIRA I am Rollo Tomassee.. Elite Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Outside the box Posts: 7,925 Photos: 3	Weighted or even BW Chinups do give my biceps a unique burn not felt in direct bicep movements. I did arms today! After 1 incline DB Press, 1 Stading Overhead Press, 1 Wide Grip Pullup, and 1 Bent Over Row. Hah, but I did 2 sets of light curls and 2 sets of light extensions. Only 2 exercises total.
	6' 209lbs (8/16) Bench 365 (12/3) Weighted Pullups 80lbs 3x3 (3/19) Squat 370 Deadlift after herniation 385lbs 3x3 (3/17) NASM certified 2/06 Journal

12-24-2006, 06:35 PM	#8
Squaggleboggin Functional Lifting = Life Join Date: Sep 2004 Posts: 3,540 Photos: 3	One-arm BB benches, overhead Bulgarian squats and Turkish get ups work the shoulders and triceps quite a bit. It's hard to force your body to stabilize more than that. They're definitely not very popular exercises, but damn do they work, as only a few other examples.
	Push yourself. Enjoy yourself. Be yourself. Knowledge is power. Obsessed with functional strength. Journal

12-24-2006, 08:54 PM	#9
zl214 Registered User Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 144	bicep curls worked quite well for me, i now can curl as much as deadlift....
zl214 Registered User Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 144

12-24-2006, 08:58 PM	#10
Prince the one & only Administrator Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: Colorado Posts: 34,003 Blog Entries: 25 Photos: 320	just get arm implants.
	SBMuscle.com - Discount Supplement Superstore AlltheWhey.com - Bulk Protein Powders CEM Products - Research Chemicals & Supplements MusclePharm - Complete Nutritional Arsenal BigBackGrips - If you lift weights you've got to try these grips! HumaneVoLabs - Foaming Transdermal Delivery System. Creatine Ethyl Ester HCL (CEE) On Sale $17.49 per bottle!

12-24-2006, 10:31 PM	#12
zl214 Registered User Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 144	BTW, can anyone explain waht core strength is?
zl214 Registered User Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 144

12-25-2006, 12:43 PM	#16
juggernaut hybrid of machine & skin Elite Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Mars Posts: 4,148 Photos: 2	core strength is kind of overrated; whenever you do compounds your core is utilized, as well as several other exercises. I believe that "core strength" got its popularity from the fatasses that merely sit on their fat fucking asses looking for the latest gadget found on tv that will work their core strength or in their pencilneck minds burn the fat while building abs. We as BBers and fitness enthusiasts alike work our core most of the time when we pick a weight up. I actually FUHHHHCKING hate saying those two words. It makes me think of a really bad movie called Perfect with when Jamie Lee Curtis was actually hot, or those dumb fucking Tony Little commercials.
	Eat well, train daily, die anyway.

12-25-2006, 07:51 PM	#17
KarlW My Little Man Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Sydney Oz Posts: 1,030	Ahhh..... dips with several pounds of weight dangling between your legs. There's no better feeling.
	What this means is that when we drop a ball and it falls to the ground, it wasn't the ball that moved (down to the ground), but the ground that moved (up to the ball)

12-26-2006, 01:43 AM	#24
Strongwarrior Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Posts: 151	Arms are very important! Show me a bodybuilder with small arms, and I'll automaticaly think he is pathetic! It's also about proportion too, you can't just have huge legs, chest and back, and have spaggetii arms, it just looks bad
Strongwarrior Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Posts: 151