lagging arms

[Manovsteel1]

My arms have always been a weak point for me. I've trained them on their own, with back, with chest and I still can't get them to grow. I ve added weight to my frame but my arms seem to be too small for my body type. I can curl pretty heavy and I dip with 50 lbs on my belt, trying everything here, any advice would be appreciated, thanks.

[TT Eric]

Arms have been a pita here also. Tried many things over ~ a 12 years span, and finally found a way that helps, they are almost at par with the rest of the body.

For myself I found that they were easy to overtrain, they profit more from less exercises and sets, but higher frequency.

Also when I train my back I use exercises like reverse or neutral grip chin-ups, those are really good for building good biceps.

I also always include one exercise that build the brachialis like hammer curl, it help pushing the biceps and triceps out.

Since I do less exercise and reps, I do not spend much time on isolation exercises, only on stuff that pay off.

Basically I train them 3 times a week, together in supersets, few sets but hard.

It worked for me...

Eric

[TT Eric]

Sorry! Just saw it was in Prae's corner.

Eric

[Praetorian]

My arms have always been a weak point for me. I've trained them on their own, with back, with chest and I still can't get them to grow. I ve added weight to my frame but my arms seem to be too small for my body type. I can curl pretty heavy and I dip with 50 lbs on my belt, trying everything here, any advice would be appreciated, thanks.

When you say curl pretty heavy...what does that mean? In order to get big arms for most guys you need to add significant muscle to your frame overall and move some serious weight. When i was trying to add serious size i was curling 225 on the big bar and close grip benching 405...my arms grew fairly well doing that.

P

[Manovsteel1]

Definitely not that heavy Pra

[Praetorian]

Get stronger, eat more, rest well, gain good weight and the arms will grow!

P

[Odysseus]

What about for bicep peaks? I would say that overall, my arms are OK and I don't have too much difficulty adding just size to it. But when flexed, my biceps look flat as hell. There's no peak. Is the peak genetic? Or can it be altered through training, diet, or anabolics? I noticed that certain pros are flatter than others while some guys seem to have really nice peaks genetically. Ronnie, Lee Priest, and Arnold come to mind. They seem to all have that freaky bicep peak that comes up like a mini-mountain. How do I get that? Which exercises would be best?

[Primal]

What about for bicep peaks? I would say that overall, my arms are OK and I don't have too much difficulty adding just size to it. But when flexed, my biceps look flat as hell. There's no peak. Is the peak genetic? Or can it be altered through training, diet, or anabolics? I noticed that certain pros are flatter than others while some guys seem to have really nice peaks genetically. Ronnie, Lee Priest, and Arnold come to mind. They seem to all have that freaky bicep peak that comes up like a mini-mountain. How do I get that? Which exercises would be best?

I always thought that the shape of the muscle is genetic, you can't do much to change it. You can do what you can to better show the peak in your arms but all in all, if you have crappy peaks or no girth or anything for that matter you can't do much about it. Trust me, I've tried. My biceps are 2 different shapes. My left bicep is big, round and voluminous (looks very full and round). My right bicep attaches higher up my arm than my left, looks flatter but the ending as a nice peak. It also has more girth to it when flexed, but when relaxed, my left arm looks much bigger than my right. I've spent a lot of time trying to bring my right arm up to my left with a lot of different exercises and techniques but it doesn't do much in all honesty. Thankfully, the difference isn't too noticeable but I have to do more isolateral exercises a lot for them. If I do regular curls, since my left bicep attaches lower to my elbow it gets more resistance at an earlier stage than my right bicep does making the problem much worse. Bio mechanically, this really effing sucks. Aesthetically, this also sucks. If you could change the shape of your muscle everyone would look like Phil Heath right?

Edit: Damn, didn't read this was your corner Prae my bad!

-Primal

[Praetorian]

Ill answer anyway...

Everyone is not perfectly symmetrical and thus will have differences in biceps length and peak. This does not mean you have to eliminate or reduce compound bilateral movements on the contrary. The shape of your arms is genetic and cannot be changed without surgery...ie biceps tear repair etc. It is similar to trying to improve upper chest. The best way to do this is to make the entire pectoral larger which is much more effective than concentrating only on incline movements etc. With biceps barbell curls will trump all other exercises hands down so thinking one arm will grow bigger than the other is not correct...the body will try its best to balance itself...just like when you are squatting etc. Many guys starting out ask me where they should make improvements and what muscles they need to bring up...the vast majority need to just add dense thick muscle everywhere. If you train the entire body intensely and consistently then you will nothing to worry about. Once you attain significant muscle you can look at any lagging muscles and work at prioritizing them but until then it doesnt make musch sense.

P

[TT Eric]

I can attest to that.

Ted, am I right to say using an E-Z bar to curl will not do the same job ?

It seems I can't use a flat barbell curl, I'm having tendinitis repeatedly, so I'm using a E-Z bar and can't see progress like I use to have with the flat bar. Mass and strength. I'm guessing to much of the charge goes on the brachiallis...

Eric

[Praetorian]

I used the big bar to build my arms but it also caused a lot of tendon wear and tear...I would suggest using both alternately to minimize tendon stress.

P