Arms will not grow
So you guys have probably seen this topic come up a lot, but I just don't know what to do anymore.In the last few months I have made GREAT progress on every body part except for my arms. They have been stuck at this point for a long time now. Ive done probably every different type of variation possible for them. Less is more, more is better, high reps, low reps, once a week, twice a week For a long time I was doing a 5 day split, with maybe 3 sets for bis on back day and 3 for tris on chest day, and then a full arm day on friday. The past month or so I have been doing basically a push pull legs, twice a week. This has worked out great for every other body part except my arms. I keep it pretty simple excersise wise. Im going back to the 5 day split to give arms there own day and I will be doing 9-12 sets for bis and 9-12 for tris. Ill give an example of a typical arm day
Biceps
barbell curl 3x6-8
1 arm preacher curl 3x-10
narrow grip cable curl 3x10-12
For triceps I am still having trouble with my shoulders so I haven't been doing close grip bench but I recently started doing dips again.
Skull Crusher 3x 8-12
V bar press down 3x 10-12
Dips 3 sets to failure
I dont always do the same exercises either, For bis I will do hammer curls, concentration curls, narrow grip ezbar preachers, and for tris I will do overhead dumbbell extensions, rope pulldowns, overhead rope pulldowns. And ill throw in drop sets etc.
The last few weeks Ive been doing FST-7 (fascia stretch training) for my arms. Not sure if any of you guys are familiar with it, but I think its helped at little.
So anyone have any advice? Thanks in advance.
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I see all these exercises for arms but I really want to know what you eat! There are hundreds of exercises for arms and most of them with some solid weight and form they will grow BUT first lets see what you are eating everyday.
I guess this was kinda a bad time to post this since I'm not bulking anymore and calories are becoming restricted. first time cutting on gear so idk if I can expect any new muscle or to just retain what I have. But anyways my bulking diet was 4000 calories 40/40/20 split 400g of protein 400g of carbs and if I remember correctly about 80 grams of fat. Breakfast is always whole eggs with oats. Meal two is a bowl of oats and a shake, meal 3 is chicken and rice , meal 4 pwo is a protein shake with 70grams of maltodextrin and dextrose, meal 5 is steak and potatoes and meal six is 2 cups of Greek yogurt. Basically the same everyday except sometimes I switch meals 3 and 5. I put on 18 solid pounds on this diet over 12 weeks bulking. Every other measurement went up by inches. I was coming off an injury so I was working back to were I previously was but by the end I was bigger then I've ever been. Except for my damn arms. They grew during this bulk don't get me wrong but they only grew back to what they once were, they did not exceeed there previous biggest size, whereas my chest shoulders back legs etc all blew up and are bigger then ever.
Your food choices look good. A 200 lb man can maintain @ 4000 kcals but you did manage to put some weight on. Did you raise you calories as your weight went up?
Here is a simple diet plan. http://www.themuscleprogram.com/meal-plans/5000-calorie-meal-plan/ Maybe you can use it for your next bulk brother
Now that your on your cut, train pretty much the same way but throw in a few higher rep sets like 12-15 to gorge the blood into the arms. DO NOT 86 your heavy mass builder exercises. You will retain all your arm size minus any fat if your diet is dialed in.
Ya I started the cycle a little over 200 at about 4000 calories and I would stay at the level until I stopped gaining. By the end of 12 weeks I was closer to 5000. My gains were very steady the whole cycle and even better towards the end. I had this bad cough for the first 8 weeks that I thought was bronchitis, but later found out it was whopping cough. So eating was s struggle for a while. Really wish I could have kept bulking but I really want/need to cut this summer. Ive been bulking since I started lifting years ago and I've never been shredded before. After all its not a sprint, its marathon, so can wait and ill be ready to add some more size this coming fall and winter.
And ya as for the training I planned on keeping it pretty much the same. Diet is basically also the same, just subbed some egg whites for whole eggs in the morning, and made my portion sizes smaller, and cut carbs out of my last meal or two of the day depending on what time I trained. And I'm also doing fasted cardio twice a week for 30mins and 1 more cardio session on my off day on wednesday. Ill add more days and time as I feel necessary. A lot of the muscle is new so I really want to ease into the cut so my body doesn't get rid of the new size. Hopefully the test will help me retain all this muscle and maybe gain a few more pounds. Thanks for the meal plan, ill probably use it in the fall.
+1 for sticking to your plan while having Whooping cough!! That's some serious dedication! Love it
Might I recommend using a 20 min HITT training with a bike or treadmill instead of the fasted cardio. I feel it holds onto muscle much better than fasted. with fasted cardio you may tap into some of that hard earned muscle.
2 or 3 times a week. 20 min, 30 seconds balls to the wall 30 seconds briskly for a 20min duration. If you can do it on a separate workout. It's easier if you have an exercise bike or treadmill at home or you can do 30 second sprints at the park. Better on grass than concrete to save those knees.
Looks as your doing things right brother. Keep at it
Thanks bro lol it was really tough. But ya I could do hiit instead of fasted. This is my first time cutting so it's going to be kind of an experiment. I figured the anabolics would hold onto the muscle and doing the cardio fasted would target the fat stores much better. But I'm definitely open to any suggestions. I don't want to loose any muscle during this phase. I'm going my cardio in the morning so I'll probably have a shake or someone before I do it now .
Maybe trying going heavier n less reps. When I do biceps I also work my back too. My workout that fay consists of dumbell biceps curl, dumbell hammer curls, Dumbell lying wide curls, Barbell curl, Barbell deadlifts, Pull ups, Wide grip lat pull downs, cable elevated rows, Hyperextensions-back extensions.
I do all for 3 sets and right now between 5 to 6 reps on highest weight I can.
Ya maybe I should start lifting in lower rep ranges. I usually don't go lower then 8 but maybe I should start my first lift with 5 reps and next movement with 8 etc. I just started to cut so I guess I really can't expect much if any growth but I can't afford them to get any smaller as I lose the fat. I would love for them to be a half inch bigger at 8% bf. I'm at 15 right now.
You also can do pyramid style. 12, 10, 8 n 6 reps. And gradually move up weights as u do each set. 12 reps less weights and the 6 reps lots of weight. Take ur protein within half hour of that workout!
Ya thats one thing I've never really experimented with is pyramids. Like I said the rest of my body has grown like crazy the last month. Ive had some knee problems and I've only been able to do legs once and I've put a 1/2 inch on them. My measurement for my chest/lats has gone up by 2 inches in the last month and same with my shoulders. Its just my arms that don't want to budge. Diet is great and the rest of my training seems to be pretty damn good. I just blasted the hell out of my arms 20 sets for tris and 15 for bis and it felt good. I really think having their own day is what I need as opposed to paring them with chest and back. By the time I get to arms on those days they are already tired. All my lifts were up by 10-15 pounds today since they were fresh and I didnt do chest or back first. Gotta get the fast digesting carbs with that protein shake too Mrs Kfizzle!
I split up what section of my arms I am doing. Such as Monday is chest n triceps, Tuesday back n biceps, and Friday I do shoulders. Legs/glutes 2xs a week. I'm always tossing up my workout after few months or so.
im tall and used to have small arms myself. I tried everything. The advice I can try to give is to focus on BACK. once your back gets big and strong your arms will catch up with it. It's funny my delts and lats were the first muscles to really come in when I was earlier in my lifting career. My lats got pretty big from pulldowns, chinups, rows, etc. After that BOOM arms started growing like crazy. I think the body tries to be proportional in build so if you want big arms grow everything else and they will come in last
My back is littearly years ahead of the rest of my body in terms of size and strength especially my arms. It's rediculous how fast it grows compared to everything else. I have an unbelievable mind muscle connection with it that I can't get with any other muscles. Only place on my body I get stretch marks to. Thanks for the reply.
Give this Srt 7 work out a try I have been using this for a while and have got a lot of gains
Monday: Biceps: Tris, calves
• Barbell Bicep Curls (4 sets X 8-12 reps)
• Alternating Dumbbell Curls (4 sets X 8-12 reps)
• Seated E-Z Bar Curls or Flat Bar Bicep Cable Curls (7 Sets X 8-12)
Triceps:
• Close-grip Bench Press (4 sets X 8-12 Reps)
• Machine Dips or Weighted Dips (3 sets 8-12 reps)
• Overhead cable Extensions (7 sets X 8-12 reps)
• Skull Crushers (7 sets X 8-12 reps)
Calves
• Standing Calf Raises (4 sets X 10-12 reps)
• Seated Calf Raises (4 sets 15-20 reps)
• Calf Raises on Leg Press Machine (7 sets X 10-12 reps)
Tuesday: Quads and Hamstrings
• Leg Extensions (3 sets X 8-15 reps)
• Squats (4 sets X 8-12 reps)
• Leg Press (3 sets X 8-15 reps)
• Leg Extensions or Hack Squats (7 sets X 8-15 reps)
Hamstrings
• Lying Leg curls (3 sets X 10-15 reps)
• Stiff-Legged Dead lifts (3 sets X 10-12 reps)
• Single leg curl (4 sets X 10-15 reps each leg)
• Seated Leg Curls (7 sets X 10-15 reps)
OFF Day
Thursday: Chest and Tris
• Incline Dumbbell Press (4 sets X 8-12 reps)
• Incline Dumbbell Fly’s (3 sets X 8-12 reps)
• Flat Hammer or Dumbbell Press (3 sets X 8-12 reps)
• Pec Deck or Cable Crossovers (7 sets X 8-12 reps)
Triceps:
• Close-grip Bench Press (4 sets X 8-12 Reps)
• Machine Dips or Weighted Dips (3 sets 8-12 reps)
• Overhead cable Extensions (7 sets X 8-12 reps)
• Skull Crushers (7 sets X 8-12 reps)
Friday: Back and Calves
• Wide-Grip lat Pull-downs (3 sets X 8-12 reps)
• Barbell Rows (3 sets X 8-12 reps)
• Dumbbell Pull over’s (laying back) (3 sets X 8-12 reps)
• Close Grip Cable Rows (7 sets 8-12 reps)
• Wide Grip Cable Rows (7 sets 8-12 reps)
Calves
• Standing Calf Raises (4 sets X 10-12 reps)
• Seated Calf Raises (4 sets 15-20 reps)
• Calf Raises on Leg Press Machine (7 sets X 10-12 reps)
Saturday: Shoulders and Biceps
• Seated Dumbbell Press (4 sets 8-12 reps)
• Dumbbell Front Raises (4 sets 8-12 reps)
• Dumbbell Lateral Raise (3 sets 8-12 reps)
• Dumbbell or Cable Lateral Raises (7 sets X 8-12 reps)
Biceps:
• Barbell Bicep Curls (3 sets X 8-12 reps)
• Alternating Dumbbell Curls (3 sets X 8-12 reps)
• Seated E-Z Bar Curls or Flat Bar Bicep Cable Curls (7 Sets X 8-12)
OFF Day
I found this looking for new work outs and it's helped me put more size all around
It's very similar to the FST-7 I have been dong for a few weeks with the 7 sets for the last exercise. I like how the muscle groups are structured a lot tho. I needed something different like this. Thanks
Yeah bro this is a FST-7 work out it was a miss type up top lol
Lol I was gonna say, it's pretty much the same concept as what I was doing. I do like the template tho I'm gonna give it a shot.
My man!! That looks solid as hell. I wish I would have found that when I was still bulking, I could see that adding some serious size. Do you think I could stil handle this kind of volume while cutting? Calories Won't be getting to low for a while but I'm gonna be dropping from 3800 to 3200 starting tomorrow and adding cardio 3-4 times a week. Also running test e at 750mgs per week.
Sure bro this is just a outline u can add or take out exercises depending how u feel just basically train till u can't do another rep get your diet in check and you will grow the gear comes after you have the other 2 in check pm me if you need anything thing else and I'd be glad to help
Thanks brother, just send you a friend request.
I found that going back to basics works for me. I mean cut out the huge variation of your arms workout and simply focus on DB/BB curls for biceps and rope pulldowns for triceps in my case(have bad elbows and this is one of the few exercises I could do for tris). Do them slowly and focus on contracting the muscles. Cut out the number of sets too if you're still not responding to high volume. And from what I understand FST-7 training is more than just a training program(involves site enhancement oil injection to actually STRETCH you fascia) so it might not work as you expected.
Thanks for the input bro. I didnt know FST incorporated SEO. I thought It was kinda supposed to do the same thing, obviously on a much smaller scale. You know SEO does make the muscle bigger temporarily but having all that oil in there stretches the fascia so future growth will come easier. By doing FST which means means the 7 sets with very short rest after your normal routine gives such a big pump with so much blood pumped in the muscle that the fascia also stretches. Idk If I should keep doing it. I gained about 1/4 of an inch on my arms in the last month, but its not new growth. and it probably has to do with the fact that I gained 7 lbs over the last month. Where my arms are at now is the biggest they have been, but they were this size a few months ago before I got hurt so I'm basically just back to my previous peak. So idk if the FST really did anything or its just muscle memory. Think I should stick with it? I guess its a good way to shock the muscles.
IMO there is your problem up your sets from 3 to 4 or 5 and add 2 more exercises to your regimine .. When your done they should feel like jello.. That has helped me tremendously
So really blast the fuck out of them. 4-5 sets for 5 exercises? I will definitely give that a shot. Thats like 20-25 sets for bis and 20-25 sets for tris. Seems like a lot but maybe thats what they need. I only do 16-20 sets for big muscle groups like chest, back, and legs, sometimes even less and they grow no problem. I guess they probably do need a good shocking.
One more question, I start my cut tomorrow, so willl no longer be in a surplus of cals but I will be on 750mgs of test. Does that change your opinion at all? First time cutting so I'm going to slowly drop calories each week. I know If i was doing this naturally there would be no way I could hope for any growth in a deficit, but since Im on the test I hope I can make some progress.