Arms impossible to build size

[ghettostudmuffin]

I have to agree with singleton.

Compound exercises are best for overall size and strength, but my biceps don;t respond to heavy weights really. I do weighted pullups, chinupsm and rows, plus I rock climb(bouldering, not long routes) andthey have gotten very strong, but haven't grown that much.

Every time I drop my ego and use 20's or 25's for dumbell curls or like 50-60lbs on barbell curls and do higher reps(12-15) they GROW fast.

I have a book by Dave Draper called Brother Iron/Sister Steel(great book) and he talks about how Arnold's arms grew best from lighter, high rep isolation exercises where he focused on getting a good brun and pump. Obviously he did lots of compound exercises, but for the most part he trained lighter weight relatively speaking for arms with the occasional heavy cheat curls.

I think it also depends on your fiber type in your biceps. Slow-twitch fibers can grow too and if you have a alot of them in your biceps then they may grow great off lighter weight and higher rep.

I remember blowing my forearms up to popeye proportions in high school by doing just barbell wrist curls for 2-3 sets 2-3 days a week. The key was the frequency, but more than that, my sets were 20-40 reps and I got an unbelievable burn and pump in the muscel and they GREW.

Just my experience with the subject.

 

[seizer]

I have to agree with singleton.

Compound exercises are best for overall size and strength, but my biceps don;t respond to heavy weights really. I do weighted pullups, chinupsm and rows, plus I rock climb(bouldering, not long routes) andthey have gotten very strong, but haven't grown that much.

Every time I drop my ego and use 20's or 25's for dumbell curls or like 50-60lbs on barbell curls and do higher reps(12-15) they GROW fast.

I have a book by Dave Draper called Brother Iron/Sister Steel(great book) and he talks about how Arnold's arms grew best from lighter, high rep isolation exercises where he focused on getting a good brun and pump. Obviously he did lots of compound exercises, but for the most part he trained lighter weight relatively speaking for arms with the occasional heavy cheat curls.

I think it also depends on your fiber type in your biceps. Slow-twitch fibers can grow too and if you have a alot of them in your biceps then they may grow great off lighter weight and higher rep.

I remember blowing my forearms up to popeye proportions in high school by doing just barbell wrist curls for 2-3 sets 2-3 days a week. The key was the frequency, but more than that, my sets were 20-40 reps and I got an unbelievable burn and pump in the muscel and they GREW.

Just my experience with the subject.

Im starting to believe this myself actually. I'm finding that the compound movements are great for areas like the back, chest, legs, core. But, when it comes to my arms, they are SERIOUSLY lagging. Like, I have only been training for about 1.5 - 2 years now so I suppose I cant expect to be huge, but I think I have a vague idea where I should be at with my body and my arms arent where they should be at. With that said, I think I might throw in some barbell curls into my next run at the 5x5, some high rep stuff maybe on mondays and fridays. People may continue to disagree and stress that compound movements do plenty...and I'm not gonna disagree with you folks, but there is no set formula for us all, so I'm gonna experiment a little bit this fall when I start to bulk.

 

[Slyder190]

My arms suck so bad that when I cycle, it's really about getting my arms bigger first and foremost.

 

[Q54321]

I have to agree with singleton.

Compound exercises are best for overall size and strength, but my biceps don;t respond to heavy weights really. I do weighted pullups, chinupsm and rows, plus I rock climb(bouldering, not long routes) andthey have gotten very strong, but haven't grown that much.

Every time I drop my ego and use 20's or 25's for dumbell curls or like 50-60lbs on barbell curls and do higher reps(12-15) they GROW fast.

I've heard these arguments before. I can't remember where, maybe venuto's TUT article somewhere on EF. TUT tends to be short on movements like curls where there is a small amount of movement, and teh reps tend to go very quickly. Unless your focusing on slow and controlled movements, your time under tension may be more in a strength range than a size range. I seem to remember that 20 seconds or so is in the strength range, and 40 seconds or so is the size range. doing lighter weight and higher reps has the tendancy to increase the TUT for smaller movements like biceps or calves. I'll see if I can find the article that discusses this.

from my personal experience with biceps, I train lighter weights and high reps with strict form. My time under tension can run as high as 60 seconds per set. I also do a lot of drop or super sets wich is another excellent way of controlling time under tension.

Just some thoughts, and everyone may not agree. It seems to be the best theory that fits what I feel works for me in the gym, at least for biceps and calves.

 

[Q54321]

I was wrong, I don't think it was from venuto. I believe it was from nelson's ebook. Here is the excerpt from the ad for the book. Anyways, i could be wrong, but this concept is what I mentally apply to explain why my biceps do better with lighter weights and higher reps producing great time under tension in the size building range.

TIME UNDER TENSION It May Be More Important Than Sets And Reps
The biggest factor in the process of muscle growth is often ignored. It's the amount of time in which your muscles are placed under tension. Some experts believe that's the only thing that matters. And they could very well be right.

Follow along for a moment. When lifting a weight, your muscle goes through a range of motion. Within each nano-inch of movement, hundreds of fibers come into play. After completing a set of, let's say, 10 reps -- each of your muscle fibers have been stressed for a specific amount of time.

Now, let's suppose that set took 30 seconds to complete. What difference would it make if you only did five reps, yet, the total time was still 30 seconds? Wouldn't all of your muscle fibers have received the same amount of stress? Even though the muscle contracted half as many times, the period where the fibers were stressed was twice as long. See where this is going? In this section, Nelson gives you the bottom line to maximize growth by increasing your muscle's "Time Under Tension"!

 

[anthrax]

I also have hard time building arms size

For me I can't get bigger arms if my overall weight doesn't increase as well

==> Eat more and train hard using compound movements and your arms will grow

 

[wallcrawler]

You might want to check your diet as well. Are you getting enough cals to grow the muscle?