Skinny arms!

[|D_J^B_J|]

Why are my arms so skinny compared to the rest of my body? It's really quite pathetic. I was led to believe that doing core exercises such as bench press, DLs, chins, et al would make them grow, but this obviously hasn't worked.

I'm in the middle of a 'priority' training routine for my arms where I hit them more often than any other muscle group, but the gains are very slow.

Does anyone have a routine I could use to focus on arm growth?

 

[Pains-4-Gains]

Here is someting you may want to try:

Monday: chest and a few sets of heavy tricep
Tue: back and few sets of heavy bicep
Wed: off
Thur: legs
Fri: bis and tris

This way you're hitting them twice a week each and giving them plenty of rest. The heavy, low-rep sets on monday and tuesday shouldn't make you too sore so you will have plently of time to recover.

 

[WalkingBeast]

If you want your arms to grow Id suggest training them seperately. I know if I benched and rowed with no arm training mine likely wouldnt grow much if at all. Especially when they were close to 19". Ive always kept the volume at atleast 12 sets for triceps and 12 sets for biceps. Most sets to failure. Even when my arms were around 10". I feel this forced them to grow over time. I like to keep the reps around 12-15 reps with the most weight I can handle for that range. But it doesnt hurt to mix the reps up. Experimentation is always the only way to find what works best for the individual. You can do this twice a week also. I like to train arms on the same day. I find that works well for me. Tri's and Bi's the same day. I usually do tri's first since they are my weakness. You can train arms twice a week or start with just once a week at that volume. Aslong as your eating is sufficient I think youll like the results. Most important of all, LOTS OF PATIENCE. It can be a very slow process. Check out the training methods sticky for the routine I reccomend. Under the walkingbeast training method. KEEP KILLING THAT SHIT!!

 

[nsashbl01]

I recently started supersetting arms and have had good results. For example, I do arms Fri or Sat. I usually start with rope push downs, and cable curls since I'm at a cable station already. I do 3 or 4 supersets so a total of 6 or 8 exercises. I also find that I have to totally exhaust them or I won't get any soreness the next day....

Keep pushing it!

 

[ruggermu]

Yeah I agree hitting them lightly on chest(tri) and Back(bi) and with rest also having a solid arm day. I set it up by going chest, shoulders, arms, legs, back but the other example would work well too. And like Nsash said I like to superset bis and tris on arm day.

 

[|D_J^B_J|]

What about something like this:

MONDAY: Chest, biceps (BB curl wide grip 1 x 8, regular grip 3 x 8, close grip 1 x 8)
TUESDAY: Shoulders, triceps (close grip bench 3 x 8, dips 3 x 8)
WEDNESDAY:Cardio or off
THURSDAY: Back
FRIDAY: Legs
SATURDAY: Arms (DB preacher curls 3 x 10, lying DB french press/skull crushers 3 x 10, superset: cable curls --> cable pushdowns 3 x 10)
SUNDAY: Off

How does this look? Would I be overtraining my arms on this program?

 

[Mithrandir]

pains-4-gains has a good scheme.

 

[|D_J^B_J|]

With the program pains-4-gains wrote, I would be training four days a week but wouldn't be able to fit any shoulder exercises in anywhere, which is not ideal. Also, I would rather separate chest and triceps because I would rather not do flat/incline bench and close grip bench on the same day.

I could make my bicep and tricep exercises on Monday 6 reps instead of 8, so I would be lifting heavier..

How does this look then:
MONDAY: Chest, biceps (BB curl wide grip 1 x 6, regular grip 3 x 6, close grip 1 x 6)
TUESDAY: Shoulders, triceps (close grip bench 3 x 6, dips 3 x 6)
WEDNESDAY:Cardio or off
THURSDAY: Back
FRIDAY: Legs
SATURDAY: Arms (DB preacher curls 3 x 10, lying DB french press/skull crushers 3 x 10, superset: cable curls --> cable pushdowns 3 x 10)
SUNDAY: Off

This would make it 12 sets of triceps and 11 sets of bicep exercises during the week. How can I improve the above program? Surely I'd be getting enough rest?

 

[Pains-4-Gains]

On the routine I posted it wouldn't be hard to toss in some shoulder exercises with the triceps on chest day. I also didn't list the traps, which I do with my back, but I thought you could dice it up anyway you wanted.

THe routine you just posted looks solid if you don't feel you're overtraining at five days a week. Another option is to do your triceps with back and do shoulder with your arms to have another day off. I've dont it before and actually really liked it. You can warm up both your tris and bis by doing presses and the upright rows, two of the best overall shoulder exercises. And as nsashbl01 posted, supersets are awesome for your arms.

 

[Madcow2]

If your core lifts are increasing (deadlift, squat, bench, row, overhead press) that's definitely a great foundation for arm growth. Give some prioritized direct arm training a shot, use supersets or whatever you like as it tends not to matter a whole lot but also be aware that some people are simply built to have larger torso's relative to their arms. You can likely bring up your arms some but if you are already doing a lot of the stuff right, the genetic factor becomes a more viable candidate.