Why do my arms suck

[Megalomaniac]

I'm right with you here. I am really tall and can get all kinds of core strength but in order for my arms to be huge I would have to be over 300. I'm 255 right now and just can't seem to get any arm size. Luckily for me the legs are coming along but I just don't want anymore weight so basically I'm screwed. If someone posts up a solution to us long skinny armed guys please let me know.

 

[SgtSlaughter]

I believe I'm in the same boat..

anyway, when I took 2 years off from lifting consistanty my arms were horrible... there were something like 14 inches then (semi flab... but previously had lifted for 5 years)... when I got back into lifting after putting on weight, heavier than ever my arms are muscular but 3 inches more than before... strange.

I read somewhere that if one wants to add 1 inch to their arm (not much considering your arm consists of your triceps as well, which should be larger than biceps) then total lean body weight needs to increase 10lbs per every inch. I can't back that up, but proportionall it makes sense. And sense I'm bulking right now ("naturally") I'll let u know how it goes. But my main focus right now is chest development.... and my damn back is growing like a field of weeds from doing some Olympic lifts now... hopefully it will stimulate some arm development.

A theory of mine has always been that it's harder for us taller guys (6 foot +) to develop arm mass because of leverage and the total length of travel... ahhh, I can't word it correctly right now... waaay past my slumber time... hope you know what I mean, I'll try to edit if I can tomrrow to clarify.

- SGT

 

[carlsuen]

if u're right.. then i'll finally understand why i can't get any growth in my arms.. i'm about 6'1".. and last tmonth i saw a guy who's about 5'5" or 7".. but his arms were huge!! he looked like a freagin gorila.. way out of proportion compared to his body.. no chest at all.. just pure tris.. abit of bis.. i think he was easily 18" to 19"..

if that's the case.. aren't we all 6 footers doomed?

 

[enigma4dub]

why not concentrate on progressing in your core lifts and treat accessory excercises for what they are .... accessory excercises. do a set or two each for your triceps and biceps once a week AND BUST YOUR ASS PRESSING AND PULLIING your arms will grow.

 

[carlsuen]

yeah.. that's exactly what i'm doing now.. as recommended by the ppl on this boards.. i'm tired of doing all those isolations when i don't even have a strong foundation to work from... looking at those idiots in the gym's just makes me laugh.. but then again i guess i was once an idiot too..

 

[fortunatesun]

I'm not sure I understand this 'tall so I can't grow large biceps' idea. For sure I'm only 5'10 so I wouldn't know, but there must be some way to adapt your routine.

I can buy that more distance makes for a different dynamic, but there's so many ways to change the normal plane of travel- seated incline curls, using cables set at various angles, 21's, seated on a stability ball, Arnold-type concentration curls, using stretch bands....

What part of the picture am I missing? Something that seems a disadvantage can easily be turned into an advantage with the right idea. Anyway, my 2 centavos.

 

[musketeer]

OK, lets settle this right now!

Who has/had the best arms of all time? ARNOLD at 6'1" !!!

ALthough short arms will fill up faster, they just don't get musch bigger than 18-19" - if they do, because they are short, they end up looking crazy - think Lee Priest. A 20 inch arm on a 5'8" guy will have quite a lot less mass than 20incher on a 6'+ person because the length of the bi's and tri's will be at least an inch longer.

Big arms on a little guy - OK, nice.

Big arms on a big guy - fantastic!

I'm really happy with my 17.5 inch arms on my 6'0" frame - God knows how good they'll look when I'm up to 18+

My arms get hit quite well from the basic compound 5x5 stuff, but occasionally I give them a 'pump' at the end of a workout with a 3 sets or so.

 

[Megalomaniac]

I'm not sure I understand this 'tall so I can't grow large biceps' idea. For sure I'm only 5'10 so I wouldn't know, but there must be some way to adapt your routine.

I can buy that more distance makes for a different dynamic, but there's so many ways to change the normal plane of travel- seated incline curls, using cables set at various angles, 21's, seated on a stability ball, Arnold-type concentration curls, using stretch bands....

What part of the picture am I missing? Something that seems a disadvantage can easily be turned into an advantage with the right idea. Anyway, my 2 centavos.

I think the basic concept is that a shorter frame generally builds mass a lot faster. I have 18 in arms and when flexed they just look average, like I work out. On the other hand my friend has 17 1/2 in arms and is 5'9, he looks huge when flexed. I don't think it is that big guys can't build big arms, we just have to have waaaaaay more mass to do it.

 

[jstrick2]

My advice would be you need to tell your whole body to grow....

I would up the cals and gain some weight

Make sure you are doing heavy deads and heavy squats to get your BODY growing

Copious amounts of arm work are pointless for the most part and are not the solution. Big Lifts, and upped intake ARE

Never seen a guy who is 260 complaining about the size of his arms....

 

[Megalomaniac]

Here is your first than. I'm 256 in that pic and am complaining about mass big time. My run times have slowed way to much for my job and still I don't have the mass I want.

Here is a horible thing to do to my self-esteem, but motivation for sure
Like I say in a later post, 1 inch a year right.