kevinf92 wrote:
Need advice and help please regarding my very skinny arms
I have a well developed thick chest and thighs but skinny toned arms(11 inch arms)
When I wear a top my chest sticks out in it but my arms are very skinny and my tshirt is loose at sleeves when I wear it.
How can I bring them up make them more thicker
I've heard and tried doing squat, bench and deadlift but do not feel my arms working from that but get gains in my chest and legs.
What do I need to do?
A bit about me?
5ft 5
60kg
Ectomorph/Mesomorph
I used to do s lot of running /football / press ups etc but gave that up few years ago
Worked out since then and have did variety used to be 5 day split training each body part but changed to more compounds Execises after doing some research.
My diet is good and healthy- I eat alot but got to watch if I eat too much it goes to my stomach/oblique area where i store a lot of fat.
Genuine advice would be much appreciated thanks.
Kind regards
Kevin
Hi Kevin, now what you'll probably find is a lot of people on this board are going to tell you just to get bigger overall, and that you don't need to work your arms directly. They will tell you that compound lifts are enough, and the best way to add muscle to your arms is by doing compounds.
I believed this dogma when I first heard it, and thought that compounds would be enough, then I couldn't understand why my arms weren't getting bigger. I used to sneer at those idiots wasting their time doing curls. "Pfft!" I thought, "those idiots are wasting their time, don't they know they should be squatting to bring up those arms?"
My torso was doing just fine, but my arms weren't doing anything. So I added arm work, and surprise surprise, my arms got bigger. Funny how that works, eh?
Now I'm not saying that arm work should be your focus, but you definitely want it if you want your arms to grow. Your workout should still be based around squats, deads, bench, rows, pull ups (or pulldowns if you suck at pullups) and overhead press. These are the big movements that will give you the most bang for your buck. However, you will need to do some isolation stuff for your arms, and here's why:
During big, compound lifts, your body doesn't care that you want your arms to do the work. It will use whatever muscles are strongest to stop the weight from crushing you to death. Your body doesn't care about aesthetics, it cares about survival. A prime example of this is people who's anterior delts get hammered by benching, but it does little for their chest. In these individuals, the anterior delts are much stronger than the pecs, so they end up doing all the work, causing little stimulation of the chest. This is why your torso is growing but your arms are not; your body is not using your arm muscles to their full capacity.
So train your arms. You can add a few sets of curls after one of your upper days, and a few sets of extensions after another upper day. Or you can do extensions and curls together at the end of a workout, it's up to you. Just don't do your arms first in a workout, or else you won't have energy left for the big compound lifts, which are still the most important thing.
If anyone tells you compounds are enough, ask them for a picture of those huge arms they've built without direct arm work. I am guessing there will be very few pictures...
Because I am in a generous mood, I am going to give you an arm workout that will have you bursting out your sleeves in no time. I feel generous today. These exercises are done as pairs, so straight after one you move into the other with no rest.
Cable Pushdowns/Hammer curls 3 x 15
reverse grip cable pushdowns/cable curls 3 x 15
dumbell extension/concentration curls 3 x 15
that'll do it. This shouldn't take you long to do, keep the rest periods short.
happy lifting!
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