Barbell curl weight?

[guldukat]

[Guld, yes, I have tiny joints, the wrist pain is controlable on the close grip presses but I have to wrap my wrists up pretty tight, especially on the partial reps. My triceps were a weak point at one time, but by beating them with close grip presses and weighted dips, plus every high intesity technique I can find, they finally started growing.

I imagine so!

Then again, when I started training a little over three years ago I had like 11 or 12" arms, so maybe `8" isn't so bad. I'm probably not overtraining, I rarely do more than 2 or 3 sets per bodypart in a given week, although my chest and shoulder workouts seem to tax my tri's just as much as my tricep workout.

I understand.

And wow...in 3 years, you've added ~7" to your arms? Very impressive. Small joints or not, you've clearly got the genetics to have proportionately big arms.

Part of the problem is small joints, the other part is that I overtrained my biceps for a good year and a half before I finally realized that maybe 20 sets for bi's twice a week was getting me nowhere. I gained about 1/2 on them in 6 weeks, and then when over a year without any change in size. My thighs seem to be the only thing that seems to grow regardless of overtraining or training method used.

Kinda the same story here. What's your training frequency for arms look like?

I ask because I've done the 2-3 sets/bodypart route and tortured biceps and triceps with intensity, but once my frequency dropped below a certain threshold, I simply couldn't eek any more growth out of them.

This was compounded by my friendship with Mentzer. His answer to any sticking point was invariably, "You're overtraining." So the frequency went lower and lower, eventually to the point of excluding training arms altogether (each decrease in frequency was always matched with a reduction in volume).

It wasn't until, with the DC protocol, I started training biceps and triceps three times in a two week period that they started growing rapidly again. But I'm not sure that's really your "problem"...

Yeah, my proportions make them look about an inch smaller than they should. I'm dieting now so suddenly people think my triceps are larger. I've got high triceps so unless I'm pretty lean I think it makes my arms look a bit smaller than they are.
Currenty stats (haven't checked bf lately, but ten weeks out now from a photo shoot, so I'm dieting pretty hard):
Chest 50-51"
arms 18
waist 32
thighs 28.5-29
calves 18 (I have to detrain them a bit to keep them under 18.5 so that my arms are in proportion)
weight 214 this morning

THAT, my friend, is your problem. Your arms are quite big, but the rest of you is REAL big! A 51" chest w/ a 32" waist is very, very impressive. For point of reference, my chest is about 51". And my waist is 36"! GAH!




You're doing a LOT of things right...you might consider the arm frequency thing at some point, but that really only jives in the context of a full DC-style workout plan. I don't have to tell you that, though.

I'd say just keep chugging along, and take some care to not get hurt on those preachers. 3 years...fucking-A. Impressive stuff. Your arms may well catch up in short order.

 

[jubei]

140 lbs for 10-8-6 a couple days ago with an ez curl car. Straight bars are deadly on my wrists. I get a shooting pain running lenghwise from my wrist to my elbow when I let go of the bar. Its not so bad while performing the exercise, but when I let go of the bar to put it down it gets you.

 

[Deleted member 33117]

Guld, actually we have arrived at the same conclusion. I've concluded that bi's and tri's are small muscles thus require very little in terms of total sets in order to stimulate growth, but their localized recovery is very fast by comparison to larger muscles. I'm going to increase the frequincy of training to this.

Monday: back, chest, shoulders + one static hold for bi's & tri's.
I do static holds for bi's on the flat side of a preacher bench with dumbells, and one arms pressdowns for tri's (can currently hold 150 ibs 2 inches short of lockout for 14 seconds with either arm, but getting stronger)
Wednesday: One sets to failure for bi's & tri's, will probably go with preacher curls & hammerstrength dip machine (might go with weighted dips instead, but much harder to imploy high intensity technics, which sucks becuase I love dips). Probably one set to failure, followed by 3 or 4 partial reps, and a spotter to help with 2 or 3 forced negatives.

Friday: My usually thigh, calf and arm routine, but will limit bi's and tri's to two sets. Probably going to do heavy partials on preacher curls and close grip press.

Guld, yeah I've learned alot about training, but honestly my early gains have nothing to do with my knowledge of training, diet drugs, etc, simply good genetics. My first bulking cycle was 250 mg of test, 200 mg of deca a week. Ended week 8 at 235 ibs, about 17% bf (yeah I ate like a pig). I started that cycle exactly one year after I started training, and gained about 50 ibs.
My advice on yoru waist is mainly to diet. Also I find doing vaccums helps, and avoid any direct training of the obliques. Hoping to have mine down to about 29" for my photos. I did my first show at 178 ibs, and 4 days out I measured it at 28.

 

[guldukat]

Guld, actually we have arrived at the same conclusion. I've concluded that bi's and tri's are small muscles thus require very little in terms of total sets in order to stimulate growth, but their localized recovery is very fast by comparison to larger muscles. I'm going to increase the frequincy of training to this.

Monday: back, chest, shoulders + one static hold for bi's & tri's.
I do static holds for bi's on the flat side of a preacher bench with dumbells, and one arms pressdowns for tri's (can currently hold 150 ibs 2 inches short of lockout for 14 seconds with either arm, but getting stronger)

Incredible. There are lots of guys, like my training partner, who'd kill to do 150 for reps with BOTH arms. I'm not exactly repping out endlessly with it, either

Anyway, sounds good. I really, really dig statics.

Wednesday: One sets to failure for bi's & tri's, will probably go with preacher curls & hammerstrength dip machine (might go with weighted dips instead, but much harder to imploy high intensity technics, which sucks becuase I love dips). Probably one set to failure, followed by 3 or 4 partial reps, and a spotter to help with 2 or 3 forced negatives.

Also looks good.

Friday: My usually thigh, calf and arm routine, but will limit bi's and tri's to two sets. Probably going to do heavy partials on preacher curls and close grip press.

Guld, yeah I've learned alot about training, but honestly my early gains have nothing to do with my knowledge of training, diet drugs, etc, simply good genetics. My first bulking cycle was 250 mg of test, 200 mg of deca a week. Ended week 8 at 235 ibs, about 17% bf (yeah I ate like a pig). I started that cycle exactly one year after I started training, and gained about 50 ibs.
My advice on yoru waist is mainly to diet. Also I find doing vaccums helps, and avoid any direct training of the obliques. Hoping to have mine down to about 29" for my photos. I did my first show at 178 ibs, and 4 days out I measured it at 28.

Awesome.

That sounds like a pretty mean program. I'll be interested to hear how it works for you. I'm betting pretty well

And I definitely need to diet at some point. I'm 242 right now and need to be 225 to be truly gym hard. It's probably going to be awhile until I can get a hold of my "connection," though, for a good cutting cycle. I'm terribly lazy when it comes to dieting

You have some good luck, there, in prepping for that shoot, and let me know how the arms go. The only thing I might suggest is that, again, be careful! With your kind of strength--315 militaries, 455 flat benches, those insane CGBP and preacher curls--I don't want you to get injured. I know you don't want that either

But enough of that. Injury isn't an option. You go get 'em and enjoy having a 29" waist for...well, most of the rest of us LOL.

 

[jackangel]

315 on militaries!? diggity damn. for reps?

 

[SlavikHavik]

A teacher, back in high school, curled 195 lbs for 3 reps on a straight bar.

That guy was huge though. He was on the canadian bobsled team too

 

[Lee]

A teacher, back in high school, curled 195 lbs for 3 reps on a straight bar.

That guy was huge though. He was on the canadian bobsled team too

damn, im surprised someone that strong would be small enough to fit in a bobsled

 

[SlavikHavik]

yeah i know. he was pretty short. probably 5'8, 5'9
but he was thick. His arms must have been 20-21 inches

 

[Deleted member 33117]

Jack, yeah, but only 3 reps and its on a smith machine so its a bit easier. Still I would rather do a little heavier weight on a smith machine and target the delts a little harder than 20 or 30 ibs less with free weight and have to stabilize it. Free weight militaries are too hard on my rotator cuffs, I dislocated my right shoulder about 2 and half years ago. Steated dumbell presses don't seem to bother it though as long as I don't use anything heavier than 100's, only barbell presses. Still I guess that is pretty strong. A lot of people at the gym stop and stare when I train, and I get asked alot about how I lift so heavy. I take it for granted too often I guess. I used to work out with my cousin, so my 315 military doesn't seem that impressive, I've seen him do 425 for reps with free weights. He plays for the Titans right now, it used to scare the hell out of me spotting him, I was always worried he get pinned benching and I wouldn't be able to get the weight off of him.

Guld, yeah I love static holds with heavy weights. Thanks for the concern about getting hurt. I think about that alot. I'm always thinking about form, I train in the rack alot so I can't get pinned (Don't always trust my spotters). 225 hard is pretty good bro if you can get there. Most people have no idea how big that really is. Anyone can eat like a pig and use 2 grams of test a week and get to 250+ soft, but to be anything over 210 and close to contest condition is freakish. Look at some of the older pictures of Flex Wheeler competing in the Olypmia at 218.

 

[cockdesiel]

I didnt read through all of the post .....I'm kinda in a hurry, My two cents though.....BROS SAVE YOUR WRISTS by wrapping them. I'm a fomer boxer so I use that particular wrapping but you can also use an ace bandage. I do diff. variations of curls but my fav. are preachers w/ ez bar 200lbs 3 x 6 with 4 min intervals. Now, I wrap my wrists for all of my lifts........No more pain.......gota give props to my dad for the advise