Building arms

[hittman]

I've been doing some research on arm building lately and I've found some sources, often which i cannot determine which are true and which aren't, due to the wide range of contradictions and different beliefs.

So far I've found some ways of building up the arms are to do many reps in sets with light weight, whereas others say heavy weight less reps. The former suggests that doing this makes the arms toned, and the latter builds mass.

I'm not focussing heavily on the forearm, but any tips as to how to increase both size and tone of the arms would be greatly appreciated. Keep in mind at the tender age of 16 I naturally am unable to lift trucks like you guys. As a reference, I usually barbell about 15 kilos, not much, but hey, it's a start.

 

[musketeer]

Seated Incline Dumbell Curls 2 * 8-10 to failure

Barbell Preacher Curls 2 * 8-10 to failure

Try to add a little weight or reps each workout.

High reps will increase your nervous link with a muscle and will make it more efficent at contracting but will not increase size very much. Using heavy weight (more than it can handle for 6-10 reps) will cause the muscle to overcompensate/ grow.

Muscles fullfil their function. Powerlifters are huge, marathon runners are tiny.

 

[nikolai_bolkov]

Keep lifting the heaviest weights you can complete 3 sets with 6-8 reps with. I.e. for the first set do 8 reps. You should not be able to do another rep. Rest, then do another set. This time you probably will only be do 6 or 7 reps. Rest, then do another set where you'd only be able to do 6 reps.

There is no such thing as toning the muscle, once you have muscle it will show.

 

[hittman]

thanks musketeer

 

[Mikeygun]

im also interested. How did guys like sergio, arnold and all the other guys from back in the day have these HUGE arms?....from what i understand they didnt use insane amounts of steriods like the pro's do today, no hgh or slin and their arms, if not their whole body looks a millions times better than any pro out there today. Anyone know how they trained arms or what kind of diet they had?

 

[musketeer]

I think that the older competitors look better standing next to each other than they do in comparison to the 25% bigger and much more ripped, athletes of today. Bodybuilders of the 60's and 70's had smaler waists, torsos, thighs and even delts which make their arms look bigger in comparison. However, it is true to say that their development was amazing given their low reliance on drugs.

 

[gsxr1000]

................ Powerlifters are huge, marathon runners are tiny.

You can't always use that analogy though. Powerlifters aren't always huge, typically they are short and stocky. The strength advantage they have typically is a result of short limbs and tendons and greater leverage than it is gigantic muscles.
Bodybuilders train to increase their muscle size, by trying to achieve a pump and effectively fatigue the muscle as much as possible.
Powerlifters train to move the most amount of weight they can for very low reps (1-3). Compare a bodybuilder to a powerlifter, which would you say has the larger fuller muscle bellies., I'd say the bodybuilder.

In essence everyone is different and their bodies respond as such. Some people's bodies respond better to higher volume and higher reps to grow (myself included) as opposed to lower volume and reps. Basically, it's trial and error, you have to find what wroks best for you.

 

[hittman]

This isn't that relevant to the HUGE ranks of Arnold etc. but Bruce Lee was quite a fit man in his day (some say overfitness caused his death). He could hold 150lbs extended out in front of him standing up. He may not have been huge, but his somewhat extraordinary strength (1 finger pushups) and perfectly sculpted and defined body certainly made up for it. I think he was a perfect example of mind over matter. Anyway, he drank milkshakes which contained ice cream, eggs, eggshells!, bananas, flour (some weird type i've not heard of before), and soy milk. His wife talked of him CONSTANTLY lifting dumbells while he was eating breakfast, dinner etc. His workout was huge and i can't remember it exactly, but this is what i recollect:

He usually rode full speed - 35 to 40 miles an hour continuously for 45 minutes to an hour (cardio warm-up), and skipped

Shoulders
Clean and presses: 2 sets, 8 reps

Lats
Barbell pullovers: 2 sets, 8 reps

Biceps
Barbell curls: 2 sets, 8 reps

Chest
Bench-presses: 2 sets, 6 reps

Lower Back/Glutes/Hams
*Good mornings: 2 sets, 8 reps

Quads
Squats: 2 sets, 12 reps

Abs
Waist Twists: 4 sets, 90 repetitions
Sit up Twist: 4 sets, 20 repetitions
Leg Raises: 4 sets, 20 repetitions
Leaning Twist: 4 sets, 50 repetitions

* Position like a squat, only bring the legs closer together. Then, bend forward facing forward, until you reach a right angled triangle, where from your head to your feet is the longest angle. Slowly return back to an upright position.
Make sure you DO NOT OVER EXERT THIS LIFT. Warm up before attempting it also.

Hope this sort of helped.

 

[Zyglamail]

low reps with heavy weights work CNS much more than mid to high reps. Low to mid reps cause more hypertrophy and high reps simply build endurance and bloat muscle cells so they store more energy.

High reps will increase your nervous link with a muscle and will make it more efficent at contracting but will not increase size very much. Using heavy weight (more than it can handle for 6-10 reps) will cause the muscle to overcompensate/ grow.

If high reps increased muscle fiber recruitment dont you think thats what power lifter would be using? Powerlifters core training involved low reps because it develops CNS and increases their ability to recruite more muscle fibers for lifting.

 

[gsxr1000]

low reps with heavy weights work CNS much more than mid to high reps. Low to mid reps cause more hypertrophy and high reps simply build endurance and bloat muscle cells so they store more energy.

If high reps increased muscle fiber recruitment dont you think thats what power lifter would be using? Powerlifters core training involved low reps because it develops CNS and increases their ability to recruite more muscle fibers for lifting.

Indeed, but the training regimen of a powerlifter and a bodybuilder is different, and don't their physiques reflect that. Bodybuilders tend to train in the midrange of rep #'s, and as such I'd say their physiques look fuller and bigger, and hittman was inquiring about building bigger arms, not stronger arms per se.