Help! My arms aren't growing

[BigBossMan]

First off let me say I'm not one of those guys who only works on their biceps and chest. I'm 6', 192lbs, almost 19 years old. Been lifting for almost a year and a half.

My routine is like this:

Monday-Back/Biceps
Wednesdasy-Legs/Shoulders
Friday-Chest/Triceps

My arms don't seem to be growing or getting stronger. I think it might be because I train arms after back or chest, so they are already too fatigued to work hard.

My other lifts are making great gains. I can deadlift 315x7, squat 265x8, and today in bench I hit 245x7. After I do back, I'll do some sets of bicep curls with a barbell, and rep 80x8 or so. After that, I'll do sets with dumbbells and I can only use 30s. After chest when I do triceps, I'll do dips with a 45 plate tied to me, then close grip bench press, and I can only rep 145x8. The thing is, my arms havn't gotten much stronger at all over the last 6 months, but every other lift has.

About a year ago I would have an arm day so they were getting stronger, but then everything else sucked.


Here's some pics of me, tell me what If I'm crazy.

http://members.tccoa.com/mjsbossman/102-0294_IMG.jpg
http://members.tccoa.com/mjsbossman/103-0328_IMG.jpg

 

[louden_swain]

Post your current routine and list your exercises so we can help.

 

[BigBossMan]

Here's my routine: (current weight after parenthesis)

Monday: Back/Biceps
3 sets of deadlifts (5-8 reps) 315lbs
3 sets of pulldowns (6-8 reps)
3 sets of DB rows (6-8 reps) 90lbs
3 sets of BB curls (4-8 reps) 80lbs
3 sets of DB curls (4-8 reps) 30lbs

Wednesday: Legs/Shoulders
3 sets of squats (4-8 reps) 255
3 sets of seated calf raises (6-12 reps) 135
2 sets of DB press (5-7 reps) 80
2 sets of BB press (5-7 reps) 155

Friday: Chest/Triceps

3 sets of flat BB bench (4-8 reps) 255
3 sets of incline BB bench (4-8 reps) 195
3 sets of weighted dips (6-8 reps) w/ 45 plate
3 sets of close grip bench (6-8 reps) 145
*every other week I alternate using barbell for chest with dumbbells. On the week I use dumbbells, I start with incline DB and do flat DB press second. That has helped my chest tremendously. Use 100s for both.

Hopefully that is enough info. 6 months ago when I did arms on their own day, I was able to curl 100x9, compared to 80x8 when I do biceps after back.

My arms are only 15"...is that bad for being 192lbs at 6' tall?

 

[Lee]

15" isnt bad, bigger than average. height has nothing to do with it though.

yer workout looks solid, only thing i could suggest is eat more and make sure yer gettin enough protein, it could be yer diet holding you back. if that doesnt help then try different excersizes for the muscles, like instead of db curls and bb curls for bicep, try preacher curl with an ez curl bar and some incline seated curls. (the position for incline bench but u curl dbs).

btw, yer built pretty good from what i can tell from yer pics, keep up the good work

 

[BigBossMan]

Thanks Lee. I'm pretty sure I get enough protein. I drink a gallon of milk day (150g protein), drink at least 2 N-Large 2 shakes per day (100g protein), plus all the other food I eat, such as chicken breasts or steaks. I think I get enough calories, because I'm gaining some decent mass. But, I do eat quite a bit of junk food, like fast food. I don't think it matters if you eat junk food, as long as you eat enough calories and protein, I think...A year and a half ago I weighed 155.

I'll probably try some new exercises for arms, but it's my triceps that I want to focus on, my biceps are decent enough.

 

[Lee]

i was just using biceps as an example, you can swtich up for basically any muscle

 

[BlkWS6]

Have you considered getting off of the push/pull routine? I understand the logic behind them, but personally I have not gotten great results off of that type of a routine. Just as you stated above, if I train back hard, my biceps suffer big time and vice versa. This applies to chest day as well. I know you say you are making progress, but I just figured I would throw this in for you. Im following a split similiar to what Needsize has laid out in his 5x5 sticky and it is great. Just something to think about.

 

[Lord_Suston]

no offense man but you need to be squatting and deadlifting more. Your flat bench is very high in comparison to your other core lifts. My arms grow the most when my core lift are way up, shit doing reps with 405 on deads will make your arms grow like nothing else.

try
Back/traps
Chest/bis
rest
Delts/tris
Legs/calves
rest
rest

 

[Citruscide]

Your arms are symmetrical with the rest of your body, IMO.

Lord Sust hit the nail on the head. I have noticed alot of my body growing just from doing those bigger exercises. Traps especially. Not to mention I am starting to notice my hammies sticking out the back side of my legs .... I like that... BUt i digress... deads, squats... etc.. .are all great exercises to make your WHOLE body to grow!

C-ditty

 

[BigBossMan]

Thanks guys.

I definately work hard on squats and deadlifts though!!! I'm telling you, I do those until I can't stand up. I didn't start squating/deadlifting until about 7 months ago, but I've benched on and off for the last few years and when I started lifting weights 18 months ago, that gave me a headstart with bench. That's why my squats/deadlifts are somewhat low.

And I have made great gains, and am still gaining FAST on squats and deadlifts. I usually add 1 rep per week in each of those exercises, or add 5lbs.

So should I do more sets for squats/deads? I'm trying to gain, repping 255 for squats is weak for my bench strength.

Lord Suston, that routine looks good, I'm READY for a new routine, I've been doing thise one for the last 6 months or so. My chest/back have gained a lot but my bis/tris have fallen back a little. I'll try your routine or something similar to it.