Building bigger arms

[americanadian]

Actually, if you do just curls and tricep extensions you will grow- bigger biceps and triceps. Only. And not to the degree you would if you threw in squats, pull-ups and all that other compound crap. But you would have some nice pipes on these dickie little shoulders, and that looks kinda funny.

Although some guys obviously think it looks good. To each their own I suppose.

[Liv92]

Actually, if you do just curls and tricep extensions you will grow- bigger biceps and triceps. Only. And not to the degree you would if you threw in squats, pull-ups and all that other compound crap. But you would have some nice pipes on these dickie little shoulders, and that looks kinda funny.

Although some guys obviously think it looks good. To each their own I suppose.

My point, now imagine you mixed all of those up? You would have some jacked arms.... and everything else too!

[ryanflyer05]

What you guys don't understand is, yes rows and chin ups are a compound exercise but they still mainly target the BACK. If you truly want bigger biceps why would you do a back exercise rather then a bicep exercise? It's kinda common sense. I think this whole compound exercises make your arms just as big or even bigger then direct arm work was just a white lie to get newbies to do compound exercises so they wouldn't neglect the rest of their BODY.

But an another note, your also not gonna grow just doing curls or triceps extensions because there isn't enough stimulation for the body to grow. plain and simple...

The point is that your arms aren't going to grow unless you're entire body is gaining mass. And that's only going to happen if you do the big compounds.

Here's a great article that explains this concept, again, with a cool story:

http://ditillo2.blogspot.com/2009/04/bi ... starr.html

[dylanamus]

Good read

[Portillo]

Did curls today! Feels good to be a bodybuilder again. Although i will prob only do them on fridays.

[namaste]

if you do curls, you automatically become a bodybuilder. time to tan up and wear stupid underpants.

[americanadian]

if you do curls, you automatically become a bodybuilder. time to tan up and wear stupid underpants.

If you do squats, you automatically become a powerlifter. Time to get fat and wear a leotard.

[dylanamus]

I love the sardonic stereotyping. This thread just made my night

[natew]

I love the sardonic stereotyping. This thread just made my night

Agreed (made my morning)

[NotNowChief]

I started out years ago doing dickey curls and tricep isolations, I knew no better. I did build bigger arms but not really BIG. They will go so far and then you just don't have the strength- in arms or core or overall to get really big, shirt filling arms, which I WAS able to get after finally getting truly strong on stronglifts.
Nothing has added size like weighted dips.

Having said that I'm experimenting with curls again for the next couple of months!
Log: http://stronglifts.com/forum/notnowchief-i-m-in-the-effing-zone-t17774.html

[ryanflyer05]

if you do curls, you automatically become a bodybuilder. time to tan up and wear stupid underpants.

If you do squats, you automatically become a powerlifter. Time to get fat and wear a leotard.

If you do pull-ups, you automatically become a gymnast. Time to prance around in a singlet and have people question your sexuality.

[americanadian]

Can I effectively wear stupid underpants, a leotard and a singlet- all while tanning, getting fat, and having my sexuality questioned- at the same time?

I mean, is is possible?

I know I can get fat, tanned and ambiguous all at the same time, but the wardrobe might be difficult...

Suggestions?

[dylanamus]

I am picturing a monstrosity... but what I can suggest is a rainbow pattern on the leotard. That at least kills a couple of birds with one stone.

[killerdude494949]

I think this article is what we all need to give a good read.

http://bestathomeworkouts.com/workout_g ... gger-arms/


By the way, it is stupid to tell people to avoid curls and stick to rows and chins and other things along those lines, but the reason it is generally advocated that you dont do curls is because this site is geared towards beginners, and a few sets of curls are probably not going to much for a 140 lb guys biceps. But I don't think you need to wait until you can squat 1.5x BW to add a little isolation. I'm sure a lot of people wouldn't waste time lifting a weight for their first time if their muscles didnt grow in size as a result. If doing some iso work will make your targeted muscle bigger without impeding progress, who gives a shit? Lot of people here just want to be big as well as strong.

[Arnath03]

So I'm a bit of a nerd but a lot of recent research shows that dips and pullups can be some of the best things for putting mass onto your arms. The one thing that hasn't really been mentioned here in hormones. The huge advantage to compound lifts versus isolations lifts is the vast difference in muscles involved and consequentially hormones released. Hormones are really what control and regulate a huge amount of your body. Just like having a lot of sugar in a post-workout drink causes an Insulin spike which interacts with your cells and allows all that protein to get into your cells, doing large compound lifts, especially ones that involve legs, causes your body to release much larger quantities of any athlete's best friends HGH and Testosterone. So in a lot of ways doing squats can in fact help you put on mass on your arms, and doing only compound exercises can get you huge arms. You do need to add weight as you won't put on mass usually if you're pumping out 30 reps in a set. However, I like to play devil's advocate. Depend on the given person's body they might not be getting enough development in certain areas or their body using just compounds. This can be any number of things such as the difference in bone lengths, slight variations in the point where muscles and tendons attach and the slight variations in stance and form during the lifts. If this is the case and you have a reasonable modicum of strength base built then isolation exercises can be beneficial to shoring up those weaknesses. The reality of the world is that everyone is different and that different things do work for different people.