# overtraining arms???



## shoulders (May 17, 2012)

ive always trained arms once a week and since getting back to things my arms seem to be the only thing that isnt matching up with everything else (look too small for my body) to give you an idea a have a 48" chest and my arms are 16"

what sort of plan would you put in place to train arms twice a week / three times a week?????? or would you just stay at the once a week and hope they catch up??


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## TIMMY_432 (Aug 6, 2009)

Well both your bi's and tri's get hit twice a week anyway from doing chest and back so I wouldn't go training them for a third time in a week!


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## shoulders (May 17, 2012)

currently doing

monday shoulders and back

wenesday triceps and legs

friday biceps and chest


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## PHMG (Jun 15, 2010)

trying to bring mine up and am hitting them twice-three times a week. Can only try:

mon. chest, delts, bis, tris

tues. legs

wednesday. back, bis, tris

rest

repeat.

if its not working with less volume, you can only try more and see. Pretty happy with the results so far.


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## shoulders (May 17, 2012)

thanks very much as said everything is growing back pretty quik anyway just the arms eeem to be lagging a little will carry on for this week as is and switch it up a little next week


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## Ginger Ben (Oct 5, 2010)

shoulders said:


> thanks very much as said everything is growing back pretty quik anyway just the arms eeem to be lagging a little will carry on for this week as is and switch it up a little next week


Smash them hard with close grip weighted chin ups, palms facing you for biceps and weighted tricep dips with your upper body upright.

I incorporate these in to back and chest day respectively along with some isolations for both bis and tris but I've found these two exercises are what actually add mass to my arms. The rest is really just fluff.


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## beckham7 (Dec 9, 2005)

best way to get big arms is heavy squat and heavy deadlift, with a bulk diet your arms should grow with the rest of your body maybe throw one isolation move in for each at the end of a heavy workout


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## 2H3ENCH4U (May 23, 2012)

PowerHouseMcGru said:


> trying to bring mine up and am hitting them twice-three times a week. Can only try:
> 
> mon. chest, delts, bis, tris
> 
> ...


I like the look of this - I would try this with a heavy low rep approach on Monday and maybe push weds workout to Thrusday (for the extra rest) and then do a light high rep variation just to shock the s.hit out of em.


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## George-Bean (Sep 8, 2010)

smash them triceps with deep deep triceps dips.


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## Ginger Ben (Oct 5, 2010)

beckham7 said:


> best way to get big arms is heavy squat and heavy deadlift, with a bulk diet your arms should grow with the rest of your body maybe throw one isolation move in for each at the end of a heavy workout


Pmsl love it when i see this. Good luck growing big arms with squats.....deadlifts will help but dips and chins are better for growing your arms.


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## shoulders (May 17, 2012)

cheers guys much appreciated

i need bigger arms to do the pull up and dips haha 251lbs atm


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## tony10 (Oct 15, 2009)

how do you get big arms with sqauting?????????

:blink:


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## andymc88 (Aug 18, 2011)

I used to think more is better bt def less is more, used to do 12-15 sets on every body part now 6-9sets total, lower end for arms, they seem more thick as well


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## beckham7 (Dec 9, 2005)

sorry i forgot to say squat deadlift bench and militry press - concentrate on lifting heavy compound exercises and your arms will grow as your overall body does , i know alot of guys who have got really big doing these and there arms grew as they did , i also know alot of guys that waste time smashing their biceps and see little growth all year round..... iv cant remember the last time i saw a guy with big chest shoulder and back but skinny arms


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## beckham7 (Dec 9, 2005)

im not saying dont do biceps exercises im saying just try doing less and concentrate on the bigger movemnts , i hardy train biceps at all and mine are in proportion with my body


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## 2H3ENCH4U (May 23, 2012)

I dunno TBH mate, theres a lad I know who has got a decent chest and thick back from manual labour and constant benching but his arms defintely need work.



> best way to get big arms is heavy squat and heavy deadlift,


Sounds like the sort of thing I would say to a newbie to get em to squat and DL.


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## shoulders (May 17, 2012)

beckham7 said:


> iv cant remember the last time i saw a guy with big chest shoulder and back but skinny arms


you havent seen me then 

there not skinny arms just "i dont feel" they match the rest of my body


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## shoulders (May 17, 2012)

2H3ENCH4U said:


> I dunno TBH mate, theres a lad I know who has got a decent chest and thick back from manual labour and constant benching but his arms defintely need work.
> 
> .


thats me


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## pirus (Sep 22, 2010)

heres some about the squats and arms thing http://www.ergo-log.com/wantbiggerbiceps.html


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## Mingster (Mar 25, 2011)

I've said this a few times, but I very, very rarely do any direct arm work.


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## flinty90 (Jul 1, 2010)

to be fair i only train bi's and tri's directly once every couple of weeks.. maybe thats why my arms are small lol...


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## laup (Jun 11, 2011)

TIMMY_432 said:


> Well both your bi's and tri's get hit twice a week anyway from doing chest and back so I wouldn't go training them for a third time in a week!


Thats right u have to give them a chance to grow! I very rarely train my arms directly. Just make sure u kill them off on a d back or chest day,

Try close grip bench a the end & maybe and negative ez bar curls.

Also mentioned dips and close grip pull ups are the daddy too


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## laup (Jun 11, 2011)

flinty90 said:


> to be fair i only train bi's and tri's directly once every couple of weeks.. maybe thats why my arms are small lol...


In my experience if u smash them too many times a week they don't get enough time to repair and grow, just make sure u kill tris and bi on back/chest day


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## flinty90 (Jul 1, 2010)

laup said:


> In my experience if u smash them too many times a week they don't get enough time to repair and grow, just make sure u kill tris and bi on back/chest day


dont worry mate i do lol... my arms are only 18 inches ... would love 20 's


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## Milky (Nov 30, 2008)

If l need to miss something on a week its arms as mine are ok, but if l do l train them once a week. Big tri's give the deception of big arms.


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## flinty90 (Jul 1, 2010)

Milky said:


> If l need to miss something on a week its arms as mine are ok, but if l do l train them once a week. Big tri's EQUAL big arms.


edited for accuracy X


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## Milky (Nov 30, 2008)

flinty90 said:


> edited for accuracy X


Same thing really, its what ever fills the T shirt sleeve.


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## flinty90 (Jul 1, 2010)

Milky said:


> Same thing really, its what ever fills the T shirt sleeve.


Socks stuffed into them ??


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## laup (Jun 11, 2011)

isn't your arm supposed to be 2/3rds tricep anyhow


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## meangreen (Jun 8, 2012)

for me it works doing dips , i can do every thing else but with dips i feel much more

maybe get a strap or something that you can put on weight and maybe you will see changes

for the bi´s , this maybe look stupid but i get huge pump with chin ups with my hands inverted

give it a try, if it helps me maybe it will help you


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## Bamse (Feb 5, 2011)

I'm with the noarms-brigade on this one; try not training your arms directly at all for six months and see how that works out. My feeling is that people focus way to much on individual muscles, when your body is actually an integrated system where your muscles work together to perform certain basic tasks, eg push or pull things or yourself up or down or away, etc. Arms are just part of that.


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## thecapsaicinkid (Aug 19, 2012)

I'm in exactly the same boat. No matter what routine I do, my arms while obviously very toned looking stay disproportionately small. Biceps are quite 'peaky' but my arms are generally very narrow. I'm at the point where I need to stop bulking soon as bodyfat is a little too high for my liking but I really don't want to because I haven't put anything on my arms. Everything goes on my back/traps/lats/shoulders/quads. I'd usually work arms once a week but I'm currently doing less (arms every ~12 ish) as sticking to the same routine is pointless. Utterly demoralised tbh. Any suggestions?

Cheers


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## 36-26 (Jun 30, 2009)

I'm sorry I very much disagree with the train arms less or not at all people. Any bodybuilder pro or otherwise that ever did well trains their arms directly, simple as that. You'd think if it worked better to not train them they would, so if some guy with 17's is telling you not to train them and a guy with 20's says you should then who are you going to listen to. Remember pro bodybuilders are guys with the best genetics and even they know they still need direct arm work.

Yes your arms will grow along with just compound exercises for the rest of the body but they will grow better with direct work.

Show me a pic of a guy with big arms who does no direct work and I'll show you a guy with bigger arms that does direct arm work.


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## thecapsaicinkid (Aug 19, 2012)

How would you go about changing stuff up if your routine isn't working for your arms?

Arms seems to be the only muscle group where my lifts don't increase. I'm still curling the same weight I was 6 months ago give or take.


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## 36-26 (Jun 30, 2009)

thecapsaicinkid said:


> How would you go about changing stuff up if your routine isn't working for your arms?
> 
> Arms seems to be the only muscle group where my lifts don't increase. I'm still curling the same weight I was 6 months ago give or take.


You have to remember it is 2/3rds triceps that make up the arms, try resetting your weights if they are stalling and come back up in smaller increments like 1kg and you might surpass the weights you were using. Train your Tri's hard too. Dips, CGBP and Tri extensions are great builders


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## Dezw (May 13, 2009)

I know some bb'ers that train twice a day, every day mate, they've got fcuking huge arms, are they over-training?

I also know alot of guys in the building trade, who lift and lay kerbs all day, huge arms and delts, over-training?

My arms improve when I train them individually twice a week, same as any other body part I have tried, I just don't have the time to stick to that kind of schedule.

6-8 quality sets twice a week will do more for you IMO, than one day of training.


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## thecapsaicinkid (Aug 19, 2012)

Currently I'm doing chest, shoulders, arms and back on separate days with 2 days inbetween, previous it was 1 day. I actually saw a bit of an increase in my arms moving to 2 day rest periods but that seems to have stopped.

I'll try resetting the weight and doing my tricep routine before biceps. If that doesn't work, maybe I'll try hitting arms twice a week. Which lifts give width to your arm? This is where I'm seriously lacking.


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## Blinkey (May 14, 2012)

Heavy compound moves whatever body part they are for will give you big arms as you cannot do them unless you use the arms.


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## Dezw (May 13, 2009)

thecapsaicinkid said:


> Currently I'm doing chest, shoulders, arms and back on separate days with 2 days inbetween, previous it was 1 day. I actually saw a bit of an increase in my arms moving to 2 day rest periods but that seems to have stopped.
> 
> I'll try resetting the weight and doing my tricep routine before biceps. If that doesn't work, maybe I'll try hitting arms twice a week. Which lifts give width to your arm? This is where I'm seriously lacking.


Are you eating enough to grow??


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## ampre (Aug 5, 2012)

I think if you ask most on here most will say there arms don't match up....When I look at my arms 16 and half inch 10 % body fat I also feel they are smaller than the rest,that's becasue you have a different view of them than a person looking at the direct.

Some people neglect tricecps,while trying to build big arms triceps are a bigger muscle than biceps therefore must be worked the same as biceps.

I always train 1 body part per day,mostly becasue I have the time,has worked for me for many years and also makes me smash the muscle group more so than if I was doing chest and triceps.

I don't see how if you train chest smashing it,how can you put 100 % energy into smashing triceps if you are shatterd....although I have trained 2 body part for many years but made my biggest gains when I started to train just one body part per day.

In order to get big arms,lift heavy low reps 6 to 8 reps,always increasing weight every time you return to the gym,even if its just 1lb per week,over 1 year that is a 48lbs increase,your arms will only grow to the size of the weigt you are lifting.

In order to get big arms,lift heavy low reps 6 tom 8 reps,eat rest and sleep.

:thumb:


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## thecapsaicinkid (Aug 19, 2012)

Dezw said:


> Are you eating enough to grow??


My intake is something I've had to look at a bit more thoroughly recently, it seems what I was eating previously (81Kg ~3300cal) stopped being enough. I haven't gained any/much weight recently so maybe this is the cause. Regardless of this I have never put much on my arms, even when I'm piling on mass on my larger muscles, back and legs etc.


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## Pictor (Jan 10, 2011)

Try bicep curls in the squat rack with the Olympic bar


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## Mingster (Mar 25, 2011)

36-26 said:


> I'm sorry I very much disagree with the train arms less or not at all people. Any bodybuilder pro or otherwise that ever did well trains their arms directly, simple as that. You'd think if it worked better to not train them they would, so if some guy with 17's is telling you not to train them and a guy with 20's says you should then who are you going to listen to. Remember pro bodybuilders are guys with the best genetics and even they know they still need direct arm work.
> 
> Yes your arms will grow along with just compound exercises for the rest of the body but they will grow better with direct work.
> 
> Show me a pic of a guy with big arms who does no direct work and I'll show you a guy with bigger arms that does direct arm work.


Why have I got big arms then?

And why do they lose size when I train them directly?

There's no one rule fits all. That's why so many people don't get to the size they seek. They all try to train the same.


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## ki3rz (Sep 12, 2011)

Mingster said:


> Why have I got big arms then?
> 
> And why do they lose size when I train them directly?
> 
> There's no one rule fits all. That's why so many people don't get to the size they seek. They all try to train the same.


Couldn't agree more. The last month of me doing weighted chins and dips, I've seen much more progression than the previous 6 months of bicep / dumbbell curls etc.

Might not work for everyone, but definitely works for me


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## thecapsaicinkid (Aug 19, 2012)

Mingster said:


> That's why so many people don't get to the size they seek. They all try to train the same.


This is the thing, I can't keep doing the same thing over and over without seeing results. I'll try anything tbh, less, more, whatever. As long as it's different to what I've been doing previously because it's just not working. I can squat, shrug, lat pulldown etc. as well as some of the bigger guys. Arms, I'm curling the same as some of the beginners. Demoralising.


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## simonthepieman (Jun 11, 2012)

so long as you aren't training to failure most people can hit a body part 3x a week with no problems. Twice a week no problem.


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## ampre (Aug 5, 2012)

Mingster said:


> Why have I got big arms then?
> 
> And why do they lose size when I train them directly?
> 
> There's no one rule fits all. That's why so many people don't get to the size they seek. They all try to train the same.


I agree with mingster on this one.

Lean your body what works for you,biggest mistake I ever made was listening to 1000 views many years ago what is right and wrong.

Granted I made mistakes,but that is the learning curve of building muscle.


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## 36-26 (Jun 30, 2009)

Mingster said:


> Why have I got big arms then?
> 
> And why do they lose size when I train them directly?
> 
> There's no one rule fits all. That's why so many people don't get to the size they seek. They all try to train the same.


You must be an exception, are your arms as big as any pro? I can see from your avi that you are a big dude but I've read you say you are not a bodybuilder. Every pro bodybuilder trains their arms and none of their arms shrink doing it


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## 36-26 (Jun 30, 2009)

ki3rz said:


> Couldn't agree more. The last month of me doing weighted chins and dips, I've seen much more progression than the previous 6 months of bicep / dumbbell curls etc.
> 
> Might not work for everyone, but definitely works for me


 But weighted dips and chins are training your arms directly IMO so thats a bit of a moot point


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## ampre (Aug 5, 2012)

anab0lic said:


> Honestly you will strugle to bring them up just training them once a week...... you are actually undertraining them not overtraining them... and yeah a 16 inch arm with 48 inch chest is quite out of proportion....


That me ****ed then cuz I am about the same size as the poster.

As for a 48 inch chest I am confident that you will lose at least 2 to 3 inches in body fat if not already around 10 per cent body fat from around the back and chest bring you into proporion of 16 inch arms 45 to 46 inch chest.


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## Mingster (Mar 25, 2011)

36-26 said:


> You must be an exception, are your arms as big as any pro? I can see from your avi that you are a big dude but I've read you say you are not a bodybuilder. Every pro bodybuilder trains their arms and none of their arms shrink doing it


No I'm not a bodybuilder. Pro bodybuilders use lots of bicep exercises to bring out the features in already huge arms. I don't think that there are any pro bodybuilders looking for advice in this thread tbf...



36-26 said:


> But weighted dips and chins are training your arms directly IMO so thats a bit of a moot point


Dips are fundamentally a chest exercise, and chins are a back exercise. Yes, they work arms as does virtually every upper body exercise. But not directly - training the arms is a secondary effect of these exercises. If dips and chins are classed as direct arm work then yes, I do direct arm work lol...


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## Dezw (May 13, 2009)

thecapsaicinkid said:


> My intake is something I've had to look at a bit more thoroughly recently, it seems what I was eating previously (81Kg ~3300cal) stopped being enough. I haven't gained any/much weight recently so maybe this is the cause. Regardless of this I have never put much on my arms, even when I'm piling on mass on my larger muscles, back and legs etc.


Definitely not eating enough.

Without cals you simply cannot grow, no matter how you train or what gear even you could take.


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## ampre (Aug 5, 2012)

Mingster said:


> No I'm not a bodybuilder. Pro bodybuilders use lots of bicep exercises to bring out the features in already huge arms. I don't think that there are any pro bodybuilders looking for advice in this thread tbf...
> 
> Dips are fundamentally a chest exercise, and chins are a back exercise. Yes, they work arms as does virtually every upper body exercise. But not directly - training the arms is a secondary effect of these exercises. If dips and chins are classed as direct arm work then yes, I do direct arm work lol...


Mingster if you go to the gym working out and you are not a body builder what are you then?

:001_tt2:


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## ki3rz (Sep 12, 2011)

36-26 said:


> But weighted dips and chins are training your arms directly IMO so thats a bit of a moot point


I didn't say it wasn't, but they're hardly isolation exercises compared to bb curls. I do dips when I do my chest workout, and throw chins in when training back. So it's not a specific arm day.

My point was, that I was agreeing with everyone is different and different things work for different people.


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## Mingster (Mar 25, 2011)

ampre said:


> Mingster if you go to the gym working out and you are not a body builder what are you then?
> 
> :001_tt2:


I'm a retired powerlifter lol...

Might have a go at this bodybuilding lark mind you. Looks pretty easy apart from the small trunks.... :whistling:


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## 36-26 (Jun 30, 2009)

Mingster said:


> No I'm not a bodybuilder. Pro bodybuilders use lots of bicep exercises to bring out the features in already huge arms. I don't think that there are any pro bodybuilders looking for advice in this thread tbf...
> 
> Dips are fundamentally a chest exercise, and chins are a back exercise. Yes, they work arms as does virtually every upper body exercise. But not directly - training the arms is a secondary effect of these exercises. If dips and chins are classed as direct arm work then yes, I do direct arm work lol...


Well that explains your big arms then. I do Dips for chest too and I still think they are what give my tri's the most growth. Bodybuilders train arms directly because it works for I'd imagine 90% of people maybe you are in the minority who's arms actually shrink from training them. I wouldn't be a huge fan of doing loads of isolations for arms myself but I would do one or two exercises at the end of a chest or back session which IMO is enough, nothing at all however for most IMO is not enough


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## ampre (Aug 5, 2012)

Mingster said:


> I'm a retired powerlifter lol...
> 
> Might have a go at this bodybuilding lark mind you. Looks pretty easy apart from the small trunks.... :whistling:


Hmzzzz Don't start body building then,you'll soon be wearing Buddgie smugglers on the beach.


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## 36-26 (Jun 30, 2009)

Mingster said:


> I'm a retired powerlifter lol...
> 
> Might have a go at this bodybuilding lark mind you. Looks pretty easy apart from the small trunks.... :whistling:


Out of genuine interest Mingster how big are your arms in relation to your weight, height and other stats if you don't mind me asking


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## Mingster (Mar 25, 2011)

36-26 said:


> Well that explains your big arms then. I do Dips for chest too and I still think they are what give my tri's the most growth. Bodybuilders train arms directly because it works for I'd imagine 90% of people maybe you are in the minority who's arms actually shrink from training them. I wouldn't be a huge fan of doing loads of isolations for arms myself but I would do one or two exercises at the end of a chest or back session which IMO is enough, nothing at all however for most IMO is not enough


Fair dues. Sounds like a good approach.

I never said no arm training would work for everybody. I stressed in my post that everyone is different and no one size fits all. What makes me laugh, and a little sad, is that people keep on with routines for months and years when they clearly aren't working for them. If it doesn't work change it ffs. If you train arms hard and they don't grow, try not training them and vice versa. We all know the vast majority of gym goers never improve their physiques despite years and years of training. Some don't train hard enough, some persist with routines that aren't producing results. In what other walk of life would you keep doing something that wasn't working...


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## brake22 (Aug 20, 2012)

Overtraining arms is easily done. You often involve biceps and forearms during back training, with triceps getting a beating on chest day. I like to discuss more about this thanks for sharing the informative post.

Regards,

Robert - http://www.celebritiesfitness.com/taylor-lautner-workout


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## dtlv (Jul 24, 2009)

I think you need to hit arms with a combo of both higher and lower reps for a bodybuilding look... the muscles of the upper arm have a fairly equal mix of fast and slow twitch fibres, and so to develop both you need to work both.

Fortunately heavy compound/multi-joint exercises performed intensely and close to failure will take care of the fast twitch fibres, then just a few sets of higher rep direct arm work in addition is often enough.

There is some variety in muscle fibre ratios between individuals though, and people who are fast twitch dominant will likely find they don't need much direct higher rep work at all, whereas those who are slow twitch fibre will benefit more from it.


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## ethan2009 (Feb 24, 2011)

i train my arms once per week weighted chins bb curls and hammers. then they get hit on back/chest day.. now my left bie is alot smaller than my right. and i no why. my job involves alot of work from my right arm its pumped everyday! iam a carpet fitter so when hammering bolstering stretching lifting cutter its all my right arm that takes a pounding and its massive now compared to my left lol, so i over train my right arm so now i need to over train my left going to hit my left with weights 3xper week see if i can level it out.

1 more thing

my left tri is bigger than my right outer head only. but my right bie and inner tri and four arms are alot bigger than my right. :confused1:


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## Magnum26 (Jul 19, 2012)

Days vary depending on work and other classes, I also do Spinning and Vipr once a week, most weeks.

I train:

Chest and Biceps

Shoulders and Triceps

Back and Legs

So a typical week for me is

Mon: Chest and Biceps

Tues: Off

Wed: Spinning

Thurs: Shoulders and Triceps

Friday: Vipr

Saturday: Back and Legs

Sun: Off


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## abbey sha (Aug 23, 2012)

In a week four times will exercise means they will be develope their arms very good.


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