# Feeder workouts, do they work?



## 66983 (May 30, 2016)

This guy did bicep and tricep feeder exercises 5 x week and put just over 1/2" on his arms in a month,

Know I understand that this is NOT muscle growth as explained by someone from Reddit below, but my question is if it does promote growth (and lets be honest any growth is good yes?) would you keep the added size afterwards if you went back to doing arms say twice a week?

Also would you continue to add size if you kept on doing the feeder exercises indefinitely?

Quote: When cells in your body go without oxygen for a prolonged period, they release special chemicals, called growth factors, that basically tell your body "hey, we're not getting enough oxygen over here, how about we grow some more capillaries (the smallest type of blood vessel, about as wide as a single red blood cell) so we can get some blood.

When the guy in the video does sets of 100 reps, his arm muscles will use up all the available oxygen and enter a hypoxic or anaerobic state.

The cells in his arms then release the growth factors, and over the course of a month he likely grew significantly more capillaries in his arms.

I called this a permanent increase in blood flow, but I'm not quite sure that's accurate.

I'd have to read up on it again, but I believe if he completely stopped working out he would eventually lose those new capillaries.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19258658


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## 66983 (May 30, 2016)

Just to add to this, I started Monday this week with 100 x bicep curl and 100 x tricep push down's.

Yesterday I did 3 x 100 bicep curl and 300 x bicep pushdown/skull crushers.

Will do this for a month and post the results.

This is extra to my standard 5 x day workout.


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## Ultrasonic (Jul 13, 2004)

Not got time to watch the video but if the question boils down to does metabolite ('burn'/pump) training lead to growth then the answer is yes. That's not the same as saying it's the best way to train long term but I think periodically is probably a good idea. Note that blood flow restriction training would fall under the same category.

(The mechanisms of WHY it works are almost certainly not properly understood.)


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## 66983 (May 30, 2016)

Ultrasonic said:


> Not got time to watch the video but if the question boils down to does metabolite ('burn'/pump) training lead to growth then the answer is yes. That's not the same as saying it's the best way to train long term but I think periodically is probably a good idea. Note that blood flow restriction training would fall under the same category.
> 
> (The mechanisms of WHY it works are almost certainly not properly understood.)


 With this not being actual muscle growth, do you think you would still gain size whilst on a calorie deficit?


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## Ultrasonic (Jul 13, 2004)

Sparkey said:


> With this not being actual muscle growth, do you think you would still gain size whilst on a calorie deficit?


 What I was talking about was actual muscle growth.

I assume you're familiar with the following, which includes talking about effects of hypoxia/lactate build up.

https://www.google.co.uk/url?q=http://www.lookgreatnaked.com/articles/mechanisms_of_muscle_hypertrophy.pdf&sa=U&ved=0ahUKEwjDk7i0lLDTAhVqCsAKHQHLCnIQFggQMAA&sig2=P4nMMnwU1Dc5tp-a8JbFiQ&usg=AFQjCNG-PAldZSGlIWwbCK3xbFEVzJn2eQ


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## Eddias (Dec 21, 2015)

From mild experience i can say they work, I did Lateral side raises every day at home 2 x 50 reps with a weight i could handle for 4 weeks as a test. I also did a 1 shoulder workout per week. I saw growth for sure and would look to do it again potentially. All i would say was i seemed to gain more niggles in my shoulders, No way i could do it any longer than 4 weeks. Next one i am looking at doing is 4 weeks of Squats or lunges.


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## Ares (Dec 3, 2015)

I'm actually going to give this a go for arms as I don't train them directly (always too knackered by the end of the session)

They're 14.5 at the moment, and that's being generous :lol:

I'll update on here as and when


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## Ultrasonic (Jul 13, 2004)

It's worth bearing in mind this approach is combining two things - high frequency and metabolite build-up. High frequency conventional training is another option to consider. I've particularly seen this suggested for muscles that recover quickly like biceps and lateral delts. I've recently started experimenting with training lateral delts three days per week and biceps 4 days per week with this in mind actually.


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## 66983 (May 30, 2016)

Ares said:


> I'm actually going to give this a go for arms as I don't train them directly (always too knackered by the end of the session)
> 
> They're 14.5 at the moment, and that's being generous :lol:
> 
> I'll update on here as and when


 I've got to be honest, only done these for 2 days and my arms are killing me (real dragging sort of pains).


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## Sasnak (Oct 11, 2016)

Sparkey said:


> I've got to be honest, only done these for 2 days and my arms are killing me (real dragging sort of pains).


 Interested and in for the results.

Is it a bit much though? i.e, not enough rest and chasing rainbows after a few days.


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## 66983 (May 30, 2016)

Sasnak said:


> Interested and in for the results.
> 
> Is it a bit much though? i.e, not enough rest and chasing rainbows after a few days.


 Takes me about 20 mins to do the full feeder sets, It's all guess work, it will either work or it won't but I feel it's worth a try.


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## Eddias (Dec 21, 2015)

First week was damn sore after the 4th day, but by 7th day my body had got use to it, One thing to note increased strength, I lateral raise the 17.5kg with ease and can even get the 20kg moving, before i did it i struggled with the 15kgs

At the moment i am testing the 100 reps with a standard 7ft barbell twice a week, supposedly you can only achieve this if you have around 17 inch arms. I got up to 60 reps at the moment ( last 15 cheats to be honest).


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## nWo (Mar 25, 2014)

Eddias said:


> First week was damn sore after the 4th day, but by 7th day my body had got use to it, One thing to note increased strength, I lateral raise the 17.5kg with ease and can even get the 20kg moving, before i did it i struggled with the 15kgs
> 
> At the moment i am testing the 100 reps with a standard 7ft barbell twice a week, supposedly you can only achieve this if you have around 17 inch arms. I got up to 60 reps at the moment ( last 15 cheats to be honest).


 My arms are over 17 inches and I don't know if I could do it :lol:


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## Ares (Dec 3, 2015)

Sparkey said:


> I've got to be honest, only done these for 2 days and my arms are killing me (real dragging sort of pains).


 How'd you mean mate?

So first attempt last night.. ouch.

Hammers get very 'swingy' after the first set, couldn't do all 60 on the second set in one go, so going to try with 4kg tonight instead. Elbows made awful clicking sounds trying to do the skulls and didn't feel good at all, so switched to one DB with two hands and did them sat up, pressing it overhead. Felt much better, can't do 100 reps though.

50 for both tonight methinks, I'll see how I go with that.


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## 66983 (May 30, 2016)

Ares said:


> How'd you mean mate?
> 
> So first attempt last night.. ouch.
> 
> ...


 Yeah I get to about 60 reps then need a 5 second rest - do another 10 - 5 seconds - another 10 and so on.

On 4th day today:

Monday 100 x db curl 100 x tricep pushdown.

Tuesday 2 x 100 db curl,1 X 100 hammer curl, 3 x 100 tricep pushdown.

Weds 2 x 100 db curl,1 X 100 hammer curl, 3 x 100 tricep pushdown.

Same tonight and tomorrow then Sat/Sun off.

That will be a total of 1300 reps for bicep and 1300 reps tricep.


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## Eddias (Dec 21, 2015)

I'mNotAPervert! said:


> My arms are over 17 inches and I don't know if I could do it :lol:


 Mine are just under will let you know if i get to 100 reps and whether i get over 17 inch arms, sure its a load of BS to be honest but mixes up my program for a couple of weeks,


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## nWo (Mar 25, 2014)

Eddias said:


> Mine are just under will let you know if i get to 100 reps and whether i get over 17 inch arms, sure its a load of BS to be honest but mixes up my program for a couple of weeks,


 Never know mate, I always say try something for 6 weeks and you'll know whether or not it's worth doing again  I do think there's something to this though. Before I started training properly I had a little Argos dumbbell set and used to do 2 sets of 50 reps on dumbbell curls and then dips leaning against my desk in my room, 2 sets to failure for about 60-odd reps. I did this nearly every day for about 4 months, obviously got nowhere. Then when I started training properly, my arms blew the f**k up and they've always been my dominant bodypart ever since. I also saw a video on YouTube, can't remember who but some black fella, showing pics of his uncle who he reckons used to do pullups for high reps every day. Then the uncle started training with the guy and his back thickened up considerably within a few months. Obviously, newb gains and that, but in both cases, the muscle groups that these were performed on are ahead of the rest from the get-go when proper training is undertaken.

Just anecdotal evidence there of course, but it's food for thought.


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## Eddias (Dec 21, 2015)

I'mNotAPervert! said:


> Never know mate, I always say try something for 6 weeks and you'll know whether or not it's worth doing again  I do think there's something to this though. Before I started training properly I had a little Argos dumbbell set and used to do 2 sets of 50 reps on dumbbell curls and then dips leaning against my desk in my room, 2 sets to failure for about 60-odd reps. I did this nearly every day for about 4 months, obviously got nowhere. Then when I started training properly, my arms blew the f**k up and they've always been my dominant bodypart ever since. I also saw a video on YouTube, can't remember who but some black fella, showing pics of his uncle who he reckons used to do pullups for high reps every day. Then the uncle started training with the guy and his back thickened up considerably within a few months. Obviously, newb gains and that, but in both cases, the muscle groups that these were performed on are ahead of the rest from the get-go when proper training is undertaken.
> 
> Just anecdotal evidence there of course, but it's food for thought.


 agreed 6 week test and see how i go, if it works i am trying it for Legs as nothing seems to bring my quads up to any size


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## nWo (Mar 25, 2014)

Quads tend to respond to high reps as well, so double-bubble there


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## Ares (Dec 3, 2015)

Stuck with 50x3 of curls and extensions last night, felt much better! Gunna bump each by 10 tonight, my arms are pretty ***** so I may need to build this stuff up over time :lol:

Some mild DOMS this morning, very strange feeling to have them on biceps!


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## 66983 (May 30, 2016)

Finished for this week, did an extra 200 reps each for bi's and tri's, that's 3000 reps this week.

I have done a cheeky measure this morning with arms cold (not after training and pumped) and I have actually put a bit on.

Mondays measure was 44cm (17.3228 inches).

Fridays measure 45cm (17.7165 inches).

Using a body comp tape.

Not a huge amount I know but lets see what happens over the next 6 weeks.


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## DC1 (May 5, 2014)

I always envisaged these size gains to be temporary and predominantly due to inflammation which would subside after a prolonged period of rest.

Will be interested to hear the results and if they remain after a period of a couple of weeks when you return to normal training splits. Fingers crossed they stay.


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## 66983 (May 30, 2016)

Back to it this evening after two days off.

Today is back and bicep day anyway.

300 x bicep curls/hammer curls, 300 x tricep skull crushers. :boohoo:


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