Posts: 11,058
Threads: 0
Joined: Jul 2011
Reputation:
117
Bigger Arm Width
09-01-2012, 01:27 PM
I usually do some dumbells, chin-ups and push-ups daily, and my arms look OK from the side, but viewed head-on or from the back, they look scrawny.
Does anyone have tips on how to make the muscles wider?
Posts: 3,352
Threads: 0
Joined: Jan 2012
Reputation:
78
Bigger Arm Width
09-01-2012, 01:48 PM
You need triceps work
Dips-parallel and bench
Lying and standing overhead extensions-barbell or dumbbell
Bench press-regular or close hands
Rope puilldowns-need a machine
also do hammer curls with dumbbells to build the brachialis muscle
For biceps
Various DB curls
Barbell curls
Chinups
Make sure your nutrition is in order-especially 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight per day minimum. Use protein powder to reach this if necessary. You won't grow muscle if you don' eat right
"If anything's gonna happen, it's gonna happen out there!- Captain Ron
Posts: 11,058
Threads: 0
Joined: Jul 2011
Reputation:
117
Bigger Arm Width
09-01-2012, 02:20 PM
I usually only eat twice a day and have a cup of protein powder.
Posts: 69
Threads: 0
Joined: Aug 2012
Reputation:
0
Bigger Arm Width
09-01-2012, 02:55 PM
A few things that may help you
- When you are doing pushups, do them quickly, and explode off of the floor. This will engage your triceps a bit more and cause them to get bigger.
- Do towel-grip chinups. Hang a towel over the chinup bar at your gym and grip the towel as close to the bar as possible . Then pull yourself up, alternating sides (you'll know what i mean by that as soon as you start doing them). It engages your entire arm, builds grip strength, and increases the size of your bicep.
- Finally, barbell curls. You can do hammer curls and isolated curls and all that too, but if you're short on time, you can't go wrong with barbell curls.
Posts: 11,058
Threads: 0
Joined: Jul 2011
Reputation:
117
Bigger Arm Width
09-01-2012, 03:00 PM
Example of the 5 small meals? I'm vegetarian.
Posts: 713
Threads: 0
Joined: Sep 2012
Reputation:
3
Bigger Arm Width
09-01-2012, 03:20 PM
Training routine goes like this:
Rep range : 6-8 for compound, 12-15 for isolation
Chest & Tri : Incline Dumbell Press, Bench Press,Machine Press, Pushdown, Overhead extensions & Seated dips
Back&Bi : Pulldown, Underhand Pullups, Seated Rows, Dumbell Rows, Barbell Curl, Seated Hammer Curl & Preacher Curl Machine
Shoulders: Smith Machine Front Press, Arnold Press, Side Laterals, Upright Rows
Legs: Squat, Leg Press, Seated Leg Curl, Calf Press
Abs: Leg Raises, Side Twisting
I usually train 3 days a week more or less. however, I go to the gym very late around 2 am and sleep around 6 am.
Posts: 1,066
Threads: 0
Joined: Nov 2011
Reputation:
11
Bigger Arm Width
09-01-2012, 03:36 PM
@soup
MrXY gave you some good advice.
In addition, I know a number of experienced guys who recommend doing big full-body lifts to increase the free testosterone in your bloodstream. The idea is that engaging big muscle groups tells your body to release more hormones for growth, which can affect development even in areas that aren't directly utilized in the full-body lift.
I can attest to this with an anecdote. My best growth happened when I started doing deadlifts at age 18. My shoulders got bigger, my forearms grew, and I saw some solid gains in mass and strength all over, even though I was eating under maintenance and losing fat. Don't get me wrong, I was working like a beast on other lifts as well. I had the mindset that the weight isn't high enough unless it makes me light-headed. However, I think the fact that I was deadlifting was what pushed me over the edge. I suppose there was more hormonal support for muscle growth.
If I were you, I would find a full-body exercise that you like, and make it your bitch. Be the guy in the gym who is the guru on that lift. Meanwhile, keep doing biceps curls, rope pulldowns, close-grip bench, pull-ups or lat pulldowns, and all the other exercises that can blast your biceps and triceps.
Posts: 3,352
Threads: 0
Joined: Jan 2012
Reputation:
78
Bigger Arm Width
09-01-2012, 04:33 PM
Quote: (09-01-2012 04:23 PM)soup Wrote:
Quote: (09-01-2012 04:16 PM)fkexpat Wrote:
Quote: (09-01-2012 03:00 PM)soup Wrote:
Example of the 5 small meals? I'm vegetarian.
If you're vegetarian, look into meals involving hummus, beans, tofu, and eggs (or egg whites if you prefer), amongst others. All are extremely high in protein content, which is what you'll need to build muscle.
I eat 4 egg whites a day, ground up peanuts, been avoiding tofu lately because I heard that it had too much estrogen..
Scoop of protein powder.
Can recommend portion sizes? Why five meals instead of two or three?
Take a look at t-nation.com and bodybuilding .com-they have lots of good info on nutrition. There are veggie guys who lift and are jacked, even veggie bodybuilders, so you can build muscle as a veggie, but you have to gt your nutrition dialed in. Even if you lift well, if you don't eat right you won't build any significant muscle. You're going to have to eat more meals more calories, and more protein. It will take a bit of research and work at first but once you get your nutrition set up it becomes a habit and much easier
"If anything's gonna happen, it's gonna happen out there!- Captain Ron
Posts: 4,687
Threads: 0
Joined: Sep 2011
Reputation:
47
Bigger Arm Width
09-01-2012, 06:46 PM
Try doing ultra high reps. There are these things called poundstone curls where you curl an empty bar x 100 or as many times as you can. I usually do them after supersetting cable curls/tricep pushdowns at the very end of my workout. I've noticed a huge difference since starting them
Posts: 934
Threads: 0
Joined: Jan 2011
Reputation:
19
Bigger Arm Width
09-01-2012, 08:03 PM
work the muscle, feed the muscle, let the muscle rest...watch it grow.
you don't need tricks you just need to bust your ass and work efficiently. Why repeat the same exercises everyday? by dumbells I assume you mean some sort of curls, then you're doing chins, now are you talking close grip, palm facing or pull ups with a wide grip, some other variation...sounds like you're working bis directly everyday but i have no idea to what degree...bis don't need to be worked everyday, they're one of my better bodyparts I don't work them directly at all, bis are small a good workout a week is plenty if you're busting back hard during the week as well, I bust back really hard so much so that I don't think my bis need the extra workout but I play around with that, sometimes I do work them into my routine for a few months and then I'll drop it again, it's all seeing what works for you. You need some sort of routine, then you need to figure out your goal, if it's adding more size then you need to formulate the diet plan that puts you on the path towards that goal...as another poster mentioned you'll need to work tris, they're 2/3rds of your arm if they're lagging all the bi work in the world is going to give you a weak ass looking arm. Thus the routine, you need set yourself up so you're working the entire body. Then you need to keep progressing, adding weight, adding reps sets...Size will come when everything is in place and realize spot increasing is like spot decreasing, you might be able to bring up a muscle a bit but if you want your arms bigger everything usually gets bigger, you don't start at 150 pound with 13 inch guns then stay at 150 and jack them up to 19 inch arms with switching some exercises around, if you want your gut smaller the weight comes off everywhere and your gut will get smaller along with it, same idea.
the 5 meals a day thing isn't necessary either, broscience...there's a million plans out there and I've seen people successful eating 10 times a day and twice a day, body is a machine it wants fuel (nutrient macros) it doesn't know that 1500 cals came in 5 meals vs 2....at the end of the day if you're eating 1500 cals you're a skinny undersize fk no matter how many meals you spread it over.
Posts: 5,806
Threads: 0
Joined: Nov 2011
Reputation:
129
Bigger Arm Width
09-02-2012, 06:18 PM
This is like asking how to make a girl cum when you're still a virgin.
Stronglifts.com is your answer to bigger arms....and everything else.
Posts: 424
Threads: 0
Joined: Aug 2011
Reputation:
2
Bigger Arm Width
09-02-2012, 07:02 PM
yes its complete broscience on the amount of meals a day.it all comes down to the macros at the end of the day.
back to the original question: its just overall size,just keep pounding out the reps and weight,try diff excercises and they will get bigger.
its also bs that you can increase the width of the bicep,its just fills out from growing "outward".
ever heard of the cats saying "dude my inner chest wont grow".
Theres no such thing as inner chest muscle.its only upper and lower.your inner chest will naturally "fill out" from from growing the actual pecs over time + having a low enough bodyfat to see the line between the pecs.
Posts: 52
Threads: 0
Joined: Nov 2011
Bigger Arm Width
09-02-2012, 07:09 PM
Quote: (09-02-2012 06:18 PM)RioNomad Wrote:
This is like asking how to make a girl cum when you're still a virgin.
Stronglifts.com is your answer to bigger arms....and everything else.
Very good advice.
Soup, nothing you are doing is progressing you towards your goal. You cannot get bigger arms without the basics:
Lift heavy in the big lifts. 3-4 times a week.
Eat large portions.
Carry on until your chest measures twelve inches or more to your waist.
At this point you will have arms that are 'big' and will get you glances while fully clothed.
Until then there is no reason to worry about complicated rep/set programs or isolation movements.
Posts: 55
Threads: 0
Joined: Jun 2012
Reputation:
0
Bigger Arm Width
09-02-2012, 07:51 PM
He's eating such a small amount every day, which means that it'll be difficult for him to jump to giant meals, as his stomach can't handle it, macros or no macros. He's better off, at least initially, getting his calories spread over 3-5 meals. Eat big and do compound lifts. Don't focus directly on bicep work or tricep work for the first few months.