Do you need fat on your arms to build muscle?

[PlasmaShock]

I'm currently training to build muscle on my arms because they are very skinny and I was wondering if you needed fat on your arms to build muscle.

[cxw]

You need excess calories to get bigger. Some of this will be fat, and some muscle.

Basically eat more (roughly 500 calories per day) and strength train (Bill Starrs 5*5 in the stickies will do).

Once you get to 15% bodyfat (at this point you'll start to have a slightly tubby midsection), diet down (eat 10-12 calories per pound per day) until you're lean. While dieting, most will be fat loss but there'll probably be a small amount of muscle loss too.

The net effect should be a gain in lean bodyweight.

It might be something like this
Week 0: 160 pounds
Week 20: 180 pounds, and starting to loose shape
Week 35: 170 pounds and lean again

This is realistic approach that has actually worked for non-drugged people. You'll read lots of rubbish like gaining 15 pounds in 8 weeks of muscle, but this won't happen. 0.5 pounds of muscle/week is as good as it gets, and you will gain fat while gaining muscle as both come from excess food.

Note that MA training may interfere with your strength gains (you'l overtrain) so keep this in mind.

[slipthejab]

You can't spot reduce or spot add fat to your body anyhow. Your body is an entire system that ideally works as a unit. Even if you wanted to you couldn't anymore add fat just to your arms or just take it away. Exercise and muscle building will happen over the entire body.

Yes you can build specific muscles... but remember muscles are not fat. They're two entirely different types of tissues and respond differently and are used by the body differently.

[Yohan]

Yes you do. You should rub it on before each workout. I usually use lard, but crisco works too. :D

[g-bells]

Yes you do. You should rub it on before each workout. I usually use lard, but crisco works too. :D

yes, granny tri's:D

[Yohan]

yes, granny tri's:D

LoL don't make fun of my bat wings!!

[g-bells]

LoL don't make fun of my bat wings!!

I heard you eat them down there in the south:D

[NaughtyKnight]

I'm currently training to build muscle on my arms because they are very skinny and I was wondering if you needed fat on your arms to build muscle.

Fat has nothing to do with muscle, they are completly different forms of tissue. Many noobs think "turning fat into muscle" is possible, but thats not what happends. Increase your calories in (with the right macro nutrients) and lift with progressive overload and you'll put on muscle.

CXW made a great post. I actually think his 0.5lb lean muscle per week is actually rather conservative. As a raw beginner, training properly, you'll probably average more like 1lb per week. As you progress, the gains slowly taper off. 1lb is probably the upper limit for drug free muscle building.

[Gary]

Chin ups, dips, protein and fats. Combining in appropriate quantities and add iron for flavour.

[narcsarge]

Fat has nothing to do with muscle, they are completly different forms of tissue. Many noobs think "turning fat into muscle" is possible, but thats not what happends. Increase your calories in (with the right macro nutrients) and lift with progressive overload and you'll put on muscle.

CXW made a great post. I actually think his 0.5lb lean muscle per week is actually rather conservative. As a raw beginner, training properly, you'll probably average more like 1lb per week. As you progress, the gains slowly taper off. 1lb is probably the upper limit for drug free muscle building.


Great post NK! Absolutely correct...