increasing arm size

hi , i am currently doing full body routines using kbells , weights and bw. i have seen improvements in legs , chest , back , abs ect but my arms remain quite small and arent growing compared to everything else.

so i was thinking of doing an arm workout as well as the full body workouts.
does anyone know a good arm workout? (biceps , triceps and forearms).
thanks

 

Pull/Chin ups and dips.

 

BB curls, CGBP, hammer curls and skull crushers should see you right.

how big/strong are you? skinny dudes have skinny arms, nothing will change that.

 

God I hate you.

 

As mentioned curls, but a better use of your time for biceps would be the supplementary effect from pull ups and chin ups, t bar rows etc, at least you gain some functional strength from it. Triceps as you mentioned KB and Bodyweight, do some different variations with press ups, close gripped, one armed etc, should help your triceps, with KB and weights, skull crushers, are win. Forearms are quite difficult, deads help them as a supplementary but it's a long drawn out process, I would suggest VERY HEAVY farmers walks, in zig zags, I farmers walk at the moment I try for 30 seconds, with 60kg dumbbells in each hand.

Please don't become one of those curling guys looking in a mirror with no functional strength whatsoever. Skinny legs, skinny shoulders and chest small triceps and massive biceps are a very bad look!

 

He says he does a full body workout with kettle bells and body weight, I mentioned this, did you miss it twice? You recommended him Skull Crushers and DB Bicep curls, and I'm some how far fetched for recommending Farmers walks which require the same apparatus? Lol.

Key words here Simon "please don't become" it's Ok if you find it strange.

It's not something I do, I never curl. I don't need to because my arms are big already, and I don't care about the size of my arms.

 

What is functional strength?

Size gains = strength gains.

All strength gains are useful.

 

Functional strength, something you can use to help you in some part of daily life or a specific activity or sport. That's what it is to me. Most compound exercises to me are in some form functional and useful to me. Bicep curling to achieve hypertrophy to me does not result in functional strength.

 

I disagree, this is why I suggested doing exercises like pull up or rows, you use your Biceps, but in a manner which they are functional and make use of more compound muscles.

Also it's the same with say a punch. Benching 200kg won't somehow make me a better striker, but practicing punching itself will because of the motor units and the cns.

Same with functional strength. For example, if I were to ask you what is better, leg pushes (I'm filling a blank on the name of the machines you push with your legs) or squats? Squats are more functional. Someone might use the machines for hams and quads, but I bet you squats will be more functional.

 

Just a query here Zaad but where did you pull that from?

Body builders often work at lower weights and do more reps to increase hypertrophy. Gymnasts and power lifters might be stronger but not bigger because of the difference in their training methods. Yes heavier people can be stronger than lighter people but getting a big muscle does not necessarily mean you will get the strength as well AFAIK. I know these are generalizations but it would be interesting to see how you came to your conclusion. I wonder if it is more of an endurance thing or is it that simple. Have to go back and look at my ex physiology books :' S

Any S & C specialists here to clarify?

LFD

 

Every time you use that phrase, a baby panda dies a long slow agonizing death.

For God's sake, think of the baby pandas!

 

Strength that is functional, what's wrong with it?

 

one technical explanation....

''Two Types of Muscular Hypertrophy

There are two types of muscular hypertrophy; sarcoplasmic and myofibrillar. Lets explore both.


Sarcoplasmic Hypertrophy

Sarcoplasmic muscular hypertrophy involves an increase in the sarcoplasmic volume of a muscle cell with no corresponding increase in muscular strength. A strength increase is something you normally expect with an increase in muscular hypertophy, however sarcoplasmic volume increases serve very little to no functional purpose in terms of strength development.

Sarcoplasmic hypertrophy is a response to hard training at relatively high volumes. In order for muscles to increase in size as a result of an increase in sarcoplasmic volume, they have to be trained within a higher repetition range. This is generally in the range of 8-12 and even beyond. This causes sufficient micro-trauma for the muscle to respond.



Endurance athletes also experience a small level of sarcoplasmic hypertrophy in response to high volumes of training.

Obviously this form of muscular hypertrophy is not desirable for anyone aiming to increase strength or sports performance. Bodybuilders and those wanting beach muscles are likely the only ones concerned with sarcoplasmic muscular hypertrophy. This form or muscle size increase is the main reason you see strength to weight ratio decrease as a person gets larger, even with no evidence of excess body fat. It can seem a mystery to some as to why bodybuilders can be huge but not always as strong as they look (not all, but some).

Myofibrillar Hypertrophy

Myofibrillar muscular hypertrophy is what most people want. This is an increase in the size of the actual contractile proteins, resulting in more available muscle for contraction applied to resistance. This form of muscle increase is commonly seen in athletes that perform dynamic sports or strength and power. Weightlifters experience myofibrillar hypertrophy as a result of their training. When a load is lifted that is beyond 75% of maximum a corresponding increase in contractile proteins occurs in order to adapt and lift a heavier load next time.

Myofibrillar muscular hypertrophy is attained through high intensity, lower volume training. However this is not always the case, it is just ideal. A muscle will not increase in strength to any great amount through repetitive lifting until fatigue. It doesn't make sense that lifting something 12 times will increase the amount you are able to lift in one-off efforts that are close to maximum strength. This is why myofibrillar hypertrophy occurs most notably as a result of training in the range of 3-7 repetitions. It's not ideal for a bodybuilder but it will build actual functional strength you can use and not unnecessary bodyweight. The size of the muscle will increase at a slower rate because the hypertrophy involves growth of functional units of muscular tissue as opposed to just volume.''

http://www.endlesshumanpotential.com/muscular-hypertrophy.html

So the first example is an increase in size without an increase in strength...

Hope that clarifies things a bit (well hope it doesn't complicate things too much)

LFD

 

Well it depends on why your trying to build bigger arms. Since you're on a martial arts website, I'm guessing that maybe you want to increase arm size for improving your power when punching. If this is your purpose, you should realize that having big arms is not the same thing as having powerful punches.
And in some cases big arms may restrict the power of your punch.

Give this a read:
http://www.expertboxing.com/boxing-...-lifting-weights-wont-increase-punching-power

A simple summary would be that proper punching technique is way more important than muscle mass. And that lifting weights doesn't particularly add anything to a punch.


Of course you could be trying to build aesthetic muscles, which is of course totally alright, it's a free world and a lot of ladies like the look. Then as others have said, you should look into hypertrophy exercises, these are exercises that are aimed specifically at building muscle tissue. However hypertrophy may not actually improve your overall strength.

Some more reading material:
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/hst1.htm
http://www.hypertrophy-specific.com/hst_II.html
http://www2.gsu.edu/~wwwfit/hyper.html
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/par26.htm (this is more a biochemical explanation of hypertrophy, if you're a science nut like myself, you may enjoy it)


Hope this helps.

 

Right well. Guess I better post clearer considering the can of worms I opened!

As L4D posted, there are two types of hypertrophy HOWEVER they are not mutually exclusive or independent. Increases in one will trigger a small increase in the other. Hence why there are body builders are bloody strong and gymnasts have a higher percentage LeAn mass than regular folk.

There are also neural strength gains, the nervous system adapting to a stimuli, which people experiencehowever as long as adequate nutrition and rest is provided they will experience hypertrophy.

Check out Mcardle, katch & katch for more info.

Size gains = strength gains but they may not be equal.

My point on functional strength - its bullcrap as a broad term. Functional strength is specific to a specific goal of a function. And form should follow function so if your goal is to curl new like a curl bro then the strength gains from that are functional strength gains.

 

Size certainly doesnt equal strength, i know several thai boxers who are extremely strong yet small in size.One i know i have 4 kilos on but his strength is far more than my strength yet i have the bigger arms.

Meet a few welders or scaffolders and they mostly arent bulked like bodybuilders but have a lot of strength from constantly throwing the metal about.

 

I've been doing this exercise lark for about 3 months and I must say, I'm having the same problem as the OP. Big gains in all areas but my arms. I'm especially having trouble doing shrugs, my fingers give out and I can no longer hold the dumbells, even though I can manage the 25kg shrugs. What's going on?