Building up arms for a beginner!

[garethb123]

Hi,

I'm 22 years old (23 in December), male, my height is 5ft 7in and I weigh exactly 10 stone. My bicep measurement (when tensed) is 12.5in on my left arm, and 12in on my right arm.

Judging by my height and weight, is that a reasonable size for biceps?

What would be the best exercises to do to build my biceps, triceps and forearms?

I've got dumbbells ranging from 1 - 4.5kg in size, and I occasionally do various curls using them. How many should I do and how often should I do them?

I consider myself to be in good health and am fairly strong. I also do a moderate amount of cycling (normally about 8 miles per day, 5 times a week) and I have a good, balanced diet.

Thanks!

Gareth

 

[Doublebase]

Go back and read the stickies in the training section. You want to stick with compound movements, i.e deadlifts, squats, bench press. As you grow, so will your arms. At your size you really don't have to do any direct arm work.

 

[Gazhole]

Go back and read the stickies in the training section. You want to stick with compound movements, i.e deadlifts, squats, bench press. As you grow, so will your arms. At your size you really don't have to do any direct arm work.

+1 to this advice.

Shit, i don't need to do any direct arm work and im over 3 stone heavier than him, lol.

 

[MDR]

I only do a little isolation work, and I weighed in this am just short of 260. I've been lifting weights for 30 years. Compound movements are the way to go-excellent advice.

 

[stfuandliftbtch]

why do people ask questions like this? Go to "bodybuilding.com" and do some research for yourself.....

And no, 12" is a joke no matter what weight

 

[unclem]

wtf you have to train your arms for them to grow if you dont train your arms then youll look stupid thats the only thing i disagree with all the powerlifters. do bicep curls and some alternate db curls and hammer curls, for tris do close grip benches for thick tris, pushdowns, bench dips with 45 lb plates to get ya started. but u do have to train your arms from the day one or youll be behind. no disrespect to the powerlifters or former powerlifters but thats my 22 inch arm saying you need to train arms. well 20 inches as 2 inches is syntherol oil. but still. but iam not beating a dead horse hear thats the end of my opinion.

 

[MrRockstar]

why do people ask questions like this? Go to "bodybuilding.com" and do some research for yourself.....

And no, 12" is a joke no matter what weight

Thats just rude I'm sure chicks when they see the tiny dick you're compensating for by being a bully. at some point I'm sure you where new to building muscle too.

If you want your arms to grow you either need to cut back on all that cardio (I've never seen anyone on the tour de france with huge arms ya know? most of them are pretty skinny guys cause all your calories are going to biking fuel.) 8 miles a day is impressive, I can understand if you dont want to cut back as I'm sure you've worked hard to get that good, you could add calories, right now you're staying at 10 stones and what you eat just maintains this weight, but you can add calories to your everyday diet until you see weight gain. The simplest way I could see for you to gain weight, is to eat more, bike less, and do compound exercises.

 

[Hoglander]

I could Google "stones." That's not very interactive though. Stones.... ?

 

[Marat]

1 stone = 14 pounds

 

[MDR]

wtf you have to train your arms for them to grow if you dont train your arms then youll look stupid thats the only thing i disagree with all the powerlifters. do bicep curls and some alternate db curls and hammer curls, for tris do close grip benches for thick tris, pushdowns, bench dips with 45 lb plates to get ya started. but u do have to train your arms from the day one or youll be behind. no disrespect to the powerlifters or former powerlifters but thats my 22 inch arm saying you need to train arms. well 20 inches as 2 inches is syntherol oil. but still. but iam not beating a dead horse hear thats the end of my opinion.

I agree 100% at your level, but this kid has 12 inch arms. He's a few years away from needing a lot of isolation work. I need to isolate if I'm going to progress much beyond my current 18-19 inch level, but I still do my compound work first and finish off with the isolation stuff. I just think too many young kids come into the gym expecting size from tricep extensions and bicep curls. Deadlifting and squatting along with cleans, bench press and overhead presses will do more to build a muscular foundation than anything else. Once they learn these basics, I have no problem with a bit of isolation work. Guess my powerlifting bias is showing...

 

[gtbmed]

You need to eat more. Growing is all about eating enough food.

Doing isolation stuff is fine. It's just that when your lifting lacks the major lifts that involve moving lots of weight through a large ROM, you're probably creating imbalances.

Do you have anything else besides the dumbells? A pullup bar or something?

 

[Mr.BTB]

if you cant get hold of any heaver weights bro. fidn some where in your house you can do chin ups and whne you can do them with ease, tie the dumbbell to your waist and do chins.

But be safe with what you use for a chin bar. once you have done them to falier do an islolation like one arm concentration curls.

Eat well also mate

 

[stylus187]

why do people ask questions like this? Go to "bodybuilding.com" and do some research for yourself.....

And no, 12" is a joke no matter what weight

your a dick! Why tease him because his arms, arent as big as your mouth??? Dick!!!!

 

[stylus187]

wtf you have to train your arms for them to grow if you dont train your arms then youll look stupid thats the only thing i disagree with all the powerlifters. do bicep curls and some alternate db curls and hammer curls, for tris do close grip benches for thick tris, pushdowns, bench dips with 45 lb plates to get ya started. but u do have to train your arms from the day one or youll be behind. no disrespect to the powerlifters or former powerlifters but thats my 22 inch arm saying you need to train arms. well 20 inches as 2 inches is syntherol oil. but still. but iam not beating a dead horse hear thats the end of my opinion.

agreed!!!!

 

[unclem]

I agree 100% at your level, but this kid has 12 inch arms. He's a few years away from needing a lot of isolation work. I need to isolate if I'm going to progress much beyond my current 18-19 inch level, but I still do my compound work first and finish off with the isolation stuff. I just think too many young kids come into the gym expecting size from tricep extensions and bicep curls. Deadlifting and squatting along with cleans, bench press and overhead presses will do more to build a muscular foundation than anything else. Once they learn these basics, I have no problem with a bit of isolation work. Guess my powerlifting bias is showing...

i say that i started training and had 11 inch arms, but buy 2 yrs all natural until 25 yrs old i had 14 inches, so at 15 i had 14 inch arms. yes i do see mdr your bias coming through but hey i learned alot today on the powermovements, i think they have there place for sure in bbing. but mdr if you concentrated more on your arms than your powerlifting style i think 21 inches isnt outta the question bro. if ur going ifbb pro soon you got to stop training like a powerlifter but, as i said it does have its place in the bbing circuit. but thats why probably all these guys on here that powerlift can iam sure do alot more weight than i but i never trained to do that. its like if your RN like me and you no how to give slin in a hospital setting then u try it on the bbing seen your RN degree means shit as mine does when ity comes to bbing, powerlifting. mdr think like a bber and not a powerlifter bro. as ull see the difference also. well look at flathead he can bench press 645lbs thats way outta my league, i can get with a suit only 495 x 1 rep. as i seen your pictures mdr your a very big boy and you have wat it takes size wise to make pro ifbb. i mean your big . but so it depends on wat you want a 700lb bp or a 500bp with all the artistry behind all that muscle.

 

[HeavyBomber]

wtf you have to train your arms for them to grow if you dont train your arms then youll look stupid thats the only thing i disagree with all the powerlifters. do bicep curls and some alternate db curls and hammer curls, for tris do close grip benches for thick tris, pushdowns, bench dips with 45 lb plates to get ya started. but u do have to train your arms from the day one or youll be behind. no disrespect to the powerlifters or former powerlifters but thats my 22 inch arm saying you need to train arms. well 20 inches as 2 inches is syntherol oil. but still. but iam not beating a dead horse hear thats the end of my opinion.

Man, who says PL'ers don't do any isolation?

 

[stfuandliftbtch]

arm size

Hey man, if your trying to build some arm size you gunna have to eat and eat and eat....12" is pretty small, so i take it your bdft is super low...dont worry about putting on a bit extra fat, cuz with 12" arms your brft MUST be super low...Even if you up your calories alone, you will gain arm size...

just dont forget to work the tris...for putting on mass stick to dips, skull crushers and close grip bench 6-8 reps. dont forget to warm up with some tri extension with the rope or bar.

And for bis, most people say barbell press is the best exercise for putting on mass...id warm up first with some dumbell curls or 21's for a few sets though...

Try doing at least 9 sets for bis and 9 for tris, and 15 sets TOPS...
working sets 6-12 reps..pyramid down 12,10, 8, 6 if your doing 3 exercises...If your doing 4 exercises go 10,8,6 (not including warm-up)

 

[MDR]

i say that i started training and had 11 inch arms, but buy 2 yrs all natural until 25 yrs old i had 14 inches, so at 15 i had 14 inch arms. yes i do see mdr your bias coming through but hey i learned alot today on the powermovements, i think they have there place for sure in bbing. but mdr if you concentrated more on your arms than your powerlifting style i think 21 inches isnt outta the question bro. if ur going ifbb pro soon you got to stop training like a powerlifter but, as i said it does have its place in the bbing circuit. but thats why probably all these guys on here that powerlift can iam sure do alot more weight than i but i never trained to do that. its like if your RN like me and you no how to give slin in a hospital setting then u try it on the bbing seen your RN degree means shit as mine does when ity comes to bbing, powerlifting. mdr think like a bber and not a powerlifter bro. as ull see the difference also. well look at flathead he can bench press 645lbs thats way outta my league, i can get with a suit only 495 x 1 rep. as i seen your pictures mdr your a very big boy and you have wat it takes size wise to make pro ifbb. i mean your big . but so it depends on wat you want a 700lb bp or a 500bp with all the artistry behind all that muscle.

I hear ya brother, it's just that my main focus has been powerlifting, and it is hard to switch focus after all these years. I am trying, though. You have been a huge help. But I'd be lying if I said it didn't feel weird sometimes.

 

[Flathead]

OP, your getting a ton of good advice here from experienced BBers & PLers. My advice too you would be to sit back with an open mind & drink it all in. Experiment a little and see what works best for you. unclem & MDR are both dialed in on this shit, along with many others here!

For me, the key to big pipes is "Heavy" Deads & "Heavy" Close Grip Bench. Just some advice from a dumbass PLer.


Flathead

 

[ectomorph141]

Figure out how many calories you are eating per day and add at least 1,000 to that to get started. If you want to get bigger you HAVE to eat and eat a LOT! Thats the number 1 priority. You can lift all you want but if you dont eat, you will not grow.

Get these major workouts into your routine one way or another. Lift heavy with lower reps.
1. Deadlifts
2. Squats
3. Dips
4. Pull ups (palms facing you or palms away)

If you cant do pull ups then set a chair under you to rest your feet on as an assist. As you get stronger just put one foot on the chair. Then eventualy you wont need the chair at all. But again the key to getting bigger is to eat. Eating and calorie intake should be your main focus.

 

[ScorpionKing]

Lots of good advice here. Just keep it simple at first. From you post it sounds like your just starting out. Welcome to the world of bodybuilding. If your just focused on getting your arm bigger than start with isolation curls and tricep extensions. Do this 3 times a week. Take some BCAA's to help with the recovery time. I know kinda where your at. When I first started out I wanted to get my guns up. I started working on my arms and before long I was developing a full body workout. It takes time to build muscle naturally and I think at your age if your willing to give it at least a year and develope a workout plan you will be impressed with you gains.

 

[PushAndPull]

1 stone = 14 pounds

Is that a real fucking British unit of measurement? Or slang?

 

[juggernaut]

+1 to this advice.

Shit, i don't need to do any direct arm work and im over 3 stone heavier than him, lol.

Me either. I only do it for tendon strengthening for the stones and I'm pulling some nasty weight. I friggin hated doing arms for bbing...of course how else could I get these massive 24 inch pythons daddy!!!!!!! hulkamania is running wild!!!!!

 

[Flathead]

Is that a real fucking British unit of measurement? Or slang?

I was wondering the same thing? LOL

 

[petej123]

what a stone? its a real measurement!

 

[natural1]

stonelb6.35 kg14 lb = 1 stoneThe British weigh themselves in stone and the Americans weigh themselves in pounds. There are more advanced conversions on the tables page, but here is a simple conversion table. Stone1234567891011121314151617181920Pounds (lb)14284256708498112126140154168182196210224238252266280

The stone was originally used for weighing agricultural commodities. Historically the number of pounds in a stone varied by commodity, and was not the same in all times and places even for one commodity.
Cities in England would have official standard weights and measures. Merchants weights and measures would be checked against this to make sure they weren't trying to cheat their customers. This is a standard weight from Manchester both dated 1754 and made of cast brass. It is now in the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester.
The plural of stone is also stone. I weigh 10 stone, not 10 stones.

 

[PushAndPull]

So it's basically only used to measure bodyweight?

 

[petej123]

normally yes, doesn't really get used for anything else, normally use kg for everything else just stone and pounds for body weight

 

[ALBOB]

wtf you have to train your arms for them to grow if you dont train your arms then youll look stupid thats the only thing i disagree with all the powerlifters. do bicep curls and some alternate db curls and hammer curls, for tris do close grip benches for thick tris, pushdowns, bench dips with 45 lb plates to get ya started. but u do have to train your arms from the day one or youll be behind. no disrespect to the powerlifters or former powerlifters but thats my 22 inch arm saying you need to train arms. well 20 inches as 2 inches is syntherol oil. but still. but iam not beating a dead horse hear thats the end of my opinion.

You ever seen a powerlifter with small arms?

 

[juggernaut]

i say that i started training and had 11 inch arms, but buy 2 yrs all natural until 25 yrs old i had 14 inches, so at 15 i had 14 inch arms. yes i do see mdr your bias coming through but hey i learned alot today on the powermovements, i think they have there place for sure in bbing. but mdr if you concentrated more on your arms than your powerlifting style i think 21 inches isnt outta the question bro. if ur going ifbb pro soon you got to stop training like a powerlifter but, as i said it does have its place in the bbing circuit. but thats why probably all these guys on here that powerlift can iam sure do alot more weight than i but i never trained to do that. its like if your RN like me and you no how to give slin in a hospital setting then u try it on the bbing seen your RN degree means shit as mine does when ity comes to bbing, powerlifting. mdr think like a bber and not a powerlifter bro. as ull see the difference also. well look at flathead he can bench press 645lbs thats way outta my league, i can get with a suit only 495 x 1 rep. as i seen your pictures mdr your a very big boy and you have wat it takes size wise to make pro ifbb. i mean your big . but so it depends on wat you want a 700lb bp or a 500bp with all the artistry behind all that muscle.

take it easy unc. Dont blow a fucking gasket LOL