What am I doing wrong?
I lift and lift and lift some more but still…. scrawny arms. Thanks Mom..LOL! Am I not lifting intensely enough? Often enough? I guess every one’s made different and has different obstacles to overcome and this is mine. I want it badly enough. I have the motivation. I’m have complete OCD with my diet and training but obviously I am overlooking something. I am determined to not look anorexic in the arms… maybe some pointers?
Went to the gym today and once again lifted to fatigue. Heavy as I could. 4-6 rep max with most exercises. I have just about cut out cardio. Only a couple 20-30 sessions a week. Ass is tighter, abs are leaner but those damn arms!!! Back at it tomorrow. I will beat this! No doubt but patience isn’t coming naturally here……………..
August 28, 2007 at 2:13 pm
I dont know how often you’re training arms, but lifting weights do not build muslce. Lifting weight a stimulus used to induce muscle growth. Muscle growth occurs during recovery. If you’re training arms today and you plan on training them tomorrow, you might want to cut back on the times you train arms to just once or twice a week at the most.
August 28, 2007 at 2:17 pm
This is what has worked out so far for me-
Don’t sacrifice weight for good form. Try between 8-10 reps with a slightly lighter weight than you are using now and keep it your reps nice and slow.
Stick to 4-5 sets per workout and no more than twice a week.
Try training your triceps on a different day to biceps.
I usually do biceps/forearms and triceps/chest.
I’m no expert but hope this helps!
August 28, 2007 at 2:20 pm
Also i watched this today and found it interesting.
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/fitshow32.htm
August 28, 2007 at 2:20 pm
Another thing you might try is to limit your rest between sets to 30 seconds or less. Keep that pump. Work to failure put the weight down, take a few deep breaths and then slam em again!
August 28, 2007 at 2:49 pm
Training to failure isn’t always a good thing. Or rather, I should say training to complete exhaustion isn’t always a good thing. For a quick muscle shock, sure, but doing it all the time, not so much. Just recently I started doing a variation of GVT and have had the best gains to date so far. I do 5 sets of 10 reps, the first 5 being a normal pace, but the second five being 2-3x slower than the first five. Lighter weight, longer tension time. Not only that, but it really hits the joints hard and has build them up much quicker! Make sure you’re giving enough time for your body to recover, too. If you haven’t taken a good amount of time off, try taking 5-7 days off of at least any high intensity work. Maybe some light cardio or something. Just give your body enough time to be completely refreshed and it’ll make the next workout after it that much more of a shock!
August 28, 2007 at 5:40 pm
I would increase your reps and not work the same muscles two days in a row. I used to average 6 for my max. I started reading Arnold’s Bible and changed to averaging 8 for my max. I have seen the difference! Just today someone said "Your arms are getting BIG!" Add Skull Crushers for triceps and straight barbell for biceps. That will add some mass. Oh, and keep a log so you know where you’ve been and what you have to beat. Good Luck!
September 5, 2007 at 9:23 am
I’ll try and keep this short… Firstly, to gain muscle you need to have a caloric surplus. You can make some gains while dieting, but if you’re watching your calories, you won’t make gains as if you weren’t. I’m not an advocate of bulking though, just that you might want to accept gaining a little weight in order to gain some muscle. Second is that you might actually benefit from training more frequently, provided you change all the parameters to your lifting (i.e. day 1 - 6 sets of 4, and day 2 - 3 sets of 10) Your body adapts the quickest to the rep range you use, so it should be altered pretty much every worktout. Doing 8 reps forever will help you plateau…. You should also vary exercises and change your rest periods. Last, seeing as you don’t have a lot of muscle, your strength is probably one of the major limiting factors in why your arms aren’t growing. Instead of focusing on high reps, why not try a program to improve strength and then after that’s finished, try a program for hypertrophy.
I guess I failed in keeping it short, huh?
Well, good luck!
September 5, 2007 at 12:54 pm
Wow.. you got alot of advice from all these men.. i just wanted to let you know, i feel yeah.. My arms might not be thin like yours.. but i feel like i NEVER get any kind of definition.. I want nice round shoulders, strong biceps, and triceps.. but i feel like my arms just look straight, flat and fat! LOL!! But i sympathize with never feeling like you get any gains in your arms.. oh how i envy short girls with short limbs! They always seem to be so much rounder! HAHAHA! Anyways.. best of luck to you! You look amazing!
September 24, 2007 at 7:23 am
have you been doing the same arm training? If it’s been a while, it might be time to train differently to shock your arms! Give me a shout back.
September 25, 2007 at 8:46 am
Of all the replies you have, I agree most with what nervesgone said about needing a caloric surplus. How many calories are you taking in a day? That diet of yours looks like it might have been a little too extreme. Now that you’re trying to build muscle, you should take in extra calories to support muscle growth. About 50% of your calories from carbohydrates, which provide your muscles with glucose, the fuel you use during a lifting session, and which is used to help protein synthesis (muscle’s getting larger). About 20-30% of your calories should come from protein, what your muscles need to rebuild the tissue damage created from a workout. Also, 20-30% of your calories from fat sources, mostly unsaturated fats so you get omega 3 and omega 6 fats which are critical to overall health. Not getting enough calories and overtraining would also be a major contributor to dizziness and passing out.
As for training advice, 8-12 reps per set, 3 sets is probably enough if you’re pushing hard enough, and certainly no more than 2-3 exercises for your biceps/triceps since they’re fairly small muscles.
September 25, 2007 at 2:07 pm
Girl– I feel your pain. My arms arent as bad as they used to be….but sheesh! And I lift heavier than most of the girls I see at my gym! Looks like you’ve been given some good advice though! Good luck!
September 25, 2007 at 9:13 pm
have you tried to change your training methods to enhance your arms training? bb.com offers some articles on eccentric training focusing on the negatives to add size and strength. try looking for that.
October 1, 2007 at 7:17 am
Not sure about your training, but you may be overtraining the muscles. Back off to one FULL intensity set of the basics a week. IE: Deadlifts, Incline-Bench, Squats or Leg Press, Military press, Barbell curl, Close-grip bench and Standing calf raises. Do one of the exercises each day during the week. The one set must be full intensity though, all out to total muscle failure. If you do these exercises once a week, eat plenty of protein and then allow for muscle recuperation, you’ll see progress. For more info on Heavy Duty training, google Mike Mentzer Heavy Duty training.