"Bigger Arms" by Bill Starr

[DominationStation]

I'm sure many have come across this before, but I just read it for the first time...and here it is:

There is another way to guarantee bigger, fuller, more powerful arms, and here it is.

The number one reason why men start training with weights is to have bigger and more muscular arms. Sure, some guys also want thicker chests or trimmer midsections; nevertheless, big arms are also high on their wish list. Somehow an idea has evolved in the male psyche that big arms equals sexual prowess and overall strength. Whenever a man hits a pose to display how fit he is, he will always flex his biceps. The pose and the gesture are simply a part of our culture.

As a result the novice firmly believes that, in order to gain the big arms he so desperately wants, he must put most of his energy into exercises that hit the biceps and triceps directly. Often his entire weight- training program revolves around upper-arm exercises. Those for the back and legs are done with token weights almost as an afterthought. After all, the only bodypart that matters is the arms.

The problem with the above approach is that type of training for the arms doesn’t work. True, if the beginner puts in a great deal of work, he may in fact increase the shape of his arms. However, seldom does he add any noticeable size to them. Giving the arms priority while neglecting the other bodyparts will also result in a comical physique. Large arms on a proportioned physique are admirable, but they are not on a person with skinny legs and a flat, undeveloped back.

Another problem exists for those who only focus their training on their arms. These individuals do far too much specialized work on the arms, and in most cases, do so before a strong enough foundation has been built to handle all the substantial stress to muscles, tendons and ligaments. The result is sore elbows or shoulders or both from overtraining.

I used to visit a nice gym located just across the Mason-Dixon line in Pennsylvania whenever I was on vacation from school. One time I was on my Christmas break and I made the scenic drive north. I got to the gym early to beat the rush and found only two others working out – high school boys doing leg presses. By the time I finished warming up they were doing straight-bar biceps curls. With nothing else to do, in between my sets I watched these guys. They did a half-dozen curls with the straight bar, moved to the EZ-curl bar and did 6 sets, and then concluded with 10 sets of dumbbell curls. Next, they started in on their triceps: French presses, skullcrushers and pushdowns on the lat machine. I didn’t bother trying to count all the sets, but these guys did a lot of them.

I did my hour and one-half workout, and they were still hitting their triceps when I left. I must admit these individuals were determined to attain bigger arms; however, I also knew they were going about their goal the wrong way. I decided that if I ran into them again, I would break my rule about offering unsolicited advice and talk to them. I didn’t see them again until spring break. They were hammering away on EZ-bar curls when I stepped into the gym. Both wore tank tops, and I took a look at their arms to see if they had made any progress. One of them had his elbows wrapped. I concluded their arms were more shapely than before but I swear I didn’t see any increase in arm size

I went over and introduced myself. The one with the wrapped elbows was Jerry, and the other was Bert. Bert recognized my name from some articles he had read in MuscleMag and this fame was useful because it gave me some weight as an authority. At least they would listen to what I had to say. Understanding that no one of any age likes to have his program criticized, I tried to be diplomatic. “Would you two like some advice on your program? Or are you happy with what you’re doing?” I asked. They glanced at one another, and then Jerry answered, “We were just talking ’bout that. We’re kinda stale right now. We might switch to Scott [preacher] curls and maybe some pulley curls. Whaddaya think?”

“I have a suggestion a bit more drastic in mind. I’m assuming your main goal for being here is to get bigger arms, right?”

“Yeah,” they said in unison.

“Is what you’re doing now working?”

This question threw them for a moment. Then Bert replied, “Somewhat, I guess.” He flexed his biceps muscles. While his arms did have excellent definition, some female members in the gym had bigger arms than him.

“Where did you get your routine?”

Jerry reached in his gym bag and pulled out several articles on arm development along with photos of the authors. I scanned the articles and photos, handed them back and said, “You know, boys, these guys are very advanced bodybuilders, and the odds are they’re using steroids and most likely some other stuff. What they’re doing just doesn’t apply to you right now.”

Their mouths dropped open, and they wore stunned expressions. Bert said “Are you saying these guys are wrong?”

“Not at all. Their advice is very useful to those in the same category as they are. That category includes only very advanced and professional bodybuilders. What they recommend doesn’t fit your category. You’re beginners and need to take another approach if you want bigger arms. Now I understand that arms are the main focus of your workouts, but would you mind if your legs, back and shoulders got bigger too? Or if you put four or five inches on your chest?”

Their eyes lit up as they imagined such a transformation. Jerry gushed, “No, that would be great. We wanted to get our arms big first and then concentrate on some other bodypart – probably the chest.”

“Well, I’ve got some good news for you. You can get all your muscles, including your arms and chest, bigger at the same time.” I paused as their grins grew wider. Then I dropped the bomb. “But you’re going to drop the curls and those triceps exercises you’re doing now.”

“How are we gonna get our arms bigger if we don’t do curls?” blurted Bert.

“You’re going to get bigger arms by making your entire body bigger. Once you pack on some bodyweight and establish a solid base of strength, you can go back and use curls to shape your biceps, but doing hour after hour of both curls and triceps work isn’t getting the job done for you right now. What you need is more mass, to get bigger.”

I gave them a few moments to let this sink in and then added, “What I’m talking about is a program built around concentrated hard work on the large muscles. The small groups such as the biceps and triceps will take a back seat for a while.”

“You talking ’bout doing heavy squats and deadlifting – stuff like that?”

“I am.”

“But we’re not interested in a strength routine. We’re bodybuilders. We’re not powerlifters.”

“Well, being a powerlifter isn’t such a bad idea, but that’s not where you’re heading – unless you want to later on.” Anticipating after our prior encounter that I may run into this pair again, I had packed some old Strength & Health magazines in my gym bag. First I showed Bert and Jerry some photos of Tommy Kono and Bill March when they won Mr. Universe titles in conjunction with the Olympic-lifting world championships. “Great upper-arm development, don’t you think?”

“Yeah, I think so,” admitted Bert. Jerry nodded agreement.

“Neither of them did any bodybuilding at all. They were champion Olympic weightlifters. They got their amazing arm development from doing heavy overhead presses, jerks and pulls – no curls whatsoever.”

“That’s amazing,” muttered Bert.

I opened another magazine and showed them a photo of Phil Grippaldi flexing his huge triceps. “Here’s another national-champion Olympic lifter: Phil Grippaldi from New Jersey. His arms got so big from doing the Olympic lifts that he had to do exercises to tone them down. They were preventing him from racking his cleans.”

Jerry chuckled. “I never heard of anybody wanting to make his arms smaller.”

“Well, he’s the only one I ever heard about.”

While they were most impressed, Bert voiced his objection. “But I still don’t see how we’re gonna gain size on our arms by squatting.”

“How much weight have you gained since you started on this program?”

They looked at one another. Then Jerry provided, “Two to three kilograms.”

“Where do you think the additional muscle for your upper arms is going to come from? You can’t shift bodyweight from your glutes or your midsection to your arms.”

Jerry argued, “We didn’t want to put on a lot of weight because we figured some of it would end up on our guts. And we didn’t want that.”

...I'm gonna spread this around a bunch of forums.

***EDIT: I got to the maximum number of characters in the post, so BB.com cut me off...you can read the whole story at the following link:
http://www.elitefitness.com/forum/we...ms-647791.html

[ThickAsABrick]

lol