"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

[datum]

good post mate reps

[hko]

No don't look at what those genetically elite pro bodybuilders are doing, oh no. Look at THIS genetically elite group of people.

He's saying curls, isolation work etc is great, but only once you have a decent base strength and size base established through heavier compound lifts and that's a pretty good message for the majority of the general, non specialist, lifting population.

[bigrig5656]

Awesome article. I'm thinking about posting this in the misc to see what the skinny ****s have to say to try and disprove a legend.

[muertesoulfly]

For skinny guys bill starr is right. When you want bigger arms you should just train your arms more.

[AusLifter06]

I remember reading that in an Ironman mag several years ago.

I agree with the concepts in the article, however I did tonnes of arm work before I knew anything about lifting and I had big, stong arms and nothing much else.

[bigrig5656]

Posted in misc. I'm cracking up at all the squat haters in there, which was to be expected.

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=126338943

[madkad]

dam never new that about the dried milk that works out well cheaper, but very high in sugars by the looks of it, that can be good for after a workout though.

[brent2741]

dam never new that about the dried milk that works out well cheaper, but very high in sugars by the looks of it, that can be good for after a workout though.

arms are like calves, for the most part youre either born with potential for 21" arms or youre not

[Big Sexy J]

I squat 580 @220 and have 15 inch arms. **** squatting for bigger arms.

[BuckWyld]

The story is clearly apocryphal, Pennsylvania teens would not express their weightlifting progress in kilograms.

[blastbeats_stl]

i dunno man working out arms give me bigger arms

[TheGunShow777]

I focused on powerlifting alone for most of my lifting years and ended up with semi decent arms. I started training arms like a "bench n curls" homo and my arms blew up in a few months.

Seriously. I hit arms on their own day now at least twice a week just to catch them up so I dont look like a dork with a thick chest and baggy sleeves.

NOTE: some people naturally have big arms so they should not be the ones lecturing about how to turn skinny arms into big arms.

[Doenitz79]

I got my 17' upper arms and 13.5' forearms from solely compounds lifts.(BF in the mid 10s) No BS.

I don't train bodybuilding style, yet people in the gym ask if I am a bodybuilder.

[AmericanPhysco]

I got my 17' upper arms and 13.5' forearms from solely compounds lifts.(BF in the mid 10s) No BS.

I don't train bodybuilding style, yet people in the gym ask if I am a bodybuilder.

I got my 13" arms from solely doing compound lifts. No e-statting.

Edit: I've always had big legs/calves though. Genetics I suppose.

[TheGunShow777]

I got my 17' upper arms and 13.5' forearms from solely compounds lifts.(BF in the mid 10s) No BS.

I don't train bodybuilding style, yet people in the gym ask if I am a bodybuilder.

Not being a douche here, but 17 inch arms at 5'11 is not exactly "huge". I guess the OP title is "big" arms though so that could count. Im 5'7" and my arms are about 17 inches (16.5 at 13%bf) and they dont get much recognition around other weight lifters. Of course your average crony will say things like, "you been workin out brah?" but that dont mean anything lol.

[Entkommen115]

My arms are so jacked and tan. You don't even know.

[19george]

My arms are so jacked and tan. You don't even know.

[Entkommen115]

wuv u <4

[G20C]

I have 17.5 inch arms and never cared about size. I only know they are 17.5 because another lifter brought a tape measure and wanted to measure mine.

I have always liked strength and just wanted to be strong (which i am not). I mainly focus on the 3 lifts but i am always keeping track of my strength on various excercises that aren't associated with powerlifting.

For example,i max or do heavy sets on biceps. I will work up to a heavy set of 3-5 reps on barbell curl with good form and drop down for a set of 10reps. I do a total of maybe 5 sets and i'm done.I do the same on triceps but that's done after bench work.

In 2000 before i tore my left bicep i was 20lbs shy of a bodyweight curl for 1 rep. Does anybody care? No, barbell curl isn't in any strongman events or one of the 3 lifts. It's just a personal goal of mine.

Same with high reps. Sometimes i just wanna see how many times i can rep something. Could be 225 on bench or trying to deadlift 440 15 times. Just a personal goal.

.

[Newbtime]

that article is largely bull ****.


"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."


"increase the shape" wtf does this even mean? you dont increase shape magically, you change the shape of your muscle by adding mass to it in certan areas, some exercises add mass in different places in different ways on different people.

again he says that isolation arm work doesn't build mass... but then says "besides if you only do isolation arm work, youll be left with big arms and nothing else"


So wtf is it, does isolation work build mass or not?


yea any one that spends an hour doing curls and isolation work for their bis is an idiot, but new trainers shouldnt completely ditch isolation work. He also talks about being out of proportion, having big arms but no chest, blah blah blah.... doing nothing but compounds will give you all the big major muscle groups, and thats about it... smaller muscles like calves, forearms, bis, shoulders and lats will usually suffer. And if some one is skilled enough to perform bench presses, squats and deadlifts, they can figure out how to do isolation work...


this whole either or attitude is stupid... while it is true a new trainee shouldnt try to isolate a muscle they can't flex..... getting big and strong is more than compound movements... and there is no reason to only do compound movements while you are building your base strength....


each time I have done smolov my arms got smaller during it b/c i couldnt train them during that period through other means b/c of elbow soreness... I squat close to 7 belt only buried....... my arms are 18-18.5... I can only imagine how much smaller they would be if i only squatted benched and deadlifted.


This article reminds me of how my parents used to lie to me to get me to do things that were good for me...

severely overstating the importance of something
severely exaggerating the consequences/downsides to neglecting something


"eat your spinach, youll be a pro athlete when you grow up"


“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.”

lmao. Oh wow a geneticly gifted person could develop some fairly good arms training for strength... that must mean curls dont do a damn thing... for every jacked O lifter, youll find 10 with skinny, lanky little arms.

very simple concept to remember... "Inspite of, not because of".

and the whole... "it only works because they are on juice" is a retarded cop-out. Any training routine that works for a steroid user, will work for a natural lifter - provided there is less intensity/volume. Does bill really think that once someone starts taking steroids they start doing different exercises? ..... *facepalm*

I also like how he used the example of a jacked elite O lifter with big arms... like they are natural, bwahahha. So I can insert his on stupid logic in here....

well boys, these are very advanced olympic lifters, and odds are they’re using steroids and most likely some other stuff... Now go do your curls.








Cliffs:


3/4ths new trainees focus should be on compound exercises
black and white logic will screw you in the long run
lame article

[BEhave]

Repped Newbtime

[TheGunShow777]

LOL Newbtimes post is as long as the OPs article Spot on dude.

[Newbtime]

LOL Newbtimes post is as long as the OPs article Spot on dude.

lol

this article irritates me because I remember reading it when I was new to training, and I figured out myself that most of it was crap.

[Schism45]

Always on spread for newbtime =/

[TheGunShow777]

lol

this article irritates me because I remember reading it when I was new to training, and I figured out myself that most of it was crap.

I know what you mean cause like I posted above, it was the powerlifting trend years ago to, at the most, do weighted chins for arms lol You know that funny imbalanced physique they talk about? The big arms and little legs and back ect. Well I looked like a dork with no biceps, calves, side delts, ect. Im a naturally thin guy so nothing on me grows without training it directly.

[Schism45]

I know what you mean cause like I posted above, it was the powerlifting trend years ago to, at the most, do weighted chins for arms lol You know that funny imbalanced physique they talk about? The big arms and little legs and back ect. Well I looked like a dork with no biceps, calves, side delts, ect. Im a naturally thin guy so nothing on me grows without training it directly.

I did the same thing, neglecting isolation work until only very recently, and I am the opposite of your typical gym rat--I have big legs and a thick back, but small arms/shoulders and average pecs.

The best is to avoid both extremes - compounds are the bread and butter, but isolation has a purpose and a place as well. I think my bench would be better if I had done more iso work.

[Newbtime]

The best is to avoid both extremes - compounds are the bread and butter, but isolation has a purpose and a place as well.

OMFG no!!!111 thats too complicated, and doesnt sound nearly cool enough.


you have to come out gunz blazing with a strongly held extreme, black and white opinion DEWD.

[TheGunShow777]

I did the same thing, neglecting isolation work until only very recently, and I am the opposite of your typical gym rat--I have big legs and a thick back, but small arms/shoulders and average pecs.

The best is to avoid both extremes - compounds are the bread and butter, but isolation has a purpose and a place as well. I think my bench would be better if I had done more iso work.

Absolutely. Ive adapted more of a "powerbuilding" approach now. I dont think Ill compete again any time soon so now its time to LOOK strong

[TheGunShow777]

OMFG no!!!111 thats too complicated, and doesnt sound nearly cool enough.


you have to come out gunz blazing with a strongly held extreme, black and white opinion DEWD.

lulz