Anyone never train arms?

[Ironface]

By the time I’ve finished doing rows and pull-ups my biceps are fried. I can barely lift anything on any type of curl movement.

My triceps seem more volume resistant in that I still feel like I can isolate them after doing 2 types of presses. But even then, my triceps have never lagged even when I don’t isolate them. I OHP with a close grip and that combined with benching and pull-ups seems to hit them plenty hard enough.

Anyone here never train arms directly? How do they look?

[EiFit91]

By the time I’ve finished doing rows and pull-ups my biceps are fried. I can barely lift anything on any type of curl movement.

My triceps seem more volume resistant in that I still feel like I can isolate them after doing 2 types of presses. But even then, my triceps have never lagged even when I don’t isolate them. I OHP with a close grip and that combined with benching and pull-ups seems to hit them plenty hard enough.

Anyone here never train arms directly? How do they look?

Used to not train biceps directly at all, and I consider them a weak bodypart and working to bring them up currently. Had a similar problem as you, if I added direct bicep work on top of my pulling I'd get tendon issues. So I recently reduced my pulling volume to make room for curls lol

My triceps respond well to compounds but get bigger when I add isolations on top of that.

[air2fakie]

By the time I’ve finished doing rows and pull-ups my biceps are fried. I can barely lift anything on any type of curl movement.

My triceps seem more volume resistant in that I still feel like I can isolate them after doing 2 types of presses. But even then, my triceps have never lagged even when I don’t isolate them. I OHP with a close grip and that combined with benching and pull-ups seems to hit them plenty hard enough.

As an experiment, maybe try just a couple sets of higher rep drag curls & a couple sets of lighter overhead cable tri extensions (unilaterally even) at the end of your relevant workouts. Might blow up your arms even further by isolating the long heads a bit.

[GeneralSerpant]

The stimulus your arms get from dedicated heavy compounds isn't for nothing, but that probably takes just about as much overall work as accomplishing an arms workout just on the side. Less complicated, more efficient.

The tantamount stimulus is still just temporal though, more so than the target muscles. Longer term developments come from variation, with probably not much difference between most any compounds and isolations.

[Ironface]

The stimulus your arms get from dedicated heavy compounds isn't for nothing, but that probably takes just about as much overall work as accomplishing an arms workout just on the side. Less complicated, more efficient.

The tantamount stimulus is still just temporal though, more so than the target muscles. Longer term developments come from variation, with probably not much difference between most any compounds and isolations.

I like to think I’m reasonably articulate, but I still struggled with this one.

[GeneralSerpant]

I like to think I’m reasonably articulate, but I still struggled with this one.

The progress you've made on compounds includes the work that's been put into your arms. The arms probably weren't really the first thing to start getting the noticeable development from all the pulling exercises though.

[EliKoehn]

For most of 2021 I did comparatively little direct arm work, for some long stints almost none, even while doing plenty of compound work at intensity. I did notice some atrophy of bicep size and strength actually.

It probably wouldn't end up amounting to more than something merely noticeable if still not severe, but my biceps were a fast responder early on, so I've tried to maintain that.

So, for my purposes at least, I'm "pro arm day."

I like to think I’m reasonably articulate, but I still struggled with this one.

I value what he has to say, but I also have trouble understanding him sometimes: I routinely tend to be left with a sense that there was an insightful point made, just somehow missed, like talking along the side of a question while facing it rather than directly towards it, if that analogy makes any sense.

[GeneralSerpant]

Focusing on arms helps with compound movements because they tire out less. Training the compound movements though doesn't require supplemental arm strength, and eventually the biceps grow distinctively.

[coachcalande]

This is an easy solution


Upper
Body day, do all your compounds , all the pushes and pulls your heart desires


Take a day off


Then have a leg day, train the daylights out of them -
Take a ten min break or a nap doesn’t matter

At some
Point that same day just bomb your arms until they are blown away- supersets of bis/tris ….10-20
Min should be plenty

Take another day off
And repeat

[BeginnerGainz]

I used to never train arms cause I was an idiot.

Now I’m no longer an idiot and give them the care and attention a proper set of meat hooks should get.

[rjthegreat10]

My main chest moment is weighted dips and my tris have grown fine from them, for biceps I do heavy curls I used to be stubborn and think weighted chins were enough but they aren't.

[MyEgoProblem]

Used to very very rarely...
Just cos it's boring 😂 and an old work wrist injury made it painful and frequently interrupted my more important work.

Now i tolerate the boredom cos my back /chest way over power the arms, and use variations that don't ravage the wrist. (no straight bar curls/chins)

[hadi2007]

Used to not train biceps directly at all, and I consider them a weak bodypart and working to bring them up currently. Had a similar problem as you, if I added direct bicep work on top of my pulling I'd get tendon issues. So I recently reduced my pulling volume to make room for curls lol

My triceps respond well to compounds but get bigger when I add isolations on top of that.

Yeah this happens a ton with a pull day. Train bic/tri together honestly way better and back and chest is also a good pairing

[paulinkansas]

I used to train my front and back neck in the '80s on a wrassling mat. I never looked like this. Not even close.

[asrl78]

I'm a beginner so am just focusing on getting strong on compound movements for the time being. I am tempted to add direct arm work at some point, as my biceps and triceps do tend to fatigue on pushing and pulling movements, and I suspect at some point that is going to limit progress. To save time I might superset cable curls and pushdowns.

[Casca]

My upper arms and forearms are naturally separated looking. If I don't work out at all and get fat over time (this happened), the forearms are still very separated looking, upper arms I'd have to flex to see separation. Last time I measured upper arms for elbow sleeves, left was just over 16", right was a little bigger. It's the same thing with legs, big very separated calves, zero calf workout other than walking. I think most of my body fat is carried on the mid-section. I don't have fatceps or fat legs.

I haven't worked arms directly in I think over 5 years. I haven't lifted weights other than for pre-hab stuff for over 3 years. I do use weights to build scapula strength along with body weight directly. That's more important to me than big arms. Strong scapula, strong rotators....you can move your self in ridiculous ways. I'm happy with the way my body looks and am not a body builder, I do not workout to "bodybuild". I don't compete in any kind of lifting events and give zero fukcs about deadlift, bench press and squat. I just want to planche, front lever, handstand, dragon flag, dragon press, L-sit, human flag, manna, V-sit, very doubtful I'll ever Victorian other than with a good bit of my arms on p-bars. I've even decreased pull-ups, dips, push-ups to have more time to do skills work.

OP it really depends on your goals and your genetics. I've never been skinny and I'd have to be really lazy for a long time to get fat.

[coachcalande]

Every four days

I Just do this for 20-30 min after or before legs…

https://youtu.be/sVBsFuoxJ78

https://youtu.be/wkJYQv-_Szo

[BeginnerGainz]

I'm a beginner so am just focusing on getting strong on compound movements for the time being. I am tempted to add direct arm work at some point, as my biceps and triceps do tend to fatigue on pushing and pulling movements, and I suspect at some point that is going to limit progress. To save time I might superset cable curls and pushdowns.

You have the right idea!

[Millz12323]

Just a few sets per week.... I dunno if you count close grip bench as training arms though. If you do then it's more than a few lately.. maybe 2-5 sets per week of like bicep work.

[PovertyNWizdom]

imo you should try to hit some sets of biceps after your pull workouts, even if you have to lower the weight. Over time you will notice that your biceps don't get as fatigued at the end of your workout and you'll be able to do more weight.

Also, something that really helped my arm development was the following split:

chest/back
legs
shoulders/arms
rest

[BeginnerGainz]

Just a few sets per week.... I dunno if you count close grip bench as training arms though. If you do then it's more than a few lately.. maybe 2-5 sets per week of like bicep work.

I default to a close shoulder width grip because I have long arms and it is just a better all away better way to bench imo