Arms lagging

Discussion in 'Hypertrophy-Specific Training (HST)' started by Spyke, Dec 15, 2005.

  1. Spyke

    Spyke New Member

    I have noticed my arms seem to be lagging a bit, mostly my forearms but biceps too. I guess I should add forearm wrist curls. 2 sets HST style?

    I am thinking of adding another curl type excersise to target the biceps and maybe doing some drop sets at the end of each workout, just to get caught up.

    What do you think??
     
  2. jwbond

    jwbond New Member

    i wouldnt add another bicep exercise unless you plan on using steroids.

    the biceps get abused by the compound exercises as it is. the first thing i would look at is diet. are you eating enough where you are gaining? the rule of thumb is you need to gain 10lbs of lbm for 1inch on the arms.

    if you are eating enough and everything is growing, but the arms are unproportional then you need to try some alternatives. here are some ideas that have worked for me and others:

    -not doing any isolation exercises for your arms at all
    -changing rest times between sets
    -higher rep ranges or lower rep ranges, whatever you haven't tried



    i started a thread on how to maximize glycogen in the arms. if you can do so, your arms will look fuller and more pumped at all times. for each gram of glycogen stored in the muscle, you also store 3 grams of water. see: http://www.hypertrophy-specific.com/cgi-bin....;t=5801
     
  3. liegelord

    liegelord New Member

    Load is the way to go. I think the best exercise for the biceps is weighted chins, especially neg's, go as heavy as you can. I've done them with more than 110 pounds around my waist and my arms felt like they would burst.
     
  4. jvroig

    jvroig Super Moderator

    I think that would be a bad idea. All the curls in the world won't give you huge arms.

    Focus on your heavy compound lifts, and simply add a set of metabollic work for your arms to keep you happy.

    Forearms are pretty small compared to everything else, they won't really ba "lagging" unless you are at your genetic limit and you see that they are still 1" short of their supposed limit. max size calculator
     
  5. Fausto

    Fausto HST Expert

    Arms?

    Close grip underhand chin-ups (with a heavy load not body weight alone).

    Another good one is heavy underhand low cable rows or bent over rows - biceps (the forearms grow alon).

    Close grip bench press, and dips with head up or bench dips (with heavy attached load) - major tricep inducer.

    The little iso's just put the cherry on top, nothing else! [​IMG]
     
  6. Totentanz

    Totentanz Super Moderator Staff Member

    What does your routine look like? Deadlifts and Bentover rows seem to hit my forearms pretty well... and like the guys said, chins can slaughter your biceps. I've toyed with close grip bench press lately and it does hit the triceps qute hard as well.

    I favor using the isolations mainly for metabolic work, after doing the heavy compounds. After doing deads, rows, chins, etc, once you do some light weight/high rep curls and tricep extensions, your arms are pumped so hard they feel they will burst.
     
  7. jvroig

    jvroig Super Moderator

    Yep, that's pretty much the way to do it. Stick to your core lifts, and add metabollic work using isolations.
     
  8. Downward Spiral

    Downward Spiral New Member

    That's the most idiotic statement ever.
     
  9. Downward Spiral

    Downward Spiral New Member

    How much metabolic work is usually recommended? I'd guess just a single set for 15 reps.

    Does anyone even do metabolic work for the legs? I see the arms and chest as the prime candidates.

    Metabolic work induces a kind've "temporary" hypertrophy, correct? That being so, wouldn't it make sense for a person to just focus on sarcomere hypertrophy for awhile, then once they're close to being as big as they want to be, throw on the sarcoplasmic hypertrophy as icing on the cake?

    To expand on the above - sarcomere hypertrophy has its limits, but the potential for it is huge. Does sarcoplasmic hypertrophy have any potential to increase, or is it mainly just an A to B thing?
     
  10. wwewrestlingguy

    wwewrestlingguy New Member

    I don't think the 10 lbs for an inch statement is idiotic.. I've heard that before. I think Arnold actually said that. It's obviously not 100% accurate, but it seems about right to me.. it's in the right ballpark anyway..
     
  11. Downward Spiral

    Downward Spiral New Member

    Yes, let's all listen to Arnold.

    My friend is 5'4". I'm 5'11.5". I think 10 lbs. of LBM on us is going to be worlds different.

    Oh, another friend of mine only trains his arms (don't even ask) - 10 lbs. LBM is gonna be different on him, too.
     
  12. wwewrestlingguy

    wwewrestlingguy New Member

    Again, it's just an estimation man.. of course different people will have different situations. That's just an average figure I guess.
     
  13. Fausto

    Fausto HST Expert

    Downward and WWe

    Funny you should mention this, I'm 5'6" and have not really put much weight on the last cycle, in 5 cycles I have put on 11 pounds and then just stayed there, yet in this last cycle the growth is visible, I'd call it a metamorphosis, the LBM is increasing is my only guess, however judging from my gut I have not lost that much there either (then again this is not the only spot where fat is on people).

    Anyways my targets are to get 16.5 to 17" bi's and about 80 kgs with 8% bodyfat, I guess I am not that far off, right now I am 70 Kg/12.7% bf/almost 16" bi's, but hey...I'm short my arms show quicker than taller people that is for sure and I don't need no 10 pounds to do it!
     

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