Hey weightlifters, what's a "big" arm?

[PG]

i want big arms too! i have 11.75 inch guns now=( but i only weigh 112 and i'm 5'6" at 18...i'm not growing much anymore=( I'm not very symmetric either...haha...27 inch wasit, 35 inch chest. I can max 145 bench right now and my goal is 200 by the end of the summer and weigh in at around 135. Gaining actual weight has been the hardest problem for me and i've never tried any supplements or anything yet. should i? and my arms haven't gottena ny bigger either though i can lift a lot more thna when i started. why am i so small?=(

If you want to get bigger you need to make some changes.
First of all stop worrying so much about what you can bench and start worrying about the squat and deadlift. Those exercises work more muscle will build more muscle.

Also, maybe you should look into High Intensity Training. See Cyberpump or Hardgainer for more info. Working out less, but with more intensity might give you better results.

 

[Jfur]

Originally posted by: RagingBITCH
Noraki - there's some weightlifting concept that says your neck, calves, and arms should all be the same size around. That's a general guideline of course and I forgot where I read it from (think it was Arnold) but not even Arnold himself at his peak was symmetric in that sense.

That's very interesting, does it hold for women, too?

 

[MonkeyloveGood]

Originally posted by: Koing
all relative to hight and build.

I am 5"10 and 170lbs and 11.7% bf.

Arms 14'
Chest 40'
Waist 32'
Upper leg 24"
calves 15"

I look deceptively bigger especially that I'm 18 and hardly anyone trains hard or as serious around here. I only do as I compete in Olympic Lifting. South East Champion U23 to my title @ 18 in England. My girlfriend loves my legs. Everyone notices that my legs and arms are big. I credit it to my diet, coach and hard work. Having not much fat helps a lot and also in England you don't have many tall guys that are 6"+!

back

haha, Why no shots of the front? ABS and chest! I'm gonna workout now. Haha. Stupid thread

 

[MonkeyloveGood]

Originally posted by: PG

i want big arms too! i have 11.75 inch guns now=( but i only weigh 112 and i'm 5'6" at 18...i'm not growing much anymore=( I'm not very symmetric either...haha...27 inch wasit, 35 inch chest. I can max 145 bench right now and my goal is 200 by the end of the summer and weigh in at around 135. Gaining actual weight has been the hardest problem for me and i've never tried any supplements or anything yet. should i? and my arms haven't gottena ny bigger either though i can lift a lot more thna when i started. why am i so small?=(

If you want to get bigger you need to make some changes.
First of all stop worrying so much about what you can bench and start worrying about the squat and deadlift. Those exercises work more muscle will build more muscle.

Also, maybe you should look into High Intensity Training. See Cyberpump or Hardgainer for more info. Working out less, but with more intensity might give you better results.

Alright, i kinda skimmed those sites but i couldn't find out how exactly do you squat and deadlift? Well, the squat is kinda self-explanatory but i'm slow nonetheless. Anyways, are those 2 exercises possible in my room? The reason why i bench as opposed to anything else is cuz i have one in my room. VEry easy access though it does take up half my room=)

 

[Maverick2002]

Noriaki: BMI = biggest bunch of BS. This is me. According to that scale I'm almost obese. Can't help it if I'm mostly lean muscle.

Size doesn't matter; it's all relative. How big are you arms compared to the rest of you? And are you big or ripped or both?
Also, like someone here mentioned, if you don't work your triceps you will look very stupid.

MonkeyloveGood: 200 by end of summer? You're kidding me (unless you start juicing or taking massive suplements). I never did either. I'm 5'9" for about 2 years now. Last summer I was super thin (115lbs) but after 2 months at the gym I got up to 140. This summer I went from 140 to 160. I can still only bench 185 6x though (up from 145 6x). Though I can do 100 push ups

Forget the calves; they're the most genetically influenced muscle in your body. Unless you a) play soccer a lot or b) walk on your toes all day or c) sprint daily your calves aren't gonna get much bigger than they are.

If you want to know if you're getting stronger, try body-relative exercises and see how much you can do (correctly, mind you).

That is: squats (no weight), wall sit (how long? I can go 8 minutes w/o weight), push ups, pull ups (forward and reverse grip), sit ups, etc.

 

[XCLAN]

heh i was benchin 300 lbs when i was in high school. and i only weighed 190. now im 245 and can prolly barely bench my weight....used to do 100 pushups....now 30 will kill me

 

[Jfur]

Originally posted by: MonkeyloveGood

Originally posted by: PG

i want big arms too! i have 11.75 inch guns now=( but i only weigh 112 and i'm 5'6" at 18...i'm not growing much anymore=( I'm not very symmetric either...haha...27 inch wasit, 35 inch chest. I can max 145 bench right now and my goal is 200 by the end of the summer and weigh in at around 135. Gaining actual weight has been the hardest problem for me and i've never tried any supplements or anything yet. should i? and my arms haven't gottena ny bigger either though i can lift a lot more thna when i started. why am i so small?=(

If you want to get bigger you need to make some changes.
First of all stop worrying so much about what you can bench and start worrying about the squat and deadlift. Those exercises work more muscle will build more muscle.

Also, maybe you should look into High Intensity Training. See Cyberpump or Hardgainer for more info. Working out less, but with more intensity might give you better results.

Alright, i kinda skimmed those sites but i couldn't find out how exactly do you squat and deadlift? Well, the squat is kinda self-explanatory but i'm slow nonetheless. Anyways, are those 2 exercises possible in my room? The reason why i bench as opposed to anything else is cuz i have one in my room. VEry easy access though it does take up half my room=)

Squats don't take much room, but if you are lifting really heavy (as you will soon) you will eventually want a power cage. For starters just use an olympic bar and stand in the center of your room. Practice with the bar and no weights to ensure proper form and get confortable.

 

[Mister T]

I have 17" guns and a 17" neck

 

[Noriaki]

I'm big...but not ripped...not trying to get ripped either, I'd like to get a little better shape, but mostly just general health stuff. I don't want to be really really ripped.

I work my Tricep at least as much as my Bicep, I appreciate the pointer though

Calves, Neck and Arms the same size eh? That's an interesting goal. My legs are in pretty good shape. My arms are not near as big as my calves. I have a pretty good chunk of muscle on my calves.

Though it does make me feel a little better about my fat neck It's about an inch smaller than my calf. And I can work towards that for my arms. I thought I had a fat neck, guess not

Got a couple inches to go for before my arm can match up to my calf, but that gives me something to work for



Thanks guy, I've got myself a target for my arms now. You guys are great.

 

[nightowl]

My bicpes are 14" and I don't think that they are that big. Granted, I am 6'2" or so and I have long arms so they tend to not look as big. My calves, on the other hand, are pretty big. They are bigger than my neck by an inch or so and everyone says that I have huge calves, yet I cannot dunk. :frown:

 

[Maverick2002]

Like I said, genetically influenced. My legs are small (my GF digs that though, says she wish she had legs like that LOL ... and she has bigger calves than me *shudders*)

 

[PlatinumGold]

hehehehe,

calves, neck and arms all the same. hmmm.

i have 19" calves, 18" neck and 16" biceps. i guess i gotta work my arms a bit huh.

 

[JustinSampson]

Slighly off topic, but what's an exersise that I can do (at home) to build on my chest muscles? It's one area I'm lacking in.

 

[Maverick2002]

Push ups. One arm if you can (few people can, I have a hard time myself and I bench my own weight about 12 times).

 

[fyleow]

Push ups are good enough for chest? I do quite a bit but I usually feel the burn in my triceps and nothing in my chest even if I do it incline. I can't do one handed push ups though And I can't do free weight benchpress either because I don't have a bench.

What are some good exercises for triceps with free weights?

I'm 5'6 115lbs what's a good target goal for push ups? I know it's subjective based on how strong I am etc but a number would be nice.

 

[Angrymarshmello]

Originally posted by: PlatinumGold
hehehehe,

calves, neck and arms all the same. hmmm.

i have 19" calves, 18" neck and 16" biceps. i guess i gotta work my arms a bit huh.

Technically you have 16" arms. Triceps make up 2/3 of your arm so you'd have 48" arms It's just a general guideline - they don't necessarily have to be exactly the same. I remember now that I read it from a David Hawk column in Physical magazine. He said they should be relatively proportional - 3" diff. b/t arms and calves isn't bad.

JFur - I'm not sure but I don't believe it's true for women. Most women who workout (not the buff built up ones - just your average run of the mill girl) would usually have smaller arms/neck than their calves. Assuming womens arms are an avg. size of 12" around, 12" calves are like ultra skinny.

Monkeylovegood - for deadlifts:

http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/GluteusMaximus/BBDeadlift.html

When you're crouched over, keep your back straight and look straight ahead. When you lift up the weight, your shoulders should rise at the same speed as your legs. The bar should "glide" along the front of your body as you rise up, and glide back down on the down motion. Make sure you keep your back straight at all times!!!! My family has a history of back problems and I'm feeling it for a week if I do even one set with a little bit of improper form, hopefully you're not that unlucky

Squats:

http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/GluteusMaximus/BBFullSquat.html

When you lower yourself, your butt should give way - ie, you should stick your butt out to start the downward movement, keeping your back straight at all times. There's a lot of differing opinions on how low you should go - some people say parallel to the floor, others say almost touching your butt on the floor like in the animated .gif - I go between those two.

Mav2002 - you do have to work your calves even if they're genetically based. Relying on them to get bigger from the little work they get from squats/dead lifts/leg curls/etc isn't enough, just like relying on bicep/tricep excercises to make your forearms grow isn't enough too. It can't get bigger if you don't work it.

 

[Jfur]

JFur - I'm not sure but I don't believe it's true for women. Most women who workout (not the buff built up ones - just your average run of the mill girl) would usually have smaller arms/neck than their calves. Assuming womens arms are an avg. size of 12" around, 12" calves are like ultra skinny.

I just measured each, and my neck and arms are the same, calves are ~1" larger

 

[Angrymarshmello]

Guess I'm wrong. Got any pics of your "calves"?

 

[Jfur]

Originally posted by: RagingBITCH
Guess I'm wrong. Got any pics of your "calves"?

Well, it might be true (on average). Here are my calves

 

[Noriaki]

Originally posted by: Jfur

Originally posted by: RagingBITCH
Guess I'm wrong. Got any pics of your "calves"?

Well, it might be true (on average). Here are my calves

Bwahahahahahah

Nice work jfur.
You rock

 

[Angrymarshmello]

lol, shoulda expected that

 

[Koing]

some pics of my calves

calf
calf2
left calf

my calves have always been *pretty* big though but since I started Olympic LIfting and squatting heavy and training 3x a week thats why they are big. Also I use to play Football for a few years and 6 years of Rugby and always been fast and explosive.

If you want to know if you're getting stronger, try body-relative exercises and see how much you can do (correctly, mind you).

Well only if you train to do things over endurance. If you only train to do reps of 4-6 range of strength you won't get much better at endurance and vice versa if you train to do high rep and endurance work your single max will be hard pushed to be better because of it.

MonkeyloveGood no recent pics of abbs or chest as I've haven't taken any. But heres an old pic 2yrs ago.
front

hard work and consistency and you get big over time. I've spent 3years training

 

[PlatinumGold]

Technically you have 16" arms. Triceps make up 2/3 of your arm so you'd have 48" arms

Obviously i meant 16" arms around the biceps. isn't that how it is normally quoted?

 

[Maverick2002]

Mav2002 - you do have to work your calves even if they're genetically based. Relying on them to get bigger from the little work they get from squats/dead lifts/leg curls/etc isn't enough, just like relying on bicep/tricep excercises to make your forearms grow isn't enough too. It can't get bigger if you don't work it.

I know. But what I'm saying is that unless you work them continuously (as in, endurance, not strength) nothing is going to happen. Doing "strength training" for calves is pretty pointless IMO. They're one of (if not the) most hard worked muscles in your body so if you want them to get big you have to work them a lot, not just a few reps with massive weight like other muscles. However, if you lift and gain weight and run, your calves will get bigger. I put on 20lbs of muscle this summer and my calves did grow a bit simply because when running I'd be putting 20lbs more weight on them. Calves training = endurance, not strength. As for squats, it depends on what you want to do. If you want a big ass, go all the way down. I usually get slightly below parallel. It's also a lot harder to keep your back straight and do more weight if you go all the way down.

Push ups are good enough for chest? I do quite a bit but I usually feel the burn in my triceps and nothing in my chest even if I do it incline. I can't do one handed push ups though And I can't do free weight benchpress either because I don't have a bench.

What are some good exercises for triceps with free weights?

I'm 5'6 115lbs what's a good target goal for push ups? I know it's subjective based on how strong I am etc but a number would be nice.

Push ups will build your chest up to a certain point and then you'll start getting ripped. You'll have to bench press if you want to get any larger though. The reason you feel your triceps and not your chest is probably because your grip isn't wide enough. Try spreading your arms out a lot more. You won't be able to go as far down but that's the point. Also, do them slowly, 1-2 seconds going down and 1-2 coming up.

There are tons of different tricep extensions you can do with free weights. Ask someone else to explain; my post is getting long enough as is. I'm 5'9", 160lbs. I do 100 but it's really tough. If you can do 50 you're in good shape.

If you want to know if you're getting stronger, try body-relative exercises and see how much you can do (correctly, mind you).
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Well only if you train to do things over endurance. If you only train to do reps of 4-6 range of strength you won't get much better at endurance and vice versa if you train to do high rep and endurance work your single max will be hard pushed to be better because of it.

You should always do both. Less reps more weight = you'll get bigger. More reps less weight = you'll get ripped/muscular/toned. Whenever I do sets I always warm up (10-15 reps, not too much weight), then max out (4-6 reps) then warm down. As I said earlier, this doesn't really apply to calves. You can do 4-6 reps with a ton of weight and the next day you will be sore but they won't get any bigger. You have to endurance train them.