Hit A Plateau With Arm Size (17 inch cold flex)-Need Help Breaking Through It

[GWHH]

Been using a great program for arms for the last couple of years. But I feel its time to break into a new arm routine. Got my arm up to 17 inch cold flexed with it.

Been using the program below. I have changed it up a lot. I do these exercise and than than add a different exercise to it on a regular basics and take one away, etc. Things like that.

But I need a whole new program. So I can break the 17 inch arms barrier. Any hints, suggestion or workout program that you did to help you break throught to new arm size would be great.





Bis/ Tris:
Bis: Ez Curls or Barbell Curls: 4 sets: 10-8-6-6 reps

Seated Dumbbell Curls: 4 sets: 8-8-6-6

Hammer Curls: 3 sets: 10-10-10 reps

Preacher Curls: 1 arm: 3 sets of 20- These will build a nice peak.


Tris:
Rope Pushdowns: Focus on pushing the rope out at the bottom: 4 sets: 8-8-6-6 reps

Close Grip Bench: 4 sets: 8-6-6-4 reps

Skullcrushers: 3 sets: 10-10-10

Dips: 3 sets: 10-8-8: Add weight to your body if you can.

Straight bar pushdowns: 2 sets of 20

[Mac]

I have tried increased volume, higher reps, heavy weights and increased training frequency, but they refuse to get any bigger.

[JoeB8962]

Sometime less is better..your arms get alot of work while your hitting other bodyparts..chest n delts your working tris, back your working biceps. Your workout is solid. If I was going to change anything I'd do my isolated movements first then my compound movements...for example concentrated curls then barbell curls and a couple sets of incline db curl, For tris do overhead 1 arm db extension then close grip bench and a few sets of pressdowns, add weight with each set and keep your reps in the 12-8 range..that should blow them up if you do them nice and slow and with correct form.

[Dadup]

I would try doing less volume, maybe pick 2-3 exercises for biceps, and 3-4 for triceps and do one all out set to failure with emphasized negatives!

[KevinCouch]

Do you have a pic you can post. It would help see what area of your arm you need to work on more.

Typically triceps make up 2/3 of your arm size. A lot has to do with your insertions of your bicep and triceps.


I can tell you that arms really don't need a ton of volume as the others have said.

If you could post a pic or two I'd be happy to give you my 2 cents and it would help identify where you should concentrate on more.


Kevin

[Hammerfit]

Been using a great program for arms for the last couple of years. But I feel its time to break into a new arm routine. Got my arm up to 17 inch cold flexed with it.

Been using the program below. I have changed it up a lot. I do these exercise and than than add a different exercise to it on a regular basics and take one away, etc. Things like that.

But I need a whole new program. So I can break the 17 inch arms barrier. Any hints, suggestion or workout program that you did to help you break throught to new arm size would be great.





Bis/ Tris:
Bis: Ez Curls or Barbell Curls: 4 sets: 10-8-6-6 reps

Seated Dumbbell Curls: 4 sets: 8-8-6-6

Hammer Curls: 3 sets: 10-10-10 reps

Preacher Curls: 1 arm: 3 sets of 20- These will build a nice peak.


Tris:
Rope Pushdowns: Focus on pushing the rope out at the bottom: 4 sets: 8-8-6-6 reps

Close Grip Bench: 4 sets: 8-6-6-4 reps

Skullcrushers: 3 sets: 10-10-10

Dips: 3 sets: 10-8-8: Add weight to your body if you can.

Straight bar pushdowns: 2 sets of 20

Everyone responds to different type stress. You are going to have to find what works best for you. Personally I dont believe that throwing a load of weight around for minimal reps does much for arms. I like to mix it up. Very heavy weight for rep range of 8-15, then drop sets for the work set. With the drop sets I will go as far as 25-75 reps to failure. If I feel I need it then I will rest pause and keep going until the muscle will not even do a partial rep.

For triceps nothing beats close grip bench and skull crushers, heavy as possible, then on to isolation exercises like kickbacks or extensions

For bis the number one exercise is close grip chins, go to failure until you reach 100 reps I have started making a habit of always doing 25-30 reps everyday after my cardio while my heart rate is up, seems to help keep my arms full. After that for me it's all about contracting the biceps not seeing how much weight I can curl. seated incline db curls done with strict form is another good one. It's all about form and technique forcing the muscle to contract as hard as possible.

The best way to push past plateaus is to go beyond failure. Work sets done with drop sets, rest pause and forced reps and FST-7. Hope that helps

[HeavyDutyGuy]

Are your other body parts growing? Are they in proportion? Often armswill only grow to a point, relative to restote body.

[Growin24/7]

I would try doing less volume, maybe pick 2-3 exercises for biceps, and 3-4 for triceps and do one all out set to failure with emphasized negatives!

This is how my arms started to grow...I had tried just about everything. 3 EX for biceps and 3 for triceps for no more then 10-11 sets per body part... for the past 3 months I did bi/tri toget and loved it but with some of the supplements I use if I do bi first I can't do tri's b.c the blood and vise versa.

I used to do 14-18 sets and NOTHING, Now I like to do chest/tri, back/bi, legs, rest, shoulders, bi/lats, rest

Cardio 15-20 minutes at 125-140 bpm EVERY DAY can sure stimulate an appetite and is always good for the heart.

[Bencher]

1st off, you should be trying to gain weight at the same time. Just trying to put size on your arms without trying to gain weight is not gonna work. Rough estimate is it takes 10lb gain to add an inch to your arms. That is when specializing on arms.
Basic movements!
2 exercises for both bi's and tri's.
2 warm up sets and 4 work sets each.
6-8 good reps per set, end with 2 extra cheat reps.
If specializing on arms only, cut back on your heavy rowing and heavy pressing exercises.
Once you get close to your goal, bring back your heavy pressing and rowing.

[seanmech]

Take 4 weeks off from training arms, iv trained for 6 years 100% natural and up untill 2 months ago my arms were 16.5 inchs cold relaxed, a small bicep injury in my shoulder forced me 2 train very light and no arms 4 at least 4 weeks, next thing i no every1 is saying ur arms look great wot have u changed? I said i stoped training them lol, all this complements got me to messure them, could i belive it 18inchs cold, yep 1.5 inchs in a month just from resting, truth is they were over trained, and needed a rest!! Give this a try, im back training them now biceps after chest 3 exersises 3 sets tris after shoulders 4 sets will keep u posted

[BC123Jm]

yes like Kevin said, post a pic.

why is it so important what it measures.
nothing wrong with a 17 inch arm. especially when it doesn't look 17.


how big would you say my arm is?

http://forums.rxmuscle.com/picture.php?albumid=555&pictureid=6040

[Hoss06]

Or mine?http://tapatalk.com/mu/180896ad-c9ff-35c5.jpg

[Mac]

Do you have a pic you can post.

They'll look bigger in another month when I drop about 8 more lbs.

[BC123Jm]

They'll look bigger in another month when I drop about 8 more lbs.

nice peak!

[BigJD69]

Try the 40 rep system. 3 sets of curls 40 reps each set

[GWHH]

some of your said photos would help. Here one.
this is from january 2010 at 17 inch soild here on a cold flex

will post more recent ones later.

http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/1501/1xang4iyielmalevt4bhfap.th.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/163/1xang4iyielmalevt4bhfap.jpg/)
Uploaded with ImageShack.us (http://imageshack.us)

[KevinCouch]

OK..With that post it looks like you need to continue to lose bodyfat and your arm will look better and better and at this point no need to worry about the size of your arm. The more bodyfat you lose the more defined and separated your arm will get and look.

Example: my arms are around 19.25 cold in the offseason and about 18.75 on stage and they look much bigger at the smaller size because of the muscular definition and the overall condition I'm in on stage. If you start your own thread on this forum we'd be happy to help you out and give you pointers and guidance. There's a ton of BB knowledge on this Masters Forum and we're here to help each other.

Kevin

[KevinCouch]

:hypno:
yes like Kevin said, post a pic.

why is it so important what it measures.
nothing wrong with a 17 inch arm. especially when it doesn't look 17.


how big would you say my arm is?

http://forums.rxmuscle.com/picture.php?albumid=555&pictureid=6040

BC I would say 13 tops!!!:p

[Tim Wescott]

OK..With that post it looks like you need to continue to lose bodyfat and your arm will look better and better and at this point no need to worry about the size of your arm. The more bodyfat you lose the more defined and separated your arm will get and look.

Example: my arms are around 19.25 cold in the offseason and about 18.75 on stage and they look much bigger at the smaller size because of the muscular definition and the overall condition I'm in on stage. If you start your own thread on this forum we'd be happy to help you out and give you pointers and guidance. There's a ton of BB knowledge on this Masters Forum and we're here to help each other.

Kevin
Freat advice!!

No sense in adding too much size just for sizes` sake if it`s not mostly comprised of muscle.

They don`t measure your arms onstage and you can`t flex fat!!

[Tim Wescott]

OK..With that post it looks like you need to continue to lose bodyfat and your arm will look better and better and at this point no need to worry about the size of your arm. The more bodyfat you lose the more defined and separated your arm will get and look.

Example: my arms are around 19.25 cold in the offseason and about 18.75 on stage and they look much bigger at the smaller size because of the muscular definition and the overall condition I'm in on stage. If you start your own thread on this forum we'd be happy to help you out and give you pointers and guidance. There's a ton of BB knowledge on this Masters Forum and we're here to help each other.

Kevin
Great advice!!

No sense in adding too much size just for sizes` sake if it`s not mostly comprised of muscle.

They don`t measure your arms onstage and you can`t flex fat!! :no:

[BC123Jm]

:hypno:

BC I would say 13 tops!!!:p

i will have you know, it is 13 and an 1/8th. thank you very much!

[masterschamp]

I actually respond better to more.......reps,sets,etc.,.......
I hit arms twice a week...one workout is my main session and somewhere else in the week I will do a "mini" session, with the difference being main workouts for both biceps and triceps are usually 14-18 sets with rep ranges of 10 -25. I still lift as much weight as I can in the targeted rep range......this is no"fluffy, pumping", routine.The mini sessions are all about getting blood in there...usually 6-8 quick sets, with higher reps, still lifting as much as I can in the targeted range.I also never do the same,exact routine two workouts in a row.


Keith

[Tim Wescott]

I actually respond better to more.......reps,sets,etc.,.......
I hit arms twice a week...one workout is my main session and somewhere else in the week I will do a "mini" session, with the difference being main workouts for both biceps and triceps are usually 14-18 sets with rep ranges of 10 -25. I still lift as much weight as I can in the targeted rep range......this is no"fluffy, pumping", routine.The mini sessions are all about getting blood in there...usually 6-8 quick sets, with higher reps, still lifting as much as I can in the targeted range.I also never do the same,exact routine two workouts in a row.


Keith
Keith,I`ve been hitting everything twice a week as of a few weeks agho at the advice of a buddy of mine.

Haven`t done it in over 20 years or more,but I love it and am making great progress.

One day is a bit higher volume than the other with heavier weights similar to your plane.

I don`t think I`ll ever go back to once a week per bodypart unless it`s a de-loading type thing.

On a sidenote,have you kept in touch with Eric Brugh,if so can you PM me his e-mail address,I need to talk to him about a few things.

[newaza007]

nice peak!

X2!