The scenario is that I’m doing Bill Starr 5X5 type full body training 3X a week right now. I’ve been going for about 3 weeks, and so far I’ve been adding 5 pounds to my 5th set each week as I had hoped for. We’ll see how long I can sustain this before I plateau, but so far so good.
The split isn’t the Strongest Shall Survive, but is as such:
M: Squat, Dead, Bench, Incline Dumbell (15 reps),(grip, abs - my addition)
W: Lunge, Good Morning, Overhead Press, Chin (many as possible), (grip, abs)
F: Squat, Row, Incline, Tricep Extension (12 reps), (grip, abs)
In my personal experience, when I don’t do a lot of direct arm work, my arms shrink slightly.
I’ve tried throwing a couple of sets of fairly non-taxing barbell curls on days 1 and/or 3 here, but already after only 3 weeks and while all of my compound lifts are going up, my grip (pinch, leverage, and crushing) is improving noticably, my abs are stronger (I’m doing evil wheel roll-outs from on my feet, so progress is easy to measure), and my scale weight has increased, I swear I’ve lost 1/8" off my flexed bicep circumference.
Last year I did one cycle of Chad’s ABBH and I lost a little bit of arm circumference as well.
Since all my numbers are going up, I figure I’m on the right track, but dammit I am at least a little vain and don’t want my measurable arm size to lag.
What would you tweak to keep those arms growing?
JOHN K