[quote]swordthrower wrote:
PGJ wrote:
My arms are seriously lacking. My chest and back and legs have all grown to the point where I think I look unbalanced and akward with my skinny arms. I’m thinking of trying something new.
I’m in the logistics business and one thing I have become very familiar with is Theory of Constraints. It’s a business idea of:
First - identify your goal.
Second - identify your constraints, or bottlenecks in your processes.
Third - elevate your bottleneck’s importance and make it a priority to eliminate them.
Fourth - once the constraint has been eliminated, search for your next constraint and start over.
For me, my constraint is my skinny arms. I know a lot of folks here follow the “less is more” philosophy. But I know a lot of old timers used to work lagging bodyparts several time a week. So what I’m thinking of doing is arms and shoulders only (no bench, squats, rows, DL’s…) 2-3 times a week for a couple of months. Lots of weighted pull-ups, curls, dips, CG bench, military presses, forearm work and so on. Healthy mix of compound and single joint exercises. The goal is to put at least 1/2 inch on my arms.
I’ve done the weight gain program. Went from about 167lbs to 193lbs. Everything grew except my arms. Had to go buy new spandex-type boxer shorts because my old ones cotton ones got too tight in the thighs. I’m back at 180lbs and like this weight best. If I could get 1/2 on the guns that would be sweet.
Thoughts?
Well, the last time I responded to one of your posts, you accused me of being a troop-hating terrorist. Which is cool, because I fucking hate the troops. Every single one of them. And I feel sorry for those poor insurgents who are being killed every day. Oh, and I hate America too.
Now that that’s out of the way, I’d like to say: Yes, if you want to build up your arms, hit them frequently (e.g. CT’s HSS-100 Specialization routine). HOWEVER, you still need to maintain your other muscle groups. Just because you want to hit your arms hard doesn’t mean you have to suspend all other body parts. You should still throw in some squats and DLs so your CNS doesn’t take a two month long nap on you.
Unless you want the rest of your body to shrink so that your arms APPEAR to be bigger…
And what’s the deal with having a preferred weight (this isn’t a personal attack, its just something I’ve seen alot around here)? Do you honestly think you’d be worse off with 5 or 10 more pounds of muscle? I mean, at 5’11" 200, I still think I’m a skinny little shit. I won’t be happy until I’m at AT LEAST 215. And even then, I won’t by any stretch of the imagination be huge. Ok sorry, rant over.
Good luck with those arms. Hit them hard, but don’t forget you have legs and a back too!
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Thanks for the input. Don’t remember calling you any names, but if I did I’m sure it was for a good reason.
At 190lbs my VERY expensive military uniforms were very tight, plus I was 10lbs over my military max weight. At that weight, with a little extra bodyfat I add to get there put me dangerously close to being overweight and over bodyfat according to Marine Corps standards of measuring bodyfat. It’s a simple neck to waist ratio. I measured 13% with calipers, but 21% with the N/W ratio. 22%bf and you’re toast. And the N/W scale is all that matters.