How Did You Get Your Arms Bigger?

My arms ain’t great. But I have worked hard on them to make it look like I even lift.

I do give some credit to the guy previously talking about squats for growth. Last summer I did squat everyday during my cut and I looked better than I did for this years cut at the same body weight - currently squatting only twice per week. Other training is pretty much identical (bench, ohp, pull ups, bb rows, dips, farmers x2 weekly).

On top of that I do 60 barbell curls each day every day. 7 days per week.
I do 3 sets of 20 reps and more when I can. This has been the #1 game changer for my arms. Bought a cheap ez curl bar and it sits in my living room. Even after a back day or hitting some arms in the gym, I still do my arm workout at home everyday - no excuses-even gym off days, hit arms.
My biceps now looks nice.

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Pair exercises like this:

A1) neutral grip chin-up (heavy 3-5 reps)
A2) curl variation (moderate to light x 8-12 reps focus on tempo)

B1) weighted dips (heavy)
B1) extension based tricep (overhead, lying, etc) just focus on the stretch same reps as before

I guarantee you add weight and reps to the first exercise and focus on the stretch/squeeze/tempo on the 2nd you will notice a difference. I would cite direct sources but I’m pretty sure this is a Charles Poliquin technique.

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I’m surprised no one has linked this yet.

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Arm day along with getting stronger all around

Not arm day only
Not getting stronger all around only

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I recently introduced 100 rep bicep curls with ez bar and my biceps have started growing again. The pump works for me, may not work for others though.
I also appreciate how people talk about squats, as although I can’t be absolutely sure, my biceps did increase in size when injury stopped me doing direct arm work and I was squatting 3x a week for 3 months.
Like most things, different approaches will work for different people.

Do you start or end with 100reps

I did this when I did OVT a long time ago but with barbell curls instead of chin-ups(leverages and mental wiring, people! Did chin-ups for up to 30+ reps per set everyday for years in the army. My biceps do not respond to them. Your’s might. Try it out.) for A1 @5-6 reps. Works great. Dips are excellent if you can do them heavy without shoulder pain.

I do them 2 or 3 times a week at the end of my workout. First time I tried it I only managed 60 reps! Now I do the 100 reps total but with a short 15second break half way through. End up with an insane pump and it seems to work for me.

Prof X was always debating about how to get big arms. He would have been far more blunt than I have been in this thread!

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Or elbow pain💔

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what a funny thread. @kd13 absolutely NAILED IT with his first response. Then hugh decided to take a big ol’ shit on the thread with some real nonsense.

The whole ‘squats make your arms bigger’ thing was just bs perpetuated in the late 90’s and into the 2000’s because trainers, for whatever reason, wanted people to start working out their legs. The proposition was that GH release was increased by training the larger muscle groups, and that in turn would just cause arm growth in the absence of direct stimulation. The science wasn’t really there, but plenty of people bought into it. The notion was appealing, that’s why it spread. Then it was ‘common knowledge’ for awhile. And then people realized that was idiotic.

When Hugh said ‘I have 18" arms’ I just sighed. Nobody wants fat 18" arms Hugh. I guess it’s fair enough to say that if that’s what your arms actually measure. That means yours are technically an inch larger than mine, fwiw. But fat 18" arms, to my mind, are not a qualification for you to rightly say ‘I’m just saying what works for me’. Literally nothing has ‘worked for you’ yet, because you are not impressive yet. You have not experienced anything beyond basic beginner gains in your life to this point. So you really don’t know. Hell, I"m curious how you came to the conclusion that squats made your arms bigger in the first place. Was there a period of time when you did not perform upper body lifts, only squatted and ate, and your arms grew significantly? If you did not ever do this, then I wonder how you came to your beliefs.

Anyway. I’ve got the most impressive arms in here, so fuck all y’all. Here’s my take. Training heavy, training light, high reps, low reps, compound and isolation movemements ALL HAVE THEIR PLACE. Hell even isometric bicep arm work like heavy carries can impact arm size. In my experience, the best way to grow any muscle group ends up being varied stimulation. My arms go through heavy bench pressing, heavy rows, pull ups, light curls, light tricep extensions, bodyweight dips, atlas stone lifting, farmers carries, overhead presses, lateral raises… the list goes on. Lift with intensity and regularity, implement proven exercises, and you will grow.

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Pssshhh, this one is simple. I’ve been running a specialized 7on/0off meat beating template since I turned 12.

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Oh shit that’s my problem! I thought rest days were important for that to :joy:

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forearms are mostly slow twitch fibres so you have to jack it several times every day to really get results.

And squats too, obviously.

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Do you superset with squats or what?

Schoenfeld (I can never remember how to spell that dude’s name) actually did a meta-study on all the studies trying to show whether or not the increased GH from squats could affect other body parts.

Cliff notes - it’s never been conclusively proven, and there’s plenty studies to suggest it doesn’t work. If it does, the effect is miniscule.

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Don’t worry I squat while beating the meat… Sometimes I even pause in the hole…
All about dem arm gainzzz…

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I do GVT style, so 10 sets of jerking off with 1 minute rest in between, followed by a widowmaker set of squats immediately after.

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oh yeah, you’ve got to get deep, deep into the hole

Pause in the hole, I’m fucking dying!