[quote]shizen wrote:
just saying you shouldn’t blindly take the advice of people with big arms just because they have big arms. What they are doing might not be the ‘optimum’ way to build your arms. [/quote]
I don’t think anyone is suggesting people blindly follow others - but even if we did, what would give greater chances of success, following someone with big arms or small arms?
If I want to learn something from someone, I’ll learn it from someone who can do it. Why does this even need to be spelled out to people? Too many internet/paper/theory experts I guess.
You learn to drive from someone who can drive. If I want to learn how to make a million dollars I’ll learn from someone who has made a million dollars.
This doesn’t mean I’m guaranteed to succeed - but my chances are much better than following someone who CANNOT do what I’m trying to learn.
[quote]shizen wrote:
just saying you shouldn’t blindly take the advice of people with big arms just because they have big arms. What they are doing might not be the ‘optimum’ way to build your arms. [/quote]
If they have big arms isn’t it optimum for them? It obviously works to get them big arms. Maybe what you meant to say is you can’t just follow someone else’s workouts because they are specified for them rather than for you?
If you want big arms, taking advice from people with big arms certainly makes more sense than taking advice from people with small arms.
But is getting large arms really that much of a mystery? Look at the training styles of Magnus Samuelsson versus Flex Wheeler. Compare the training styles of Markus Rhul versus Ricky Bruch. Some of these guys normally train their other body parts for the pump while others train just to be strong. Some use strict form while others cheat like hell. What do they all have in common besides large arms? They use HEAVY WEIGHT.
I think the most practical advice I’ve ever heard on building arm size was “If you want big arms, then bench 500 pounds.” Some guys get big arms just by curling 30lb dumbbells and benching 185. Other guys need to do 315 on the close grip and 100lb Hammer curls to get the same arm size as their weaker counterparts.
But chances are, if you have a body part that’s lacking in size (like your arms) you’re not going to usher in a new era of growth by learning a fancy new exercise or following some unusual training protocol. You pretty much need to add more bodyweight and get stronger arms.
I’m just gonna say that direct arm work is pretty much necessary in all cases. You want a bigger bench? You need to train it indirectly with tricep work. There’s no way around that. You want healthy elbows? Now you need to do some curls in order to balance the tricep work you did. That’s 2-4 sets of required arm work. Maybe just 2 working sets once a week.