How to Build Huge Arms
This article is dedicated to helping you build those big arms that we are all after. We all know that males usually have two immediate goals when it comes to starting a new strength training program, to build big guns (arms), or to get a big bench. Everyone seems in awe of the guy who has huge biceps. It seems to be the first thing we noticed about other bodybuilders. The arms are definitely the "beach" muscle, and the specific area of attention from the females, and who doesn't want more attention from the opposite sex? In this article we are going to cover how you can reach your genetic potential and build those big guns you always wanted. Don't worry, I will cover the big bench in another article.
The Basics
First things first, if you are trying to build huge arms like the ones you see in fitness magazines, you are setting yourself up for either failure, or a long and expensive steroid habit. Of course there are some people who seem to be able to build great looking arms without much effort, but for the rest of us, it's a long road to gaining good size arms. Even for those who are genetically gifted, they will never build muscle like someone who engages in steroid use, but don't give up hope, with a good dedicated program you can reach your genetic potential, and I am going to teach you how.
Before we jump in, let's spend some time talking about the genetic aspect of strength training. We are all limited by our genetics. That is the bottom line when it comes to genetics. We have all been born with our genetic potential, and we have to remember that when training. Of course for those who have the desire, the genetic potential can definitely be altered through the use of anabolic steroids, and if you are choosing to go that route, than your genetic limitation will be pushed far higher, but for the rest of us who don't use anabolic steroids, we have to do the best with what we have. This article will teach you how to get the most out of your genetics, no matter who you are.
The Myths:
I think we need to go over the myths of building muscle before we can get to the nuts and bolts of building big arms. If you fall for these myths, you will end up wasting many days, or even years, on worthless techniques and programs that will do nothing to help you attain those huge arms your after.
Myth 1: You can change the shape of your biceps, or any muscle:
Fact: According to current research and basic muscle physiology, you cannot change the shape of your muscles. I see many guys wasting time with silly exercises in the gym trying to change the shape of their muscles when they could be focusing on making them bigger. I don't want to get into the details of why you cannot change the shape of your muscles, but if anyone wants to know the reason, feel free to join the forums and send me a personal message and I will update this article with the answer. I just can't imagine many people would be interested in the details.
Myth 2: You can use certain exercises to "cut up" your muscle and make you look ripped.
Fact: This myth is related to the last myth, but I think it deserves some explanation. The fact is, you get ripped by cutting weight and losing the fat that sits on top of your muscles, which gives your muscle more definition. Of course, you want to build the muscles before you start cutting the extra fat.
Myth 3: In order to build big arms, I need to focus solely on my biceps.
Fact: When most people talk about building big guns, they usually focus on the biceps. But what if I told you this was the wrong way to build those big guns? Don't get me wrong, you will have to build your biceps in order to build big guns, but many people neglect the other large muscles such as the triceps. The triceps make up over 50% of the size of your arm, and if you neglect your triceps, you are going to make it very difficult to get those big arms we are all after. I know this sounds like common sense, but you would be surprised at how many bodybuilders and weekend warriors neglect their triceps at the expense of their biceps. So don't be that guy. So now we have to get to work.
Myth 4: If I follow the workout of a professional bodybuilder, I can get the same type of results they have.
Fact: Professional bodybuilders use anabolic steroids, so their ability to heal after training is greatly enhanced, as well as their ability to put on muscle mass and strength. If you try to follow a professional bodybuilders routine, you will end up over-trained and frustrated.
Building The Arms: Building Bulk (The bulking phase)
In order to build big arms, you need to build bulk, or what bodybuilders call bulking up. Most bodybuilders put on a lot of weight during their bulking phase and will cut down before their bodybuilding shows, Many people seem to think that bodybuilders always look ripped, but that is simply not the case. Most people would be shocked to see their favorite bodybuilder during their bulking phase, but it's all part of the iron game and related to the fact that you must put on weight when bulking up. So let's talk about bulking up.
The first phase of starting to bulk up is to make sure your intake of calories and protein is high enough to support maximal muscle growth. If you want to know how much protein you need, you can check out my article on the topic which also has a nice little protein calculator you can also use. Nutrition is very important when your trying to build muscle, and you want to ensure you body has all the nutrients it needs to help you build muscle. Eat plenty of protein type of foods, vegetables, and fruit. Try to eat a well balanced meal so you can ensure your getting all the needed nutrients.
With diet out of the way, we can now focus on what you probably want to focus on, the training aspect. One thing that needs to be mentioned when discussing muscle mass are muscle fiber types. Although many people like to try and divide muscle fiber types into three distinct types, they actually range from slow twitch to fast twitch with many variations in between, but the important thing for you to understand is the fact that fast twitch muscle fibers have the greatest potential for growth, while the slow twitch have very little growth potential. The best way to exhaust the fast twitch muscle fibers is with explosive and maximal types of resistance training. And remember when I was mentioning genetics above? Well once again we are dealing with genetics since your distribution of fast twitch muscle fibers depends on your genetics, but the good news is some studies have shown the conversion from slow twitch to fast twitch with the right type of training. People who have a very easy time putting on muscle probably have a lot of fast twitch muscle fibers.
Armed with this information, we can design a workout program which will maximize our focus on the fast twitch muscle fibers. If you want to maximize muscle mass, you should focus on the repeated effort method, the maximal effort method, and the sub-maximal effort method; with and emphasis on the repeated effort method.
The repeated effort method is the use of sub-maximal (less then your 1 RM) weights until failure. Failure being defined as the inability to perform the last rep to do the exhaustion of your muscle fibers. Zatsiorsky believes one will exhaust the greatest number of muscle fibers using this technique, which is exactly what we are after.
The second method is the maximal effort method, which means you use the maximum amount of weight for a single repetition. The only problem with using this method is the fact that you can easily find yourself in an over trained state and you should only use sparingly, but you should definitely use it.
The last method I would like to mention is the sub maximal method, which means training at a sub-maximal (less than your 1 rm) without training to failure.
Now that you have three methods at your disposal, which one should you use? If you are thinking all three of them, your on the right track. That is right, you want to use all three methods, but since your after maximal muscle growth, you want to focus the majority of your training on the repeated effort method, and use the other two methods sporadically in your training when needed, such as hitting a plateau.
Now we need to also figure out how many reps and sets we need to perform for maximal muscle growth. As for the reps, most studies I have seen have shown that 6 reps produces the greatest muscle mass, but once again, you want to focus on reps ranging from 1 to 20, but with a focus on reps between 5 and 10. This will allow you to exhaust the most muscle fibers, while focusing on the ones which have the greatest potential for muscle growth, which is what we are after here. As for sets, this usually depends on how many reps your performing, so you can adjust this number as you go, but usually about 3 sets of 10 is the norm, so make adjustments accordingly.
Getting Ripped Arms: The Cutting Phase
So you have been following the advice in this article and your arms are massive, but you want them to be ripped. The next thing you start doing is performing 50 sets of concentration curls, making sure you twist your arm at just the right time at the top of the lift, correct? If this was your answer, then you must read on as you will be wasting countless hours of training.
Ripped arms do not come from performing fancy exercises, they come from a well balanced diet designed to cut calories, and a smart training protocol designed to make sure you retain as much of your precious muscle as possible. Ripped muscle come from removing the fat laying on top of the muscle which will expose the muscles definition under the fat. So continue the same training you performed during your bulking phase, but cut calories and start hitting the HIIT training hard! HIIT training will allow you to expend calories without the catabolic effects of long endurance type of training (cardio).
Other Tips and Tricks:
There are some other tips and tricks that will help you gain those massive arms. Here I will briefly discuss some other tips and tricks to help you along the way.
Creatine: Creatine is a cheap supplement which has been studied for a long time and will aid in your question for muscle mass. There are some studies which show that creatine may also induce protein synthesis, which means your building actual muscle mass. In addition, studies have shown that creatine is also safe.
Squats: Yes, squats! You are probably thinking how in the hell will squats increase the size of my arms, and on the surface that is a great questions, but studies have revealed that heavy compound movements such as squats, deadlifts, etc, raise your anabolic hormone levels, which means more muscle mass!
Variety: Mix it up and have fun, this will allow you to continue to look forward to your training. In addition, variations in motor pattern means different muscle activations patterns, which is why you will sometimes get sore when you change to a new exercise.
I hope you have found this article useful, and if so I hope you will join our forums and participate in our community.