best way to improve arms and shoulders?
- Thread starter Pate
- Start date
Thank you everyone, some fantastic advice here. I'm going to ditch my current routine and will try and figure out something which helps the shoulders best, followed by triceps/biceps, with an afterthought on forearms.
Tis a shame I couldn't be more like my dad, his forearms are twice the size of mine.
If you could dude, I'd really appreciate it.
When you say rowing and pulling, are you referring to a rowing machine? (Sorry if it's a retarded answer) I do the rowing machine occasionally (absolutely KNACKERS me out at the top setting on a concept 2 rower) but it really knackers me out quickly (I can only do 500m batches before having to pause briefly.)
May not be the best video in the world. But this is what he means.
really i will get blasted from the body builders from which i am not anymore,
but was once .. ( at a top standard ) and even without the drugs and performance enhancmnent stuff....
but eat GOOD QUALITY FOOD .
TRAIN HARD ,
SLEEP LOTS
HIT IT MENTAL 1 X OR 2X A WEEK MAX. per bp (bodypart.)
ignore all the **** from people who really dont have a clue..
i do know beleive me ( oldschool)
me when i was a young un
ok im gonna add here.
i have also trained olympic standard athletes
championship footballers
england rugby players
winter olympic athletes
blah blah blah
and all that **** ....
but was once .. ( at a top standard ) and even without the drugs and performance enhancmnent stuff....
but eat GOOD QUALITY FOOD .
TRAIN HARD ,
SLEEP LOTS
HIT IT MENTAL 1 X OR 2X A WEEK MAX. per bp (bodypart.)
ignore all the **** from people who really dont have a clue..
i do know beleive me ( oldschool)
me when i was a young un
ok im gonna add here.
i have also trained olympic standard athletes
championship footballers
england rugby players
winter olympic athletes
blah blah blah
and all that **** ....
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What sort of coaching have you been doing? Genuinely interested in more detail
Pate, before we go through any sort of new routine, have you had any problems or points of note from your other programme? Any limitations?
if that was asking me what type of coaching
over the last 20 + years from olympic standard ( as in some of my students are in 2012) and professional athletes, championship and lower league football, to premiership rugby, local semi pro sports performance type coaching. world champion mma athletes. commonwealth games standard .. ah cant remember them all
tbh quite a few...
What kind of olympic standard athletes have you trained? Runners/sprinters? Have you been doing mostly gym based stuff? Or any speed/plyo stuff?
I'm currently on my way to completing my UKSCA accreditation, so you're currently very interesting to me
I'm currently on my way to completing my UKSCA accreditation, so you're currently very interesting to me
What sort of coaching have you been doing? Genuinely interested in more detail
Pate, before we go through any sort of new routine, have you had any problems or points of note from your other programme? Any limitations?
My other programme has been kind of meh (the one the PT instructor made), I haven't noticed any appreciable difference in anything (maybe I'm expecting to much!)
In regards the posture, I've noticed that I'm definitely standing up straighter, though I do think my shoulders have become more temperamental (they click a lot more, and I've found myself able to strain them (or at least make them feel unnatural) with normal everyday stuff.
Overall I'm chuffed, though I do need to put more effort in. Downside of standing up straighter is That it really showcases my runt status in terms of arms and especially shoulders.
Just get a clean bulking diet sorted and get lifting mateNot much else to it!
Okay, say I've got a budget of £20 a week for food (not including bits and bobs), already have 5kg of chocolate whey protein (was on offer for £35), what would you say I should eat over the course of a week.
Can be as simple as you like.
Balanced diet - good whole foods/grains and lean meats, complex carbohydrates, (not so much simple carbohydrates, sugars etc), vegetables... all that good stuff. Just eat plenty of it and supplement with your wheyz to top it off. Though if you get enough nutrients through your diet, you don't really need extra protein.
Fresh ingredients is good too. Leave out the processed stuff, ready meals and all of that jazz.
Personally, I don't do 5 or 6 small meals, although it's probably best to keep your body topped up with what it needs to function and grow - aids metabolism rate that way too. I eat 3-4 times a day and not right before I sleep - I give it 2-3 hours before bedtime after food.
All you really need to do is eat healthy foods, more than you need to simply maintain your body weight; you need some extra fuel to help your muscle regrowth as well as giving your body energy so you can do stuff.
At its most basic, brown rice/wholegrain pasta, grilled chicken/fish, some kind of green vegetable. But it would do my head in eating that 5-6 times a day, every day.
But that's just my take on it.
Fresh ingredients is good too. Leave out the processed stuff, ready meals and all of that jazz.
Personally, I don't do 5 or 6 small meals, although it's probably best to keep your body topped up with what it needs to function and grow - aids metabolism rate that way too. I eat 3-4 times a day and not right before I sleep - I give it 2-3 hours before bedtime after food.
All you really need to do is eat healthy foods, more than you need to simply maintain your body weight; you need some extra fuel to help your muscle regrowth as well as giving your body energy so you can do stuff.
At its most basic, brown rice/wholegrain pasta, grilled chicken/fish, some kind of green vegetable. But it would do my head in eating that 5-6 times a day, every day.
But that's just my take on it.
So basically eat Brown rice, grilled chicken or Salmon and broccoli everyday?
I could deal with that! Would Gammon and Salami be no no's?
Seriously I'm not bothered about food, I could happily eat really really simple.
Any idea of quantity needed to grow? I'm 6'3" 80kg and scrawny as hell as you can see! Gym is happening 3x a week, though I'm otherwise quite sedentary.
I could deal with that! Would Gammon and Salami be no no's?
Seriously I'm not bothered about food, I could happily eat really really simple.
Any idea of quantity needed to grow? I'm 6'3" 80kg and scrawny as hell as you can see! Gym is happening 3x a week, though I'm otherwise quite sedentary.
Go and have a look at scoobys website http://scoobysworkshop.com/
have a read through some of the sections on ex.... no wait, just read all of it.... especially as you're interested in meals, look at the nutrition section and the meal planner and recipes for starters.
Forget about the no-shirt, it's just his thing.
Scoobys no BS outlook on fitness and all of that stuff is a good place to get a handle on things.
Take the time to read through the website, there's lots of useful info and ideas to absorb covering a wide range of topics from nutrition, form, exercise plans, meals, how to spot a gimmick and some home truths about fitness and bodybuilding.
And perhaps most important of all, figure out what works for you.
For my own part, stumbling on scoobys youtube channel got me back into regular exercise for the first time since I left school at 18 (I'll be 36 this year).
http://www.youtube.com/user/scooby1961/videos?view=1
That was almost 2 years back now. I'm not into getting huge and mahhosive, I just decided I wanted a better level of fitness than I had for a long time - that meant lifting some weights and doing cardiovascular exercise and eating healthier foods and quitting smoking etc etc.... you see how it goes? Understanding what your goals are long term is key to that beginning. Then all you have to do is take it from there. (sounds a bit vague, but there it is)
But it's just a place to start. You could always try these guys too, they come from a different perspective...but remember, you can do whatever the **** you wanna do!
have a read through some of the sections on ex.... no wait, just read all of it.... especially as you're interested in meals, look at the nutrition section and the meal planner and recipes for starters.
Forget about the no-shirt, it's just his thing.
Scoobys no BS outlook on fitness and all of that stuff is a good place to get a handle on things.
Take the time to read through the website, there's lots of useful info and ideas to absorb covering a wide range of topics from nutrition, form, exercise plans, meals, how to spot a gimmick and some home truths about fitness and bodybuilding.
And perhaps most important of all, figure out what works for you.
For my own part, stumbling on scoobys youtube channel got me back into regular exercise for the first time since I left school at 18 (I'll be 36 this year).
http://www.youtube.com/user/scooby1961/videos?view=1
That was almost 2 years back now. I'm not into getting huge and mahhosive, I just decided I wanted a better level of fitness than I had for a long time - that meant lifting some weights and doing cardiovascular exercise and eating healthier foods and quitting smoking etc etc.... you see how it goes? Understanding what your goals are long term is key to that beginning. Then all you have to do is take it from there. (sounds a bit vague, but there it is)
But it's just a place to start. You could always try these guys too, they come from a different perspective...but remember, you can do whatever the **** you wanna do!
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This mentality of "oh if you train biceps in isolation, you're a bicep monkey" or "just train arms on a heavy back day, if you have to do biceps for anymore than 2 sets on their own separately, you're doing too much" really annoys me
Everyone is different. And besides that, it works. It's not overtraining, it's not only what bicep monkeys do, and it's not a waste of time
If you can get away with only getting biceps work done through doing bent over rows and chins, fair play to you, excellent, but not everyone is like that and that certainly isn't enough for me.
So ignore everyone saying not to do isolation work, do it. Do 20 minutes or so, 10 sets
I typically do one of three routines, and mix it up each week
1:
Seated Incline Curls - 3x15
Hammer Curls - 4x8
Double High Cable Curls - 3x12 (hold last rep for 10 seconds)
2:
Preacher Curl Machine - 1x25 2x12
Alternating Dumbbell Curls - 3x10
Reverse Grip EZ Bar Curls - 1x15 3x10
3:
Seated DB Curls - 3x8 Dropset 1x8-1x12
EZ Bar Curls - 3x12
Cable Preacher Curls with slow negative - 4x10
Everyone is different. And besides that, it works. It's not overtraining, it's not only what bicep monkeys do, and it's not a waste of time
If you can get away with only getting biceps work done through doing bent over rows and chins, fair play to you, excellent, but not everyone is like that and that certainly isn't enough for me.
So ignore everyone saying not to do isolation work, do it. Do 20 minutes or so, 10 sets
I typically do one of three routines, and mix it up each week
1:
Seated Incline Curls - 3x15
Hammer Curls - 4x8
Double High Cable Curls - 3x12 (hold last rep for 10 seconds)
2:
Preacher Curl Machine - 1x25 2x12
Alternating Dumbbell Curls - 3x10
Reverse Grip EZ Bar Curls - 1x15 3x10
3:
Seated DB Curls - 3x8 Dropset 1x8-1x12
EZ Bar Curls - 3x12
Cable Preacher Curls with slow negative - 4x10
Agreed with Steedie, I get a much better response when actually training biceps. Granted I do it at the end of a good back session, but I always do 6 sets to totally fry them.
Excuse the "I will kill you" stare, but I think it's working thus far:
Excuse the "I will kill you" stare, but I think it's working thus far:
Hehe! I was going to comment on the look
Those arms are coming through as well now chap! Well done.
Agreed with Steedie though, a LOT of people will think ad say it's pointless training your biceps, it depends on what you want really, and how your biceps react to other forms of training. For instance, doing rows and chins can be enough for some people, for others it can't.
I've never been sure whether or not to take Scooby seriously to be fair?
Those arms are coming through as well now chap! Well done.
Agreed with Steedie though, a LOT of people will think ad say it's pointless training your biceps, it depends on what you want really, and how your biceps react to other forms of training. For instance, doing rows and chins can be enough for some people, for others it can't.
I've never been sure whether or not to take Scooby seriously to be fair?
My arm's aren't particularly a strong point but they've seen a lot of improvement from weighted dips (5x5) and bench pressing (5x5) 2-3 times a week, 3 times might be too much for you however. Your arms won't grow if you're not eating enough though, which looking at your stats I'd say that's your main problem. Make sure you're eating well over your maintenance calories (at least 500, which will be near 3k calories a day for you) and getting 150g+ protein.
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My arms and shoulders especially traps have always been well developed! For my size my arms look a little disproportionate if anything at the moment as they have just swollen quicker than any other part I put this down to training them intense beyond failure. More important i started to see real size gain in my bicep by going as heavy as possible on tri's and deadlifts to the point where x2 - x3 times body weight was really forcing growth subject with a good diet.
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