I didn't mean it negatively at all, I was just trying to show Dave that bodybuilding doesn't always mean trying to look like Arnie. And I think that what he was thinking when you're all giving him advice about putting on a little bit of lean mass was that if he followed your advice he'd end up huge. Unfortunately it's a lot harder than that.
Looking for some dumbells
- Thread starter MumboJumbo
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I didn't mean it negatively at all, I was just trying to show Dave that bodybuilding doesn't always mean trying to look like Arnie. And I think that what he was thinking when you're all giving him advice about putting on a little bit of lean mass was that if he followed your advice he'd end up huge. Unfortunately it's a lot harder than that.
Some very good advice here as always.
You seem to think that you can neglect major muscle groups such as your shoulders and back as you feel they dont need improving. Big arms on a tiny frame look stupid and shouts bicep monkey.
As explained the gains you want will only be achieved by improving all of your body. Otherwise you'll find it incredibly difficult as your body wont grow out of proportion to itself. Unless you already have a monster back and shoulders I would understand, but even still they need doing.
Most of your muscular skelature is in your legs and back, so these need the most time of all spent on them in theory. Regardless of wether you want big legs or a big back its essential in gaining a larger upper body. As the sticky says, dont question it just do it. Not only is getting all the major groups worked important, but it is essential as it allows groups already worked to rest, recover, repair & grow!
Working 1 group a day is favourable amongst many, it gives high concentration, hits all of the muscles in said group and gives them plenty of time to recover.
You say you want to increase the size of your arms so they look more respectable. Working your back requires pulling exercises which also work the biceps. You'll find most guys here such as myself, freefaller etc etc spend very little time on bicep isolation and still manage to have respectable looking arms. (Not claiming to be anywhere near the size of FF for the record!)
If you look at the powerlifting totals page you'll see bench, squat and deadlift. 2 of the 3 exercises are lowerbody/legs. Its not all about the upperbody overtraining. Anybody with a massive upperbody and match stick legs would make me question the use of substances/gear.
I would suggest looking at 3 day splits as suggested. Then once you start to make progress focus on some small isolation exercises.
Hope this helps
Benny C
You seem to think that you can neglect major muscle groups such as your shoulders and back as you feel they dont need improving. Big arms on a tiny frame look stupid and shouts bicep monkey.
As explained the gains you want will only be achieved by improving all of your body. Otherwise you'll find it incredibly difficult as your body wont grow out of proportion to itself. Unless you already have a monster back and shoulders I would understand, but even still they need doing.
Most of your muscular skelature is in your legs and back, so these need the most time of all spent on them in theory. Regardless of wether you want big legs or a big back its essential in gaining a larger upper body. As the sticky says, dont question it just do it. Not only is getting all the major groups worked important, but it is essential as it allows groups already worked to rest, recover, repair & grow!
Working 1 group a day is favourable amongst many, it gives high concentration, hits all of the muscles in said group and gives them plenty of time to recover.
You say you want to increase the size of your arms so they look more respectable. Working your back requires pulling exercises which also work the biceps. You'll find most guys here such as myself, freefaller etc etc spend very little time on bicep isolation and still manage to have respectable looking arms. (Not claiming to be anywhere near the size of FF for the record!)
If you look at the powerlifting totals page you'll see bench, squat and deadlift. 2 of the 3 exercises are lowerbody/legs. Its not all about the upperbody overtraining. Anybody with a massive upperbody and match stick legs would make me question the use of substances/gear.
I would suggest looking at 3 day splits as suggested. Then once you start to make progress focus on some small isolation exercises.
Hope this helps
Benny C
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Hey, dont ahve time to read through all the posts that have appeared this morning. So ill get back to you later but thanks for all the advice i have skim read through and i get what you lot trying to say. Ill be back later when i got time to reply proplerly
And thanks daven for letting me know.
And thanks daven for letting me know.
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- 8,204
Ok then guys. I see what you all saying. Im goig to need to do a lot more then just do some weights to get my arms up to speed with my body. Obiously i didn't expect it to happen any time soon but i didn't quite expect it would be such a challenge.
However i am still quite determined to do so as im quite vain and dislike the state of my arms at the mo. But as you have also pointed out i will need to also work on the rest of my body which i understand now.
Is my current diet enough to be able to meat my self up a bit, remeber im really not looking for a lot and i am not going to be force feeding my self through out the day, i cant anyway i got college:
Start day off with a bowel of fruit and fiber with milk
Snack around 11 sometimes a chicken tripple sandwich or otherwize ham toasty and cheese (in college)
Lunch around 1 i usualy aim to have a proper meal, usualy with rice if i can. Otherwize i oftern get my self another sandwich from the co op or if desperate jacket potato and beans.
Snack around half 3, usualy grapes/oranges or yogart. If im eating grapes i usualy finnish a full bag in 2 days lol.
Snack around half 5 - Usualy something like a muffin etc.
Dinner 7 - always a big dinner with meat. proper home cooking not junk, i cant stand cheap and greasy food haha
Snack around 9/10 - usualy ill have another bowel of fruit and fiber with milk.
Sometmes eat again at around 12/1 , occasionaly ill have a 3rd bowel of a differnt cerial like shreddies. Otherwize somtimes nuts or just what ever floats my boat at the time.
Pritty much my daily routeen, obviously i do mix the snacks up but i try keep it healthy. I get spots very easly as well from eating thinsg like chocolate. Dunno why, quite irritating.
:EDIT:
O and i do drink quite a bit. Is this going to effect my diet quite badly? Obiously i know its not good for me. But tbh i wana balance a life too.
:EDIT2:
I also drink a lot of water, i dont drink fizzy drinks etc ever unless with alchole like jd and coke. Its not unusual for me to have 4-5L of water on a wintrs day evenn without exersize.
Think yo umiss interpreted what we both ment. He was trying to point out to me something very true. that i aws more under the impression you wre all huge hunks lol. And me laughing was not at the guy at all. Was at the relisation that it does take a lot of work. besidse that guys a model whats to laugh at lmao.
:EDIT:
Sorry if im being a pain guys. But you know, i really dont have a clue about any of theese things haha
Im trying!
However i am still quite determined to do so as im quite vain and dislike the state of my arms at the mo. But as you have also pointed out i will need to also work on the rest of my body which i understand now.
Is my current diet enough to be able to meat my self up a bit, remeber im really not looking for a lot and i am not going to be force feeding my self through out the day, i cant anyway i got college:
Start day off with a bowel of fruit and fiber with milk
Snack around 11 sometimes a chicken tripple sandwich or otherwize ham toasty and cheese (in college)
Lunch around 1 i usualy aim to have a proper meal, usualy with rice if i can. Otherwize i oftern get my self another sandwich from the co op or if desperate jacket potato and beans.
Snack around half 3, usualy grapes/oranges or yogart. If im eating grapes i usualy finnish a full bag in 2 days lol.
Snack around half 5 - Usualy something like a muffin etc.
Dinner 7 - always a big dinner with meat. proper home cooking not junk, i cant stand cheap and greasy food haha
Snack around 9/10 - usualy ill have another bowel of fruit and fiber with milk.
Sometmes eat again at around 12/1 , occasionaly ill have a 3rd bowel of a differnt cerial like shreddies. Otherwize somtimes nuts or just what ever floats my boat at the time.
Pritty much my daily routeen, obviously i do mix the snacks up but i try keep it healthy. I get spots very easly as well from eating thinsg like chocolate. Dunno why, quite irritating.
:EDIT:
O and i do drink quite a bit. Is this going to effect my diet quite badly? Obiously i know its not good for me. But tbh i wana balance a life too.
:EDIT2:
I also drink a lot of water, i dont drink fizzy drinks etc ever unless with alchole like jd and coke. Its not unusual for me to have 4-5L of water on a wintrs day evenn without exersize.
Think yo umiss interpreted what we both ment. He was trying to point out to me something very true. that i aws more under the impression you wre all huge hunks lol. And me laughing was not at the guy at all. Was at the relisation that it does take a lot of work. besidse that guys a model whats to laugh at lmao.
:EDIT:
Sorry if im being a pain guys. But you know, i really dont have a clue about any of theese things haha
Im trying!
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The quickest way to look less skinny is to constantly eat crap and not do any exercise. The problem with this is skinny guys with big stomachs look grotesque (unless you're 85 years old). You may be fortunate to gain weight evenly but you'll only know once it's on and then it's too late.
The alternative is to go after an athletic look which is a reasonable objective given your build. Forget buff and oily bodies, that's for gay parties. Think strong, fit and healthy. These are the most important factors, far above looks and size.
Being skinny with small chest, wrists and arms doesn't mean you'll never look like some big guy. When you hit 30 you'll change, trust me. Just focus on the three key points above.
Strong
Gain weight and muscle by eating plenty of good food and lifting the maximum weight strict form allows. Stick to compounds exercises. They're the most beneficial.
Look at the mechanics of your body, it's push/pull.
Bench is push (chest), row is pull (back)
Press is push (shoulders), pull-up is pull (lats/sides)
See what's going on? You need to balance the weight to be effective. Your arms too have a push/pull motion, use weights to build on this.
The golden rule is that everything comes from a strong core. This doesn't mean doing 100 situps, the best way to build core strength is to squat as it brings everything into one exercise, it's the mother of all compounds. Start with your bodyweight to learn form, then add the bar, then with experience and assistance, add weight. When you can squat effectively, you'll find gains in all other areas far easier to acquire, even arms.
While we're talking arms, Morba touched on this. Your bicep is small, the muscle under your arm (tricep) is big. It's this muscle that will give you bigger looking arms, not biceps. Bear this in mind.
Fit
When cutting the excess from the bulking process, intense cardio to boost stamina and fitness. You'll be surprised how effective weightlifting itself it for stamina and cardio. I hate running and cycling, swimming is too much hassle to keep up the frequency so I box and also do more weights. Instead of lifting heavy and slow, I lift light weights and keep up the intensity and repetitions. Try doing 100 squats with 40Kg, it hurts.
Healthy
By eating good clean foods you'll properly fuel your body for the shock of training but here's the important part, form. Form is where the exercise you perform is correct in terms of working the muscle without risking damage to the joints or over-extension. Correct form will allow you to gain faster. The reason people rarely use correct form is because you'll struggle to lift far lighter weights than the people around you and ego/pride etc will often steer you the wrong way.
Lift a heavy weight incorrectly, tear a muscle and it's over. I still have problems now from being a knob in the gym when I was a kid, things I could have avoided.
Finally
This isn't the opposite of a diet. Fat women are always dieting because they're looking for quick fixes, it's why they were trainers but don't run.
It's a lifestyle, if you want to look big, you'll need to live big. If you want to look fit, you'll need to live fit. It's this commitment that stops the large majority of people from looking after themselves or taking shortcuts in the form of drugs.
Good luck with it and remember, people are here to help but commitment is needed for people to commit to you.
"Big arms in 6 weeks?" will get you shot down in flames
Thankyou, explains quite a bit too me. Would this be possile without a bench if i bought a 50kg set from argos to get me going and worked on my diet i posted above and continued my running etc? Or really am i going to need a bench to get anywhere?
This is what you recon i should be starting with then:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Ke1eFazK1IA
At what point do you think i should incorperate a bar and at what weight. Obiously im quite far off this probably but it would be nie to know what im aimign for. I like goals they keep me motivated.
O yeah and just out of curioucity, what do you think of the rowing machines? Tryed them out before and i quite liked it actually haha
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