Building up my arms

I

irishboy80

0
hi,

I know there are tons of threads here about how to build up peoples arms but I think I am kind of in a different boat.

I have went to the gym for a number of years now and I think my body isnt developed to the same standard all over. I was rowing for my univeristy and my shoulders are quite broad. My back is pretty strong but my arms are very weak.

I begun to surf recently and although im quite fit my arms dont have the power in them to get me out past the waves. My wrists are especailly weak.

Can someone help me out as to develop my arms, both lower and upper ? I recently bought a 20kg weights for weights training but I would like some guidelines as to what I should be doing every day and is there any kind of diet or suppliements I should be eating.

I dont want massive arms, just enough to build them up so I can paddle out on my board and they are in proportion with the rest of my body. I would prefer that I didnt have to do other excercises for the rest of my body as well.


****finally, if you do post can you use non technial terms. I dont know the names of the different exercises and weights
 
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^^Those are good compound movements, I say add some curls and overhead extensions (aka skull crushers) for isolation. For your forearms get one of those grip things (no clue what they're called, and I have like 5 lol)
 
Hey i surf as well. The best thing to do is train your arms in the water. One of the trining principles is specificity and board paddling is what your doing so do heaps of it and your arms will come up to satndard.

Also i had weak wrists and i couldnt duckdive on my longer boards so i got some of those squeezer things and they thicked up my wrists and strengthened them nicley
 
do you have access to a cross cable or resistance bands? You can simulate the actions of paddling out using low resistance and high reps...or you can just start swimming a lot. It's good cardio. And when you get used to just swimming then you can add in the pads or whatever...I forgot what they are called, but they are just things that go on your hands for greater resistance while swimming. Much like fins do for your feet.
 
to strenthen your wrists you can simply use dumbells...wrist curls...

rest yourself on your knee's and place your forearm on a bench/chair with the inside facing the ceiling. Then have your dumbell placed in your open palm...then grip it and pull your wrist up towards the ceiling. Then retract your arm and loosen your grip on the dumbell, then grip it again and repeat.

Do two warm up sets:

Set 1: As many as comfort holds
Set 2: 6-8 reps

Then two workout sets:

Set 3: 8-12 reps
Set 4: 8-12 reps

then just do that one or two times a week...do it this little to give your arm time to recover/grow its fibers from the stimulation you just developed from your workout...

Have protein before bedtime when you do these workouts and in a month or two, you will definitely see results...it's also strengthens your forearm...


(Learned that from a weights program I went on not long ago, and my arms are alot stronger)

EDIT: in the warm up sets...do half the weight you can possibly lift...then in the two later sets, do full weight...
 
I like dumbbell curl and press for upper arms and shoulders. Favorite compound exercise. Reverse Curls for forearms.

I tried wrist curls and they seem like a waste- but that might just be me. They either hurt my wrist or simply try my patience (usually both).
 
Thanks a million everyone. There is some really helpful posts here. I just have access to 20kgs dumb bells and a chin up bar that I ordered after reading the reply.

My forearms are weak too so Im going to make use of that workout that works the wrists.


What are those "Grip things" that people are on about ? Are they like a device which has springs in the middle and two handles which you pull apart ?

I eat 2 eggs every second day and lots of carbohydrates each day. Is two eggs ok or should I be look about more protien (i dont want super arms though:) )

Thanks a million for all the replies :) Hope you catch some good waves Kiwi ;)
 
Yes those are the things. You can simulate the exercise with a rusty pair of pipe cutters and PVC. Same principles. But there are also things to exercise grip on a lower scale which are like foam balls you squeeze.
 
Chins, neutral grip pull-ups (palms facing eachother), close grip dips, close grip bench presses, hammer curls, barbell curls, JM presses, tate presses... vary from heavy to moderate intensity training, 3-20 reps, with emphasis on 6-12 reps.
 
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I've started doing those exercises and I find my arms starting to get bigger. My forearms and wrist will need a lot of work though. thanks a million for the help. Im going to try press ups as well soon.
 
hi.. i have been doing those exercises now fairly regularly and my bicepts (i think) have become stronger but my forearms are still a bit thin.

What should i do now to keep building up my arms ? heavier weights ? I think I will always have thing wrists
 
if wrist curls aren't doing it try grippers



or



If you are going for the COC's go for a trainer and a number 1. You probably won't be able to close the number 1 fully when you get it, but sure that is the fun of it. Shipping with the COC's is $19.99 to ireland. If you are thinking of the other set and you are in dublin i would buy some of the heavier ones off you if you wanted to share the cost
 
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