38 years old. I've been spinning my wheels more or less for years since I was a definition of skinny fat. I have pretty bad arms genetic as seen in the photo before I started lifting.
I've been running a bulk since March and gained about 12 pounds. Should I continue bulk for a while or start the cut?
The lowest I've been after my teens was 19% bf I think. Every time I cut I feel like I become too small an just start bulking again.
Any advice regarding cut/bulk and growing arms is much appreciated. Currently running Jim Wendlers 5/3/1 bodybuilding routine 4x per week.
@mohitraletta You hold significantly less fat on your arms than the rest. If you'd get shredded I dont think your arms are behind tbh, theyll stay basically the same size while your chest and stomach should shrink down a decent amount.
@mohitraletta You're running a low volume strength program that has no arm movements programmed into the base routine. Why would you expect your arms to grow anything less than the rest of you?
@mohitraletta This program pretty much has arms as an after thought.. If you want your arms to grow, you'll want to run a program that trains arms first, for at at least 1 or 2 of the days. This program is definitely more strength biased.
I'd suggest running one of Geoffrey Verity Schofield's programs, or one of Bald Omni man's programs.
@brodri91 Don't blame the program, 531 bodybuilding is solid, op just isn't Training arms hard enough. The program isn't probably suitable for him or he doesn't know how to use it.
@mohitraletta Are you not just throwing in arms at the end of every workout? I try to get them in everytime.
But my powerlifting program has me benching pretty heavy about 3 times a week which is probably helping with triceps. But I always do curls and tricep pulldowns at the end of every session and my arms are blowing up.
@taixiat I am doing that if I have energy left. But when I do 5x 15-20 reps for triceps pushdowns, I do get elbow pain at night, so need some rest after that. This doesn't happen if I do heavier, lower rep sets and keep them to 3 sets per exercise.
@taixiat I mean 8-12 range, which is OK compared to 20 reps and 5 sets like Jim Wengler's program. I don't think lowering the weight would be beneficial for growth? I still have 1-2 reps in tank after I finish a set.
@mohitraletta It's hypertrophy. You might need to lower it if you're getting elbow tendon issues for the time being. Concentrate on the movement. It's all glamour vanity stuff anyway, I can máx the tricep pulldown cable but I'm just trying to contract as much as I can.
Squats, deads, and bench? Yes im very concerned about weight even on my high volume days. But for arms? I'm like doing 25 pounds curls, like I said it just lets me just get by squeezing them in (pun intended) at the end of my workouts. But I'm hitting them like 4 or 5 times a week consistently. This is just to get them to grow so people poke at my arms
As far as strength goes I'm getting my arms worked doing rows, benches and everything else in the barbell movements.
@mohitraletta im assuming that 531 for bodybuilding is something like this and not just the base version. if you are running the base version then the other guy is probably right that low volume strength focus programs with 99% compound lifts will only take you so far
anyways your physique definitely has progressed, and are probably in a spot where "cut quickly to make room for another bulk" and "slow and steady permabulk" are pretty valid options.
geoffrey verity schofield and alex leonidas have content specifically focusing on arms, if they are really lagging then training them first and focusing more on isolation movement strength with good form are decent starting points.
@mommajulesberry Thank you, I've been doing the one you linked. I'll look into Geoffrey more and maybe run the bulk for 3 more months and then re-evaluate.
@mohitraletta Congrats on the good development . I added an arms and abs day into my PPL to make it PPLA. Gives me more time to recover on the larger muscles from PPL and extra focus on my arms and abs which were after thoughts. Triceps were at the end of my push day and biceps at the end up pull. Now, I might still do some but they are already pretty toast from the compounds before.
. I added an arms and abs day into my PPL to make it PPLA. Gives me more time to recover on the larger muscles from PPL and extra focus on my arms and abs which were after thoughts. Triceps were at the end of my push day and biceps at the end up pull. Now, I might still do some but they are already pretty toast from the compounds before.