How much arm growth did you get on ur 1st test cycle?

[Synhax]

How much did your arms gain following your first test-e cycle? Im runing a 12wk 500mg/wk test-e cycle and the arm gains are somewhat underwhelming. I was hoping for at least 1-1.5 inches growth, but so far i gained 0.25inches 6wks in. I even swithced my splits to inlclude a seperate day just for arms since i started cycle, but growth is slower than expected.

The only good news is that I started a natty bulk first from dec-june, gained an inch a half without having an arm day or focusing on them much. Since my cycle beginning of june i switched up routine to focus more on arms and gain hopefully another inch but it doesnt seem to be working. Don't know whats up..

[Mp859]

It's all diet. Steroids are not magic.

[clarky.]

It takes time. TIME TIME TIME dedication and years it will all depend on how hard you train how much you eat how good your gear is (ugl) ect ect if it was that easy we could all be huge you have to love this game and not just be a summer lifter. Never mind about numbers just train and eat.

[Euroholic]

6 weeks on test e its just starting to work. Are you just looking for arm size? You have to gain overall body mass to start seeing arm growth. Whats your arm routine look like?

[Avi3510]

You came to the right place, these guys give the best suggestions. Even though it's not always what we want to hear, it'd what we need to hear. I want to just add that in my personal experience, I have a slightly ectomorphs frame, and have slender arms and legs, and at least with arms have found that I have a tendency to over do it. I have found with arms sometimes less is more and can even work them every other week and get great results. Just a suggestion, you gotta just try different things and find what works for you. I just find it's common for me to always want to do more. If I could I'd lift every fukken day like a fiend but know I wouldn't be able to properly recover from that.

[NACH3]

Are you neglecting legs? People fail to realize that the bigger your legs get - the bigger your body gets(like chest - w/out a widening your back your chest won't widen either) - overall growth will lead bigger everything - as mentioned Time time time - I too, get a lil anxious - I mean who doesn't want big arms the illusion makes you look that much bigger(w/a solid physique)

I do arms together once a wk(push/pull - tris/bis)they get hit in every other BP except legs

Train hard eat big!(& clean)

[Avi3510]

Are you neglecting legs? People fail to realize that the bigger your legs get - the bigger your body gets(like chest - w/out a widening your back your chest won't widen either) - overall growth will lead bigger everything - as mentioned Time time time - I too, get a lil anxious - I mean who doesn't want big arms the illusion makes you look that much bigger(w/a solid physique)

I do arms together once a wk(push/pull - tris/bis)they get hit in every other BP except legs

^^^^^^^Great point Nach

[kelkel]

It takes time. TIME TIME TIME dedication and years it will all depend on how hard you train how much you eat how good your gear is (ugl) ect ect if it was that easy we could all be huge

Wait, it's not easy?

[Synhax]

You came to the right place, these guys give the best suggestions. Even though it's not always what we want to hear, it'd what we need to hear. I want to just add that in my personal experience, I have a slightly ectomorphs frame, and have slender arms and legs, and at least with arms have found that I have a tendency to over do it. I have found with arms sometimes less is more and can even work them every other week and get great results. Just a suggestion, you gotta just try different things and find what works for you. I just find it's common for me to always want to do more. If I could I'd lift every fukken day like a fiend but know I wouldn't be able to properly recover from that.

haha i was thinking the opposite like hitting them twice a week! I thought maybe im not training them enough. For some reason my biceps never get sore, but triceps i feel them good for 2-3 days. I hear u on the less is more philosophy, that tends to work for me on bigger muscles.

[Synhax]

Are you neglecting legs? People fail to realize that the bigger your legs get - the bigger your body gets(like chest - w/out a widening your back your chest won't widen either) - overall growth will lead bigger everything - as mentioned Time time time - I too, get a lil anxious - I mean who doesn't want big arms the illusion makes you look that much bigger(w/a solid physique)

I do arms together once a wk(push/pull - tris/bis)they get hit in every other BP except legs

Train hard eat big!(& clean)

Been doing legs everyweek, mainly out of habit when i was bulking naturally. Is it still important when on gear? I thought the whole idea behind doing legs to spur overall body growth was because they promote testosterone production more than any other muscle group, but test levels shouldnt be an issue when on cycle.

Also do arms together only once a wk as well, i dont want them to be too sore and limit chest and back day, those are my favourite!

[Synhax]

6 weeks on test e its just starting to work. Are you just looking for arm size? You have to gain overall body mass to start seeing arm growth. Whats your arm routine look like?

No definitely not looking just for arm size, more focused on back, chest and shoulders. But since i never really focused on arms before I thought this would be a good time as any since im on a cycle.

Arms routine- all exercises i do 5 sets, the first being a warmup and the rest are 6-10 reps.
Barbell curls
skull crushers
dumbell preacher curls (with supernation)
close-grip incline bench press
hammer curls standing (sometimes sitting)
triceps cable pushdowns
reverse-grip barbell curls

Thats my arms routine atm.

[NACH3]

Been doing legs everyweek, mainly out of habit when i was bulking naturally. Is it still important when on gear? I thought the whole idea behind doing legs to spur overall body growth was because they promote testosterone production more than any other muscle group, but test levels shouldnt be an issue when on cycle.

Also do arms together only once a wk as well, i dont want them to be too sore and limit chest and back day, those are my favourite!

Of course on gear - if your legs grow like you said so does your whole body! Why wouldn't you do legs on gear - that makes no sense when your trying to grow(everywhere)!

If your worried about them being to sore for your other BPs you have to structure your split around push pull rest - for me -
Arms
Delts/traps (if you can't start w/arms do your big muscles first(chest, back, save legs for a rest on your push pull!
Off
Back
Chest
Off or legs(chest and legs get swapped) I chose thus split b/c my shoulders needed way more work than my chest(my chest is genetically pretty good & square) - also my shoulder is injured and waiting later in the week is worse on it for me...

So you would just have to set up your split and customize it for you - if you need another rest day throw be in here and there - I find 2on 1off works well for me

[NACH3]

No definitely not looking just for arm size, more focused on back, chest and shoulders. But since i never really focused on arms before I thought this would be a good time as any since im on a cycle.

Arms routine- all exercises i do 5 sets, the first being a warmup and the rest are 6-10 reps.
Barbell curls
skull crushers
dumbell preacher curls (with supernation)
close-grip incline bench press
hammer curls standing (sometimes sitting)
triceps cable pushdowns
reverse-grip barbell curls

Thats my arms routine atm.

Your also holding back... There's no way I can go to 3 sets to failure every - your holding something back - there's so many exercises don't get stuck on the same ones(I'm still learning this valuable lesson) you'll get stagnate - I believe if you make your body adapt to heavier weight then it will adapt eventually - and feel lighter while doing it b/c your body knows how it feels etc

Try doing more DB work - concentration curls - preacher curls(change it up too one arm two arm etc) close grip bench is the best movement for your tris period(puts that neat on em) skull crushers - behind head DB extensions(another great muscle belly filler) push downs w/various grips
O BB curls - cable curls - use supper sets and drops and force reps(when using one arm stuff give yourself force reps and slow negs etc

Skies the limit - or your imagination - don't neglect nor short change any muscle group to ficus on another - injuries can happen - muscle imbalances - etc

I se your exercises are similar - but doing 5 sets of each exercise isn't necessary - almost like your holding reps back to meet them next set ?! - if your going all out to true failure(you don't need to be doing HIT to go to failure... But how is your intensity(rest periods)???

[davidtheman100]

The whole point in doing legs is so that the bodybuilder is proportionate and doesn't just have a big upper body and chicken legs...testosterone increasing benefits is just a plus when it comes to that category..Anyway, doing legs increases overall athletic performance in whatever sport you play as well

[Krb367]

I can't believe no one has flamed him for asking how much his arms should grow from being on steroids..?

I've never really cared about arms. Back, chest, legs. Feel like I've noticed the most improvement in my arms from staying consistent with the major compound exercises.. Not that I neglect them, but if I isolate them I do triceps with chest and biceps with back. I've tried arm day before.. I felt like a fag walking in and going straight to doing some bicep curls or triceps push downs.

[Synhax]

I can't believe no one has flamed him for asking how much his arms should grow from being on steroids..?

I've never really cared about arms. Back, chest, legs. Feel like I've noticed the most improvement in my arms from staying consistent with the major compound exercises.. Not that I neglect them, but if I isolate them I do triceps with chest and biceps with back. I've tried arm day before.. I felt like a fag walking in and going straight to doing some bicep curls or triceps push downs.

U need to calm down bro, if you read my OP you'll realize i only started doing arms for 6wks when I started cycle, before that arms were not part of my split and I have been bulking since Dec, gained 35lb so far, everything got bigger but arms now appear to be lagging so i started focusing on them more recently.

Here is my split during natty bulk from dec-june

Back+biceps
Chest+triceps
Legs
Shoulders+Core
Rest

I grew quite a bit all over except my arms i feel.

Started cycle 6wks ago and continued bulking, but changed split to inlcude arm day:
Back
Chest
Legs
Arms (bi/tri)
Shoulders+core
Rest

Hope thats clear. I asked how much arms grew for other on cycle to get some perspective cause I thought id be gaining quicked if I focused on them more compared to my previous split.

[Synhax]

The whole point in doing legs is so that the bodybuilder is proportionate and doesn't just have a big upper body and chicken legs...testosterone increasing benefits is just a plus when it comes to that category..Anyway, doing legs increases overall athletic performance in whatever sport you play as well

yes i get that. But when ppl say "you want big arms? then do legs!" it is referring to the ability of leg days to increase testosterone circulation in body and thus grow all muscles including arms. I was referring to that statement not to the fact that leg days are important for proportionality/stability. And believe me i know this better than most i had knee issues before from playing bball and I train legs to keep them knees stable. Luckily, i dont have chicken leg naturally coz of decent lower body genetics

[Synhax]

Your also holding back... There's no way I can go to 3 sets to failure every - your holding something back - there's so many exercises don't get stuck on the same ones(I'm still learning this valuable lesson) you'll get stagnate - I believe if you make your body adapt to heavier weight then it will adapt eventually - and feel lighter while doing it b/c your body knows how it feels etc

Try doing more DB work - concentration curls - preacher curls(change it up too one arm two arm etc) close grip bench is the best movement for your tris period(puts that neat on em) skull crushers - behind head DB extensions(another great muscle belly filler) push downs w/various grips
O BB curls - cable curls - use supper sets and drops and force reps(when using one arm stuff give yourself force reps and slow negs etc

Skies the limit - or your imagination - don't neglect nor short change any muscle group to ficus on another - injuries can happen - muscle imbalances - etc

I se your exercises are similar - but doing 5 sets of each exercise isn't necessary - almost like your holding reps back to meet them next set ?! - if your going all out to true failure(you don't need to be doing HIT to go to failure... But how is your intensity(rest periods)???

Obviously I still do legs, im just saying the argument that doing legs is necessary to grow other parts of body is not valid on cycle coz of extra testosterone, but i still do them everywk for stability/strength reasons i need them strong.

Regarding set number, 5 includes a warmup set which doesnt really count, its usually at 50% of max weight. So its really 4 sets and i do go to failure on each set, if i can't manage 5-6 reps i drop weight for next set. My routine changes every 4-6wks, this is just my current routine ive been going with. I change things up on the fly most times tbh, i vary curls alot, like u said sometimes i do dumbell curls, sometimes barbell, sometimes cables, and sometimes i superset btw bi/tri excercises. Intensity i would say medium, i last for 2hrs in the gym mainly coz i take a few min breaks btw excercieses and maybe 30-60sec btw sets, but tbh i dont keep track at all. I do sweat quite a bit tho threw out, maybe thats just my preworkout? Not exactly sure.

What do you mean by force reps?

Edit: here is my current split
Back
Chest
Legs
Rest
Arms bi/tri
Shoulders+core
Rest

Not always in that exact order, but thats the split im doing atm.

[NACH3]

Ok, I got ya - makes sense about the 5 sets(but not the legs - legs stimulate overall body growth) - try just feeler sets so you don't exhaust yourself b4 you rack it... So once you've reached true positive failure then if a spotter is available(and knows what he's doing) you can keep going as long as your pushing and he can lift the rest of the weight up = force rep - but you've got to be totally fried by the time you start these(unable to do another rep yourself)... Make sense?

[Krb367]

I'm calm bro.. And I wasn't knocking you for having an arm day.

Just the whole, expecting an inch and half in arm growth is quite a bit for even being on the sauce. Well, at least actual lean mass. I'm sure if you're talking strictly from water retention then it's possible.

[davesah1]

you arms suck?
Keep arms day.
You want big legs, do legs.
You want a big chest, do chest.
You want big arms do arms. Give them the respect and time they need. I always have an arms day in my split.
Genetics are a big factor. I would look like a T-rex if I relied on push pull movements for arm development.
Some guys can do it and it works but I came from a similar situation as you. Genetically they don't keep up.
Last year...


8 months later

A year and half later


Biggest lesson I learned is treat them like legs, chest, and back.
Many guys think arms are all about squeezing and 500 reps.
Heavy, strict, and intense worked much better than bludgeoning them with super high amounts of reps.
Following the way Marcus trains inspired by Yates worked much better than CT Fletcher's super drop sets with 200 reps.

[Krb367]

you arms suck?
Keep arms day.
You want big legs, do legs.
You want a big chest, do chest.
You want big arms do arms. Give them the respect and time they need. I always have an arms day in my split.
Genetics are a big factor. I would look like a T-rex if I relied on push pull movements for arm development.
Some guys can do it and it works but I came from a similar situation as you. Genetically they don't keep up.
Last year...


8 months later

A year and half later


Biggest lesson I learned is treat them like legs, chest, and back.
Many guys think arms are all about squeezing and 500 reps.
Heavy, strict, and intense worked much better than bludgeoning them with super high amounts of reps.
Following the way Marcus trains inspired by Yates worked much better than CT Fletcher's super drop sets with 200 reps.

Damn bro. Now I want to go hit arms!

[marcus300]

you arms suck?
Keep arms day.
You want big legs, do legs.
You want a big chest, do chest.
You want big arms do arms. Give them the respect and time they need. I always have an arms day in my split.
Genetics are a big factor. I would look like a T-rex if I relied on push pull movements for arm development.
Some guys can do it and it works but I came from a similar situation as you. Genetically they don't keep up.
Last year...


8 months later

A year and half later


Biggest lesson I learned is treat them like legs, chest, and back.
Many guys think arms are all about squeezing and 500 reps.
Heavy, strict, and intense worked much better than bludgeoning them with super high amounts of reps.
Following the way Marcus trains inspired by Yates worked much better than CT Fletcher's super drop sets with 200 reps.

^^^^^here we go

Going on cycle wont effect your arm directly, its the training and eating what will.
You want big arms train them hard, heavy and with as much intensity as possible, you may think your training them right but your not. Learn what a good training session is and destroy your arms

[Synhax]

Ok, I got ya - makes sense about the 5 sets(but not the legs - legs stimulate overall body growth) - try just feeler sets so you don't exhaust yourself b4 you rack it... So once you've reached true positive failure then if a spotter is available(and knows what he's doing) you can keep going as long as your pushing and he can lift the rest of the weight up = force rep - but you've got to be totally fried by the time you start these(unable to do another rep yourself)... Make sense?

Ah ic makes sense. Need to get me a good workout partner that wont hold me back then. Thanks!

[Synhax]

you arms suck?
Keep arms day.
You want big legs, do legs.
You want a big chest, do chest.
You want big arms do arms. Give them the respect and time they need. I always have an arms day in my split.
Genetics are a big factor. I would look like a T-rex if I relied on push pull movements for arm development.
Some guys can do it and it works but I came from a similar situation as you. Genetically they don't keep up.
Last year...


8 months later

A year and half later


Biggest lesson I learned is treat them like legs, chest, and back.
Many guys think arms are all about squeezing and 500 reps.
Heavy, strict, and intense worked much better than bludgeoning them with super high amounts of reps.
Following the way Marcus trains inspired by Yates worked much better than CT Fletcher's super drop sets with 200 reps.

Damn bro thats impressive. Thanks for feedback gonna go destroy them tomorrow

[bethdoth]

I just finished 8 week tren/test (low dosage) cycle. I train arm hard once a week (tri/bi) drop sets to failure with a partner. I put on 1 1/4" in 8 weeks. I focused on shoulders because IMHO bigger capped shoulders will make your arms look bigger. I also focus on my diet and timing of what I take in. As you can see from my aviator I am a firm believer you want bigger arms work tri's harder.

[NACH3]

[QUOTE=rhoag;7086812]I just finished 8 week tren/test (low dosage) cycle. I train arm hard once a week (tri/bi) drop sets to failure with a partner. I put on 1 1/4" in 8 weeks. I focused on shoulders because IMHO bigger capped shoulders will make your arms look bigger. I also focus on my diet and timing of what I take in. As you can see from my aviator I am a firm believer you want bigger arms work tri's harder.[/QUOTE]

^^ good point, Rhoag! Tris are what 3/5ths of your total arm! Tris - 3 heads - bis 2 heads... If one can achieve the thickness of the bis(width) and IMO if one can build up their shorter head of tri(while the long head has the meat and thickness) The lateral head can be focused on - and the medial head is hit w/bis as well(hammer curls etc) reverse grip push downs/fresh curls(skull crushers)/one arm extensions etc are all great for the lateral head - while your CG bench is the bread and butter of the long head