"How to squat for HUGE ARMS"
By Stuart McRobert
Adapted from his best-selling book BRAWN
To build muscle mass, you must increase strength. It’s that simple. You
will never get huge arms, a monstrous back, a thick chest, or massive
legs without lifting heavy weights. I know that probably doesn’t come
as a revelation to anyone. But despite how obvious it seems, far too
many people (and not just beginners) neglect power training and rarely
make increasing the weights lifted in each successive workout a
priority. You must get strong in the basic mass building exercises to
bring about a significant increase in muscle size. One of the biggest
mistakes typical bodybuilders make is when they implement
specialization routines before they have the right to use them.
It constantly amazes me just how many neophytes (beginners), near
neophytes, and other insufficiently developed bodybuilders plunge into
single-body part specialization programs in the desperate attempt to
build big arms. I don’t fault them for wanting big arms, but their
approach to getting them is flawed. For the typical bodybuilder who is
miles away from squatting 1 ½ times their bodyweight for 20 reps (if
you weigh 180 lbs., that means 20 reps with 270 lbs.), an arm
specialization program is utterly inappropriate and useless.
The strength and development needed to squat well over 1 ½ times
bodyweight for 20 reps will build bigger arms faster then focusing on
biceps and triceps training with isolation exercises. Even though
squats are primarily a leg exercise, they stress and stimulate the
entire body. But more importantly, if you are able to handle heavy
weights in the squat, it logically follows that the rest of your body
will undoubtedly be proportionally developed. It’s a rare case that you
would be able to squat 1 ½ times your bodyweight and not have a
substantial amount of upper body muscle mass.
This is not to say that you don’t need to train arms, and squats alone
will cause massive upper body growth. You will still work every body
part, but you must focus on squats, deadlifts, and rows—the exercises
that develop the legs, hips, and back. Once you master the power
movements and are able to handle impressive poundages on those lifts,
the strength and muscle you gain will translate into greater weights
used in arm, shoulder and chest exercises.
In every gym I’ve ever visited or trained in, there were countless
teenage boys blasting away on routines, dominated by arm exercises, in
the attempt to build arms like their idols. In the ‘70s, they wanted
arms like Arnold Schwarzenegger, in the ‘80s Robby Robinson was a
favorite and currently Mr. Olympia, Ronnie Coleman, has set the
standard everyone wants to achieve. Unfortunately the 3 aforementioned
men as well as most other top bodybuilders have arm development far
beyond the reach of the average (or even above average) weight trainer.
But arm size can be increased. However, not in the way young trainers,
with physiques that don’t even have the faintest resemblance to those
of bodybuilders are attempting to make progress. Thin arms, connected
to narrow shoulders, fixed to shallow chest, joined to frail backs and
skinny legs, don’t need body part specialization programs. Let’s not
have skewed priorities. Let’s not try to put icing on the cake before
the cake has been baked.
Priorities
Trying to stimulate a substantial increase in size in a single body
part, without first having the main structures of the body in pretty
impressive condition, is to have turned bodybuilding upside-down,
inside-out and back to front.
The typical bodybuilder simply isn’t going to get much meat on his
arms, calves, shoulders, pectorals and neck unless he first builds a
considerable amount of muscle around the thighs, hips and back. It
simply isn’t possible—for the typical drug-free bodybuilder, that is—to
add much if any size to the small areas unless the big areas are
already becoming substantial.
There’s a knock-on (additive) effect from the efforts to add
substantial size to the thigh, hip and back structure (closely followed
by upper body pushing structure-pecs and delts). The smaller muscle
groups, like the biceps, and triceps will progress in size (so long as
you don’t totally neglect them) pretty much in proportion to the
increase in size of the big areas. It’s not a case of getting big and
strong thighs, hips, back and upper-body pushing structure with
everything else staying put. Far from it. As the thigh, hip, back and
upper-body pushing structure grows, so does everything else. Work hard
on squats and deadlifts, in addition to bench presses, overhead presses
and some type of row or pulldown. Then you can add a little isolation
work—curls, calf raises and neck work (but not all of this at every
workout).
The “Driver”
The key point is that the “engine” that drives the gains in the small
areas is the progress being made in the big areas. If you take it easy
on the thigh and back you will, generally speaking, have trouble making
gains in the other exercises, no matter how hard you work the latter.
All this isn’t to say just do squats, deadlifts and upper back work,
quite closely followed by some upper-body pressing work. While such a
limited program will deliver good gains on these few exercises, with
some knock-on effect throughout the body, it’s not a year after year
program. Very abbreviated routines are great for getting gains moving,
and for building a foundation for moderately expanded routines. They
are fine to keep returning to on a regular basis. The other training
isn’t necessary all in the same workout but spread over the week. This
will maintain balance throughout the body and capitalize upon the
progress made in the thigh, hip and back structure.
Just remember that the thigh, hip and back structure comes first and is
the “driver” (closely followed by the upper-body pushing structure) for
the other exercises. These other exercises, though important in their
own right, are passengers relative to the driving team.
Big Arms
To get big arms, get yourself on a basic program that focuses on the
leg, hip and back structure without neglecting the arms themselves. As
you improve your squatting ability, for reps and by say 100 pounds,
your curling poundage should readily come up by 30 pounds or so if you
work hard enough on your curls. This will add size to your biceps.
While adding 100 pounds to your squat, you should be able to add 50-70
pounds to your bench press, for reps. This assumes you’ve put together
a sound program and have worked hard on the bench. That will add size
to your triceps.
If you’re desperate to add a couple of inches to your upper arms you’ll
need to add 30 pounds or more over your body, unless your arms are way
behind the rest of you. Don’t start thinking about 17” arms, or even
16” arms so long as your bodyweight is 130, 140, 150, 160, or even 170
pounds. Few people can get big arms without having a big body. You’re
unlikely to be one of the exceptions.
15 sets of arm flexor exercises, and 15 sets of isolation tricep
exercises—with a few squats, deadlifts and bench presses thrown in as
an afterthought—will give you a great pump and attack the arms from
“all angles”. However, it won’t make your arms grow much, if at all,
unless you’re already squatting and benching big poundages, or are
drug-assisted or genetically gifted.
As your main structures come along in size and strength (thigh, hip and
back structure, and the pressing structure), the directly involved
smaller body parts are brought along in size too. How can you bench
press or dip impressive poundages without adding a lot of size to your
triceps? How can you deadlift the house and row big weights without
having the arm flexors—not to mention the shoulders and upper back—to
go with those lifts? How can you squat close to 2 times bodyweight, for
plenty of reps, without having a lot of muscle all over your body?
The greater the development and strength of the main muscular
structures of the body, the greater the size and strength potential of
the small areas of the body. Think it through. Suppose you can only
squat and deadlift with 200 pounds, and your arms measure about 13”.
You’re unlikely to add any more than half an inch or so on them, no
matter how much arm specialization you put in.
However, put some real effort into the squat and deadlift, together
with the bench press and a few other major basic movements. Build up
the poundages by 50% or more, to the point where you can squat 300
pounds for over 10 reps, and pack on 30 pounds of muscle. Then, unless
you have an unusual arm structure, you should be able to get your arms
to around 16”. If you want 17” arms, plan on having to squat more than
a few reps with around 2 times bodyweight, and on adding many more
pounds of muscle throughout your body (unless you have a better-than-
average growth potential in your upper arms).
All of this arm development would have been achieved without a single
concentration curl, without a single pushdown and without a single
preacher curl. This lesson in priorities proves that the shortest
distance between you and big arms is not a straight line to a curl
bar."