You have been working out for a quite a while now.
You tried several biceps and triceps exercise variations, but for some reason your arms don’t seem to be getting any bigger.
I know, it can be very frustrating.
Well, I’m sure there are a few things you are doing wrong.
So I will address each of them below so that you don’t repeat the same mistakes again.
6 Reasons Why Your Arms Won’t Grow (or Stopped Growing)
Reason 1 – You’re Not Eating Enough
How can you expect bigger arms if the rest of your body isn’t big either? If you want big biceps and triceps then you will need to put a lot of work into getting big over-all.
This means you will need to “EAT BIG”.
So if you are a a skinny guy, and you want to gain muscle, then you must gain weight first. To do that you will need to eat every 2-3 hours. By constantly supplying your body with the right nutrients will make it much easier for you to gain weight.
Reason 2 – No Experience
If you haven’t been thought how to perform the exercises correctly, or you just copy other guys in the gym, it’s no wonder your having a hard time building muscle. The same is true for the guys who do teach you, who are also inexperienced.
Then nobody really knows what they are doing, it’s just they let their ego get in the way. Every gym rat wants to sound like they know everything, but in reality they are wasting each others time.
Lets say, I wanted to know how to do an “Incline Inner Biceps Curl”, I would probably find the guy with the biggest arms in the gym and ask him. Much better to ask him than the guy next to me with the skinny arms who acts like he knows how to do every single arm exercise known to man.
Reason 3 – Bad Form
Don’t be one of those guys trying to show off by curling heavy weight that you can actually handle. You want to make sure you have good form so that you lift the weight through full range of motion.
For Example when doing Barbell Biceps Curls, I suggest practicing with a light weight of 2.5kgs – 5kgs for 8-10 repetitions.
Concentrate on bringing the weight all the way down until arms are fully extended. Don’t go too fast or too slow just make sure you get a complete contraction.
Reason 4 – Neglect Compound Movements
If you avoid doing heavy compound exercises like squats, deadlifts, pullups, barbell rows your selling yourself short. These exercises (especially squats and deadlifts) are great for building strength and muscle mass as they work every major muscle in your body.
It has been proven over and over again that by doing 4-6 heavy repetitions of deadlifts and squats increase testosterone and human growth hormone and as a result increases the size of your arms.
So if you want big arms, make sure you do them as well.
Reason 5 – Too Much Cardio
Cardio is definitely an essential part for increasing your overall cardiovascular health and getting super lean. But a lot of guys get carried away and take it to the extreme.
If you do too much cardio, it will not only burn body fat but you will sabotage your muscle gains. Calories promotes muscle growth so why are you make it difficult if your body is fighting a continuous calorie deficit?
If your goal is to gain muscle (in this case “Build Big Arms) then limit cardio to just one day a week and spend 4-5 days weight training. 30 minutes of steady state cardio for beginners.
For me, I just stick to cardio one day a week for a total of 15 minutes doing high intensity intervals on a treadmill or outdoor hill sprints.
If you hit a plateau and notice muscle loss, then cut back on the cardio altogether and just stick to the weights for a few weeks.
Reason 6 – Training Not Intense Enough
There are several reasons why you arms aren’t growing and Intensity is one of them. You need to make sure you are training hard. If that means doing drop sets, super sets, giant sets, pyramid sets or taking less rest time, then do that.
If your arms are not sore the next day then your workout wasn’t intense enough. Muscle growth happens by breaking the micro fibers in the tissue. So your muscles need to be under intense contractions.
If you are a beginner, start off with a barbell and curl heavy weight for 4 sets of 4 repetitions. If you can do more than 5 reps then it’s too light for you. Add a bit more weight to the bar.
Here’s how Arnold does it
Check out these exercises for building huge biceps and triceps
These are the most common reasons why your arms won’t grow, which hinder peoples progress. Try to avoid making these mistakes in your next workout and I’m sure you will make faster gains than you did previously. And remember you can do this naturally without harmful drugs and supplements .
