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.