wwp8

what is the best effective way to build up biceps (not too outrageous) but enough to get rid of the "bye bye" flab

if one does not go to gyms

TelBoy

Are you a bloke or a girl?

7 Foot

Are you talking about bingo wings (fat under your arm when you hold your arm out)?

You talk about building muscle to lose fat. Whilst this does work to a degree as lifting weights does burn calories and putting on muscle can change the shape of your body and change the appearance/disguise fat, the best way to burn/lose fat is through CV exercise and sensible eating - move your body more.

There are a load of exercises to build biceps using all sorts of different equipment. Simple bicep curls are your best bet for starters.

milo

the best bicep builders:

squats and deadlifts.

no, really

both of these cause the body to pack on more overall muscle than any other exercise. chins and dips also work well and they recruit your arms more.

the proof: take anyone who's squatting 400kg+... do they EVER have small biceps, regardless of whether they work them out or not?

however if you just want to lose fat from your arms... you'll have to lose it off your whole body... that's diet.

TelBoy

Pah, that ain't "proof", that's circumstantial evidence!!

Show me anyone who squats 400+ who doesn't (or hasn't) curl big weights too, then it would be proof!! What squats do on a macro level is *maximise* potential gains, not just from other leg exercises, but on all areas of the body, including arms, due to their metabolic kick up the **** effect...

7 Foot

milo - whilst there is some truth in what you've said you do sound like you are simply trying to be a smart ****.

TelBoy

OllyK

I find lots of cotton wool and gaffer tape wrapped round the arms works well

wez_sti

hi mate, i'll try and give you some more serious advice, that 400+ squating line is the most rubbish i've ever heard! does that mean all fat people have great ab's????


if you want to get rid of the bingo wings the under arm thats the Triceps, and are exercised with a pushing motion rather than a pulling or curling motion. press-ups are probaly the simpleist, or lifting weights staight up over your head... the comment about healthy eating is very valid also, muscles add definition but its no good under an inch of flab...eat loads of protein (fish, chicken) and v. little fat!

RichWalk

Paint Shop Pro, usually works for me

ian_sadler

OOOOOOOOOooooooooohhhhhhhh Mad Max

ozzy

Work your Triceps if you want big arms and no under-arm wings.

yoza

Surgery is the easiest way to get rid of dinner lady arms.

super_si

Whys that??

Those lifts tax the whole body, no ones prepared to work to get into shape

milo

no.. i'm just right

milo

go to westside barbell's website. look at the weights they're moving. look at their routines. you won't find a single curl or bicep exercise in there.

yes they probably CAN curl big weights if they wanted to (as a result of them squatting and dead'ing seriously weights).. but they never do.

most powerlifting routines do NOT train biceps or calves - why bother when they're not part of a powerlifters' requirements. and take a look at the arms of some of the powerlifters out there.

milo

what's that got to do with anything? you make utterly no sense at all here.

what i'm saying is: big heavy compound moves build big muscles all over and there's little point in picking up a light weight and doing curls with it.

what you're saying is: does that mean all fat people have great abs??

how is that an analogy?

7 Foot

milo - whether you are right or not the original post said: Somehow we are now debating 400+ squats,'big heavy compound moves' etc.

Not really relevant me thinks. . . . unless wwp8 is planning on not actually going to a gym but keeping a dirty great barbell in the bedroom with various weight plates leaning against the wardrobe .

milo

VERY relevant actually... i'm saying you SHOULD go to the gym, because that's how you do it.

EXACTLY the same as saying (for instance) "how do i become a good footballer if i dont want to play football"... you'd get a host of responses saying "you have to play football if you want to get good"... and i doubt in that instance you'd get people saying the folks who reply with those comments are smart *****...

milo

i like fridays.. always lots of gym questions and arguments

CupraT

Milo - The West Side Barbell lot have big arms due to the massive amount of tricep work that they do to build their bench press.
They may not do a lot of curling but triceps make up the vast bulk of the arm (approx 2/3rds).

I fully agree that squats and deads are THE exercises to do if you are serious about training but to tone the arms a 400kg anything is a little OTT.

milo

absolutely i agree. in numerous posts in the past ive said just that about tricep work.

but i was responding to the challenge:
having said that tho - most on wsb are not exactly lacking in biceps either

wwp8

ok
1, i am a guy
2, i have no time or money for a gym

about 3-4 days a week i do about 20 pressups (one with the hands together)
7 days a week 30 min CV
been on a diet since new year lost 3 stone and a couple of quid
but seems to stop so suddenly
arms seem flabby so just wondering
don't have any fancy equipment
dumbell perhaps but only do the same thing so got bored

CupraT

Well done with the 3 stone loss.

I would probably look at the CV you are doing and try to change things a little. You can get stale after a while which may explain why the weight loss has stopped.

Try to vary things up with HIIT (high intensity interval training) - an example of this would be sprint for a minute, walk for a minute - repeat for 20 minutes (can be done on a bike) or go for a jog but vary the pace around.

For toning up the arms etc the best thing if you can get the equipment together is chins/dips.

If you add in chins you will develope the arms and the back (V shape) and if you can add dips you will develop the triceps and chest.

If you run via a park the childrens climbing equipment can be used for chins, 2 chairs put together can be used for dips.

I would try to add this in 3 times per week - working upto initially 3-5 sets of 8-12 repetitions.

If you can not do the cins/dips then pressups and curls will work - though you will beed to buy some dumbells (cheasp second hand).

Good luck

Edit - for pressups try varying your hand spacing and/or raise your feet up and/or add weight to a backpack - you need to up the intensity of what you are doing. Doing the same thing week in week out will not get the results you want.

CC

re doing heavy squats and deadlifts having an effect on ure arms. yes it will i agree with milo.

very intense anaerobic training has been shown to cause the release of human growth hormone (as well as other stuff lol) as a direct response to the very high stress to the body. hgh will have an anabolic effect on ALL muscles including biceps/triceps. reaching this intensity would be alot harder than doing preacher curls or sumat rather than deadlifts. those who disagree havent done deadlifts.

doing such mad things to the body puts it into a state of anabolism i fink. obviously u still need to train arms!

the science of all this is explained if anyone is inclined to look it up (google).

CupraT

CC - I don't think there is any dispute about the benefits of squats and deadlifts, though doing them at home with tins of beans will probably not help him much. He does not want to/can not go to the gym.

ozzy

wwp8,

You don't need to lift 400kg to become bigger and fitter. If you want to become a Bodybuilder or Powerlifter, then that's the way to go. If you just want to tone up and add some size (and actually be fit), then forget all that. Nothing wrong with doing some strength sessions and I even do squats myself. Just don't need to lift HUGE weights

Stick to basic circuit training for general muscle strength, conditioning and endurance.

20 press-ups isn't enough, but you can easily achieve more than this in a week or two, even if you've never done one before. Do some quick circuits every day is an easy way to build up. I'd suggest 3 quick circuits either first thing and/or last thing before bed.

20 press-ups
20 sit-ups
5 pull-ups
20 burpees

If it gets easy, just add more press-ups. If you struggle on the pull-ups, just do what you can - max effort. Do them as quickly as possible and rest enough to get your breathing back. As you get fitter, reduce the rest between sets. No rest between exercises.

Another thing to do is fit a pull-up bar in a door way. Then everytime you walk past, try and do some pull-ups. That's any easy and quick way to build upper body strength.

3 times per week, do some longer harder circuits. There's loads of stuff on the net, but a good one would be:-

Press-ups (normal)
Sit-Ups
Squat Thrusts
Dumbell Curls
Squats (body weight or a rucksac full of bricks can be used)
Press-Ups (wide-arm)
Pull-Ups
Leg Raises
Step-Ups (find something at least 12" high and set up/down with dumbells)
Dips
Star Jumps or Knee Tucks (jump & bring knees to chest)
Press-Ups (close arm)

Base the circuit on either reps or time. Key is to do each exercise back-to-back with no rest. So, you could start with 12 reps of each (2-3 on pull-ups) and then increase by 2 reps each week OR you could do each exercise for 15 secs, 30 secs, etc..

As long as you're increasing resistance and progressing then you'll make good gains. You can space out the exercises and involve running or sprinting between exercises. For example, set some jumpers 20m apart. Do one exercise, then sprint to the other jumper. Do the next exercise and then sprint back again.

Or you could do all the above exercises and then do some 3 x 100m sprints (minimum rest between sprints).

If it starts getting too easy or you end up doing 100 reps at each exercise, then add some weigth to your body. Either get some ankle weights, or a weight vest or get a cheap rucksac and start adding stones, rubble, anything to add resistance.

You can do the same with CV work. Best exercise is running IMHO. Find some countryside or parkland and do some mixture of running throughout the week. Concentrate on time rather than any distances.

A good 30-45mins at high pace builds fitness. You shouldn't be able to hold a conversation, but aren't breathing out you @rse. 2-3 times per week is good.

Then do a fast session. 20-30mins flat out. Maxmum effort and you should be knackered afterwards and your lungs should be on fire.

To give yourself some endurance and build some stamina into your legs, try a longer runs. 45mins+ at a pace where you can comfortably hold a conversation with someone. Build up to 1-1.5hrs+.

Times and pace are difficult to advise as I've no idea how fit (or unfit you are), but your own body should give you an idea of how hard you are working. The long runs should "feel" easy. It's once you've stopped and the day after that you usually feel it in your legs.

If you want more info, then I'd suggest you look into Armed Forces style of training. This is all based on running and circuits. You don't need any equipment other than a decent pair of running shoes.

If you want, I have a basic Royal Marine PT Guide that I can e-mail you. Doesn't cover exact exercises, just some pointers on how to improve all-round fitness.

Stefan

wwp8

where can i find some info on some of these things
as i dunno what is
burpees
deadlifts