Why aren't my arms 20 inches?

This week I am going to talk about the arms. I'm going to use them as a simple example but if you are clever you will be able to apply this concept to all different parts of your body.

Why aren't my arms 20 inches?

If you are reading this, you are probably someone who has weak arms or wants to develop bigger, fuller arms. The answer to how to do this always requires context but I will go over what things can be issues and what steps you can take to improve.

The Problems

There are numerous barriers to developing a good set of arms:

- genetics
- inappropriate volume, intensity and frequency
- incorrect form
- poor exercise selection
- misplaced progamming focus
- lack of patience

Genetics

Genetics play a big role in both how much muscle you are capable of gaining on your arms and the shape of that muscle. If you have short bicep muscle bellies and long tendons where they insert at the elbow joint then you are more likely to have a bicep which bunches up into a "baseball" or a "peak". If you have long bicep muscle bellies and a short amount of bicep tendon at the elbow (this is me) then you are more likely to have longer, fuller biceps when contracted but less peak. I like to call the latter a "football bicep" as opposed to a baseball bicep.

Of course that is just the biceps, the triceps also contribute to arm size to a great degree. In fact they contribute to a greater degree than the biceps, they just aren't noticed as readily. All three heads of the triceps play a role in arm size but the extent to which there is potential for long head development will determine how "round" the arm looks in the contracted position (looking from the front).

Arnold had one bicep with a shorter muscle belly/longer tendon "peak" structure and another long, full bicep

Inappropriate volume, intensity and frequency

The interplay of these three variables is largely what makes up your training program (along with a few other things). Any of these things can be too high, too low or not interplaying well with each other, resulting in a lack of progress. Obviously this applies both to individual muscles like the biceps and triceps and broadly to the entire musculoskeletal system.

Incorrect form

Bad technique can limit the amount of gains you make because the muscle intended to move the weight through the range of motion is not doing so. In the case of the biceps often excessive momentum is used to swing the weight up, too much shoulder flexion occurs and too little forearm supination occurs. When we are talking about the triceps there is a greater variety of exercises that can be performed so it depends on the context but usually it is a lack of range of motion (extension) at the elbow joint, excessive weight being used, lack of control of the exercise or otherwise faulty mechanics.

Arnold demonstrates incorrect form aka the girl walking downstairs in The Exorcist

Poor exercise selection

Care needs to be taken to select exercises which are appropriate for the individual performing them and for the goal that the exercise needs to accomplish. If the latter is neglected then the result will not be achieved to the best potential. When it comes to arm development, exercises which target ALL areas of the arm are important. Yes this means the biceps and triceps but it is important not to neglect the forearms and secondary elbow flexors (brachialis and brachioradialis being the main two). All of these muscles contribute to total arm development and a lack of any one of them makes the arms noticeably less impressive.

Misplaced programming focus

Sometimes when a muscle is not responding well to training we start to gravitate towards extremes. That is we might resort to the "whatever it takes" mentality and try anything from eight hour arm workouts on the extreme end and things like German volume training, pre exhaustion with compound exercises (eg chin ups) and intensity techniques on the less extreme side. Some of these things are ridiculous, and others might actually be valid to some degree. The consideration is sustainability and progression. Are you really going to be able to keep doing 10 sets of 10 for biceps for the rest of your lifting career? Will you be able to continue to progress doing that in the long term? Or is it just a short term road to some gains which will eventually plateau and leave you struggling with where to take your training next?

Oh Rich you are the first person in the history of the world to tell it like it is bro

Lack of patience

Everybody these days wants everything NOW. They often don't realise how long it takes to develop a good physique, and weak body parts no less. Weak body parts are always going to take a long time to develop. Sometimes you will discover something which does increase the rate of development but generally you won't stumble across these things unless a fundamental was out of place and you didn't quite realise it initially.

The Solutions

Genetics

There is obviously no solution to having poor arm genetics. All you can do is accept that you do have poor genetics in whatever regard and then make a commitment to developing them to be the best they can be within your own limitations.

Before you can accept that you have poor arm genetics though you need to be able to recognise that you have poor arm genetics. I'm going to discuss how to recognise this in regards to the structure of the biceps in particular. I suggest standing in front of a mirror and abducting your arms to shoulder level with elbows extended. Examine what the biceps look like. Most people will have similar looking biceps in this position as when they are stretched out the amount of muscle won't be terribly apparent. Next contract your biceps and bend your elbows 90 degrees. Again look at your biceps and take note of the amount of muscle vs tendon. Finally contract your biceps completely, moving your forearms as close to your biceps as they will go (a front double bicep pose). Examine the way your biceps look once again taking note of the amount of muscle vs tendon. Having looked at these three positions should give you a fairly good idea of the structure of your biceps. Having a short baseball bicep, a short peaked bicep or a long, full football bicep can all be good things in different ways. Maybe you have none of these. You might have a lot of tendon and very little muscle which lacks appreciable shape. Generally football biceps have the most potential for overall size as there is simply more muscle tissue to fill out. However baseballs and peaks can be quite impressive in their own rights. If you have hardly any muscle tissue, you probably got screwed genetically (unless you have been training for a short period of time).

That covers structure, but what about potential for growth and rate of growth? These things will only become apparent with experience. If you've been training for 10 years, doing everything correctly and you still have small biceps, chances are you just don't have good potential for muscle growth in that muscle group.

Like we noted above if you do discover that your genetics for arm development are poor there isn't anything you can do about it. So don't waste time worrying about it and invest your energy into a reasonable plan of action as well as developing self acceptance and patience/trust in the process.

Sergio Oliva was famous for his long, full biceps

Inappropriate volume, intensity and frequency

I can't tell you the exact answer to how you should program your training variables. However a good starting point for most people is between 40 and 70 reps per muscle group trained 2 - 3 times per week. 1 - 15 reps is a good range for hypertrophy but when it comes to the exercises which are appropriate for training the biceps and triceps many of them are isolation exercises meaning that you will probably be working in more of the 6 - 15 rep range (exceptions might be compound exercises like close grip bench press).

Incorrect form

The main things to address here are:

- Keep the weight under control ie don't swing and use momentum
- The primary function of the biceps is to flex the elbow joint. Some translation of the elbow is ok when performing bicep curls but excessive shoulder flexion is undesirable. The same thing goes for tricep cable push downs
- Make sure you supinate completely when performing dumbbell curls. Half the people I see doing this exercise seem to do it in a fashion that looks half way between a supinated bicep curl and a hammer curl. Supination is one of the functions of the biceps. Not completing the movement means you won't be getting a complete contraction and you are short changing yourself.
- Use a full range of motion

Poor exercise selection

For the biceps you want to include curl variations which involve flexion and supination. For triceps I think it's good to include exercises in different ranges of shoulder flexion. All of the three heads will contract during all exercises involving elbow extension but certain exercises will emphasise different heads. I suggest at least one push down movement and one overhead extension movement. Lastly don't neglect the secondary elbow flexors. An exercise like hammer curls will place an emphasis on the brachialis and brachioradialis. This is one area that is consistently neglected by gym goers. Perhaps they think they are unnecessary or perhaps they just don't think to train them, but one thing is for sure I rarely see people specifically train this area and I rarely see people with well developed forearms. Speaking of forearms you can also perform wrist curls into flexion or extension to develop the forearm flexors/extensors but the return on investment is somewhat limited.

 Hammer curls - I've done these consistently for my whole time lifting, can you tell?

Misplaced programming focus

When it comes to programming I suggest having an overall philosophy or goal of progressive overload. Within that you want to have a specific progression scheme. With some of the isolation exercises for biceps and triceps you may have to sometimes focus on adding reps more than increasing weight simply because the smallest increment available to increase by can be a relatively large percentage of the weight you are lifting (depending on how much you are lifting and the exercise). 

Lack of patience

Here is a novel idea. Consider that it takes a long time to build a good amount of muscle. If we are talking about some of the weakest muscles in your body genetically, they could take many years until they look even decent. Strap yourself in for the long haul.

Personal Anecdote

I do want to offer my perspective on this in case any of you are feeling hopeless at this point. Just stick with it. I had fairly poor legs at some point. My legs didn't respond quickly to training but if you were to look at my legs now you'd probably say they are one of my strongest body parts. It wasn't until I started training my legs more than once per week that they really responded well and over several years they have grown a good amount just by focusing on the basics. Now I'm not saying this can be achieved by everyone for all weak muscle groups but I am certain that you can always improve. Stick with the things discussed above that make logical sense and actually offer a gradual return on investment.

Thankyou for reading, I'll catch you guys next week.

Muscle Academy contact details:

Email - info@muscleacademy.com.au
Website - http://www.muscleacademy.com.au
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Instagram and Twitter - @evansoooon

- Evan

Is bodybuilding a sport?

Is bodybuilding a sport?

This is something that I have seen discussed many times over, so I more or less know the topic inside out. I will present both sides of the argument as well as going over my personal opinion.

Against bodybuilding being a sport

The arguments against bodybuilding being a sport centre largely around:

- sports are usually, but not always, scored objectively
- sports usually involve a performance aspect
- bodybuilding is less similar to sports than it is to other competitive activities
- technical aspects related to the definition of "sport"

Sport - the definition

I think firstly let's define what sport is so that we have something to work with. The dictionary defines sport as:

"an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment"

 Objective Scoring

Usually sports are scored objectively in some way. If you are performing a race of some kind then the person who finishes within the shortest time is the winner. If you are a powerlifter and you lift the most total weight on the squat, bench press and deadlift you win the meet. If you are playing basketball and your team shoots the most baskets amounting to the greatest score then your team wins the game. This is fairly straight forward. The argument against bodybuilding being a sport therefore is that the competitors are judged subjectively based on loose criteria. There is no direct control that you have over your score or placing.

 Basketball is an example of an objectively scored sport

Performance

Another thing most sports have in common is that the training and performance of the sport activity are directly related. Whether that be shot put, table tennis, sprinting, soccer, swimming, your training develops skills and abilities which directly contribute to the activity you perform. In bodybuilding that doesn't happen. You train for hypertrophy and whilst there is certainly a performance aspect to training when it comes to the competition there is no related performance aspect. You get on stage to display the physique you have built through the training that you have done.

Posing in bodybuilding displays the physique but isn't a performance activity

Similarities and Differences

Another argument that people put forward is that bodybuilding not only has differences between itself and other sports but that it has similarities to other competitions. In particular people like to cite that bodybuilding competitions are similar to beauty pageants. Indeed they do have some similarities - judged partly on physical appearance, they involves training and preparation of some kind, they are both competitions which are judged subjectively and both involve posing on stage in a bikini or posing trunks.

 Bodybuilding contests and beauty pageants - the same thing?

Technicalities of the Definition

 So again the definition of sport was

"an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment"

In particular proponents of bodybuilding not being a sport argue that the performance on stage is what really matters (as opposed to the training). They would then argue that posing doesn't involve much physical exertion or skill.

  For bodybuilding being a sport

The arguments for bodybuilding being a sport centre largely around:

- not all sports are scored objectively
- bodybuilding involves an athletic training aspect
- similarities to other activities don't matter
- technicalities of the definition

Subjective Scoring

Whilst I would say the majority of sports are scored objectively as I discussed above, there are certainly some sports which are scored subjectively. Four examples which come to mind immediately are gymnastics, figure skating, synchronised swimming and diving. All of these sports have criteria which they are judged upon but they are judged subjectively by a panel nonetheless. Saying that an activity must be judged objectively to be considered as a sport is therefore incorrect.

Figure skating - a sport which is judged subjectively

Competition vs Training

I think where both sides really disagree is the consideration of the actual competition vs the training which is involved for it. Like I said already most other sports do have a performance aspect to the competitive activity. Bodybuilding doesn't really have that but it does include it very much as the main part of the preparation for the competition. Training for muscular hypertrophy is very demanding as much so as many other sports and you could certainly consider the activity of resistance training as athletic. It is definitely "training" as opposed to "exercise" if you get what I am saying.

 Bodybuilding isn't a performance based activity ... tell that to Ronnie Coleman

Similar =/= Exactly the same

The argument that bodybuilding competitions are the same as beauty pageants is a flawed one in my opinion. Whilst I do recognise that there are some legitimate similarities between the two things, I dispute that they are the same thing. Some examples of differences between bodybuilding competitions and pageants include but are not limited to:

- one is a competition between muscular males or females, the other is a competition between slim females only
- one involves age groups from teenage to elderly, the other involves children and young women
- bodybuilding involves peaking strategies, pageants do not
- one involves a series of mandatory poses, the other does not
- one involves a posing routine set to music, the other does not
- one involves a variety of rounds including appearance in a swimsuit, appearance in a gown, talent in an activity and poise answering questions about things like how they would solve contemporary problems in society. The other involves just muscular appearance
- in one the competitors apply a very dark tan, in the other the competitors lack the same degree of tan
- the training and preparation involved for each competition is completely different
- bodybuilders get to extremely low levels of bodyfat, pageant competitors don't
- the judging criteria for the aspects of appearance which are judged are different
- some bodybuilders use anabolic steroids and other performance based substances, pageant competitors don't

Clearly pageants and bodybuilding contests are completely different things. And to argue that they are the same thing based on the few similarities that they do have is wrong. That would be the same as arguing that apples and tomatoes are the same thing, cricket and baseball are the same games or sharks and dolphins are exactly the same. It is possible for things to have some similarities whilst actually being two different things.

 Mmmmm I can't wait to eat both of these round, red fruits which are exactly the same

Technicalities of the Definition

For ease of reading I will paste the definition of sport here one more time:

"an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment"

Now we need to tick off the boxes for bodybuilding to technically be considered a sport:

- it is an activity TICK
- the training involves physical exertion and skill TICK
- you can argue that the posing on stage involves both physical exertion and skill (anyone who has competed will know exactly what I mean) TICK
- bodybuilding involves an individual competing against others TICK
- the purpose is entertainment TICK

So if we are strictly looking at the definition of a sport then it is possible for bodybuilding to be considered a sport because you can argue that it technically fulfills what the definition requires.

My Opinion

Personally I have seen this argument so many times that I can see both sides. I do like to think of bodybuilding as a sport. Being someone who is involved in it and knowing what it requires, I naturally think about it that way until these kinds of arguments are brought up. I'd also be fairly happy to call it a "competitive recreational activity". However I don't think it is correct to call bodybuilding contests pageants. I feel that comparison is usually drawn as an attempt to upset bodybuilding competitors because it is known that suggesting bodybuilding is the same as something inherently feminine will be interpreted as offensive. I don't think it really matters what we define it as at the end of the day. It doesn't really change anything about bodybuilding. It's still the same thing whether you call it a sport, an activity, a competition or whatever else.

Announcement: I plan to have Muscle Academy t shirts and perhaps other apparel available soon. I hope for them to be available within the next few weeks for competitors, clients and followers. So keep an eye out on social media. If you aren't following me already on social media my details are below.

Muscle Academy contact details:

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- Evan

Staying Humble

I have been sitting here thinking about what I am going to write about this week and it suddenly dawned on me. I was thinking about this over the weekend. It's a topic that I think many people in the fitness industry could take on board and at the least have a think about or do some self reflection.

The importance of staying humble

I am writing this in relation to those involved in the fitness industry and bodybuilding. Bodybuilding and fitness unfortunately are things that are driven largely by image. Even the name bodybuilding describes building the body. It's a body centric activity. Unfortunately it also tends to be an activity that distorts many people's egos. It's something that goes with the sport simply because it is so self focused and so image focused.

Let's think about some of the behaviours that bodybuilders and people in the fitness industry engage in:

- analysing your physique in the mirror or other reflections
- taking photos of yourself or having others take photos of you
- judging your own physical appearance (physique)
- judging others people's physical appearance (physique) in relation to yours
- taking selfies
- boasting or bragging about physique, fitness related financial success or otherwise
- posting any of the above on social media

Now I'm not saying that all of the above are negative things which should be completely avoided. Many of them are actually necessary and useful things for monitoring self progress. In fact I do many of those things myself. I'd actually say that most of us who are involved in bodybuilding and fitness would be lying if they said they'd never done any of those things. However all of those things are self focused and body image focused. Some of them are fine and others are a little unhealthy by nature but all of them can become somewhat unhealthy if the ego gets too big.

I suppose what I'm getting at is the mindset behind all of this. Looking at yourself in the mirror at the gym and admiring/being proud of your progress is ok. You shouldn't feel ashamed of yourself for feeling good that you are improving the way you look or improving your fitness and health in some manner. But if you start thinking a little too much of yourself I think that can start to become a bit of a problem. And I think some people do start to feel this way, even if they deny it.

This doesn't exist only amongst amateur bodybuilders or in the general fitness arena. Think about Phil Heath and Kai Greene at last year's Mr Olympia. Here are two of the best professional bodybuilders in the world and each of them were bickering like school girls on and off stage. Why? Too much ego. And you might say "well they are the best so it's fine for them to have inflated egos". Well, not really. You can be the best at something without thinking the world of yourself.

I think often times actually the people who are at the top of different sports or the top in whatever else are actually the most humble. They know what they are capable of and what it took to get there. They have respect for the process. So they don't need to prove to everyone that they are something fantastic and they don't think they are God's gift to the world. Usually when people try to prove themselves it stems from insecurity. The people at the top (usually) aren't insecure.

The fact is everybody struggles with this to some degree. When you start to get good at something and achieve results your ego gets a boost. It's human nature.

What can we do to stay humble?

 Check yourself before you wreck yourself - I think the first step is just being mindful of our egos. Be aware that you are involved in an activity or in an industry that is very image focused. When you achieve something good and your ego starts to inflate, reign it back in. Recognise your progress but stay calm and focus on further progress, not on how great you are.

Educate and dominate - knowing what is realistic in terms of your physique, strength development etc will go a long way. Educating yourself and having a greater level of knowledge about a variety of factors that contribute to your progress will keep you grounded in reality a lot more. Ideally this should help to keep you a little more humble because you will realise what to expect in terms of results and just what a slow and gradual process this is that requires a lot of focus, consistency, patience and dedication. I think that in itself is humbling. Those that stick with this for the long haul knowing the reality of how slow progress really is have the opportunity to develop some positive character traits along the way (one of them being humility).

Moderate your own behaviour - sometimes the behaviour we engage in fosters our ego to become bigger and bigger. To negate this, have an attitude and behaviour that promotes the opposite. Pull back on talking yourself up. If you are posting on social media know the reason why you are posting - fun, business, progress, to brag, attention. If the reason you are posting is because you want to show off and get attention, maybe just hold back and don't post. Achieving success and being modest about it says a lot about yourself.

Develop yourself in a balanced way - this is difficult advice to give when bodybuilding is such an extreme activity which sometimes requires extreme measures. Sometimes we need to take a step back, look at the big picture and ask ourselves are we truly balanced. Your physique and fitness should not be your entire life. Things like interpersonal relationships, family, education/intellectual development, career, spiritual development, emotional well being, travel/cultural experience and personal happiness are just some examples of areas that can be important and should be paid ample attention. Live your life outside of the small subculture of bodybuilding and fitness.

Don't think, do - what I mean by this is that if when you achieve something if you spend too much time thinking about how great you are for achieving that thing then you aren't spending that time being productive. You could be creating and/or acting on a strategy for success in the next thing. Of course there is time for relaxing, resting and non-action too. However what I am saying is doing things, planning, practicing, training, applying, creating is so much more valuable and productive than expressing to yourself and to others how great you are. If what you are achieving is great, people are going to take notice without you making a big noise about it.

Small steps - I want to point out that by writing this I'm not hoping to create a massive change. If anything I realise that many people are very set in their ways and don't even see this as a problem. But I am hoping a few people might read this and think "yeah I let my ego soar a bit high sometimes" and then apply mental effort and take behavioural actions to keep it in check. As bodybuilders we don't need to become Buddhist monks but we could have a think about the nature of ourselves in this activity/industry. A little bit of humbleness goes a long way, especially in an industry where we see much of the opposite. Do your part to make this better, not worse.

Those are my thoughts for the week. I hope you enjoyed reading them. I'll be back next week with a different topic. Remember if you have any coaching enquiries or perhaps a topic you'd like me to cover in my blog in the future then you can contact me as per below.

Muscle Academy contact details:

Email - info@muscleacademy.com.au
Website - http://www.muscleacademy.com.au
Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/MuscleAcademy
Instagram and Twitter - @evansoooon

- Evan