glamour muscles.

Let me start by saying I am athletic and work keeps my body lean and strong. However being strong has little to do with being "big" per se and my glamour muscles are not often hit while working. I have a fairly stout ropey (sp. Lol?) Build. Id like to add a little more mass , not much just a bit of girth to my arms. My triceps, forearms, back and neck muscles are all pretty good. This is primarily pertaining to biceps shoulders and maybe even pecs.

Suggestions for glamour muscle workouts? Can we please keep the suggestions limited to things that can be done outside the gym (I work too much for that). I own some freeweights but will get more equipmenr if necessary.

 

Curls (Biceps)
Hammer Curls (Brachialis which is below the Bicep - makes it pop out more once bigger, Bicep and Brachioradialis which is your main forearm muscle.)

Shoulder Press (Shoulders/Delts - also involves Tri's and back somewhat)
Reverse Dumbbell Flys (Shoulders/Delts - also involves Trapezius and upper back somewhat)

Bench Press (Chest)
Push Ups (Chest - somewhat shoulders)
Dumbbell Flys (Chest)

I can do all of the above in my home gym that consists of a bench and free weights

 

Biceps

2 headed muscle..hints the prefix bi. There is a short head and a long head. Short head is the inside of the arm. Its the part of the muscle that everyone sees if someone asks you to flex your bicep. The long head is the part of the muscle that is more on the outside of the bicep. This part of the bicep is what people will see if you're just walking around and will give your arms a "bigger" appearance if you are not flexed.

Exercises:

Alternating Curls: 3 sets of 10-12 reps each arm (Works the short head)

Hammer Curls: 3 sets of 10-12 reps each arm (Works the long head)

Tips: Don't let the weight just drop when you finish a rep on your arm. A controlled decent is also working the muscle and is quite beneficial.

Shoulders (Deltoids)

3 Parts to your Deltoids: Front, Side, Rear

You want to make sure you hit all parts when you work your shoulders.

Exercises:

Dumbbell Arnold Press, or Dumbbell Shoulder Press: 3 sets of 12-15 (More focused on front delts)

Dumbbell Side Lateral Raises: 3 sets of 12-15 (Side Delts)

These 2 should be adequate in hitting all 3 areas. If you feel like your rear delts are really lacking then you can add in 3 sets of 12-15 of some rear delt dumbbell rows or bent over dumbbell raises.

Chest

Size will be most affected by exercises that really stretch the muscle (Not just press movements)

Exercises:

Incline and flat dumbbell flyes 3 sets 12-15

Incline and flat dumbbell press 3 sets 10-12

All of these exercises can all be done with free weights and no other equipment. I personally would suggest finding a cheap gym. 24 hour gyms are usually pretty cheap and you may be able to get a few months out of the gym for the price of a single heavy dumbbell.

 

No thanks on the gym money is not an issue (within reason). I already own some free weights.

Suggestion on how much weight I should be using for reps for my biceps? Or atleast how to tell whats an ideal weight. The extent of my exercise in the past was primarily push ups, pull ups, crunches and a 25lb dumbell. I bought some more weights and a curl bar at a garage sale recently.

 

For me I like to be struggling once I hit the desired rep range. For example, if I am doing 12-15 reps I want to be struggling once I get to 12 reps. I then fight out as many reps after that (With Good Form). Once I am able to get to 15 easily it might be time to try a heavier weight. Make sure you don't compromise form for more weight. Does that help?

 

Everybody is different with their body geometrics. I would recommend starting at 25lbs and going up and down in weight depending on how hard it is to finish a set.

 

It takes trial and error really. Ideal rep range for hypertrophy is generally 8-10 reps per set. I do 8. Ideally you'd want to have a weight that you could only do 10 reps of (with good form) and then only do 8. Don't go until failure as this will basically fry your central nervous system.

Good choice in purchasing second hand weights. They're cheaper but exactly the same thing as new weights.

 

25 is easy, 35 is not. I can only add in increments of 5lb weights atm so yeah. I guess ill do 25 and do a few more reps.

 

Being strong has ALOT to do with being "big"?

I would suggest going to the gym, yes you might work too much for that, but muscle growth is the same IN and OUT of the gym? You need to work just as hard on your home gym than you would in commercial gym.

I would suggest push and pull workouts, so you can stimulate all groups of muscles.

 

Just wanted to comment and say that strength does not necessarily mean you are "big". Compare powerlifters to bodybuilders. One is focused on strength while the other is focused on size. Sure a bodybuilder is strong, but is not even close to as strong as that person could have been if he focused more on strength training than bodybuilding...

 

Yeah sorry I should of been more specific.

But in the day to day run of the mill type of "weight lifter" generally the more muscle you have, the stronger you are.

 

This. Also look at manual laborers, construction workers ect. Working being able to move, carry, lift and manipulate hundreds of pounds for 8-12 hours doesnt make you "big" but it certainly makes you strong. Same thing with package handlers (hue) they work your ASS off at fed ex, seriously its awful.

 

I forgot to say this but as far as having big muscles, it's about 80% diet, 15%routine 5% supplements. Focus on hitting all of your macros while at a caloric surplus and find a nice hypertrophy routine. FLEX: Hypertrophy is a good one that you can google...