Should I stop working arms?

[strong like bull]

"I workout 4 times a week (days 1 and 3 backs, biceps, and shoulders and day 2 and 4 chest and tris with legs on 2 of the days). Anyways, I can make gains but my arms just don't get better. I've been reading and think maybe I've been overtraining them? Should I stop working them out and just get the workout from back and chest to do it or what?"

so just to clarify... youre doing back, bis and shoulders twice a week, chest and tris twice a week, and legs twice a week?

if thats the case i dont think you should necessarily stop specifically workin' your guns but it does seem like youre overtraining. i think no muscle group should be neglected... but think about the practical reality of the situation:

youre blasting your back/bi/shoulders on the first day
then the next day youre blasting chest/tris which puts a lot of indirect stress on shoulders
then youre repeating the back/bi/shoulders ... and doin' chest/tris again ... and throwin in two leg workouts in between ...

do you think your body is getting the proper recover it needs?

something that might benefit you is a split that involves explosive lifts, compound lifts as well as assistance and isolation exercises. also time in between to rest your body.

such as:

day1 - PULL - all pull movements
--------------------
PullUps (widegrip & chinups too) OR PullDowns
Hang Cleans OR HighPulls & Shrugs
Bent Rows (barbell or dumbell) OR Seated Rows
Curls (hammer and barbell or hammer and preacher)
Wrist Curls/Grip Training ( such as grip station, plate pinches, barbell holds, etc)


day2 - LEGS
-------------------
Squat OR Deadlift
Barbell/Dumbell Step Ups OR Leg Press
Calve Raises
Lateral Lunges
Abs (such as hanging leg raises, decline situps holdin' 25 or 45lb plate, side bends, etc)


day3 - PUSH - all push movements & shoulder iso
------------------
Push Press OR Push Jerk OR Military Press OR Bench Press
Dips OR Skullcrushers
Flyes
Variations of Laterial Raises w/ Cable Stations
Rotator Cuff Work

a day or two of cardio in between, but those are the only days you lift for the week. 3. ideally it would be something like:

mon - pull
tues - off
wed - legs
thurs - off
fri - push
sat - cardio
sun - off

throw in a couple other exercises here and there, rotate some lifts in and out to keep things fresh and thats about it. for the most part each lifting day works and strengthens just about every practical movement that your body will have to make. theres a mix of explosive/power lifts and core/compound lifts to build strength, power and bodybuilding lifts to keep you well rounded.

also important is that when you have a heavy upper body day, whether its pushing or pulling movements, it indirectly works (STRESSES) a lot of the same muscles. heavy hang cleans and rows puts a lot of stress through your shoulders similar to heavy bench presses and dips. your body needs time to recover. thats why you do upper body, rest, legs, rest, upper body.

of all the splits ive been on this has to be the most productive and effective, for me. on this split when i wanted to i went from 217 to 245. of course diet plays a large part of that, but the fact of the matter is on other routines and especially the high volume ones, my body just wouldnt grow no matter how much i tried to eat. in fact i was usually so burnt out that i didnt even have an appetite and i couldnt put on weight to save my life.

nowadays ive slimmed back down to 225 and focus a lot of flexibility and functionality more than massive size and brute strength... but i have to admit, when i was gunning for it it was a lot of fun being able to do 135lb barbell curls for sets of 8

good luck

-SLB

 

[EFFORT]

I'm going to make a big guess here, but that these volume routines he used were poorly thought out without much emphasis on strength progression.
MM

This is a pretty ignorant thing to say, had to stop reading after that.

 

[Mad Manic]

This is a pretty ignorant thing to say, had to stop reading after that.

Well they can't be too well thought out if they weren't working for most of his clients lol.

MM

 

[spesmilitis]

Anyone wanting to really work on their arms? Try one-armed pullups and let us know how it goes. I noticed that the athletes with the biggest arms are gymnastics people, so I figure if you want big arms you should do what they do.

I don't really care for big arms, so I'm not going to do this anytime soon.