Hey Docs, Happy New Year and Merry Christmas!
For the past 4 weeks, I haven’t been noticing any hypertrophy in my upper arm. I’m sleeping good, eating enough protein, and I started going through small calorie surplus (~200g per week / +250 calories away from maintenance). I’m doing 8 sets for biceps (@ ~8-9), 8 sets for triceps (@~9-10), 7 sets for shoulders (@ ~8-10), 17 and 16 sets for chest and back (@ ~7-8). I’m assuming I haven’t applied enough training stimulus but where exactly? I’m thinking about increasing triceps weekly volume (adding 1 more set).
Would you like me to share you full training log if that would make things easier?
Do you have any suggestions?
Thanks, Dan.
Hey Dan,
Thanks for the post and Happy New Year 
To start, measurable increases in muscle size typically take ~4-6 weeks to show up, provided someone has access to an exercise physiology lab. Visible increases, as well as gains that can be picked up by a measuring tape, typically take even longer.
So, I don’t know if you should adjust anything based on this. Provided you’re gaining weight slowly over time and training the way you mention, it is likely that you will see growth in your arms. Reviewing your training log and suggesting adjustments is better-suited for a consultation, which we are happy to do if you prefer. Off hand, I would consider increasing the volume for biceps and triceps by 3-4 sets over the next month. I don’t know enough about you to feel confident that this is the right move, with too much training load potentially compromising muscle growth until you accommodate to it. That said, we’re talking about isolation exercises for the arms and I have little concern a few extra sets is likely to be “too much, too soon” for most.
-Jordan
2 Likes