Just about every lifter who has ever lived wants to build big, meaty arms. But in their quest to create those huge guns, many end up putting way too much focus on training their arms, and it leaves them with subpar bodies overall.
How to build big arms to avoid falling into this trap, consider these reasons why focusing too much on your arms can ruin your physique.
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Arms Too Big
The most obvious way that training arms too much can zap your body is that you might grow them out of proportion with rest of your body part. It may sound silly to think that anyone could have arms that are TOO big, but we’ve all seen the guys strutting around the gym with decent arms and chest but chicken legs.
Your body won’t let you get way out or proportion, but you can become unbalanced enough to look odd.
Arms Too Small
On the heels of the last point, this one might seem impossible.
The truth is, though, that arms are relatively small body parts, and it’s easy to overtrain them. If you’re not gaining everywhere but hammer away at your arms all the time, they could very well get harder, but smaller.
Neglected Body Parts
If you devote all of your training enthusiasm and energy to your arms — or any other body part — some muscle groups are sure to get short shrift. And, when your arms are pumped up all the time, they tend to take over on movements intended for other body parts.
In the end, over-focusing on building arms can leave your chest, back, and legs lagging behind even if you try to train them hard.
Injury
When you fail do develop certain body parts in accord with the rest of your physique, you will undoubtedly run into muscular imbalances. This can leave you looking a bit off, but, more importantly, can set you up for injury. If your arms are stronger than your upper back, for instance, don’t be surprised if you develop a “stoop” and lower back pain.
Fat
Many guys who focus on getting bigger at all costs shovel in the calories like there is no tomorrow. That’s bad enough when you’re training your entire body very intensely, because it generally leads to some fat gain. If you take that same enthusiasm to “eating for size” and then train mostly arms, though, you might turn into a regular tub of goo. No matter how hard you train your arms, they simply don’t burn enough calories to keep you trim if you’re eating a ton of calories on a daily basis.
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Building huge guns is a great physique goal that just about all of us share, but you need to keep your arm development in line with the rest of your body. Strive to build bigger arms while you’re building a bigger, better body, and you will improve all around.
Focus too much on your arms, though, and you might just ruin your physique.