loss of muscle in my chest and arms
- Thread starter peter_liver
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Citius
Guest
Good for tennis elbow and arm pump. Useless for building biceps, for obvious reasons. Squeezing a tennis ball doesn't even work the bicep.
cyberknight
As long as I breathe, I attack.
- Location
- Land of confusion
Packed in wing chun after i strained my shoulder at work, its ok but its not up to a couple of hours of sticky hand/punch drills anymore.Well, no, he's not, he's pushing it with his legs, but in order to turn the pedals powerfully enough to maintain forward motion up the hills, he has to tense himself, which means tensing the arms and shoulders, thus giving them a bit of a workout.
I get him, I feel that pain. We don't all ride 34/32 WiFli
Never had a situation where my arms hurt more than my legs after a ride, though. Whereas I once did 12 three minute "rounds" of shadow boxing, with a minute in between, and couldn't lift my arms up next day.
Corrected for you.
- Location
- Manchester
I'm recovering from tennis elbow and found that when it was at its worst, pulling on hills and away from junctions was just as hard and painful as lifting weights.
Well that is different to what other say, what are your credentials, I am happy to listen to others advice as long as I have knowledge of their medical experience.
michaelcycle
Senior Member
- Location
- London
When you say your arms are "bigger" do you mean they look bigger or have actually increased in size (verified by measurements using a tape for example before and after?)
It maybe that you have dropped some body fat which has given you more muscle definition exposing your pre -existing musculature and therefore the illusion of increased size rather than an actual increase or you are simply retaining fluid.
ayceejay
Guru
- Location
- Rural Quebec
This is another occasion to conflate muscle size and strength. As michael says it is possible that the loss of the OP and the gain of Colin are more to do with a change in body composition than loss/gain of muscle per se.
Also, the size of Chris Froome's arms are not an indicator of their strength, Pro tennis players can whack a ball across the net at 100 mph set after set but none of them have Popeye arms.
In Montreal there is a museum devoted to the history of beaver trapping that made some English people very rich (another story). Canoes would head out from Montreal powered by men called Voyageurs who would paddle all day on very little food in terrible conditions sometimes carrying the canoe to pick up the pelts hundreds of miles to the west. In the museum there is a template of the size and type of man who would make a good Voyageur and if Chris Froome was a foot and a half shorter he would fit the type exactly.
Also, the size of Chris Froome's arms are not an indicator of their strength, Pro tennis players can whack a ball across the net at 100 mph set after set but none of them have Popeye arms.
In Montreal there is a museum devoted to the history of beaver trapping that made some English people very rich (another story). Canoes would head out from Montreal powered by men called Voyageurs who would paddle all day on very little food in terrible conditions sometimes carrying the canoe to pick up the pelts hundreds of miles to the west. In the museum there is a template of the size and type of man who would make a good Voyageur and if Chris Froome was a foot and a half shorter he would fit the type exactly.
Drago
Legendary Member
- Location
- Suburban Poshshire
I think there is a pretty reasonable correlation between muscle size and strength. I've done a fair few power lifting competitions now and not once seen a competitor with arms like Froome.
Ditto Strongman.
Ditto Strongman.
Citius
Guest
I would say it is. Drago is quite correct when he says that size generally correlates to strength. Froomes arms are as strong as they need to be (ie not very).
Because most of the strength and power transfer comes from the shoulders.
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Drago
Legendary Member
- Location
- Suburban Poshshire
And their technique. And increasingly the length of their arms as the average height of the top boys gets taller and taller.
ColinJ
Puzzle game procrastinator!
- Location
- Todmorden - Yorks/Lancs border
Blimey - my throwaway remark about arms and cycling has generated more interest than I expected, or it deserved!
Here is a map showing what the hills immediately round here are like ...
The single chevron climbs indicated are 14-19%. The double chevron climbs are 20+%. It takes a lot of effort to get up them. I pull hard on the bars with a tensed back when putting those efforts in to give my legs something to push against. Those rides make my leg muscles bigger and stronger. They make my arm muscles bigger and stronger. Trust me! I can pick up heavy objects more easily. I can twist the tops off tight jars more easily.
My biceps are still pretty puny by strongman standards. I was referring more to my forearms which have definitely got bigger. Is that due to body fat? No - I have lost lots of weight and have loose skin on my arms as a result. My arms were quite big before I lost the weight but that was due to flab not muscle.
I know the size of my arms with low body fat AND small muscles, because that is what they were like when I left university. I weighed about 68 kg at that time despite being 1.86 m tall and a medium build (6' 1", 10 st 10 lbs). I was skinnier than Chris Froome!
Here is a 3.5 inch roll of Sellotape ...
When I left university, I could slide one of those over my hand, up over my forearm, past the elbow, over my bicep and have it nestling in my armpit!
When I developed fat arms, I could get the roll almost as far as my elbow, but no further.
Now, my arms are getting lean again and the veins and connective tissue are starting to stand out.
The flab has gone. So, how far would the Sellotape go now? I know the answer before even trying it because I know that my arms are a lot bigger than they were when I was skinny ...
The roll of tape will not go as far as it would when I had fat arms, and that certainly is not stuck up in my armpit! The thing blocking its path is a muscle. It isn't flab. It isn't fluid in the tissues. I don't do any exercise other than cycling and walking, and I am sure that it isn't walking that made my arm muscles bigger! I don't even carry my shopping using my arms - I carry that in a rucksack on my back.
Anyway, I think I've made my point ...
Here is a map showing what the hills immediately round here are like ...
The single chevron climbs indicated are 14-19%. The double chevron climbs are 20+%. It takes a lot of effort to get up them. I pull hard on the bars with a tensed back when putting those efforts in to give my legs something to push against. Those rides make my leg muscles bigger and stronger. They make my arm muscles bigger and stronger. Trust me! I can pick up heavy objects more easily. I can twist the tops off tight jars more easily.
My biceps are still pretty puny by strongman standards. I was referring more to my forearms which have definitely got bigger. Is that due to body fat? No - I have lost lots of weight and have loose skin on my arms as a result. My arms were quite big before I lost the weight but that was due to flab not muscle.
I know the size of my arms with low body fat AND small muscles, because that is what they were like when I left university. I weighed about 68 kg at that time despite being 1.86 m tall and a medium build (6' 1", 10 st 10 lbs). I was skinnier than Chris Froome!
Here is a 3.5 inch roll of Sellotape ...
When I left university, I could slide one of those over my hand, up over my forearm, past the elbow, over my bicep and have it nestling in my armpit!
When I developed fat arms, I could get the roll almost as far as my elbow, but no further.
Now, my arms are getting lean again and the veins and connective tissue are starting to stand out.
The flab has gone. So, how far would the Sellotape go now? I know the answer before even trying it because I know that my arms are a lot bigger than they were when I was skinny ...
The roll of tape will not go as far as it would when I had fat arms, and that certainly is not stuck up in my armpit! The thing blocking its path is a muscle. It isn't flab. It isn't fluid in the tissues. I don't do any exercise other than cycling and walking, and I am sure that it isn't walking that made my arm muscles bigger! I don't even carry my shopping using my arms - I carry that in a rucksack on my back.
Anyway, I think I've made my point ...
Citius
Guest
Caution: Not all 'tight' jars are the same tightness - and not all sellotape rolls are the same I/D. But as long as you feel good about yourself, that's the main thing.
ColinJ
Puzzle game procrastinator!
- Location
- Todmorden - Yorks/Lancs border
Ha ha ha!
How about the metal bangle that I used to wear which was the same size as those rolls of Sellotape ... Did that mysteriously change size?
It is amazing that I used to buy only jars with tight lids and now I only buy jars with easy-to-remove lids! Oh, and screws go into pieces of wood much easier than they used to, presumably because modern wood is softer or screws are now sharper? Oh, and tearing up wads of paper is easier too.
Maybe I am just reaching my physical peak about 40 years later than most males?
Anyway .. real life intrudes - must dash!
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