Hi everyone.

This is something that has been bugging me and i cant seem to find any quick answers from the searches that i have carried out over the net.

My problem is that my forearms and biceps muscles dont seem to grow even though i train them regularly and heve been doing so ever since i started playing badminton 18 months ago. My shoulders seem well pumped up but if anything my biceps seem to shrink (especially if i have a break in training), am i halucinating??
Worrying unnecessarily?? Not eating enough before i train?? Or worse still suffering from some form of muscle shrinking illness (no joke, i heard about it somewhere once). I mean i dont go over the top with training but it would be nice to see some results from the training. My personal opinion is that i may not be eating enough b4 i train.

After having seen players like Lee Dong Soo close up on TV (AE Ch'ships 2000), i was shocked at how slim he was, but when i looked at his forearms they were moe than adequate and defined. I seems as though whenever i take a break from training i begin to shrink.

Hope i made some sense and any help thoughtful and helpful response would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks.

I can't really help you with your problem, but if you expect your biceps to grow from playing badminton, or if you specifically train your biceps to get harder strokes you're a bit off the target...

The biceps is hardly used at all in badminton!

It could be genetics... How intense do you workout?

good badminton players are normally quite small build because badminton is all about agility and stamina.

I mean, if were to arm wrestle with say, Gong Zhichao, i think we will win her hands down. But why is/was the world champion?

Besides, in badminton, you don't really need that much muscle, just a strong wrist will do... I have seen ppl do all the shots in badminton just by snapping their wrist.

i workout too besides badminton and it works out good for me, more muscles, i dont think the problem for u is badminton. if u want to train your biceps, make sure u use variation of workouts and try to add more weight every time

Whilst it'd be cool to have huge bulging biceps, in badminton they aren't all that useful in most shots. Power comes from Pop-eye forearms, shoulder, tricep and body rotation. Only time I really use my bicep is forehand "punch" (not sure if that's just an Australian term, it means you take a short swing, and pull back part way through your follow through (boy that was a crap explanation)) shots.

The truth is that muscle growth only develops to the extent your genetics will allow. Some guys can spend hours in the gym, and eat loads of protein, but will not notice any muscle gains (they will tone up though). Others can look at a set of weigts and put on muscle.

But you should be able to develop some more muscle if you want. If you are training to improve your badminton skills you should train "explosively", i.e. push the weights out quickly with good form, and then lower the weight slowly (go for 10-15 reps for any exercise). Also it is important to stretch well (before, during, and/or after working out) in order to remain flexible as required for badminton. The 2 most important factors to muscle growth are: eating well (adequate protein), and allowing the muscles time to grow (rest).

Like some of the others have stated, it is probably not a good idea to focus only on your biceps or arms. Train your whole body, including legs and back and abdomen.

your muscles prob. aren't growing because you aren't working out. your msucles generally grow when you work out. playing badminton if anything would prob. tone your muscles down. so your getting stronger, but your muscles just become more packed in the area they are at. you prob. don't want too many muscles in badminton anyway, it might hinder your range of motion.

2 words

MUSCLE TRAIN... and eat lots of carbs...

then CARDIO TRAIN... and then find a heathly balanced diet....

.... then you'll be fine :)