Do you dream of building bigger arms that pop out of your shirt?
Or if you’re a lady, arms that have that toned look to them?
Well, I’m going to show you how to do just that in this article.
Lets get right to it
Tips for Building Bigger Arms
Before we get into the best exercises for building bigger arms, let’s go over a few helpful tips.
1. Don’t Forget About Compound Movements
If you want bigger arms, you must include compound movements into your routine.
These are movements that involve multiple muscles, and therefore, allow you to lift a shit ton of weight.
Think of your bench press, overhead press, chin ups, and barbell rows.
Since your arms are assisting your bigger muscles in these movements, they’re getting quality work with heavier weights.
Which will lead to better results.
So, don’t skip out on heavy compound movements because they’re going to be a big part of your arm gains.
2. Be Sure to Lift Heavy
A mistake I used to make when attempting to build bigger arms?
Being a “pump” chaser.
I would do 20,30,40 rep sets until my arms exploded out of my shirt.
While the pump is fun and nice, it never led to the results I wanted.
It wasn’t until I started to train my arms with heavier weights and lower reps that I noticed I felt more “dense” and “firm” than before.
So, instead of feeling like a ball of fluff, my arms had a rock-like appearance and feel to them.
Therefore, it’s still ok to still chase the pump, but the majority of your training should come in that 6-12 rep range.
3. Work Through a Full Range of Motion
If you sacrifice range of motion, you’re leaving gains on the table.
Which means, building bigger arms is going to be a lot harder.
Range of motion is basically how far you can move your joints with control.
Research shows that working through a full range of motion is going to provide the best results in terms of strength, size, and toneness.
So, don’t half rep your exercises.
Make sure you’re lowering the weight and picking it up fully with good form.
4. Lift Close to Failure
The main way to build muscle is by creating mechanical tension.
This means you have to lift close to failure in order to give your muscles a strong enough signal to grow.
Failure being you couldn’t do one more rep even if your life depended on it.
Think of it like a cell tower. The closer you are, the stronger your cell signal will be. The closer you are to failure, the stronger your signal will be to build muscle.
Now, that doesn’t mean you should be going to absolute failure on every set, but those last few reps should be very difficult.
If they’re not, lift heavier to make them harder.
Just like the guy in Spongebob said about anchor arms, “Are you too much of a wimp to workout? Are you a weakling, built like a sponge? Now you too can have muscles, with Anchor Arms! They fit on like a glove.”
Don’t be a wimp – lift heavy and build those anchor arms!
5. Lift Arms First and Often
If you’re serious about building bigger arms, you’re going to want to start your workouts with exercises that work your arms.
That way, you have the most energy to put towards building those muscles.
I recommend starting with the big compound movements that involve your arms and then finish off your workout with some extra arm isolation sauce.
Now, you DON’T want to lift your arms every day.
As cool as that would be, it’s too much for your arms to recover from and will lead to LESS gains.
Aim for 10-20 total weekly sets split up 2-3 days per week.
That way, you can give your arms the proper volume they need to grow.
6. Progressive Overload
If you want big arms (men) or well defined tones arms (women), you must progressive overload.
The goal is to do more work over time so that your body has to adapt in order to handle that work.
It’s like putting snow tires on your car so it’s ready to drive in the winter.
Your body is getting stronger and building muscle to better handle the load and exercises that you’re working with.
Two of the most common ways to do this are through reps and weight.
This means keeping track of your progress is super important to make sure you are progressing over time.
7. Eat Like You Mean It
Building big and toned arms requires you have to eat like you want big and toned arms.
Unfortunately, muscle doesn’t just grow out of thin air.
You also have to give it the energy and tools needed to grow from nutrition.
So bumping up your calories 200-300 above maintenance to go into a slight bulk will probably be a good idea.
3 Parts to Building Bigger Arms
Your arms are basically made up of 3 separate parts:
- Your Biceps
- Your Triceps
- Your Side Delts (Seriously, they’re the secret to perfection)
So, it’s important to train all 3 of these muscles if your goal is building bigger arms.
What you’ll see below is that I include exercises that work your biceps and triceps from different angles based on elbow position:
(In front, at the side, and behind/above your body.)
That way, you’re working all parts of your arms fully.
Make sense?
Awesome, let’s break it down even further so you can have a good understanding of where and how each muscle works.
Biceps
The biceps are the most popular muscle when you think of building bigger arms.
They’re mainly made up of the biceps brachii which consist of a short and long head.
These are what you typically think of when you’re working out your arms.
They’re involved in flexing (bending) the elbow and supinating your forearm (turning palm up).
You also have the brachialis – which is the secret weapon to making your arms pop out more with more separation.
This is still involved in bending your elbow but can be targeted by keeping your palms neutral (faced toward each other).
The Best Bicep Exercises:
I may be slightly biased, but…curls have got to be the best exercise, correct?
I used to live on curls in the gym – no joke!
And while curls are one of my favorite exercises, they’re not the only exercises that work your biceps.
Your biceps are also working when you train your back.
When you pull a weight toward your body – whether it be from above or in front of you – your biceps are assisting with the movement because your elbows bends.
And here’s the cool thing that a lot of people don’t talk about…
You can actually lift more weight when performing back exercises because your back muscles are much bigger.
That simply means more bicep GAINS.
Let’s dive into my favorite bicep exercises for building bigger arms.
1. Chinup (Underhand Grip)
Ohhhh yeahhhhhh!
One of the most underrated bicep exercises out there.
Yes, this is mostly a back exercise, but when you supinate your hands (turn your palms facing you) and bend your elbows, your biceps are going to be put to work as well.
And if you can lift your whole body weight up, imagine how much work your biceps will be getting from that?
There is no other exercise that will strengthen your biceps like a chin up.
Once I implemented chin ups into my programming, my arms grew a ton!
If you can’t yet perform a chin up, start with some invert rows or rack chins with an underhand grip and that should still do the trick.
Aim for 3-4 sets, 4-8 reps at the beginning of your workout
2. BB Row with Underhand Grip
Sticking with the strength gains – the barbell row is another exercise to load up the weight for your biceps.
Again, the more weight you can lift, the stronger your biceps will get.
And the stronger your biceps are, the more weight you can lift, and the more gains you’ll get.
So by turning your palms up and rowing up a barbell, you’re going to be putting your biceps to work.
If your lower back flairs up on this movement, you can switch to a chest support row or helms row for more support.
Aim for 3-4 sets, 6-10 Reps towards the beginning of your workout
3. Spider Curls
Probably the exercise with the sickest name – even though I fucking hate spiders.
These involve you lying chest first on an inclined bench with your elbows in front of you and curling up to your forehead.
And since your elbows are in front of you, this is going to work your biceps in a unique way.
The top of the movement is going to light your biceps on fire so make sure you get a nice squeeze up there!
You can do this exercise with a barbell, EZ Bar, and Dumbbells.
Aim for 3-4 sets, 8-12 at the end of your workout
4. Preacher Curls
Similar to spyder curls, this exercise involves your elbow in front of your body.
The difference here is that you have extra support for your arm – which means NO cheating.
Therefore, you can isolate your bicep that much more.
These can be done with dumbbells, barbells, cables, or on a machine.
Aim for 3-4 sets, 8-12 Reps at the end of your workout
5. Bicep Curls
The KING of bicep growth.
There are also countless variations like a zottman curl, reverse curl, etc.
These bad boys work your biceps with your elbows at your side and will be hardest more towards the halfway point of the movement.
I’m a huge fan of going heavy on these with a dumbbell or barbell for more strength and size.
Make sure your elbows stay pinned to your sides though, so your biceps do all of the work and not your shoulders.
Something I like to cue clients with is “imagine that there is a screw going through your elbow into the side of your body.”
If your wrists hurt while using a barbell, you can switch to an EZ Bar if your gym has one.
Aim for 3-4 sets, 6-8 reps at the end of your workout.
6. Hammer Curls
A hammer curl is similar to a regular bicep curl except your palms are facing each other.
No… you’re not actually curling a hammer – although that would be badass to curl Thor’s war hammer.
The difference here is that you’re working more of that brachialis muscle which we talked about earlier.
You can perform this with dumbbells, a cable, or a machine.
All work great and should be used in your programming.
Aim for 3-4 sets, 8-12 Reps at the end of your workout
6. Incline DB Curl
The beautiful thing about this variation is that you can work your biceps from a stretched position by placing your elbows behind your body.
Not to mention it promotes good posture by keeping your shoulders back.
Be careful though, a little weight goes a long way here.
Set the bench to a 45 degree incline, keep a tall chest with your elbows pinned to your side, and curl that weight up.
Aim for 3-4 sets, 8-12 reps at the end of your workout
Triceps
While biceps are fun as hell to train, they don’t take up as much of the arm like the triceps do.
Your triceps make up 70% (!!!) of your total arm mass.
Yepp, you read that right.
It now makes sense why my arms didn’t grow the way I wanted them too back in the day because I rarely worked my triceps.
Your triceps are made up of 3 separate parts: the long head, lateral head, and medial head.
Their main function is to extend your elbow (straighten your arm), and it also assists in extending your shoulder (bring your elbow behind your body).
The Best Tricep Exercises:
Like with biceps, different elbows positions will target different parts of your triceps.
With your elbow next to your body, your lateral and medial heads will be worked.
With your elbows above your head, you’ll be working more of the long head.
Here are my favorite tricep exercises for building bigger arms.
1. BB Bench Press
This is going to be your strength based movement which will lead to a lot of size and strength.
Yes, you’re working mostly chest and shoulders, but just like your biceps assist in the pullups and rows, your triceps assist with the bench press.
So include these on your push focused day.
Aim for 3-4 sets, 4-8 Reps at the beginning of your workout
2. Skull Crusher
The name is deceiving.
You don’t actually crush your skull… but you do crush your triceps.
This involves laying down on a bench or ground, and slowly lowering the weight toward your head.
Position your elbows so that they’re in a comfortable position around 45 degrees.
Make sure all of the movement is coming from your wrists and that your elbows stay in the same place.
That way, your triceps are doing all of the work.
One final tip is to add a slight pause at the bottom because your triceps are going to be worked the hardest when they’re fully stretched.
Just be careful not to actually crush your skull or drop the weight on your head.
I recommend starting lighter first to get the movement down.
Aim for 3-4 sets, 8-12 reps at the end of your workout
3. Tricep Pressdown
The classic tricep press down.
If you want to develop those horseshoe triceps this is a must.
When you go to the gym, you probably see a few people performing this movement and for good reason.
Think of keeping your shoulder blades in your back pocket (down and away from your ears) and your elbows pinned to your sides.
That way, your triceps can be fully worked since part of your triceps job is to extend your shoulder (keep it back).
Get a full stretch at the top by bending your elbow, and extend your arm fully.
Bonus Tip: To get an even bigger contraction at the bottom, think of pressing your pinkie back to contract your tricep that much more.
Aim for 3-4 sets, 8-12 reps at the end of your workout
4. Dips – Triceps Focused
When done correctly, these are great for building bigger arms since you can go heavy.
Start by bringing your elbows closer towards your body, so more tension can be placed on your triceps.
Make sure to keep your shoulder blades in your back pocket so your shoulders don’t flare up.
Just make sure not to go too deep. You only want to go deep enough that is comfortable for you.
If you can’t yet do a dip with your own body weight, you can use a machine or band to assist you.
However, if you can do a dip, make sure to add weight once they become too easy!
Aim for 3-4 sets, 6-8 Reps at the beginning or end your workout
5. Overhead Cable Tricep Extension
I like these because you hit your triceps from a different angle since your elbows are above your head.
Plus the cable adds a different element of constant tension that you don’t get from dumbbells.
Start with the cable about knee height, flare your elbows out around 45 degrees, and have a staggered stance to protect your lower back.
From there, fully extend your arm overhead and feel a nice big stretch in your tricep at the bottom of each rep.
Aim for 3-4 sets, 10-12 reps at the end of your workout
Shoulders
Believe it or not, your side delts makes up a decent portion of your upper arm that helps give it that “capped” shape appearance, which helps make your arms look bigger and more toned.
Here are my favorite side delt exercises for building bigger arms.
1. Presses With Heavy Weight
Any press overhead with a barbell, dumbbell, or machine is going to work your side delts to some degree.
I’m a big fan personally of Barbell and Dumbbell Overhead presses.
Arnold presses are great too because they add an element of rotation to the overhead press.
Both work fantastically to put the cherry on top to an impressive upper body whether you’re a guy or girl.
Aim for 3-4 sets, 6-10 reps at the beginning of your workout
2. Lateral raises
These are going to be the main exercise to target those side delts.
The key here is not to flap your arms like a bird.
You want to intentionally think of pushing your pinkies to the corners of the wall to isolate your side delts.
Start with lighter weight to get the form down before going heavy and using momentum.
You can go heavier with dumbbells or use cables for constant tension.
Aim for 3-4 sets, 8-15 reps at the end of your workout
3. Upright Row
A good upright row is safe for your shoulders and creates a good burn in your side delts.
What you want to do here is think of pulling “up and back” to keep your shoulders safe and healthy.
You can use dumbbells, a barbell, or my favorite, a cable here.
Aim for 3-4 sets, 8-15 reps at the end of your workout
Building Bigger Arms Workout Plan
Now the fun part – an actual program to get you bigger arms.
Remember to follow the tips for building bigger arms from above.
You’ll notice you’re hitting your arms right off the bat with the compound movements and finishing with a few isolation exercises for your biceps, triceps, and side delts.
I also added in a separate arm day only exercise too if you’re more advanced but it’s not required.
Let’s dive in!
Upper Body Day 1 |
1. Chin Ups: 3×5 |
2a. Underhand BB Row: 3×6-8 2b. Seated DB Shoulder Press: 3×6-8 |
3a. DB Bicep Curl: 3×8-10 3b. DB Skull Crusher: 3×8-10 3c. DB Side Lateral Raise: 3×8-10 |
Upper Body Day 2 |
1. BB Bench Press: 3×5 |
2a. Underhand Lat Pulldown: 3×6-8 2b. Arnold Press: 3×8-10 |
3a. Cable Hammer Curl: 3×8-10 3b. Cable Tricep Pressdown: 3×8-10 |
Optional Arm Day: |
1. BB Bicep Curl: 4×6-8 |
2. Tricep Dip: 4×6-8 |
Final Thoughts
I’m going to leave you with this….
It’s probably going to take you 3x as long as you want to build your arms.
So, stick with it and stay patient.
Nothing good ever came quick.
Hope this helps!
-Coach Bob
Ps. Any questions, don’t hesitate to ask! You can email me at: bobhooverfitness@gmail.com