Muscles in your arms allow you to make precise movements, such as wiggling your fingers, and large movements, such as straightening your elbow or doing push-ups. Thus, you must keep your muscular health in check by strengthening your arms. But how do you get bigger arms? Routined and well-strategised physical activity is an excellent way to start. The more muscle mass you have, the more your body can do as a whole. If you have more upper-body strength, you can lift more weight, move more quickly and lift heavier loads while maintaining speed. Improving your everyday functional fitness will help you in several other ways:
- Improve muscle endurance, strength, and tone.
- Reduce the chances of injury.
- Boosts the metabolism
The two prominent muscles in your upper arm are the biceps, located in front of your arm, and the triceps behind it. They are antagonistic muscle groups that require different exercises for optimal strengthening. Although you may choose a good gym in Oakleigh, let us discuss the best arm exercises to get muscular biceps and triceps.
10 best exercises for bigger arms: biceps and triceps workouts
5 bicep workouts
Strong biceps will improve your physique, allowing you to lift heavier weights and work out more efficiently. These are the best exercises for developing solid biceps.
- Dumbbell biceps curls
Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, holding a dumbbell in each hand. Engage your body’s core, and keep the elbows tucked along your torso. Bend your elbows to raise weights toward your shoulders until your arms are completely straight. Take the lower back down slowly without allowing gravity to do any of the work.
Equipment required: Dumbbells
Reps: 10-12
Sets: 3-5
- Concentration curls
To do arm curls, place a dumbbell on the floor with its handles facing you. Bend your knees and squat, so your thighs are parallel to the floor. Place one elbow on your thigh, so the upper arm is perpendicular to the floor. Pick up the dumbbell by contracting the biceps muscle on the working arm. Slowly lower back down.
Equipment required: Dumbbells
Reps: 10-12
Sets: 3-4
- EZ bar curls
Lie straight on a bench and grab a barbell with both hands, palms facing up. Keeping your elbows close to the sides and your core engaged, bend both elbows to bring weight to the chest. Slowly return to the starting position without relying on gravity. Move slowly throughout and keep a fully upright position with your shoulders back.
Equipment required: Barbell and weights
Reps: 10-15
Sets: 4-5
- Chin-ups
While traditional pull-ups target the triceps, a more accessible variation that relies more on your biceps can be one of the best arm exercises. To perform this exercise, grab a pull-up bar with an underhanded grip (palms facing you) and engage your core. Then, using your biceps and shoulders, raise yourself above the bar until at least your chin clears the top of it. When performing bicep curls, make sure you lower the weight in a slow and controlled manner to ensure safety.
Equipment required: Pull-up bar
Reps: 4-6
Sets: 4-5
- Incline hammer curls
Adjust a bench to a 45-60 degree incline. Lie back on the bench, extending your arms down each side beneath your shoulders, holding a dumbbell in each hand with your palms facing inward. Curl your arms until the dumbbells reach or come close to your shoulders. Slowly lower the weights back down in a controlled fashion, resisting gravity’s pull as much as possible.
Equipment required: Dumbbells
Reps: 12
Sets: 4-5
5 tricep workouts
Stronger triceps can maximise your power and functional strength; here are five tricep exercises for you to perform:
- Skullcrushers
Lift weights for an upper-body workout that will build upper arms. The most important part of the weight-lifting process is choosing a light enough weight so you don’t struggle with your form at any point. Raise your arms toward the ceiling by engaging your core and drawing your shoulder blades together. Keep your elbows directly above your shoulders. Use your triceps to lower the dumbbells until they reach ear level, or the bar is above your head. Return to the starting position.
Equipment required: dumbbells, barbell and weights
Reps: 8-12
Sets: 3-5
- Cable-rope tricep extension
Attach the cable rope attachment to the top position of a cable machine and stand about two feet back from the pulley. Grasp one end of the rope in each hand and engage your core and glutes, so your torso is rigid and braced. Keep your elbows tucked at your sides as you extend your arms down until they are fully straightened, then slowly bring them back up and focus on squeezing your triceps as you do so.
Equipment required: Tricep rope cable attachment and wall mount cable station.
Reps: 11-15
Sets: 3
- Pull-ups
The pull-up exercise is one of the best ways to strengthen your back muscles and triceps. To do a pull-up, grab a bar with palms facing you and engage your core. Then drive your elbows toward the floor to lift your body until your chin or chest is above the bar. When you lower yourself back down, ensure your arms are fully extended at the bottom of the movement.
Equipment required: Pull-up bar
Reps: 4-6
Sets: 4-5
- Dumbbell kickbacks
To perform this exercise, take a wide stance with feet planted firmly on the floor. Bend your left knee and place the right foot on the ground directly beneath the left knee. Bend at both knees until your thigh is parallel to the floor or your ankle is lower than your knee. The inside of your right elbow should be facing forward. Your upper arm should be similar to the floor at a 90-degree angle. The forearm should be angled perpendicular to the floor near your waist. Bend both arms until they go behind you, then return to do reps.
Equipment required: Dumbbell or kettlebell
Reps: 8-10 (per arm)
Sets: 3-4
- Diamond push-up
This advanced push-up variation works your triceps and requires a lot of core strength for balance. Start by getting in a standard push-up position with your hands slightly more than shoulder-width apart. Instead of keeping your palms flat on the floor, move them toward one another so that your fingertips and thumbs touch to form a diamond shape. Keeping your elbows bent at 90 degrees, lower your chest toward the ground by flexing your elbows. You should feel a great deal of stress on your triceps when you do this exercise. Press through your palms to return to the starting position.
Equipment required: None
Reps: 10
Sets: 3-4
Conclusion
In the end, you must incorporate various exercises and approaches to get bigger arms. Exercise and eating habits may vary, but the common thread among most successful arm-builders is that they were willing to try something even if that meant busting out of their comfort zones. However, to be professional with your routine, you can take the help of a personal trainer in Oakleigh to back your journey.