Big arms are the ultimate statement for any bodybuilder or strength athlete. Want to look intimidating? Then build arms that strain your sleeves and you’ll have fulfilled that goal.
But there’s actually a lot to building big arms and you need to have the right strategy in order to get there. Too many people waste years approaching their arm training in the wrong way, so read on to find out how to get the results you want quickly.
The Plan
If you want to build massive arms then there are a few things to bear in mind. The first is that you really need to focus on range of motion for the biceps. Too many bicep exercises involve just a fraction of the movement which results in arms that look skinny except for one small patch that looks like it’s swallowed a tennis ball. In the next section we’ll look at some exercises that really train the whole range of motion and keep the arms under pressure.
The other mistake people make is to train just the biceps. Did you know that your biceps only actually account for 1/3rd of the thickness of your arm? The other 2/3rds is triceps so if your biceps workout is longer than your triceps you’re going about it all wrong. Switch the ratio and you’ll find your arms grow much faster and look much more impressive.
The other problem is that too many guys forget their shoulders. Your shoulders are part of your arm and if you want your triceps and biceps look as good as they possibly can, then they need to transition into round, cannonball-like deltoids. This will make all the difference to the appearance of your arms so do not leave shoulders out of your strategy.
The Exercises
With that said, here are the exercises you need to use to take care of your arms…
Seated Incline Dumbbell Bicep Curl
Lie back on an incline bench and let your arms dangle straight down – then begin to curl. The reason this is so good is that it will force you to keep your arms under tension throughout the entire motion and creates a much larger degree of work than regular curls.
Drag Curls
Take a barbell as though you’re going to curl it from standing, and then curl it by dragging it up your body, pulling your elbows back and up as you do. The motion is slightly different here, which really keeps the tension on your biceps throughout the movement rather than letting it get less as your arm gets higher up.
Twisting Curls
Twisting curls are curls you perform while twisting your arms. Start in a hammer curl position, then curl into an underhand supinated position.
Chin Ups
Chin ups are great for keeping tension on your arms. If you can build up to a one-armed chin up then this is a really fantastic bicep exercise.
Lateral Dumbbell Raises
For targeting the deltoids in just the right way, using lateral dumbbell raises. Here you will be raises the dumbbells directly out by your sides hitting the medial deltoids. You should do the rest too, but this move in particular will let you increase the definition at the top of your arm.
Tricep Dips, Tricep Push Downs, Tricep Extensions, Barbell Pull-Overs
Finish with these moves to hit the triceps. The triceps are easier to get a full range of motion on, so you can hit them with any exercise you like pretty much. Just make sure that you do!
