Arm Training - Maximally Develop Biceps and Triceps

9 min read

Wanting bigger arms - there's nothing wrong with that. But the way most people train their arms is far from optimal. Endless curling with too much weight and too much momentum, triceps pushdowns with a half-hearted range of motion. The arms are small muscle groups, but they deserve the same thoughtful approach as your chest or back. Here's how you do that.

Anatomy: understand what you're training

The biceps brachii has two heads: the long head (outside) and the short head (inside). Both flex the elbow, but the long head is activated more strongly when your arms are behind your body (incline curls), and the short head more when your arms are in front of your body (preacher curls). Additionally, you have the brachialis - a muscle under the biceps that makes your arm look wider. You train this best with a neutral grip (hammer curls).

The triceps has three heads: the lateral head (outside, gives the horseshoe shape), the medial head (inside, stabilizer), and the long head (inside, the largest). The long head attaches to the shoulder blade and is therefore activated more strongly in exercises where your arms are above your head (overhead triceps extensions). You hit the lateral and medial heads best with pushdowns and close-grip bench press.

The best exercises for biceps

Based on EMG research and biomechanical analysis, these are the most effective biceps exercises, ranked by focus:

Long head (peak):

• Incline dumbbell curl - Bench at 30-45 degrees. Your arms hang behind your body, putting the long head on stretch. 3 sets of 10-12 reps.
• Bayesian cable curl - Cable position low-behind. Same principle as incline curl but with constant tension.

Short head (width):

• Preacher curl - Arms in front of your body, short head maximally activated. 3 sets of 8-12 reps.
• Spider curl - On your stomach against an incline bench. Similar to preacher but with a slightly different strength curve.

Brachialis (width under the biceps):

• Hammer curl - Neutral grip. Hits the brachialis directly. 3 sets of 10-12 reps.
• Cross-body hammer curl - Slightly more brachialis activation than the standard variant.

The best exercises for triceps

The triceps makes up two thirds of your upper arm circumference. If you want bigger arms, the triceps is where you get the most gains.

Long head (mass):

• Overhead cable extension - The long head is maximally stretched above your head. 3 sets of 10-15 reps. Research from 2023 showed that exercises that load the muscle in the stretched position yield up to 30 percent more hypertrophy.
• Skull crushers - Let the bar drop behind your head instead of to your forehead for more stretch on the long head.

Lateral head (definition):

• Triceps pushdown with rope or straight bar - 3 sets of 10-12 reps. Rotate your wrists outward at the end of the movement for maximum contraction.
• Close-grip bench press - Hands at shoulder width. Both lateral and medial heads. 3 sets of 6-8 reps.

Volume and frequency

The arms are relatively small muscle groups that recover quickly. This means you can train them 2 to 3 times per week with good results. The optimal volume range per week:

• Biceps: 10 to 16 direct sets per week (on top of the indirect work from rows and pull-ups)
• Triceps: 10 to 16 direct sets per week (on top of the indirect work from bench press and overhead press)

Divide those sets over at least two sessions. So 6 to 8 sets of biceps per session, divided over two to three exercises. The same for triceps. The rep range for arms works best between 8 and 15 repetitions. Heavier sets (below 8 reps) are less effective for isolation exercises because form breaks down and the joint becomes overloaded.

Common mistakes

• Curling too heavy with momentum - If your whole body moves along, your biceps does less work. Use a weight you can move controlled for at least 8 repetitions
• Only training the midrange - Most growth comes from the stretched part of the movement. Let the biceps fully extend at the bottom and go to full stretch with triceps
• Neglecting triceps - The triceps is two thirds of your arm. Give it at least as much attention as the biceps
• No variation in shoulder angle - Do at least one exercise with your arms behind your body, one with your arms at your sides, and one with your arms in front of your body
• Training arms before compounds - Always train arms after your big compound exercises, never before. Fatigued arms limit your performance on bench press and rows

Sample program for arm growth

Twice per week, after your regular training:

Day 1: Incline dumbbell curl 3x10-12, Overhead cable extension 3x12-15, Hammer curl 2x10-12, Triceps pushdown 2x12-15

Day 2: Preacher curl 3x8-12, Skull crushers 3x10-12, Bayesian cable curl 2x12-15, Close-grip bench press 2x8-10

Total: 10 sets biceps, 10 sets triceps per week. After 4 to 6 weeks you can scale up to 12 to 14 sets if you recover well.

The role of stretch and tempo

Recent research has emphasized the importance of the stretched position in an exercise. Exercises that maximally load the muscle in the stretch produce more hypertrophy than exercises with a limited range of motion. For the biceps this means: let your arm fully extend at the bottom of the curl. No half reps. The incline curl is so effective precisely because the stretch is maximal.

The same applies to triceps: let your forearm drop all the way behind your head with overhead extensions before you extend. With skull crushers, let the bar drop behind your head (not to your forehead) for maximum stretch on the long head.

Regarding tempo: a controlled eccentric phase of 2 to 3 seconds with arm work delivers more tension per rep. Arms respond well to slow negatives because the muscles are small enough to feel the metabolic stress without systemic fatigue.

Arm training isn't rocket science, but it's also more than random curling. Train all heads, vary your shoulder angles, keep volume manageable, and prioritize the stretched position. Growth will come naturally.