October 14, 2020

The ultimate arm workout The best arm exercises for fat arms

Das ultimative Armtraining Die besten Armübungen für dicke Arme

If you want muscular, strong and defined arms that you can be proud of, then you should use these arm exercises and workouts

If you're like most guys... and I'll admit that I was no different... then you probably got into weight training because you wanted to build thick arms and a muscular chest.

And if you're a woman, shapely and defined arms were probably on your list too (after a toned butt and killer legs of course).

Nothing inspires impressed looks and comments from strangers more than muscular arms and well-developed pecs. A perfect body is simply not complete without full, round, "three-dimensional" arms.

Well, in this article, we're going to talk about everything necessary to build biceps, triceps and forearms that others will freeze with envy at the sight of.

Let's start with the anatomy of the arms and see what needs to happen to achieve the look we want and then move on to the arm exercises and arm workouts that will get us there.

The anatomy of the arm muscles

When most people think of arm muscles, they first think of the biceps. Big biceps = big arms ... right?

Not necessarily!

Ironically, the biceps contribute substantially less to the overall size of the arms than the triceps, which are a much larger muscle group. Thus, one of the lesser known secrets to building big muscular arms is building big triceps.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's take a step back and look at the individual arm muscles in detail first.

The biceps in detail

The biceps - or formally biceps brachii - is a two-headed muscle that looks like this:

Another muscle you need to know about is the biceps brachialis, which is located under the biceps brachii and supports it when flexing the elbow.

Even though this muscle is not nearly as impressive as the biceps brachii, it plays an important role in the overall appearance of your arms. When well developed, the brachialis looks like a "knot" between the biceps brachii and triceps and has a significant impact on the overall aesthetics of the arms:

Firstly, when contracted, it clearly separates the biceps and triceps, making both more prominent.
Secondly, it pushes the biceps brachii upwards and makes them appear higher when contracted.

When we come to the exercises and training sessions in this article, we will therefore integrate some training to train the brachialis.

The triceps in detail

The next muscle we'll talk about is the triceps - or triceps brachii, which consists of three muscle heads;

As you can see, all three heads together form the characteristic horseshoe shape, which can be quite pronounced if developed well.

As I mentioned earlier, the biceps get far too much attention in most arm training programs. Small triceps are synonymous with small, disproportionate arms, regardless of the size of the biceps.

The forearms

Last but not least, there are the forearms, which are made up of several small muscles. They are not immediately in focus when it comes to arm development, but if they are underdeveloped then this is painfully obvious. However, when they are well developed, they improve the overall appearance of the arms.

The simple science of effective arm training

Let's start the practical part with the basics of good arm training.

There are a lot of theories about the best way to train your arms.

Some people say that you should focus on high repetition workouts that really get your arm muscles burning.
Others say that the key is to train your arms several times a week.
Still others say that you don't need to train your arms directly and should focus on the heavy multi-joint exercises instead.

Well, I've tried all of the above and more and have worked with thousands of people and in my experience a combination of the above works best.

In other words, building big arms requires heavy multi-joint exercises and direct arm training with low and high reps. And as with all major muscle groups, you need to emphasize heavy training to best stimulate muscle growth.

Exercise selection is also a very important part of good arm training, as some exercises are better than others at progressively overloading your muscles. For example, standing barbell curls are a more effective bicep exercise than cable curls in every way.

Another aspect of your arm training is the correct volume or total number of repetitions you perform per week. This is especially important if you do a lot of heavy training, as the following general rule applies:

The heavier the repetitions, the fewer you can perform per week.

Heavier sets require more recovery, which means you can't do as many reps per week as with lighter weights without risking overtraining.

I have tried many different training splits and training frequency schemes and the one that works best in my experience is also supported by 2 extensive study reviews on the subject.

If your training emphasizes heavy weights (80 to 85%+ of 1RM), then the optimal training volume seems to be in the range of 60 to 70 reps every 5 to 7 days

This is true not only for biceps and triceps, but also for any other primary muscle group. However, I would modify this slightly in the case of arm training, as biceps and triceps are also heavily involved in your pulling and pushing exercises.

So if you are doing 60 to 70 heavy repetitions for both chest and back per week, then you might want to do a little less direct training for your biceps and triceps. In my experience, 30 to 40 repetitions are completely sufficient.

Now that we've got the basic theory out of the way, it's time to take a look at the best arm exercises for building muscle and strength.

The best arm exercises

We'll start with the biceps and then move on to the triceps and forearms.

The best biceps exercises

As with most muscle groups, there are tons of exercises to choose from for the biceps, but only a handful of these exercises are really necessary.

Just because you can perform 20 variations of curls doesn't mean you have to. The following exercises are among the most effective (3):

1. barbell curls

Barbell curls have been a staple exercise in bodybuilding for over a century - and with good reason: this is one of the best bicep building exercises you can do.

2. dumbbell curls

I perform curls with a SZ bar from time to time instead of barbell curls to give my wrists and elbows a break from the stress that barbell curls cause.

3. alternating dumbbell curls

Just like barbell curls, this exercise is a proven exercise that builds bigger biceps.

4. dumbbell hammer curls

Hammer curls are particularly useful when it comes to building the brachial biceps (the smaller muscle that helps give your biceps a visible boost).

5. pull-ups with an underhand grip

Pull-ups with an underhand grip are an excellent functional exercise that targets the biceps. You can add extra weight using a dip belt or weight vest as you get stronger, ensuring that you can progressively overload your muscles continuously.

The best tricep exercises

As with biceps, the sheer number of potential exercises you can perform with your triceps is overwhelming. Here are the exercises you should focus on if you really want to bring out your triceps:

1. close bench press

If I could perform one tricep exercise, it would probably be the close bench press. This exercise is a multi-joint exercise that allows you to safely press heavy weights and can also give your chest development a little boost.

Note: When performing close bench presses, your grip should be slightly tighter than shoulder width but not tighter. Although you will often see exercisers performing this exercise with only a few centimetres between their hands, this is a bad idea as it puts the shoulders and wrists in a weakened, vulnerable position.

2. dumbbell overhead tricep press

This is one of my favorite tricep exercises because it allows me to safely press a heavy weight and overload the triceps.

3. tricep press lying down

Lying tricep presses involve a similar movement to dumbbell overhead tricep presses and are great for developing the triceps.

4. cable tricep presses

This is one of the most common tricep exercises and surprisingly it's actually quite good. I use this exercise later in my training session after I've done heavier work with the previously mentioned exercises. I personally prefer a V-grip or straight bar to a rope grip.

5. dips

You can perform dips either on a bench or on parallel bars. Both variations are good for training the triceps and are also useful for shoulders and chest.

Forearm training

I'm often asked what I do for my forearms and people are surprised when they hear that I don't do forearm training directly. My forearm development is the result of my back, chest and arm training.

I'm not a fan of direct forearm training for two reasons;

It can lead to tension and pain in the forearms, which can hinder tricep training.
It is not necessary if you are focusing on heavy multi-joint exercises in your back, chest and arm training.

Remember that progression is the key to muscle growth

That's it for the best arm exercises. However, the key is not to simply perform these exercises, but to achieve progression. This means increasing the weight you use over time.

If you don't get stronger, you won't get more muscular. However, if you work on your strength with these exercises and eat enough to grow, your arms will respond.

The ultimate arm training program

A good arm workout trains biceps (both biceps brachii and brachialis) and triceps (all three muscle heads) and indirectly the forearms and focuses on heavy weights.

Just like any other muscle group, the arms can benefit from training with higher repetitions, but you need to focus on training with heavy weights if you want them to grow over time.

Perform the following arm training program every 5 to 7 days for the next 8 weeks:

Barbell curls: warm up and 3 sets of 4 to 6 reps
Close bench press: Warm up and 3 sets of 4 to 6 repetitions
Dumbbell hammer curls: 3 sets of 4 to 6 repetitions
Dips: 3 sets of 4 to 6 repetitions

Optional:

Dumbbell curls: 2 sets of 6 to 8 repetitions
Dumbbell tricep presses overhead: 2 sets of 6 to 8 repetitions

That's all - just 16 to 20 heavy sets during the entire training session.

Do not perform these exercises as supersets, but do the following:

Bicep exercise
60 seconds rest
Triceps exercise
60 seconds rest
Repeat the whole thing from the beginning

This will give your muscles enough time to fully recover their strength so that you can maximize your effort on each set.

As soon as you reach the upper end of the repetition range for an exercise, increase the weight.

For example, if you did 6 repetitions on your first set of barbell curls, increase the weight by 2.5 to 5 kilos for the next set and continue working with this weight until you can do 6 repetitions again, and so on.

References:

Source: https://www.muscleforlife.com/best-arm-exercises/

By Michael Matthews

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