The Best Workouts to Build Bigger Arms

Arm day should be a bodybuilder’s happiest day of the week. So, is it yours? If not, maybe your workout is to blame. You should be excited to head to the gym, confident that you’re making progress, and looking forward to a serious pump. I’ve got you covered with the best biceps and triceps workouts from my little black book.

Meet your detailed blueprint of how to build huge arms. Along with a growth-focused approach to nutrition and supplementation, this is what you need to grow the muscles you really want to show off!

Know Your Arms to Grow Your Arms

When someone asks you to show your muscles, you flex your biceps. But your triceps actually make up 2/3 of your arm mass! Many beginners fall into that trap—even the great Arnold Schwarzenegger has admitted he trained his biceps harder and more often than his triceps in the beginning. This built an imbalance that took him years to balance back out.

Here’s the best way to build bigger arms: hit biceps and triceps equally hard, using all kinds of rep ranges from high (15-20) to moderate (8-12) to low (4-6). For the first eight weeks of this program, you’ll train triceps before biceps! Here’s what you need to know about each group:

Biceps Muscles: The major function of your biceps muscles is to bend or “flex” your elbow. When you want to build them, your approach should include variations on the best biceps exercises from multiple angles:

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Because your biceps also function as forearm rotators, you should include multiple grip styles:

Palms up: traditional curls
Palms in: hammer curls
Palms down: reverse curls

No, you don’t need to do all those styles and grips in every workout! Just cycle through the workouts below over a course of months and you’ll be covered.

Triceps Muscles: Your triceps are the counterpoint to your biceps and extend or straighten the elbow. The best triceps exercises also cover a range of angles to hit all three “heads” of this muscle group.

In front of your body: close-grip bench press or push-downs
In front of your face: skullcrushers
Over your head: overhead cable extensions

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Forearm Muscles: Your forearms are responsible for your grip strength, as well as your wrist stability and strength. If you’ve been ignoring forearm workouts so far in your training, get ready to be seriously challenged! You’ll perform seriously high-rep sets—like 50 reps per set!

How to Use These Workouts

Perform one dedicated arm workout per week, preferably on a Friday or Saturday. Your arms get hit adequately in chest, shoulder, and back workouts earlier in the week, so doing two rounds isn’t necessary!

Perform Workout 1 once a week for 4-6 weeks, then move to Workout 2. Keep going until you get through Workout 5. Once you’re through Workout 5, you can start over with Workout 1 confident that you’re bigger and stronger than you were before.

While you’re on this program, use Gym2k.com’s macronutrient calculator to make sure you’re eating enough calories, protein, carbs, and fats to support your goal of muscle gains. To grow your arms, you must be in a caloric surplus, meaning that you are eating more calories than you burn.

Along with protein, a couple of key supplements to consider with these workouts are:

Have any doubt about how to perform a movement below? Click on the exercise name in the workout table or search in the Gym2k.com Exercise Database.

Arm Day Workout 1, Weeks 1-4 Arm Day Workout 2, Weeks 5-8 Feet-elevated bench dip Add extra weight if needed to stay in the rep range. 3 sets, 6-8 reps (rest 90 sec.) EZ-bar skullcrusher- 2 sets, 8-12 reps (rest 1 min.) SINGLE-ARM DUMBBELL TRICEPS EXTENSION Perform all of the reps on one side before switching to the other side. Don’t rest between sides and rest 1 min. between sets. Single-arm dumbbell triceps extension 2 sets, 12 reps (left side, no rest) Single-arm dumbbell triceps extension 2 sets, 12 reps (right side, rest 1 min.) Alternating incline dumbbell biceps curl 3 sets, 8-12 reps (alternating, 4-6 reps per side, rest 90 sec.) EZ-bar spider curl 2 sets, 8-12 reps (rest 1 min.) Lying cable biceps curl 3 sets, 15 reps (rest 1 min.) Cable Wrist Curl 2 sets, 50 reps (rest 1 min.) Arm Day Workout 3, Weeks 9-12 EZ-Bar Curl 3 sets, 6-8 reps (rest 90 sec.) Cable rope hammer curl 3 sets, 12 reps (rest 1 min. ) CONCENTRATION CURL Perform all reps for one side before switching to the other side. Don’t rest between sides, and rest 1 min. between sets. Concentration curl 3 sets, 15 reps (left side, no rest) Concentration curl 3 sets, 15 reps (right side, rest 1 min.) Dip Machine 3 sets, 6-8 reps (rest 90 sec.) Decline Dumbbell Triceps Extension 3 sets, 8-12 reps (rest 1 min.) Incline cable straight-bar triceps extension 3 sets, 15 reps (rest 1 min.) Cable Wrist Curl 2 sets, 50 reps (rest 1 min.) Arm Day Workout 4, Weeks 13-16 Arm Day Workout 5, Weeks 17-20 Barbell Curl 3 sets, 4-6 reps (rest 90 sec.) Close-grip bench press 3 sets, 6-8 reps (rest 90 sec.) Alternating incline dumbbell biceps curl 2 sets, 16-24 reps (alternating, 8-12 reps per side, rest 90 sec.) EZ-bar skullcrusher- 2 sets, 8-12 reps (rest 90 sec.) Machine Preacher Curl 2 sets, 15 reps (rest 1 min.) Reverse-Grip Triceps Extension 2 sets, 15 reps (rest 1 min.) Seated palms-up wrist curl 2 sets, 50 reps (rest 1 min.) Seated palms-down wrist curl 2 sets, 50 reps (rest 1 min.)