Bigger Arms: The Best Bicep and Tricep Exercises

The Secret to Big Arms

Everyone wants bigger arms, but most people go about it the wrong way. They focus on the "pump" rather than progressive overload, or they neglect the triceps, which make up 2/3 of your upper arm mass.

To build truly impressive arms, you need a mix of heavy compound movements (like close grip bench press and chin-ups) and strict isolation work to target the specific heads of the muscle.

Here are the best exercises to blow up your arms, pulled from the LoadMuscle database.

Best Tricep Exercises

The triceps have three heads: long, lateral, and medial. You need to hit all three.

1. Barbell Close Grip Bench Press

Primary Focus: All three heads (Mass Builder)
Why it matters: The heaviest lift you can do for triceps. It allows for massive overload and builds thickness in the entire upper arm.

Coaching Cues:

• Grip the bar shoulder-width apart (not too close, or you'll wreck your wrists).
• Tuck your elbows in as you lower the bar to your lower chest.
• Drive up explosively, locking out the triceps.

2. Barbell Lying Triceps Extension (Skull Crusher)

Primary Focus: Long Head, Lateral Head
Why it matters: A classic for a reason. It puts the triceps under a huge stretch.

Coaching Cues:

• Lie on a bench holding an EZ bar or barbell.
• Lower the bar towards your forehead (or slightly behind your head for more stretch).
• Keep your elbows pointing up; don't let them flare out too much.
• Extend your arms back to the starting position.

3. Weighted Tricep Dips

Primary Focus: All three heads
Why it matters: A bodyweight staple that can be loaded heavily. It hits the triceps and the chest, building a thick upper body.

Coaching Cues:

• Keep your torso upright to focus on triceps (leaning forward hits chest).
• Lower until your elbows are at 90 degrees.
• Push up to a full lockout.

4. Cable Standing One Arm Tricep Pushdown

Primary Focus: Lateral Head (The "Horseshoe")
Why it matters: Isolating one arm at a time fixes imbalances and allows for a peak contraction that you can't get with heavy compounds.

Coaching Cues:

• Pin your elbow to your side.
• Extend your arm fully, squeezing the tricep hard at the bottom.
• Control the weight on the way up.

Best Bicep Exercises

The biceps have two heads: long (outer) and short (inner). You also need to train the brachialis (under the bicep) for width.

5. Barbell Curl

Primary Focus: Biceps (Overall Mass)
Why it matters: The gold standard for bicep mass. It allows you to lift the most weight.

Coaching Cues:

• Stand tall with a shoulder-width grip.
• Curl the bar up, keeping elbows at your sides.
• Don't swing your hips to cheat the weight up.
• Lower under control.

6. Chin Up

Primary Focus: Biceps, Lats
Why it matters: A compound movement that overloads the biceps with your entire body weight.

Coaching Cues:

• Take an underhand (supinated) grip, shoulder-width apart.
• Pull yourself up until your chin clears the bar.
• Focus on driving your elbows down.

7. Dumbbell Incline Curl

Primary Focus: Long Head (The Peak)
Why it matters: Sitting on an incline bench puts your arms behind your body, stretching the long head of the bicep. This stretch is key for growth.

Coaching Cues:

• Set bench to 45-60 degrees.
• Let your arms hang straight down behind you.
• Curl up without moving your elbows forward.

8. EZ Barbell Preacher Curl

Primary Focus: Short Head (Inner Bicep)
Why it matters: The preacher bench eliminates momentum, forcing the biceps to work in isolation. It places maximum tension at the bottom of the rep.

Coaching Cues:

• Adjust the seat so your armpits rest over the pad.
• Lower the bar until your arms are fully extended.
• Curl up, squeezing hard at the top.

9. Dumbbell Seated Hammer Curl

Primary Focus: Brachialis, Forearms
Why it matters: Targets the muscle underneath the bicep. Growing the brachialis pushes the bicep up, making your arm look thicker from the front.

Coaching Cues:

• Keep palms facing each other (neutral grip).
• Curl up towards your shoulder.
• Control the negative.

Sample Arm Workout

Add this to the end of your upper body days or run it as a dedicated arm day.

Track Your Arm Growth

Arms grow slowly. To ensure you're making progress, you need to track your weights and reps.

Use the LoadMuscle App to log your workouts and see your strength history. Seeing that you added 5lbs to your curl is the best motivation there is.

Start building those guns!