Big arms, I mean shirt stretching, super-hero looking big arms will never go out of style. And, if you ask any guy if he could have one dream body part it’s bigger biceps. It’s the one body part that gets you instant respect once people see them – coincidentally, big arms is also the one body part the women find most sexy. They say it makes them feel safe when being held – no joke! So time to man up and ditch your eleven-teen inch arms for good!
Now when it comes to big arms there is a lot of BS out there: some ‘gurus’ tell you ‘don’t train arms directly, they get plenty of work from pressing and chin-ups’, others have said ‘if you want big arms squat more’ and my favorite, ‘in order to add an inch to your arms you’ll have to gain 10 pounds of muscle’ –lol! All complete BS. To make matters worse, some training "functional" styles tell you not even to train arms at all!! If you really want to know how to get bigger biceps read on...
When it comes to arm training there are 4 questions that come up all the time:
- 1. How many sets should I do?
- 2. How many reps should I do?
- 3. How often should I train arms?
- 4. What are the best exercises?
I will answer each of these and more. I will show you some arm workouts that will help get your results fast.
Give Arms Their Own Day
Give arms their own training day. You heard me, their OWN day. This is the single most important arm training tip. Nothing will help you get big arms faster then training biceps, triceps and forearms together on their own day. The evidence from this approach is so overwhelming it deserves a little explanation.
There are many people who believe that they will be able to grow their biceps by simply adding them into the workout AFTER training their back and/or triceps.
This is simply not the case.
It is a FACT that the body parts trained first will always progress faster than those that are trained afterward. This is because as the workout progresses, you lose energy and as a result your output is reduced.
CRITICAL TIP: Start with your biceps first or have a biceps-only day and use Fat Gripz to see the fastest, biggest results for your arms!
Always Train Arms with Fat Gripz or a Thick/Fat Bar
Only Train Arms With Thick Bars/Fat Gripz. Along with training arms on their own day this is probably the most important change you can make in your arm training. Using fat-handled bars is one of the most effective ways to develop maximum muscularity and strength. It develops big arms and levels of upper body power strength virtually incomprehensible to those who train only with regular bars...
Thick-handled barbells and dumbbells have been around for decades but you will only find them in very high-end professional training centers because they are so expensive! One thick-handled barbell can cost over $800 and thick-handled dumbbell sets can cost well over $10,000! If your gym does not have thick-handled bars (and it won’t) grab yourself a set of Fat Gripz ASAP.
"Invest in a thick bar and do all of your exercises with it. I have every thick barbell and cable attachment known to mankind at my gym."
Train Your Forearms
Train your forearms. No matter what your goal is, a set of big beefy forearms is always impressive and it completes your arms. It doesn’t matter how big your biceps or triceps are, if you have stick forearms you will still have small arms – that’s a fact.
The most effective way to build your forearms is to train with thick-handled barbells and dumbbells (see point #2 – if you don’t have access to thick bars grab some Fat Gripz!
Maximize Blood Volume In The Muscle... The Pump
Train for the pump. I cannot stress how important this is. If you are not getting a pump it’s going to be very hard to get big arms. When you get a pump it is bringing blood and nutrients into the muscle which is absolutely critical for growth and strength.
The second benefit of a pump is the stretching effect it can have on your fascia. Fascia is like a tight sheath that surrounds your muscles (especially for arms). In some people it is so tight that it will actually restrict muscle growth (arm size) so the more you can stretch it out via the expansive force from the increased blood volume in the muscle (the pump) the more room you will create to allow growth. You can even help this along by stretching your arms when they are fully pumped.
Generally speaking you want to train arms in the 8-15 rep range twice a week with less then a minute between sets and a minimum of 10 sets (if you’re doing arms on their own day).
| Order | Exercise | Reps | Sets | Rest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A1 | Incline dumbbell curls Use Fat Gripz for faster gains | x12 | x6 | 30s |
| A2 | Triceps cable press down | x12 | x6 | 30s |
| Repeat the above until you have down 6 sets each of bi’s and tri’s. Your arms should be feeling big. | ||||
| B1 | Standing alternate dumbbell curls Use Fat Gripz for faster gains | x12 | x6 | 30s |
| B2 | Lying skull crushers (AKA triceps extensions with an EZ bar) | x12 | x6 | 30s |
| Repeat the above until you have down 6 sets each of bi’s and tri’s. Your arms should be feeling twice as big now. | ||||
| C1 | Standing reverse curl Use Fat Gripz for faster gains | x15 | x15 | 0s |
| C2 | Pronated grip (overhand) wrist exstensions | x20 | x20 | Repeat x 3 |
Your arms should be officially ‘fried’. Do this routine twice a week for 6 weeks and then buy some new shirts :-) And remember to take it easy on your other body parts (see tip # 7)!
Once you’ve done this workout here are a few more to keep you going:
“Stimulates arm growth
beyond the norm”
Get Leaner
Get Leaner & Respect your elbows. OK this is technically two points. Get leaner, your arms will always look bigger and better when you can see the definition and vascularity (veins) which only happens when you are lean.
Respect your elbows, staying injury free is so important because if you injure yourself (most of the time it’s the elbows) your arms will be atrophying (shrinking) and not hypertrophying (growing). The best way to do this is to use good form, check your ego at the door and make sure you can feel the target muscle working (see tip # 4).
Concentrate On Arms for 2-3 Months
Concentrate on one body-part at a time. If you natural, i.e., not taking steroids your body can only recover and rebuild so much. No matter how much you eat, or how many supplements you take, this is a fact. So, if you are smashing all your body-parts your recoverability is spread out over your whole body and progress is slow.
You will always grow faster when you make one body-part a priority, in this case arms. This does not mean you should stop training the rest of your body, just don’t kill every body-part when you’re trying to grow your arms (or other body-part). If you are going to hit your arms/forearms at 100% effort keep your other body-parts to 80% (stop about 2 reps short of failure), don’t worry they will NOT shrink I promise!
Choose a priority body-part (in this case arms) for about 2-3 months and then buy new shirts and switch body-parts.
Use More Exercises
Use more exercises! There is NO such thing as the best exercise or best routine for any body-part. Anyone telling you other wise wants to sell you something. Everybody has different muscle insertion points, muscle belly lengths and muscle fiber make composition so everyone will respond slightly differently to an exercise and/or routine.
Use a variety of exercises to find ones that work best for you. How will know? There will always be exercises where you can feel the target muscle better and in turn produce a better pump. Here are few to get you started...
| BICEPS | TRICEPS |
|---|---|
Standing DB curlsv- both hands together Standing alternate DB curls 90° seated DB curls – both hands together 90° seated alternate DB curls 45° incline DB curls – both hands together 45° incline alternate curls 90° seated Zotman curls Standing BB curl with straight bar or EZ bar Preacher/Scott curl with straight bar or EZ bar Concentration curls | Flat close grip press with straight bar or EZ bar Incline close grip press with straight bar or EZ bar DB kick backs Skull crushers/lying triceps extensions with straight bar or EZ bar Cable press-downs with straight bar Cable press-downs with angled bar Cable press-downs with straight bar with supinated (under and) grip One arm cable press-downs Cable press-downs with rope Dips |
| Watch the video below to see some exercises with Fat Gripz | |
“The Fat Gripz are absolutely amazing... I have been passing them around the team for everyone to use. Everyone loves them.”
Big Arms Summary
- Train arms together on their own day with forearms
- Only use thick bars for arm training (if you don’t have access to thick bars grab some Fat Gripz ASAP - best investment you'll ever make)
- Remember to ensure you feel the muscles working and are getting a good pump
- Make sure you are training your forearms just as hard as your upper arms
- Use more exercise to stimulate new growth
- Stay injury free, if you’re injured your arms are not growing
Other Tips and Tricks
If you want even more training tips checkout Bodybuilding.com. Remember, if you're not supporting all your hard work in the gym with good eating your gains will be harder then necessary. Generally speaking, make sure you drink about 10 cups of water a day (muscles are over 70% water) and eat as natural and organic as possible while getting enough protein to help your body grow. Red meat, chicken, turkey and protein powders especially organic grass-fed whey protein powder, can help to ensure you get enough daily protein.
