The #1 Workout That BLEW UP My Arms (4 Exercises)
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Published 2023-12-03
Click below for a step by step plan training plan that reveals all the best exercises you should do for each and every muscle group:
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Let’s start with the biceps in our arm workout. A new area of research suggests that for the most growth, you’d want a bicep workout that challenges the biceps the most closer to the bottom when the bicep is fully stretched. There have been similar findings in other muscles like the hamstrings, quads, and as you’ll see later on the triceps as well. This makes me relatively confident in selecting preacher curls as a “top tier” biceps exercise. To potentially get even more growth, try to start the curl with a neutral grip and then turn your wrists in so your palms face up at the top. But I’d only recommend doing it if you’re using an actual preacher curl bench. Second, given the importance of the stretch, your arm should be almost fully extended at the bottom. But this is usually a position that most people have never trained their biceps in. So start off with lighter weight for 10-20 reps, and then over time, you can go relatively heavier for around 8-12 reps.
Alright, so there’s 1 more biceps curl we’ll want to do in the best arm workout to really blow up the arms. This one will help grow the biceps, brachioradialis, and brachialis. Standing hammer curls are the usual go-to for these muscles. But for an even greater benefit, we can perform these on a preacher curl to make it difficult at the beginning of the exercise, when the muscles are more stretched. Similar to the regular preacher curl, start off lighter for higher reps and work your way to 8-12 reps with a relatively heavier weight. But if these feel tough on your tendons, feel free to stick with lighter weights and higher reps or swap them for behind-the-body hammer cable curls in your arm workout, which will still challenge the muscles more when they’re stretched.
Now, let's move onto the triceps workout to get bigger arms. There are 3 heads in the triceps: medial lateral, and long. The long head is the only head that crosses the shoulder joint. So you’ll need special tricep exercises to target it. Research shows that compared to doing just the bench press alone, adding the skullcrushers resulted in no additional growth in the lateral head and a bit of growth in the medial head, but considerably more growth in the long head. And similar to skullcrushers, overhead extensions place the long head in a greater stretch. I would be pretty confident in recommending some type of overhead extension as a top-tier triceps exercise to include in your arm workout — at least for the long head. Aim for about 10-15 reps on these using moderate weight.
Now, let’s target the 2 other tricep heads. I’ve found a lot of success with a triceps exercise I first learned from biomechanics expert Coach Kassem. The arm position seems to both stretch and challenge the lateral head more when it’s stretched, which as we covered is probably beneficial for growth. To perform it, grab the cable with one hand, face away, and let the cable come over your opposite shoulder. Position your arm in front and across your body, and then simply extend your arm while keeping your elbow locked in place. Aim for about 10-15 reps per set. Don’t have access to cables? Another option is a bodyweight tricep exercise - close grip push-ups. Or, you can do a dumbbell triceps exercise - the JM press. However, for some people, these can be tough on the elbows, so I’d recommend sticking with lighter weights and aiming for about 15-20 controlled reps.
So here are the 4 exercises you should do for bigger arms:
Preacher Curl: 3-4 sets of 8-12 reps
Dumbbell Hammer Preacher Curl: 3-4 sets of 8-12 reps
Cable Overhead Extension, 3-4 sets of 10-15 reps,
Lateral Head Cable Extension: 3-4 sets of 10-15 reps
For big arms, you can throw these arm exercises into a few of your workouts throughout the week or have a dedicated arm workout day where you do these all at once. Hope this helps. Good luck!
All Comments (21)
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Hope you enjoyed the vid! See below for all the studies mentioned in the video. Cheers! ARM GROWTH WITH PREACHER CURLS VS INCLINE CURLS pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37559762/ LONG LENGTH TRAINING pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33977835/ pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33009197/ pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35819335/ TRICEPS GROWTH WITH BENCH PRESS pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32149887/ TRICEPS GROWTH WITH OVERHEAD EXTENSIONS VS TRICEP PUSHDOWNS www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17461391.2022…
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Arms Workout - Dumbbell Preacher Curl | 3-4 Sets | 8-12 Reps | Alternative: Behind Body Cable Curls - Dumbbell Hammer Preacher Curl | 3-4 Sets | 8-12 Reps | Alternative: Behind Body Cable Hammer Curls - Cable Overhead Extension | 3-4 Sets | 10-15 Reps | Alternative: Skull crushers - Lateral Head Cable Extension | 3-4 Sets | 10-15 Reps | Alternative: JM Press, Close Grip Push-Ups
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This man is so dedicated he sleeps in the gym
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Bro. Please make more videos like this, they help alot and will prolly save alot of time on many people's gym journey.
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Your actually the most helpful guy for exercise on youtube. If I have a question, I just search for your wise videos and I find what I am looking for. Doing well, keep it up!
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Please continue this "#1 workouts" series for other muscle groups. Looking forward to the back and chest videos
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this is exactly the video i needed before my bicep and shoulder session today. thanks! love the content keep it up
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Your video editing skills gotten really good over the years. Since I just saw your channel. So far I am hooked on learning new skills
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Love this series of video ! We gonna need it for each group of muscles 😁 looking forward for the mid back and traps one
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Your videos are very helpful. No filler, no ranting, just clear concise explanation and visuals. Thx!
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Jeremy your videos are so great. I recommend your videos to beginners all the time due to how approachable you are.
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🎯 Key Takeaways for quick navigation: 00:42 💪 Preacher curls are effective for biceps growth, particularly targeting the bottom part. Research supports their effectiveness compared to incline curls. 02:33 🤔 Neutral grip in standing hammer curls or behind-the-body hammer cable curls on a preacher curl can target brachialis and brachioradialis, promoting overall arm thickness. 03:46 🏋️♂️ Overhead tricep extensions, especially targeting the long head, are crucial for balanced triceps growth. They outperformed Skull Crushers in promoting long head growth in a study. 05:52 🚀 To emphasize lateral triceps head growth, try cable pushdowns with an arm position that stretches and challenges the lateral head. Alternatively, close grip push-ups or JM presses with dumbbells can be effective. 07:19 🔄 Consistency in workouts, proper nutrition, and sufficient sleep are foundational for results. No workout can compensate for neglecting these fundamentals. Consider a personalized, science-based plan for optimal results. Made with HA
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Playing OSRS increased my overall muscle by 38%.
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My triceps are huge but I’ve been a hard gainer in my biceps these videos definitely get me to think more scientifically about working them
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Great help as always, keep up the good work 💯
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So much valuable information in a 7 min video 🙏🏼 hope you never stop teaching us ❤️
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Always such professional content, love your videos 👏🏽
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You're videos have been so helpful, thank you !!
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Behind the body cable curl is good to be mentioned because its better than lying dumbbell curls because it provides constant tension and at the bottom is most difficult.For me that is also one should be included
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Vid production is top tier, I love it.
