When you search the internet for how to get bigger arms you’ll tend to find a list of arms exercises. Useful, sure, and someone who’s never trained before will happily build a little muscle in their biceps and triceps – the two biggest muscles in your upper arm – haphazardly picking and choosing whichever moves appeal.
But if you want to get bigger arms faster, you need to string those exercises together into arm workouts that stimulate hypertrophy (the fancy term for building muscle mass) and you need to do those sessions regularly, progressively increasing the challenge.
That’s what we’ve done for you here, with a series of four workouts that experienced gym-goers can repeat every week for four weeks to focus on building mass in their arms. Each workout follows the principles of hypertrophy training and trains your arms twice a week.
Combine your efforts in the gym with a healthy diet that includes 1.2-2g of protein per kg of body weight a day (that’s the standard recommendation for how much protein you need to build muscle) and you’ll be on your way to bigger arms.
How To Do These Workouts
Each workout is made up of five exercises. Complete all the reps of the first exercise, then rest for the period specified. That’s one set. Repeat that routine for the number of sets specified, then move on to the second lift and follow the same format.
The tempo, or speed, at which you complete each exercise is also specified using four numbers. The first digit refers to how long in seconds you take to lower the weight, the second digit how long to pause at the bottom of the lift, the third how long it takes to lift the weight, and finally the fourth digit refers to how long you pause at the top of the movement. Our guide to tempo training for people who lift weights goes into more detail.
You should choose a weight for each exercise that is manageable, but makes the final few reps of each set a challenge. Each week, try to lift slightly heavier than before – but if your form begins to suffer, then swap lighter weights back in.
Bear in mind that the full plan is best suited to gym-goers with a lot of training experience. If you’re new to resistance training, dial down elements of the plan to match your level. You can take more than a week to complete the four workouts, for instance, or reduce the number of sets.
Expert Workout Tips
Make the most of your time in the weights room with these top tips.
1. Don’t let your wrists move
“Something I notice in a lot of novice trainees is they tend to ‘break’ at the wrists when things start to get hard,” says trainer Joel Dowey. “Don’t let this happen. For extension movements, push the cable attachment away from your body with the edge of your hand. For curling movements, keep them locked in place and don’t let them move. As the wrist breaks, you’re taking tension away from the desired muscle group.”
2. Flex and stretch
Instead of sitting down between sets to check Instagram, you should stretch your working muscles to stimulate growth. “As soon as your set is over, set down the weights and start flexing the muscle you’ve just been working to increase blood flow into the muscle and improve your mind-to-muscle connection, which are crucial for maximising growth,” says Nick Mitchell, founder of Ultimate Performance. “If you’ve just finished a set of biceps curls, squeeze the muscle for a second or two, then relax it by straightening your arm and flexing your triceps.” Repeat this for your rest period, then go again.
3. Contract the antagonist
The antagonist is the muscle that’s working against the movement you’re doing. “If you flex your triceps at the bottom of a curl, the biceps will fully lengthen, and vice versa during any triceps extension work – meaning that you’re hitting full ROM [range of movement],” says Dowey. “It also stops you from cheating and cutting the movement short, and ensures a pause at the end of the eccentric [lowering] phase.”
How To Warm Up For These Workouts
There’s no easing in to the workouts below. Each set and rep of the exercises you’re being asked to do has to be performed at the tempo listed if you want to get the best results. And you want the best results, right? That means you need to warm up before you start, because otherwise you’ll increase your risk of injury and find the first few sets of your session unnecessarily tough.
Your warm-up also needs to be specific to the workout you’re doing. Don’t jump on the treadmill for five minutes just before doing an intense arms session, in other words. Start your warm-up with some dynamic stretching to get your muscles moving – here’s a great seven-move warm-up routine to use – and then move on to some exercise-specific moves.
The easiest way to do this is to run through a round of the exercises in the upcoming workout using very light weights, or no weight at all. For bodyweight moves you can do easier variations – kneeling press-ups or band-assisted pull-ups, for example.
Workout 1: Chest And Triceps
1 Incline bench press
Sets 5 Reps 8 Tempo 2110 Rest 60sec
Lie on an incline bench, holding a bar with an overhand grip with your hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart and arms straight. Brace your core and press your feet into the ground, then lower the bar towards your chest. Press it back up to the start.
2 Triceps dip
Sets 5 Reps 8 Tempo 2010 Rest 60sec
Grip rings or parallel bars with your arms straight. Keeping your chest up, bend your elbows to lower your body as far as your shoulders allow. Press back up powerfully to return to the start.
3 Hammer-grip dumbbell bench press
Sets 4 Reps 12-15 Tempo 2010 Rest 45sec
Lie on a flat bench, holding dumbbells by your shoulders with palms facing. Drive your feet into the floor and press the weights straight up, then lower them slowly back to the start.
Looking for a new set of dumbbells? Check out our guide to the best dumbbells you can buy.
4 Dumbbell triceps extension
Sets 4 Reps 12-15 Tempo 2010 Rest 45sec
Stand tall holding a dumbbell in each hand over your head, with arms straight. Keeping your chest up, core braced and elbows pointing up, lower the weights behind your head, then raise them back to the start.
5 Diamond press-up
Sets 4 Reps 12-15 Tempo 2010 Rest 45sec
Start in a press-up position but with your thumbs and index fingers touching to form a diamond. Keeping your hips up and core braced, bend your elbows to lower your chest towards the floor. Push down through your hands to return to the start.
Workout 2: Back And Biceps
1 Pull-up
Sets 5 Reps 8 Tempo 2011 Rest 60sec
Hold a pull-up bar using an overhand grip with hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart. Brace your core, then pull yourself up until your chest touches the bar. Lower until your arms are straight again.
2 Chin-up
Sets 5 Reps 8 Tempo 2011 Rest 60sec
Hold a chin-up bar using an underhand grip, hands shoulder-width apart. Brace your core, then pull yourself up until your chin is higher than the bar, keeping your elbows tucked in to your body. Lower until your arms are straight again.
3 Barbell biceps curl
Sets 4 Reps 12 Tempo 2011 Rest 45sec
Hold a barbell with an underhand grip with your hands shoulder-width apart. Keeping your chest up, core braced and elbows tucked in to your sides, curl the bar up to your chest, squeezing your biceps as you go. Lower it back to the start.
4 Reverse-grip bent-over row
Sets 4 Reps 12 Tempo 2011 Rest 45sec
Hold a bar using a shoulder-width underhand grip just outside of your legs. Bend your knees slightly then bend forwards, hingeing at the hips and keeping your shoulder blades back. Pull the bar up towards your abs, leading with your elbows, then lower it back to the start.
5 Dumbbell biceps curl
Sets 4 Reps 12-15 Tempo 2011 Rest 45sec
Hold dumbbells by your sides with straight arms, palms facing forwards. Keeping your chest up, core braced and elbows tucked in to your sides, curl the weights up, squeezing your biceps as you go, then lower them back to the start.
Workout 3: Legs And Shoulders
1 Back squat
Sets 5 Reps 8 Tempo 2010 Rest 60sec
Stand tall with your feet just wider than shoulder-width apart, holding a barbell across the back of your shoulders. Keeping your chest up and core braced, squat down until your thighs are at least parallel to the floor. Drive back up through your heels to return to the start.
2 Overhead press
Sets 5 Reps 8 Tempo 2010 Rest 60sec
Stand tall with your feet shoulder-width apart, holding a barbell across the top of your chest with hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart. Keeping your chest up and core braced, press the bar overhead until your arms are straight, then lower it back to the start.
3 Barbell split squat
Sets 4 Reps 6-8 each side Tempo 2010 Rest 45sec
Stand tall with feet just wider than shoulder-width apart, holding a bar across the back of your shoulders. Keeping your chest up, take a big step forwards with your right foot, then lower until both knees are bent at 90°. Drive back through your right foot to return to the start. Repeat for six to eight reps, then switch legs and do another six reps with your left foot forward.
4 Barbell high pull
Sets 4 Reps 12-15 Tempo 1010 Rest 45sec
Stand tall with your feet shoulder-width apart, holding a barbell in front of your thighs with an overhand grip and straight arms. Keeping your chest up and core braced, pull the bar up, leading with your elbows, until it reaches chin height. Lower it back to the start.
5 Lateral raise
Sets 4 Reps 12-15 Tempo 2011 Rest 45sec
Stand tall, holding a light dumbbell in each hand by your sides, palms facing each other. Keeping your chest up, your core braced and a slight bend in your elbows, raise the weights out to the sides until they’re at shoulder height. Turn your thumbs down at the top and lower them back to the start.
Workout 4: Biceps And Triceps
1 Triceps dip
Sets 8 Reps 8 Tempo 2011 Rest 60sec
Grip rings or parallel bars with your arms straight. Keeping your chest up, bend your elbows to lower your body as far as your shoulders allow. Press back up powerfully to return to the start.
2 Chin-up
Sets 8 Reps 8 Tempo 2011 Rest 60sec
Hold a chin-up bar using an underhand grip, hands shoulder-width apart. Brace your core, then pull yourself up until your chin is higher than the bar, keeping your elbows tucked in to your body. Lower until your arms are straight again.
3 Barbell biceps curl
Sets 3 Reps 15 Tempo 2011 Rest 60sec
Hold a barbell with an underhand grip with your hands shoulder-width apart. Keeping your chest up, core braced and elbows tucked in to your sides, curl the bar up to your chest, squeezing your biceps as you go. Lower it back to the start.
4 Dumbbell triceps extension
Sets 3 Reps 15 Tempo 2011 Rest 60sec
Stand tall holding a dumbbell in each hand over your head, with arms straight. Keeping your chest up, core braced and elbows pointing up, lower the weights behind your head, then raise them back to the start.
5 Dumbbell biceps curl
Sets 3 Reps 15 Tempo 2011 Rest 60sec
Hold dumbbells by your sides with straight arms, palms facing forwards. Keeping your chest up, core braced and elbows tucked in to your sides, curl the weights up, squeezing your biceps as you go, then lower them back to the start.
