If you’re new to weight training, one of your goals may be to build a big chest, get a six-pack, and of course, build yourself big biceps and triceps. And, it’s important to work both your biceps and triceps when it comes to building bigger arms. Your triceps actually make up 2/3 of your overall upper arm size – so as nice as it is to feel that “pump” while working on your biceps, if you balance your arm workouts to also target your triceps, you’ll find your overall arm size will grow quite a bit faster than if you just target your bicep muscles alone. Here’s how to build bigger arms and increase biceps & triceps size.
What to Avoid
If you’re just starting out, spending countless hours doing endless bicep curls and tricep extensions is counterproductive. Instead, remember that your muscles don’t grow during your workout – they grow in that resting / rebuilding phase after your workouts are done. So, working your arms 5 times per week won’t help you. Additionally, only doing curls and extensions limits your chance to build muscle tissue. These two exercises are isolation exercises. You need compound exercises to build overall muscle mass. Work the entire muscle before you start working on the details with isolation exercises. And, if youi focus too much on your arms, you’ll neglect working other muscles, making you look unbalanced and out of proportion. Finally – you need to feed your muscles! You’ll need to not only put on weight, you’ll need to eat a clean, high-protein diet to help rebuild your muscles!
What You Should Do
First, eat more. Again, more fuel means more energy – your workouts will be better if you have the energy to work out. And, you’ll need additional protein and nutrients to help your muscles grow and recover post workout. So, eat every 3 hours – breakfast, lunch, dinner, 2 snacks, and post workout. Next, increase your squats! Your leg muscles are some of the largest muscles in your body – additional squat workouts helps your body product more naturally occurring growth hormones that will help your overall muscle growth. And, don’t forget to get some rest. Your arms are small muscles compared to the rest of your body – so give them a break between your workouts. And, keep track of your progress – write it down! It’ll help you see where you’re starting to plateau, allowing you to decide when you are ready to add weight to your sets.
What Exercises to Consider
- For building your Biceps: Pull-ups, Chin-ups & Inverted Rows work your biceps. Pull-ups work several muscles at the same time and force you to pull your own weight up.
- For building your Triceps: Bench Press, Overhead Press & Push-ups work your triceps.
- For building your Forearms: Deadlifts work your forearms hard.
Fitness 4 Home Superstore has a wide variety of strength equipment that is perfect for helping you to build your arms. Visit any of our three Phoenix area locations to experience our selection of weight training equipment – perfect for your strength training needs!
