There are a dizzying number of arm workouts out there for you to try, which can feel intimidating when you’re just starting out. Fortunately, there’s no need for beginners to overcomplicate things and the best, most effective workouts for them will be very simple.

“Beginners should avoid starting with very heavy weights and overly complex movements,” says Jayke Izli, personal trainer at The Body Lab London. “It’s crucial to build a solid foundation with basic exercises and gradually increase the difficulty with range, tempo and weight.”

That’s what our beginner gym workout does, suggesting you start with one exercise per body part, doing one set of 20 and building up from there. But if you’d like to give your arms more attention, Izli isn’t going to stop you.

“Strengthening the arms is not just about aesthetics. It’s crucial for enhancing overall upper-body strength, improving joint health and performing daily activities more efficiently,” says Izli. “Strong arms also contribute to better posture and reduce the risk of injuries.”

To get you started, Izli recommends this four-move beginner arm workout which alternates between a biceps exercise and triceps exercise.

How To Do This Beginner Arms Workout

To do this workout you’ll need dumbbells and a weights bench or other stable knee-high platform. (If you don’t have any dumbbells, try this no-equipment upper-body workout instead).

Izli has given a range of reps to do for each set. The first time you perform the workout choose the lowest number of reps using a dumbbell weight that makes the last few reps of each set a challenge. Rest as needed between sets.

The next time you perform the workout, add one rep to each set, using the same weight. Once you’ve hit the top of the rep range, go back to the beginning and increase the weight of the dumbbell.

Once you feel ready to move on from this session, try this superset dumbbell arms workout and keep training until you feel ready for this all-in arms workout plan. 

Beginner Arms Workout Overview

1. Biceps curl 3 x 8-12
2. Triceps dip 3 x 8-12
3. Hammer curl 3 x 8-12
4. Overhead triceps extension 3 x 8-10

Beginner Arms Workout Form Guides

1 Biceps curl

Sets 3 Reps 8-12

Stand with feet shoulder-width apart holding dumbbells in front of your thighs, your elbows touching the sides of your torso and palms facing forward. Inhale, then exhale as you contract your biceps to bend your elbows and lift the dumbbells to your shoulders. Your upper arms should remain in place next to your torso. Pause and squeeze your biceps hard, then lower the dumbbells under control.

2 Triceps dip

Sets 3 Reps 8-12

Sit on a weights bench or chair with your palms flat on the bench either side of you. Extend your legs so your heels are on the floor. Move your butt off the bench, then bend your elbows to lower until your elbows are at 90°. Push down on the bench and extend your arms to raise your body to the start. To make the exercise easier, bend your knees and bring your feet closer to you. The closer your feet, the easier it will be.

3 Hammer curl

Sets 3 Reps 8-12

This exercise is very similar to the biceps curl. Instead of beginning with your palms facing forward, your palms should be facing and remain facing throughout. 

Stand with feet shoulder-width apart holding dumbbells in front of your thighs, your elbows touching the sides of your torso and palms facing. Inhale, then exhale as you contract your biceps to bend your elbows and lift the dumbbells to your shoulders. Your upper arms should remain in place next to your torso. Pause and squeeze your biceps hard, then lower the dumbbells under control.

4 Overhead triceps extension

Sets 3 Reps 8-10

Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, holding the end of one dumbbell above your head with your palms facing up and your elbows pointing forward. Keeping your upper arms still, bend your elbows to lower the dumbbell behind your head. Extend your arms to lift the dumbbell back to the start.

With the right combination of isolation exercises, you don’t need to spend long in the gym to build muscle in your arms. This dumbbell arms workout from personal trainer Adam Enaz pairs triceps and biceps exercises in antagonistic supersets to maximize efficiency and intensity.

“An antagonist superset is a strength training technique where you perform two exercises back-to-back that target opposing muscle groups, known as antagonistic muscle pairs,” says Enaz. “This approach allows you to work different muscles while giving the opposing muscle group a chance to rest between sets, maximizing efficiency and intensity in your workout.”

How To Do This Dumbbell Arms Workout

Work through the three supersets below, taking minimal rest. Enaz suggests that you aim to build up the weight you use by 1-2kg every six weeks to progressively overload the muscle and stimulate growth.

1A Dumbbell biceps curl

Reps 10-12

“Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, holding a dumbbell in each hand with your arms fully extended,” says Enaz.“Bend your elbows to lift the dumbbells towards your shoulders, keeping your elbows close to your body. Squeeze your biceps at the top of the movement, then slowly lower the dumbbells back to the starting position.”

2A Dumbbell lying triceps extension

Reps 10-12 

“Lie on a bench [or the floor] with a dumbbell in each hand and your arms extended straight up,” says Enaz. “Keeping your upper arms stationary, bend your elbows to lower the dumbbells towards your forehead. Extend your arms back up to the start, squeezing your triceps at the top.”

2A Dumbbell hammer curl

Reps 10-12 

“Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, holding a dumbbell in each hand with your palms facing,” says Enaz. “Bend your elbows to lift the dumbbells towards your shoulders, keeping your palms facing each other throughout the movement. Slowly lower the dumbbells back to the starting position.”

2B Dumbbell overhead triceps extension

Reps 10-12 reps

“Stand or sit with a dumbbell held overhead in both hands and your arms fully extended,” says Enaz. “Lower the dumbbell behind your head by bending your elbows. Extend your arms to lift the dumbbell back to the start, fully engaging your triceps.”

3A Alternating dumbbell curl

Reps 10-12 each side 

“Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, holding a dumbbell in each hand, with your palms facing forward,” says Enaz. “Bend your elbow to lift one dumbbell towards your shoulder while keeping the other arm stationary. Alternate arms with each repetition, focusing on controlled movement and keeping tension in the biceps.”

3B Dumbbell triceps kick-back

Reps 10-12 

“Hold a dumbbell in each hand and hinge forward at your hips, keeping your back flat,” says Enaz. “Bend your elbows to bring the dumbbells towards your chest. Extend your arms straight back, squeezing your triceps at the top of the movement. Slowly lower the dumbbells back to the starting position.”

About Our Expert

Need help choosing which weight to buy? Check out our selection of the best dumbbells.

A couple of dumbbells and 20 minutes. That’s all you need to tackle this arm-strengthening session from Technogym ambassador James Stirling, better known to his 818,000 Instagram followers as the London Fitness Guy. 

“Dumbbells are your best friend for building stronger arms,” says Stirling. “The beauty of dumbbells is that they are incredibly versatile, allowing you to do a wide range of exercises and really isolate the biceps and triceps.”

Read on for the workout, form guides and Stirling’s advice for getting the most out of this and other arms workouts. 

Workout Overview

Complete three rounds of the following:

1. Cross-body curl x 12-15
2. Triceps extension x 12-15
3. Biceps curl to hammer curl x 12-15
4. Triceps dip x 12-15
5. Close-grip push-up x 12-15

Form Guides

1 Cross-body curl

Reps 12-15 each side

Hold dumbbells by your sides with your palms facing. Curl one dumbbell to the opposite shoulder. Pause, then lower under control. Repeat on the other side, alternating sides for each rep.

2 Lying triceps extension

Reps 12-15

Lie on the floor with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor, or lie on a weights bench if you have one. Hold dumbbells, or a single dumbbell held in both hands, above your head with your arms extended and palms facing. Keeping your upper arms still, bend your elbows to lower the dumbbells behind your head. Use your triceps to extend your arms and lift the dumbbells back to the start.  

3 Biceps curl to hammer curl

Reps 12-15

Stand holding dumbbells in by your thighs with your palms facing forward. Keeping your upper arms pinned to your torso, bend your elbows to raise the dumbells to your shoulders. Pause, then rotate the dumbbells so your palms are facing. Lower the dumbbells under control to your thighs. Rotate the dumbbells so your palms face forward.

4 Triceps dip

Reps 12-15

Find a sturdy platform like a chair, step or weight bench if you have one, and sit on the edge with your hands on the surface by your sides, and your legs extended and heels on the floor. Keeping your arms extended, move your bum off the chair. Bend your elbows to 90° to lower your body. Extend your arms to push back up to the start. Make this easier by bending your knees and bringing your feet closer to you.

5 Close-grip push-up

Reps 12-15

Begin on your hands and toes, with your hands slightly narrower than shoulder-width apart and your body in a straight line from head to heels. Engage your core and keeping your body in a straight line throughout, bend your elbows to lower your chest to the floor. When your chest is just above the floor, push powerfully through your hands to return to the start.

Workout Tips

1. Use The Right Weight 

“A question I often receive is, ‘What dumbbell weight should I use?’,” says Stirling. “As everyone has their own strength level, I always suggest using a weight that challenges you for the rep range prescribed. The last two or three reps of each set should feel tough. If they don’t, then you can probably use a heavier weight. We need to work heavy to stimulate muscle hypertrophy, or growth.”

2. Think Of Your Elbow Like A Hinge

If you want to get the most out of arm exercises, you should “think about your elbow acting like a hinge,” says Stirling. This is because the primary functions of the biceps and triceps are bending and straightening the arm at the elbow, respectively.

For this reason, he recommends keeping your upper arms tight to your sides during biceps curls, allowing the elbow to act as the hinge point.

This will help you avoid swinging your torso to generate momentum to help lift the dumbbell, focusing instead on using the target muscle (in this case, the biceps) to move the weight.

3. Take It Slow

As your muscles fatigue, it may be tempting to rush through repetitions and get the reps done as quickly as possible, but Stirling advises you to take your time. 

“The key to getting the most out of your arm workouts is to utilize time under tension, which means slowing down the eccentric or lowering part of the movement.”

For example, the eccentric portion of a biceps curl is when you're controlling the dumbbell down from the top of the rep back to the starting position. 

“As a general rule of thumb, try to take two or three seconds on the lowering part of the exercise,” says Stirling. 

For help deciding on the right set for you, read our guide to the best dumbbells.

When Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson needs to build a physique worthy of the silver screen, he turns to professional bodybuilder Dave Rienzi—and now you can too. 

Rienzi, known for getting Hollywood A-listers including Johnson of Black Adam fame and Superman’s Henry Cavill into shape, recently shared this triceps workout on Instagram. 

Surprisingly Rienzi's routine only involves one move—the triceps kick-back—repeated 64 times, to conjure up larger arm muscle. You can use a dumbbell if you want to try this at home, but Rienzi’s weapon of choice is the cable machine. 

Perform eight reps with a three-second eccentric, or lowering, phase for each (an example of tempo training) to boost your triceps’ time under tension. Once completed, switch arms and repeat with no rest in between. Keep alternating until you’ve finished four sets on each arm for 64 reps in total. 

Watch Dave Rienzi's One-Move Triceps Workout

If you’re tight on time you can use this quick sequence as a standalone session, although Rienzi recommends “adding it to your next triceps workout”. By extension, it will also work as a fiery finisher after a push day, if you partake in a push-pull workout plan. 

The first advantage of this workout is obvious: aesthetics. You will accumulate a shed load of volume and time under tension in a short amount of time, providing the hypertrophy training hit that your muscles need to grow (provided you’re fueling yourself with the right nutrients and, of course, plenty of protein). 

Yet, an enhanced arm diameter isn’t the only reason to give your triceps some love. Strengthening these muscles will also have plenty of carry-over for other push-focused compound exercises, like the bench press, overhead press and even Olympic weightlifting. 

In short, we think this time-savvy triceps blast is well worth adding to your arm training repertoire. Go on, bigger arms and a bench PB await. Just make sure you support your body's recovery with some of the best protein powders. 

You can get all the protein you need through your diet, but if you're in need of a top-up, these powders include all the nutrients you need to ease the delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS) you'll absolutely feel after this intense one-move workout.

Everyone knows that biceps curls train their arms, so people who are just starting out in the weights room often add that move into their gym workout routine and move on. But there’s so much more you can do to build bigger arms, including adding triceps exercises and supersetting them with biceps exercises. 

That’s what fitness trainer Kirra O’Brien has done with this routine she posted on TikTok and YouTube. O’Brien offers beginner strength training programs using only dumbbells through Strong Sisters United and this workout is part of her latest Body Recomposition series.

The TikTok video gives an overview of the workout in a gym using a weights bench.

The follow-along YouTube version shows how to do the workout at home if all you have is a pair of dumbbells.

If you prefer to exercise at home but are lacking dumbbells, use our round-up of the best dumbbells to find a pair that suits your preferred way of training and budget. We’d recommend a set of adjustable dumbbells for this style of bodybuilding workout.

Once you own dumbbells you will never want for an arms workout again: We have options including this dumbbell arms workout which ratchets up the difficulty using tri-sets and these curls workouts. Our dumbbell workout plan also has a dedicated arms workout that supersets biceps and triceps moves.

Anyone who’s spent time in the weights room knows a good arms workout works the biceps but gives as much, if not more, attention to the triceps—the three-pronged muscle that makes up the bulk of the upper arm. “Stronger triceps are the key to bigger arms, fuller sleeves, heavier lifts and all-round improved athletic performance,” says Lewis Paris, personal trainer with corporate wellbeing platform Gympass. 

If you’re well versed in arms sessions already and want to specifically target your triceps, this eight-move session from Paris will push the backs of your upper arms to the limit.

How To Do This Dumbbell Triceps Workout

The workout is divided up into four supersets, harnessing a mixture of strict isolation exercises like skullcrushers and kick-backs to encourage hypertrophy, and heavier, more functional compound moves such as push-ups and floor presses.

Paris has given a range of sets, reps or rest for some exercises to help you to match the difficulty of the session to your level. 

Focus on following the tempo dictated with each exercise to maximize the results of this workout. The first number is the time in seconds to perform the eccentric (lowering) phase of the move. The second is the pause at the bottom of the move. The third is the time to complete the concentric (lifting) section of the lift. The fourth is the time to pause at the top of the lift. 

For example, a tempo of 3021 means you lower the weight for three seconds, then the zero means you don’t pause before pressing the weights up for two seconds, then pause for one second at the top.

The workout requires dumbbells, and a weights bench if you’re at the gym, but if you’re at home you can perform those moves lying on the floor. Two sets of dumbbells are preferred: one light pair for the isolation moves and a slightly heavier pair for the compound lifts. A pair of adjustable dumbbells, like the ones you’ll find in our round-up of the best dumbbells, are ideal if you’re at home.  

Paris suggests beginning with a short warm-up of walkouts into push-ups and side plank rotations to activate your upper-body muscles and ready your body for action. 

1A Tate press

Sets 2-3 Reps 15 Tempo 3021 Rest 0sec

Lie on a bench (or the floor) with your lower back pressed down to engage your core. Hold dumbbells with straight arms above your chest, palms facing forwards. Allowing your elbows to flare out wide, slowly lower the weights to your chest, then press them back up to the start. You should feel that the exercise is targeting your triceps rather than pecs. 

Paris says “The iconic Tate press [created by powerlifter Dave Tate] helps to improve your overload capacity at the elbow joint and therefore increase your overall pressing strength. Start light.” 

1B Unilateral triceps extension

Sets 2-3 Reps 15 each side Tempo 3121 Rest 90sec

Again, keep the weight light. Hold one dumbbell overhead with your arm straight and biceps close to your ear. Keeping your upper arm in place, bend your elbow to slowly lower the weight behind your head, pause, then press back up, pause, and repeat. 

Paris says “Working unilaterally helps address any imbalances and weaknesses, as you build strength and stability in the triceps.”

2A Neutral-grip floor press

Sets 3 Reps 12 Tempo 3111 Rest 0sec

Lie on your back with your upper arms resting on the floor, elbows bent at 90°, holding heavier dumbbells with your palms facing. Press your lower back into the bench or floor, then drive the weights straight up, pause, lower for three seconds until your arms tap the floor, pause, and repeat. 

Paris says “This is such a versatile move. Performing it from the floor adds a level of safety, allowing you to confidently load heavy which greatly improves pressing power, arm lock-out and triceps strength. It’s also great for injury-prone lifters and complete beginners.” 

2B Diamond push-up 

Sets 3 Reps To failure Tempo 3111 Rest 2-3 min

On your knees, place your hands close together on the floor so that your index fingers and thumbs form a diamond shape. Lift your knees off the floor and extend your arms, with your body in a straight line from head to heels. Slowly lower your chest towards your hands, keeping your elbows close to your body. Pause briefly at the bottom of the move, then drive back up to the start position.

Paris says “The diamond push-up is a great compound exercise targeting the triceps and chest. The narrow grip helps to recruit your stabilizing muscles for better support and pushing power in your lifts.” 

3A Close-grip dumbbell press

Sets 3 Reps 12 Tempo 3111 Rest 0sec 

This variation of the classic dumbbell bench press helps protect your shoulders from wear and tear. Lie with your lower back pressed into the floor or bench. Hold the dumbbells with your palms facing and the weights pressed firmly together. Drive the weights straight up, pause, lower slowly, pause, and repeat. 

Paris says “Pressing the weights together throughout this lift increases the time under tension required for effective hypertrophy.” 

3B Skullcrusher

Sets 3 Reps 10 Tempo 3111 Rest 2-3 min 

Lie on your back, holding a pair of light dumbbells overhead with your arms extended and palms facing. Keeping your upper arms still, bend your elbows to slowly lower the weights to the sides of your head, pause, then drive back up to the start, pause, and repeat.

Paris says “Locking your upper arms in position challenges the strength and stability of your shoulder joints and muscles, while simultaneously isolating the triceps.”

4A French press

Sets 3 Reps 12-15 Tempo 3111 Rest 2min

Hold one heavier dumbbell in both hands and raise it overhead. Cradle the bottom of the highest head of the dumbbell, with your hands overlapping. Keeping your upper arms close to your ears and elbows locked in position throughout, slowly lower the weight behind your head as far as you can, pause, drive it back overhead, pause and repeat.

Paris says “This exercise especially targets the long head of the triceps as it challenges the muscles to work through their full range of motion and then to contract when in full extension.” 

4B Triceps kick-back

Sets 3 Reps 12-15 Tempo 3111 Rest 2 min 

Holding dumbbells by your sides, hinge forward at your hips, bending your elbows to 90°. Keeping your upper arms pinned to your body, contract your triceps to extend your arms. Pause, slowly lower the weight back to the starting position over the count of three (this is the eccentric phase), pause, and repeat.

Paris says “The kick-back is a tough and commonly overlooked isolation exercise, which has the triple benefit of working all three heads of the triceps in unison.” 

5 Triceps stretch

Sets 2 Time 30-45sec each side

If you’ve made it this far your arms will be inflated like hot air balloons and engorged with lactic acid. Now’s the time to kick-start your recovery if you hope to lift a finger over the next few days. Raise one arm overhead and bend your elbow to bring your hand behind your head and down your back. With the opposing hand, grab your elbow and gently press down to lengthen the stretch. Breath deeply while holding the stretch. 

Paris says “Your arms will probably continue to seize up over the next few hours and days, so introduce some active recovery with this stretch and variations of the movement to keep blood flowing and the muscles growing.” 

The cable machine is one of the most versatile pieces of equipment in the gym, especially for hitting your upper body. With a variety of handles and pulley positions, it’s a great way to level up your arm workouts.

This workout from JP Gallardo, better known online as @jpgcoaching, puts the cable machine to good use. It features four moves that will hit your biceps, triceps and forearms, providing an all-over arm session in just 20 minutes.

The machine is great for beginners, because it’s easier to perfect your form than it is with dumbbell or barbell exercises. Plus, it can change the resistance profile, or in other words which portion of the lift is easier and harder – something we discovered when investigating the benefits of using weights machines. So, unlike dumbbell curls where the top of the movement is easier as the weight is supported by your forearm, a cable machine will continue to challenge your biceps throughout.  

Watch Gallardo’s Instagram reel, with the sound on, to see how to perform the moves in his 20-minute arm session.

Gallardo recommends working until failure for two sets of each exercise, which means you should pick a weight that lets you hit your limit within the rep range. For this workout, that’s either six to eight or eight to 10 reps. 

Keep your torso still while performing these exercises and don’t shrug or bend at the knee, so you avoid using any momentum to perform the lifts. Instead, focus on engaging the targeted arm muscles. Squeezing the muscle when you pause after the first part of the lift is a tried-and-tested way of achieving this.

Make sure you’re properly warmed up before attempting a taxing workout like this one. Start with this gym warm-up routine, then run through a light set of each movement to prime the muscles you’re about to use.

And if you take a liking to this piece of gym equipment, try this beginner-friendly cable machine workout.

Are you planning on building bigger arms in the gym this winter? Then you need to listen to this advice from George Palmer, a London-based PT. He says that it’s important to make sure your programme is targeting all of the main muscle groups in your arms, including the biceps, triceps and forearms.

“Don’t neglect any of these if you want the arms of a beast,” says Palmer. “Your triceps and biceps are made up of several heads. The triceps has three: the lateral, medial and long heads. The biceps have two: the long and short heads. Hence the prefixes ‘tri’ and ‘bi’. When planning an arm workout ask yourself if you’re hitting all of these heads. If not, then tweak it to ensure you are.” Or just follow this workout Palmer has devised exclusively for Coach. 

Full Arms Workout

This workout requires a dipping station, pull-up bar, weights bench, dumbbells and EZ-bar so get yourself down to your local gym.

To help your arms to grow, Palmer has employed a number of techniques you’ll need to follow to get the most out of this workout.

The first four exercises are programmed as two supersets, where you perform a set of the first exercise, then the second. Repeat that sequence until all the sets are completed, then move on to the second superset. Palmer has given a rep range of eight to 14 to help this workout match a range of strength levels and recommends adding more weight with each set to ensure you overload your muscles. 

The final two exercises are performed as straight sets, but using the 21s method. In 21s workouts you spend seven reps doing the first half of the movement, seven reps doing the second half of the movement, then finish with seven reps of the full movement.

1 Triceps dip

Reps 8-14

Using a dip station or parallel bars, take hold of the bars with your hands shoulder-width apart and extend your arms to lift yourself off the floor. Keep your shoulders pulled back and down and do not let them shrug forwards. Brace your core, straighten your back and neck, tuck your elbows in to your sides and extend your legs and point your toes straight down (or bend at the knee if the bars aren’t high enough). Breathe in and slowly bend your elbows to 90°, lowering with control. Pause for a second, then breathe out as you push upwards into your starting position. Use a loaded dipping belt to add weight in subsequent sets.

2 Triceps kick-back

Reps: 8-14 each side

Stand side-on to a flat weight bench and place your closest hand on the end and the closest knee and foot on the bench. Hold a dumbbell in your free hand, with your elbow bent and tucked in to your torso. Lean your torso forwards, ensuring your hips and chest are square to the floor. Keeping your upper arm fixed in position, breathe out and straighten your elbow to lift the dumbbell. Pause for a second, then breathe in as you lower the dumbbell under control. 

3 Chin-up

Reps 8-14

Grasp a pull-up bar with an underhand grip, hands shoulder-width apart. Your arms and legs should be straight with toes pointed down. Brace your core and keep your shoulders pulled down and back, then breathe out and explosively pull your body up until your chin is over the bar at the top. Keep your legs as still as possible and avoid swinging them. Pause for a second at the top when the biceps are under maximum tension, then lower slowly to the start.

“If this is too easy,” Palmer says, “add weight with a dipping belt for your remaining sets. If it’s too hard, try a resistance band assisted chin-up, challenging yourself to use a lighter band as you progress through sets.”

4 Concentration curl

Reps 8-14 each side

Sit on the edge of a bench with your knees wide. Hold a dumbbell and hinge your chest forwards and rest the back of your upper arm against your inner thigh. Your shoulders should stay pulled down and back, and your core braced and torso still throughout. Keeping your upper arm in place, breathe out and bend your elbow to curl the weight to your shoulder, focusing on using your biceps to power the motion. Pause for a second and squeeze your biceps, then inhale and lower the dumbbell under control. 

EZ-bar skullcrusher

Reps 21s

Remember that 21s means you perform seven reps of the first half of the movement, then seven reps of the second half, then a final seven reps of the full movement. Here’s how to do the full movement.

Lie on your back on a bench with your feet flat on the floor, holding the EZ-bar above you with extended arms, using a standard-width grip so that your hands are slightly angled inwards. Your upper arms should remain in place throughout the movement. Squeeze your glutes and brace your core to ensure you don’t arch your back. Breathe in as you bend your elbows to lower the EZ-bar to just above your forehead, pause, then breathe out as you lift the EZ-bar to the starting position. 

6 EZ-bar curl

Reps 21s

Stand holding the bar in front of your thighs with a standard-width grip, palms facing forwards. Keep your shoulders pulled down and back, with your elbows pinned to your torso. Breathe out and bend your elbows to raise the EZ-bar to your shoulders.

Remember to do seven reps of the lower half of the movement, seven of the top half and a final seven of the entire movement. 

If you’re looking to build muscle in your upper arms, dumbbells are your best friend. You can use them to work each arm individually with isolation exercises such as biceps curls and triceps extensions that will help you build sleeve-busting upper arms in no time at all.

In this dumbbell arms workout, you’ll also be increasing the number of reps you do to place more stress on your muscles. You’ll also be doing tri-sets, where you do three exercises back to back with very little rest in between. The first three exercises zero in on your biceps, while the final three switch the load to your triceps, so the muscles you’re targeting have next to no time to recover.

Not only that, you’ll also be increasing the number of reps you do as you move through the three exercises in the tri-set. You’ll start with six reps for the first move, do 12 for the second and then 25 for the third. Given the increase in reps it’s worth having a range of dumbbells to hand for the workout, because you should switch to lighter weights as you move through the tri-set to ensure you’re working with the correct form, especially during the 25-rep set.

If you plan on following this session at home, using a pair of adjustable selectorised dumbbells allows you to change the weight quickly, and you’ll find recommended pairs in our selection of the best dumbbells. And if you do invest in a pair, you’ll also be set up to follow our dumbbell workout plan which will build muscle all over, including in your arms. Bear in mind, however, that this workout requires a bench which can be set to an incline, so unless you have a well-appointed home gym, you may have to head to the gym.

How To Do This Dumbbell Arms Workout

This workout is split into two parts, each comprising a three-move tri-set. The first targets your biceps; the second your triceps. Do each tri-set three times. Perform the moves in order with good form, sticking to the reps and rest periods shown, and watch your arms grow!

1A Dumbbell reverse curl

Reps 6 Rest 10sec

Stand tall with your chest up, holding a dumbbell in each hand with a reverse grip so your palms face towards you. Keeping your elbows fixed in position, curl the weights up. Squeeze your biceps at the top, then lower slowly.

1B Dumbbell curl

Reps 12 Rest 10sec

Stand tall with your chest up, holding a lighter dumbbell in each hand with palms facing away from you.
Keeping your elbows fixed in position, curl the weights up. Squeeze your biceps at the top, then lower slowly.

1C Dumbbell hammer curl

Reps 25 Rest 3min

Stand tall with your chest up, holding an even lighter dumbbell in each hand with your palms facing your thighs. Keeping your elbows fixed in position, curl the weights up. Squeeze your biceps at the top, then lower slowly.

2A Diamond press-up

Reps 6 Rest 10sec

Start in the press-up position but with your thumbs and index fingers together forming a diamond shape. Bend your elbows to lower your chest to the ground, then press back up powerfully to the start.

2B Dumbbell hammer press

Reps 12 Rest 10sec

Lie on an incline bench, holding a dumbbell in each hand at chest height with a palms-facing grip. Keeping your chest up, press the weights directly overhead until your arms are straight. Lower slowly.

2C Dumbbell overhead extension

Reps 25 Rest 3min

Sit on an upright bench with a lighter dumbbell in each hand with your arms straight over your head. Keeping your elbows pointing straight up, lower the weights behind your head, then raise them back to the start.

More Arms Workouts

• How To Get Bigger Arms In Four Weeks – Follow This Workout Plan
• The Push-Up Home Workout For Big Arms
• 20-Minute Arms Workout

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.

There are many effective arm exercises that isolate the biceps and triceps muscles, but when putting together the best arm workout plan you need to think about more than just your arms. The workouts below are designed to train the entire body over the course of a week, but pay special attention to the biceps and triceps so you can be sure your upper arms are going to get stronger and bigger.

It’s a tough training schedule and not for beginners, but if you’re already an experienced lifter, this progressive, four-week arm workout plan will help you continue to challenge yourself in the weights room. You will need to hit a gym to tackle the plan unless your home gym is phenomenally well equipped, because the workouts involve using heavy free-weights, cable stacks and weights machines. If you’re looking for another effective approach to training your arms, then a push-pull workout is a great option.

How To Do These Arm Workouts

Each week you’ll perform four arm workouts, ideally on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Rather than repeating the same workouts each week, the plan is divided into two-week blocks, and the weekly workouts in each block increase in intensity the second time round.

Each workout has six moves you’ll do as straight sets, sticking to the sets, reps, tempo and rest detailed. Tempo is the speed at which you lift and lower the weight in seconds, and it’s written out as a sequence of four numbers. The first number is the time you should take to lower the weight (called the eccentric phase), the second is how long you should pause at the bottom of the rep, the third refers to the lifting portion (the concentric phase), while the fourth is how long to pause at the top of the rep.

A 3010 tempo means you take three seconds to lower it and one to raise it, with no pause at the top or bottom. It sounds straightforward, but some exercises like the biceps curl begin with the lifting movement (governed by the third number), so keep your wits about you.

How To Warm Up For Arm Workouts

There’s no easing in with any of these arm workouts, because each of them starts with a big compound lift like the bench press or barbell back squat. This means that you need to prime your body for action with a thorough warm-up. This will help you perform better, especially in the early sets of your workout, and also make it less likely that you’ll injure yourself during your session.

The bulk of your warm-up needs to be specific to the workout you’re about to do, but it’s a good idea to begin with a series of dynamic stretches that hit muscles all over your body. You’ll find such a series with this weights warm-up routine, with seven moves that prime all the key muscle groups.

After performing that routine, it’s time to get specific and the easiest way to do that is to perform some of the exercises you’re about to do in the workout. Using lighter weights that you would normally, or no weight at all if appropriate, perform sets of the first two moves of each workout. Begin by doing a high-rep, low-weight set to get your muscles moving, then increase the weight and decrease the reps as you move towards starting your workout proper.

Arm Workout Block 1

Below you’ll find the four weekly arm workouts, along with the sets, reps, tempo and rest information for the first and second week of each. In the second week, you’ll do an extra set of the first two moves of each circuit and an extra two reps of moves three to six to increase your training volume.

Monday Arm Workout: Chest And Back

1 Bench press

Week 1: Sets 4 Reps 10 Tempo 2010 Rest 60sec

Week 2: Sets 5 Reps 10 Tempo 2010 Rest 60sec

Lie flat on a bench, holding a bar with a shoulder-width grip. Plant your feet on the floor and tense your muscles. Lower the bar until it touches your chest, then press it back up powerfully.

2 Bent-over row

Week 1: Sets 4 Reps 10 Tempo 2011 Rest 60sec

Week 2: Sets 5 Reps 10 Tempo 2011 Rest 60sec

Stand tall, holding a barbell with a shoulder-width overhand grip. Bend forwards, hinging from your hips, but keep your chest up and your core braced. Row the bar up to your body, leading with your elbows. Pause at the top, then lower.

3 Incline dumbbell flye

Week 1: Sets 3 Reps 10 Tempo 2010 Rest 60sec

Week 2: Sets 3 Reps 12 Tempo 2010 Rest 60sec

Lie back on an incline bench, holding two dumbbells directly over your chest with straight arms. Bend your elbows slightly, then lower your hands out to the sides until you feel a stretch across your chest. Squeeze your pecs to return to the start.

4 Lat pull-down

Week 1: Sets 3 Reps 10 Tempo 2011 Rest 60sec

Week 2: Sets 3 Reps 12 Tempo 2011 Rest 60sec

Position yourself at the machine with a shoulder-width overhand grip on the bar. Keeping your chest up and abs braced, pull the bar down, leading with your elbows. Hold the bottom position for a second, then return to the start.

5 One-arm cable press

Week 1: Sets 3 Reps 10 each side Tempo 2011 Rest 60sec

Week 2: Sets 3 Reps 12 each side Tempo 2011 Rest 60sec

Stand tall with your back to a cable machine, holding a D-handle in one hand. Keeping your chest up and core braced, press your hand forwards until your arm is straight. Reverse back to the start and repeat for all the reps, then switch arms.

6 Dumbbell pull-over

Week 1: Sets 3 Reps 10 Tempo 4010 Rest 60sec

Week 2: Sets 3 Reps 12 Tempo 4010 Rest 60sec

Lie flat on a bench, holding a dumbbell in both hands above your chest with straight arms. Lower the weight behind your head in a slow and controlled movement, keeping your arms straight, then raise it back to the start position.

Wednesday Workout: Legs And Abs

1 Back squat

Week 1: Sets 4 Reps 10 Tempo 2010 Rest 60sec

Week 2: Sets 5 Reps 10 Tempo 2010 Rest 60sec

Stand tall, holding a bar across the back of your shoulders. Keeping your chest up and your whole body tight, bend your knees to squat down as low as you can but don’t let your knees roll inwards. Push through your heels to stand back up.

2 Romanian deadlift

Week 1: Sets 3 Reps 10 Tempo 2010 Rest 60sec

Week 2: Sets 4 Reps 10 Tempo 2010 Rest 60sec

Stand tall, holding a barbell with an overhand grip. Keeping your chest up and core braced, bend forwards, hinging at the hips, to let the bar roll down the front of your legs until you feel a good stretch in your hamstrings. Reverse the movement.

3 Leg extension

Week 1: Sets 3 Reps 10 Tempo 2011 Rest 60sec

Week 2: Sets 3 Reps 12 Tempo 2011 Rest 60sec

Position yourself correctly on the machine with the padded bar against the bottom of your shins. Keeping your upper body tight, raise your feet to straighten your legs. Pause at the top with your quads engaged, then lower back to the start.

4 Hamstring curl

Week 1: Sets 3 Reps 10 Tempo 2010 Rest 60sec

Week 2: Sets 3 Reps 12 Tempo 2010 Rest 60sec

Position yourself correctly on the machine with the padded bar against the backs of your lower legs. Keeping your upper body tight, push your feet down to bend your legs. Pause at the top with your hamstrings engaged, then lower back to the start.

5 Crunch

Week 1: Sets 3 Reps 10 Tempo 2011 Rest 60sec

Week 2: Sets 3 Reps 12 Tempo 2011 Rest 60sec

Lie flat on your back with your knees bent and hands by your temples or crossed over your chest. Engage your upper abs to raise your torso, then crunch your upper body up towards your knees. Lower slowly, keeping tension on your abs throughout.

6 Plank

Week 1: Sets 3 Time 30sec Tempo N/A Rest 60sec

Week 2: Sets 3 Time 45sec Tempo N/A Rest 60sec

Get into position with your elbows under your shoulders, your feet together and your hips raised with abs and glutes engaged so your body forms a straight line from head to heels. Hold this position without letting your hips drop.

Friday Workout: Biceps And Triceps

1 Underhand lat pull-down

Week 1: Sets 4 Reps 10 Tempo 2011 Rest 60sec

Week 2: Sets 5 Reps 10 Tempo 2011 Rest 60sec

Position yourself at the machine with a shoulder-width underhand grip on the bar. Keeping your chest up and abs braced, pull the bar down, leading with your elbows. Hold the bottom position for a second, then return to the start.

2 Triceps dip

Week 1: Sets 4 Reps 6-10 Tempo 2010 Rest 60sec

Week 2: Sets 5 Reps 6-10 Tempo 2010 Rest 60sec

Grip parallel bars with straight arms and your legs crossed behind you. Keeping your chest up and core braced, bend your elbows to lower your body until your elbows are bent at 90°. Press back up to return to the start.

3 Dumbbell biceps curl

Week 1: Sets 3 Reps 10 Tempo 2011 Rest 60sec

Week 2: Sets 3 Reps 12 Tempo 2011 Rest 60sec

Stand tall, holding a dumbbell in each hand with your palms facing forwards. Keeping your elbows tight to your sides, curl the weights up to shoulder height. Squeeze your biceps at the top, then lower the weights back to the start.

4 Dumbbell triceps extension

Week 1: Sets 3 Reps 10 each side Tempo 2010 Rest 60sec

Week 2: Sets 3 Reps 12 each side Tempo 2010 Rest 60sec

Stand tall, holding a dumbbell over your head with your arm straight. Keeping your elbow pointing to the ceiling, lower the weight behind your head, then straighten your arm to return to the start. Repeat for all the reps, then switch arms.

5 Cable biceps curl

Week 1: Sets 3 Reps 10 Tempo 2011 Rest 60sec

Week 2: Sets 3 Reps 12 Tempo 2011 Rest 60sec

Stand tall in front of a cable machine, holding a straight-bar handle attached to the lower pulley with palms facing forwards. Keeping your chest up and elbows tight to your sides, curl your hands up to shoulder height. Squeeze your biceps at the top, then lower.

6 Cable triceps press-down

Week 1: Sets 3 Reps 10 Tempo 2011 Rest 60sec

Week 2: Sets 3 Reps 12 Tempo 2011 Rest 60sec

Stand tall in front of a cable machine, holding a straight-bar handle attached to the high pulley with palms facing down. Keeping your chest up and elbows tight to your sides, press your hands down to straighten your arms, then slowly return to the start.

Saturday Workout: Shoulders And Arms

1 Overhead press

Week 1: Sets 4 Reps 10 Tempo 3011 Rest 60sec

Week 2: Sets 5 Reps 10 Tempo 3011 Rest 60sec

Stand tall, holding a bar across the front of your chest with an overhand grip. Keeping your chest up and core engaged, press the bar directly overhead so your arms are straight. Lower it under control to return to the start.

2 Chin-up

Week 1: Sets 4 Reps 6-10 Tempo 3011 Rest 60sec

Week 2: Sets 5 Reps 6-10 Tempo 3011 Rest 60sec

Hold a bar with an underhand grip and hang with your body straight. Brace your abs and glutes and engage your lats, then pull up until your chin is above your hands. Pause at the top, then lower yourself back to the start under control.

3 EZ-bar upright row

Week 1: Sets 3 Reps 10 Tempo 2011 Rest 60sec

Week 2: Sets 3 Reps 12 Tempo 2011 Rest 60sec

Stand tall, holding an EZ-bar with a shoulder-width overhand grip. Keeping your chest up and core braced, row the bar up to chin height, leading with your elbows. Pause at the top, then lower the bar back to the start under control.

4 Incline dumbbell biceps curl

Week 1: Sets 3 Reps 10 Tempo 2011 Rest 60sec

Week 2: Sets 3 Reps 12 Tempo 2011 Rest 60sec

Sit on an incline bench, holding a dumbbell in each hand with your palms facing forwards and your elbows tight to your sides. Keeping your elbows there, curl the weights up to shoulder height. Squeeze your biceps at the top, then lower the weights.

5 Dumbbell lateral raise

Week 1: Sets 3 Reps 10 Tempo 2011 Rest 30sec

Week 2: Sets 3 Reps 12 Tempo 2011 Rest 30sec

Stand tall, holding a light dumbbell in each hand by your sides with a slight bend in your elbows. Keeping your chest up and core braced, raise the weights out to shoulder height, leading with your elbows, then return slowly to the start.

6 Cable triceps press-down

Week 1: Sets 3 Reps 10 Tempo 2011 Rest 60sec

Week 2: Sets 3 Reps 12 Tempo 2011 Rest 60sec

Stand tall in front of a cable machine, holding a straight-bar handle attached to the high pulley with palms facing down. Keeping your chest up and elbows tight to your sides, press your hands down to straighten your arms, then slowly return to the start.

Arm Workout Plan Block 2

For the second block of your four-week plan, the session structure has been changed to shift the high-volume emphasis from your arms to your chest. So in this block there are two chest workouts a week, but don’t worry about losing your newfound arm size and strength – there are still enough biceps exercises and triceps exercises to keep the gains coming.

As with the second week of the first block, you’ll add an extra set to the first two moves and an extra two reps to the remaining exercises. 

Monday Workout: Chest And Back

1 Incline bench press

Week 1: Sets 4 Reps 10 Tempo 3010 Rest 60sec

Week 2: Sets 5 Reps 10 Tempo 3010 Rest 60sec

Lie back on an incline bench, holding a bar with a shoulder-width grip. Plant your feet on the floor and tense your muscles. Lower the bar until it touches your chest, then press it back up powerfully.

2 Wide lat pull-down

Week 1: Sets 4 Reps 10 Tempo 3010 Rest 60sec

Week 2: Sets 5 Reps 10 Tempo 3010 Rest 60sec

Position yourself at the machine with a double shoulder-width overhand grip on the bar. Keeping your chest up and abs braced, pull the bar down, leading with your elbows. Hold the bottom position for a second, then return to the start.

3 Dumbbell bench press

Week 1: Sets 4 Reps 10 Tempo 3010 Rest 60sec

Week 2: Sets 4 Reps 12 Tempo 3010 Rest 60sec

Lie on a flat bench, holding a dumbbell in each hand at chest height. Plant your feet on the floor and tense your muscles. Press the weights straight up so your arms are straight, then lower them under control back to the start.

4 Seated row

Week 1: Sets 4 Reps 10 Tempo 3011 Rest 60sec

Week 2: Sets 4 Reps 12 Tempo 3011 Rest 60sec

Sit on the machine, holding a double-grip cable attachment in both hands. Keeping your chest up, row your hands in towards your body, leading with your elbows. Pause at the top position, then return to the start.

5 One-arm cable press

Week 1: Sets 4 Reps 10 each side Tempo 3011 Rest 60sec

Week 2: Sets 4 Reps 12 each side Tempo 3011 Rest 60sec

Stand tall with your back to a cable machine, holding a D-handle in one hand. Keeping your chest up and core braced, press your hand forwards until your arm is straight. Reverse back to the start and repeat for all the reps, then switch arms.

6 Straight-arm cable pull-down

Week 1: Sets 4 Reps 10 Tempo 3010 Rest 60sec

Week 2: Sets 4 Reps 12 Tempo 3010 Rest 60sec

Stand tall facing a cable machine, holding a straight-bar handle with both hands. Keeping your chest up, pull the bar down towards your thighs in a smooth arc. Pause at the bottom, then reverse the movement back to the start.

Wednesday Workout: Legs And Shoulders

1 Back squat

Week 1: Sets 4 Reps 10 Tempo 3010 Rest 60sec

Week 2: Sets 5 Reps 10 Tempo 3010 Rest 60sec

Stand tall, holding a bar across the back of your shoulders. Keeping your chest up and your whole body tight, bend your knees to squat down as low as you can but don’t let your knees roll inwards. Push through your heels to stand back up.

2 Overhead press

Week 1: Sets 4 Reps 10 Tempo 3010 Rest 60sec

Week 2: Sets 5 Reps 10 Tempo 3010 Rest 60sec

Stand tall, holding a bar across the front of your chest with an overhand grip. Keeping your chest up and core engaged, press the bar directly overhead so your arms are straight. Lower it under control to return to the start.

3 Leg extension

Week 1: Sets 4 Reps 10 Tempo 3011 Rest 60sec

Week 2: Sets 4 Reps 12 Tempo 3011 Rest 60sec

Position yourself correctly on the machine with the padded bar against the bottom of your shins. Keeping your upper body tight, raise your feet to straighten your legs. Pause at the top with your quads engaged, then lower back to the start.

4 Seated dumbbell lateral raise

Week 1: Sets 4 Reps 10 Tempo 3011 Rest 60sec

Week 2: Sets 4 Reps 12 Tempo 3011 Rest 60sec

Sit on an upright bench, holding a light dumbbell in each hand by your sides with a slight bend in your elbows. Keeping your chest up and core braced, raise the weights out to shoulder height, leading with your elbows, then return slowly to the start.

5 Hamstring curl

Week 1: Sets 4 Reps 10 Tempo 3011 Rest 60sec

Week 2: Sets 4 Reps 12 Tempo 3011 Rest 60sec

Position yourself correctly on the machine with the padded bar against the backs of your lower legs. Keeping your upper body tight, push your feet down to bend your legs. Pause at the top with your hamstrings engaged, then lower back to the start.

6 EZ-bar upright row

Week 1: Sets 4 Reps 10 Tempo 3011 Rest 60sec

Week 2: Sets 4 Reps 12 Tempo 3011 Rest 60sec

Stand tall, holding an EZ-bar with a shoulder-width overhand grip. Keeping your chest up and core braced, row the bar up to chin height, leading with your elbows. Pause at the top, then lower the bar back to the start under control.

Friday Workout: Chest And Triceps

1 Bench press

Week 1: Sets 4 Reps 10 Tempo 3010 Rest 60sec

Week 2: Sets 5 Reps 10 Tempo 3010 Rest 60sec

Lie on a flat bench, holding a bar with a shoulder-width grip. Plant your feet on the floor and tense your muscles. Lower the bar until it touches your chest, then press it back up powerfully to the start.

2 Incline dumbbell flye

Week 1: Sets 4 Reps 10 Tempo 3011 Rest 60sec

Week 2: Sets 5 Reps 10 Tempo 3011 Rest 60sec

Lie back on an incline bench, holding two dumbbells directly over your chest with straight arms. Bend your elbows slightly, then lower your hands out to the sides until you feel a stretch across your chest. Squeeze your pecs to return to the start.

3 Triceps dip

Week 1: Sets 4 Reps 6-10 Tempo 3010 Rest 60sec

Week 2: Sets 4 Reps 8-10 Tempo 3010 Rest 60sec

Grip parallel bars with straight arms and your legs crossed behind you. Keeping your chest up and core braced, bend your elbows to lower your body until your elbows are bent at 90°. Press back up to return to the start.

4 Incline dumbbell shoulder press

Week 1: Sets 4 Reps 10 Tempo 3010 Rest 60sec

Week 2: Sets 4 Reps 12 Tempo 3010 Rest 60sec

Lie flat on an incline bench, holding a dumbbell in each hand at chest height. Plant your feet on the floor and tense your muscles. Press the weights straight up so your arms are straight, then lower them under control.

5 Cable triceps press-down

Week 1: Sets 4 Reps 10 Tempo 3010 Rest 60sec

Week 2: Sets 4 Reps 12 Tempo 3010 Rest 60sec

Stand tall in front of a cable machine, holding a straight-bar handle attached to the high pulley with palms facing down. Keeping your chest up and elbows fixed to your sides, press your hands down to straighten your arms, then slowly return to the start.

6 Press-up

Week 1: Sets 4 Reps 10-15 Tempo 3010 Rest 60sec

Week 2: Sets 4 Reps 12-15 Tempo 3010 Rest 60sec

Start in the press-up position – hands on the floor, shoulders, elbows and wrists aligned, and feet together. Brace your core, then bend your elbows to lower your chest to the floor. Press back up powerfully to return to the start.

Saturday Workout: Back And Biceps

1 Chin-up

Week 1: Sets 4 Reps 6-10 Tempo 3011 Rest 60sec

Week 2: Sets 5 Reps 6-10 Tempo 3011 Rest 60sec

Hold a bar with an underhand grip and hang with your body straight. Brace your abs and glutes and engage your lats, then pull up until your chin is above your hands. Pause at the top, then lower yourself back to the start under control.

2 Lat pull-down

Week 1: Sets 4 Reps 10 Tempo 3011 Rest 60sec

Week 2: Sets 5 Reps 10 Tempo 3011 Rest 60sec

Position yourself at the machine with a shoulder-width overhand grip on the bar. Keeping your chest up and abs braced, pull the bar down, leading with your elbows. Hold the bottom position for a second, then return to the start.

3 Prone dumbbell row

Week 1: Sets 4 Reps 10 Tempo 3011 Rest 60sec

Week 2: Sets 4 Reps 12 Tempo 3011 Rest 60sec

Lie chest-down on an incline bench holding a dumbbell in each hand. Keeping your chest against the bench, row the weights up, leading with your elbows. Hold the top position, then lower the weights back to the start .

4 Prone dumbbell reverse flye

Week 1: Sets 4 Reps 10 Tempo 3011 Rest 60sec

Week 2: Sets 4 Reps 12 Tempo 3011 Rest 60sec

Lie chest-down on an incline bench holding a light dumbbell in each hand. Keeping your chest against the bench, raise the weights to the sides, leading with your elbows. Hold the top position, then lower the weights back to the start.

5 Dumbbell biceps curl

Week 1: Sets 4 Reps 10 Tempo 3011 Rest 60sec

Week 2: Sets 4 Reps 12 Tempo 3011 Rest 60sec

Stand tall, holding a dumbbell in each hand with your palms facing inwards. Keeping your elbows tight to your sides, curl the weights up to shoulder height. Squeeze your biceps at the top, then lower the weights back to the start.

6 Dumbbell hammer curl

Week 1: Sets 4 Reps 10 Tempo 3011 Rest 60sec

Week 2: Sets 4 Reps 12 Tempo 3011 Rest 60sec

Stand tall, holding a dumbbell in each hand with your palms facing each other. Keeping your elbows tight to your sides, curl the weights up to shoulder height. Squeeze your biceps at the top, then lower the weights back to the start.

How To Fuel This Arms Workout Plan

What you eat is as important as how you work out if you want a bigger and stronger body. You don’t need to start logging every macronutrient and counting every calorie, but following a few simple rules will help you to support your training and eat more healthily in general.

When you’re lifting weights regularly your protein intake becomes important, since this will help to build bigger and stronger muscles. Aim to consume 1.2g-2g of protein per kilo of bodyweight, which is the range recommended by dietitian Susan Short when we interviewed her about how much protein you need to build muscle. It’s advantageous to get your protein through food rather than supplements and it will be easier than you think. However, mixing protein powder into a protein shake after a workout is fine once in a while. Use our recommendations of the best protein powders to find a shake that suits your preferences.

You also need carbs to fuel your training. Aim to eat wholegrain varieties like brown rice and sweet potatoes on your rest days for their higher fibre content. You’ll also want to eat at least five portions of fruit and vegetables a day. (You’re doing that already, right?) When you’re training hard it becomes even more important to provide your body with the right vitamins to build muscle, and ticking off your five-a-day every day goes a long way towards doing that.

If all the dietary advice above sounds like a lot of hard work, there is another option—healthy meal prep services. This is a more expensive option than meal planning and cooking for yourself, but getting meals tailored to your fitness goals and dietary preferences delivered to your door can make life a lot easier, especially if you’re short of time.

One last thing to consider is your alcohol intake. For some people cutting out booze is the simplest way to eliminate large numbers of calories from their daily intake. Alcohol in the evening can affect your sleep too, so taking a break from the sauce can boost your body’s ability to recover and respond to the training stimulus.

Arm Workout Plan FAQs

Why Does This Arm Workout Plan Train The Entire Body?

The best arm workout plan has to involve lifts that don’t just target your arms. For one thing, just doing arm exercises every day is going to get boring very quickly and besides, you can’t train one part of the body that often anyway because you need to give the muscles time to recover and grow.

More importantly, to keep progressing with your arm exercises you have to build strength throughout your body, because your body will always stay balanced, as Nick Mitchell, CEO and founder of Ultimate Performance, explained when we asked him for the best biceps workout.

“I was once asked by a client: ‘Nick, if I did 100 biceps curls on each arm every day, would I have massive biceps in about a month?’ Unfortunately, the human body just doesn’t work that way,” Mitchell says. “Your body will always fight to stay in balance, and it takes an extra 10-15lb of overall lean bodyweight to add an inch to the circumference of your arms.”

Adding bodyweight is one of your main goals with arm workouts then, which means bringing in a variety of compound exercises. 

“One of the most common reasons people don’t gain size in their arms is because they are underweight. Have you ever seen a 60kg guy with 17-inch arms? Probably not,” says Mitchell. “A lack of arm size is just a lack of overall growth, and so getting strong on compound lifts like the bench press, the overhead press, deadlift, chin-up and the barbell squat will help contribute to more overall muscle mass, which will help drive overall bodyweight up and so make your arms bigger.”

As an added incentive to do the rounded workouts below rather than just doing isolation arm exercises, remember that even if you could build huge arms without training the rest of your body, those arms would look pretty ridiculous hanging off a skinny frame.

One of the smartest ways to add muscle mass to your upper arms quickly is to hit your biceps and triceps hard with moves that work them from multiple angles and through varying rep ranges.

This approach will recruit and tax many more muscle fibers in your upper arms—the key to stimulating faster muscle mass growth. But that doesn’t mean training to exhaustion: choose the right approach and you’ll be able to train hard but efficiently, so you can get it done and start the recovery process that will lead to bigger and stronger arms.

That’s where this workout comes in. It consists of three antagonistic supersets, which means the first move of each superset works your biceps and the second hits your triceps. This approach is proven to work your muscles harder in less time.

What’s more, the sets and reps change with each superset as the workout progresses, which means you’ll tap into both fast-twitch and slow-twitch fibers to make bigger gains in less time.

How To Do This 20-Minute Arms Workout

Do this arms-building workout twice a week for a month, for a total of eight times over the next four weeks. Leave at least three days between sessions.

The moves are paired into three supersets: the first exercise of each superset all work the biceps, while the second move of each superset targets the triceps.

Do all the stated reps of 1A, rest for 30-40 seconds, then do all the reps of 1B and rest for another 30-40 seconds. Repeat this pattern for the stated number of sets, then move on to the second superset and so on.

The number of sets per superset decreases as the workout advances while the number of reps increases, an approach that will recruit and fatigue more muscle fibres, resulting in greater growth.

Maintain perfect form for each lift, moving your muscles through a full range of motion and keeping the reps controlled to maximise muscle activation.

1A Chin-up

Sets 5 Reps 8 Tempo 3010 Rest 30sec

Grasp a chin-up bar with an underhand grip, hands shoulder-width apart. With your core braced and chest up, pull your chin until it’s higher than the bar. Lower under control to a dead hang.

1B Triceps dip

Sets 5 Reps 8 Tempo 3010 Rest 30sec

Grip parallel bars with your chest up and body tensed. Slowly lower yourself by bending your elbows, then press back up powerfully without locking your elbows at the top.

2A Cable rope curl

Sets 4 Reps 12 Tempo 2011 Rest 40sec

Hold a rope cable handle with palms facing, elbows tucked in to your sides. Keeping your chest up, curl the handle up and turn your wrists so your palms face you as you reach the top. Lower back to the start under control.

2B Rope press-down

Sets 4 Reps 12 Tempo 2011 Rest 40sec

Stand tall holding a rope cable handle with palms facing. Keeping your elbows tucked in to your sides, press your hands down so they go either side of your thighs. Slowly return to the start.

3A EZ-bar biceps curl

Sets 3 Reps 15 Tempo 2011 Rest 30sec

Hold an EZ-bar with an underhand grip, arms straight and elbows tucked in to your sides. Keeping your chest up, curl the bar up, then lower back to the start under control.

3B EZ-bar triceps extension

Sets 3 Reps 15 Tempo 2011 Rest 30sec

Stand tall holding an EZ-bar above your head with an overhand grip, arms straight. Keeping your elbows fixed in place, slowly lower the bar behind your head, then press it back up powerfully.

As winter approaches, you may be looking for new ways to pass the time. Sculpting your arm muscles certainly beats an unending box-set binge in our book so we thought we’d bring this simple routine devised by Martin Rooney, creator of the Training For Warriors protocol, to your attention. With a few smart tweaks to the reps and rest periods, it can be spun into a surprisingly effective four-week plan. It also doesn’t require any equipment so if you haven’t equipped your home with a set of dumbbells you can still emerge in the spring with bigger, stronger arms.

The plan uses push-up variations to focus on your triceps rather than your biceps. Curls are fun and all, but your tris make up roughly two-thirds of the muscle in your arms. Neglect them and you’re short-changing yourself.

How To Do This Push-Up Home Workout

Instead of doing endless standard push-ups, this plan challenges your chest and triceps with five variations, working them from every angle. Can’t do the tougher variations? Add a set of the easier moves for each one you miss.

Do the workout twice a week. Over four weeks, change the reps and rest for each set as follows.

• Week 1: Reps 10, rest 2min
• Week 2: Reps 8, rest 1min
• Week 3: Reps 10, rest 1min
• Week 4: Reps 12, rest 2min

1 Single-leg push-up

Keep your hands shoulder-width apart and bring one foot slightly off the ground, then lower yourself until your chest touches the floor. Push back up, trying not to twist. Switch legs with every rep.

2 Divebomber push-up

Start in an inverted V-shape – hips pushed towards the ceiling, arms and legs straight. “Dive” towards the floor, as if trying to push a ball along with your nose, then finish with your head and chest up. Reverse the move to the start.

3 Gorilla push-up

Starting in the traditional top push-up position, drop into the rep fast, then use your stretch reflex to explode upwards. Leave the floor and slap your chest, then get your hands back down quickly. That’s one rep.

4 Spider-Man push-up

Start from a normal top push-up position. As you lower yourself, bring one knee up and to the side, trying to touch your elbow. Alternate sides with each rep.

5 Elevated single-arm push-up

Start with one arm straight out to the side, elevated on a chair, sofa or something similar. Get through the reps with as little assistance from your elevated arm as you can manage.

Model: Freddie Abrahams @WAthletic

More Push-Up Workouts

• This Bodyweight Chest Workout Takes Just 10-Minutes
• The Only Home Chest Workout You’re Ever Going To Need
• Attempt The 30-Day Press-Up Challenge

The pursuit of bigger arms requires you to train smart to provide the stimulus they need to grow quickly. But that doesn’t mean going heavy. In fact, focusing on good-quality reps with a full range of motion is more effective for getting a pump and fatiguing more muscle fibres, both of which will mean faster results. This six-move superset session begins with two moves that get the blood pumping, progresses to two tough bodyweight exercises, then ends with some high-rep sets to shock your muscles into growth. Once you’ve mastered this session, graduate to our four-week arms workout plan.

How To Do This Arms Workout With Weights

This session is made up of three supersets. Do all reps of move 1A, sticking to the sets, reps and rest shown, then do all reps of 1B. Repeat until you’ve completed all the sets, then move on to the next superset. This way you’ll work your biceps and triceps harder and smarter.

Warm up

Warm up with some shoulder, elbow and wrist movements, followed by some light sets of incline dumbbell curls and incline EZ-bar triceps extensions. Gradually increase the weight for each warm-up set while reducing the reps until the next weight increase is your work-set weight.

Superset 1

1A Incline dumbbell biceps curl

Sets 4 Reps 12 Rest 30sec

Why Starting with your arms behind your torso increases the range of motion.

How Lie back on a incline bench with a dumbbell in each hand and your arms straight. Keeping your elbows in position, curl the weights up to shoulder height and squeeze your biceps. Slowly lower back to the start.

1B Incline EZ-bar triceps extension

Sets 4 Reps 12 Rest 60sec

Why Using an incline bench changes the angle of attack on your triceps.

How Lie back on an incline bench, holding an EZ-bar in both hands with a shoulder-width overhand grip. Keeping your elbows pointing straight up, lower the bar towards the top of your head, then straighten your arms to return to the start position.

Superset 2

The first superset will have fully warmed up your muscles and filled them with blood. Now’s the time to hit your biceps and triceps as hard as possible while they’re still fresh with the toughest bodyweight superset there is. Keep your reps slow and controlled to really feel the muscles working and make each set more effective.

2A Chin-up

Sets 4 Reps 6-10 Rest 60sec

Why A tough but rewarding bodyweight move that targets your upper back as well as your biceps.

How Hang from a bar with a shoulder-width underhand grip. Engage your abs and glutes and, keeping your chest up, pull yourself up until your chin clears the bar. Pause, then slowly lower back to the start.

2B Triceps dip

Sets 4 Reps 6-10 Rest 60sec

Why The best bodyweight move for bigger triceps – plus it works your shoulders and chest.

How Grip parallel bars with your arms straight and legs crossed. With your chest up and core braced, bend your elbows to lower yourself as far as you can. Press back up to return to the start.

Superset 3

This final superset is made up of high-rep sets to fully fatigue your arms in the safest way possible. If you can’t complete all 15 reps, do as many as you can, then reduce the weight and continue until you complete the set.

3A Cable bar biceps curl

Sets 4 Reps 15 Rest 0sec

Why It works your biceps harder when lifting and lowering the weight.

How Stand tall in front of a cable machine, holding a bar handle attached to the lower pulley with palms facing. Keeping your elbows fixed to your sides, curl your hands up to shoulder height. Squeeze your biceps at the top, then lower until your arms are fully straight, flexing your triceps at the bottom.

3B Cable rope overhead extension

Sets 5 Reps 15 Rest 60sec

Why It works your triceps through a full range of motion.

How Stand tall, holding a double-rope handle attached to the low pulley of a cable machine with your hands behind your head. Keeping your elbows pointing up, press up and forwards to straighten your arms. Flex your triceps at the top, then return to the start.

You don’t have to be an expert gym-goer to understand how to work your biceps, since pretty much any kind of curl will hit the muscles. However, the best biceps workout feature more than straight biceps curls. Instead, aim to vary the type of curls you perform to hit every part of the muscles from different angles.

This simple three-move workout is designed to help you do exactly that. You can bolt it on to another gym session or do it by itself for a fast lunchtime session. It’s key to focus on form, making sure you’re working the right muscles—don’t get sloppy and use your momentum or other parts of your body to help you lift the weights. Also make sure you take your time with each rep because more time under tensions equals better results. There’s little point in rushing through the sets and getting only half the benefits.

Along with an explanation of how to do each exercise there’s also insight from Greg Burns, a trainer at Embody Fitness, on exactly how the moves will help you build sleeve-busting biceps.

1 Single-arm dumbbell preacher curl

Sets 3 Reps 6-8 each side Rest 90sec

Holding a dumbbell, place the working arm on top of the preacher bench. Slightly rotate your body and slowly lower the dumbbell until your arm is fully stretched, then squeeze your biceps hard to reverse the curl back to the starting position.

Why “The position of the shoulder can influence biceps activity throughout the range of motion,” says Greg Burns, a trainer at Embody Fitness. “For instance, the preacher curl provides greater activation in the first third of the ROM and targets the short head, while the standing curl gives the greatest activation in the final third of the movement and targets the long head. For full stimulation you should train using a variety of exercises with differing points of peak contraction.”

2 Incline dumbbell curl

Sets 3 Reps 8-10 Rest 90sec

Set the bench to an incline of about 60°. With your palms facing forward, initiate the lift by contracting your biceps and curling the weight up. When your forearm is parallel to the floor, hold for one second and flex your biceps hard. Then lower the weight slowly back to the start position. At the bottom, flex your triceps to fully stretch your biceps.

Why “The long head of the biceps crosses the shoulder joint, which means that it’s possible to pre-stretch the muscle in certain exercises to cause higher levels of muscle activation,” says Burns. “Incline dumbbell curls are the perfect example of this. Another trick to stimulate the long head more is to bring your shoulders forward slightly as you reach the top of a curl.”

3 Dumbbell hammer curl

Sets 3 Reps 10-12 Rest 90sec

Hold a dumbbell in each hand, arms by your sides with your palms facing inwards. Keeping your torso completely still, curl the weights up. Lift until your arm is fully flexed, pause briefly and then return to the starting position.

Why “The brachialis muscle is an elbow flexor and due to its position under the biceps it literally pushes the biceps up as it gets bigger, which can create a higher peak on the biceps,” says Burns. “Doing curls with a neutral or ‘hammer’ grip is an excellent way to develop the brachialis. Studies show that the brachialis tends to have more slow-twitch fibers than the biceps, so performing the eccentric portion of the lift slowly increases brachialis activation.”

One of the keys to developing bigger arms in less time is to work the target muscles as hard as you can, then back off to give them enough time to recover and grow. It’s the theory used in our arms workout plan and superset arms workout, and this workout follows suit but turns the intensity up a notch – not only by putting your biceps and triceps under a lot of muscular tension, but also by tapping into both fast-twitch and slow-twitch muscle fibres to prompt a greater post-workout growth response. That’s why both of the two tri-sets in this workout – the first targeting your biceps, the second your triceps – use three different rep ranges for each of the three moves, with very little rest in between.

It starts with a six-rep compound move to fire up your central nervous system to activate more fibres, then there’s a 12-rep isolation lift to work the muscles closer to fatigue. The final 25-rep move will force muscle fibres that don’t usually get worked during straight sets to kick into action. The result: a big muscular pump and more damage to the muscles, creating the ideal conditions for adding more size.

How To Do This Intense Arms Workout

Do this arms-building workout twice a week for a month, for a total of eight times over the next four weeks. Leave at least three days between sessions.

The moves are paired into two tri-sets: the first three moves are all biceps-focused, while the second three all work the triceps. You’ll complete three sets of the biceps-focused tri-set, sticking to the reps, tempo and rest periods indicated, then do the same for the triceps tri-set.

In each tri-set the moves get easier, so the A move is the hardest and C the least arduous. Consequently, the reps increase from six to 12 to 25 so you can tap in to as many muscle fibres as possible, because the more fibres you fatigue the greater your growth potential.

Maintain perfect form for each move, focusing on moving your muscles through a full range of motion and keeping each rep smooth and controlled to maximise muscle activation.

1A Chin-up

Reps 6 Tempo 3010 Rest 10sec

Grasp a chin-up bar with an underhand grip, hands shoulder-width apart. With your core braced and chest up, pull your chin until it’s higher than the bar. Lower under control to a dead hang.

1B EZ-bar biceps curl

Reps 12 Tempo 2110 Rest 10sec

Hold an EZ-bar with an underhand grip, arms straight and elbows tucked in to your sides. Keeping your chest up, curl the bar up then lower back to the start under control.

1C Cable rope curl

Reps 25 Tempo 2110 Rest 90sec

Hold a rope cable handle with a palms-facing grip, elbows tucked in to your sides. Keeping your chest up, curl your hands up, turning your wrists so they reach the top with palms facing you. Lower back to the start under control.

2A Triceps dip

Reps 6 Tempo 3010 Rest 10sec

Grip parallel bars with your chest up and body tensed. Slowly lower yourself by bending your elbows, then press back up powerfully without locking your elbows at the top.

2B EZ-bar triceps extension

Reps 12 Tempo 2110 Rest 10sec

Stand tall holding an EZ-bar above your head with an overhand grip, arms straight. Keeping your elbows fixed in place, slowly lower the bar behind your head, then press it back up powerfully.

2C Cable rope press-down

Reps 25 Tempo 2110 Rest 90sec

Stand tall holding a rope cable handle with a palms-facing grip. Keeping your elbows tucked in to your sides, press your hands down so they go either side of your thighs. Slowly return to the start.

In many ways the press-up is the definitive bodyweight exercise. It’s a simple move, requiring zero equipment and minimal space, and there’s a fair chance that it’s the first bodyweight exercise you ever did. When someone barks at you to drop and give them 20, there’s only one exercise that comes to mind.

It’s also tough. The press-up is a savage test of a host of upper-body muscles, especially the chest, shoulders and triceps. Your core will also benefit from the standard press-up, and if you introduce a few basic variations on the move you can recruit even more muscles.

Before you start varying your press-ups, however, it’s important to ensure your form on the classic move is correct. Even if you’ve done a million press-ups in your time, make sure you check your form against the following technique guide. It’s a bit like watching the air stewards when they show you the safety procedure. Sure, you can look cool by ignoring it, but you’re going to wish you paid attention when you attach the oxygen mask to your neck by mistake.

1. Start on all fours, with your hands shoulder-width apart and your feet hip-width apart – moving your feet further apart will make it easier, while bringing them closer together makes it harder.
2. Straighten your arms. Keep your hips in line with your shoulders throughout the movement.
3. Lower your chest towards the ground by bending at the elbows, keeping them by your sides. Flaring your elbows works the chest more, while keeping them close to you targets the triceps more. The closer your chest gets to the floor the better, unless you end up just lying down. That’s not going to help anyone.
4. Press back up. Then do it all again.

The 30-Day Press-Up Challenge

Once you've mastered the form, it’s time for this challenge designed by Maximuscle expert personal trainer Paul Olima. The first few days build up with regular press-ups, but before long some variations are thrown into the mix, so make sure you know the form for each press-up style before beginning. Here’s how to do them.

Diamond press-up

This variation shifts the focus of the exercise to your triceps, though you’ll still be working your shoulders and chest as well. Start in a standard press-up position, but place your hands together under your chest with the thumbs and index fingers touching so that they form a diamond shape. Keeping your elbows tucked in to your sides, lower slowly until your chest is just above the ground and then push back up.

Decline press-up

While the diamond press-up hits your triceps harder, the decline variation is tougher on your shoulders and upper chest muscles. To perform the exercise, get into a press-up position with your feet on a raised surface, which should be about 30-60cm off the floor. Lower your chest towards the ground, then push back up.

This is a very tough challenge, so if one look at the below makes you tremble with fear, rather than excitement, then it might be worth first taking on our more accessible 30-day plank challenge, or our 30-day burpee challenge which can be scaled up or down in line with your current fitness level. We also have an abs challenge, squat challenge, and sundry other fitness challenges and gym challenges for those who like to test themselves.

This month’s big workout from Men’s Fitness magazine is designed to add serious muscle size to your biceps, triceps and shoulders in just four weeks. You’ll train these muscle groups not once but twice a week to give them the added stimulus they need to grow bigger and stronger in the shortest possible time. In addition to two arms and shoulders workouts a week, there’s a chest and back session, and a legs and abs session, so while the main muscle-building focus is on your arms and shoulders, you’ll be targeting your other major muscles for growth too.

Here’s how the plan works

This month’s four-week workout is made up of four sessions a week. Workout one targets your chest and back; workout two, your arms and shoulders; workout three, legs and abs; and workout four, arms and shoulders again. This approach means your biceps, triceps and shoulders are trained directly twice a week, and this increased gym time and increased training volume will prompt these muscles to grow bigger far more quickly than you thought possible.

Each workout is made up of five moves. The first two moves are big, compound lifts done in straight sets of eight reps of five sets. The final three moves, which are more isolation-focused, make up a tri-set, which means you’ll do them in order without resting until you’ve completed all the reps of the third move. The first two moves of the first arms and shoulders workout are shoulder-focused, with the tri-set working the arms. This is reversed in the second arms and shoulders session. Simply do the workouts in order, sticking to the sets, reps, tempo and rest periods detailed, and transform your torso with more muscle mass across the board.

Tempo training

To get the full effect from these workouts, you need to stick to the four-digit tempo code for each exercise. The first digit indicates how long in seconds you take to lower the weight, the second how long you pause at the bottom of the move, the third how long you take to lift the weight, and the final digit how long you pause at the top.

The accumulated time under tension increases your heart rate to burn body fat and break down muscle tissue so it’s rebuilt bigger and stronger. Keep each rep smooth and controlled so your muscles – not momentum – do the work, and move through a full range of motion.

Your Four-Week Big Arms Plan

Here’s how each of the four weeks of the plan is structured. Click the links to jump to that particular workout.

Workout 1: Chest And Back

Workout 2: Arms And Shoulders

Workout 3: Legs And Abs

Workout 4: Arms And Shoulders

Workout 1: Chest And Back

1 Bench press

Sets 5 Reps 8 Tempo 2010 Rest 60sec

Lie on a flat bench holding a barbell with your hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart. Brace your core, then lower the bar towards your chest. Press it back up to the start.

2 Bent-over row

Sets 5 Reps 8 Tempo 2010 Rest 60sec

Hold a barbell with an overhand grip, hands just outside your legs. Bend your knees slightly, brace your core, then pull the bar up, leading with your elbows. Lower it back to the start.

3A Incline dumbbell press

Sets 3 Reps 12 Tempo 2010 Rest 0sec

Lie on an incline bench holding a dumbbell in each hand by your shoulders. Brace your core, then press the weights up until your arms are straight. Lower them back to the start.

3B Incline dumbbell flye

Sets 3 Reps 12 Tempo 2010 Rest 0sec

Lie on an incline bench holding a dumbbell in each hand above your face, with your palms facing and a slight bend in your elbows. Lower them to the sides, then bring them back to the top.

3C One-arm row

Sets 3 Reps 12 each side Tempo 2111 Rest 60sec

Kneel on a bench with one hand on it for support, holding a dumbbell in the other hand. Keeping your chest up, row the weight up, leading with your elbow. Then lower back to the start. Complete all the reps on one side, then switch.

Workout 2: Arms And Shoulders

1 Chin-up

Sets 5 Reps 8 Tempo 2010 Rest 60sec

Hold a chin-up bar with an underhand grip. Brace your core, then pull yourself up until your chin is higher than the bar. Lower until your arms are straight again.

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.

3A Seated dumbbell overhead press

Sets 3 Reps 12 Tempo 2010 Rest 0sec

Sit on a bench with a dumbbell in each hand at shoulder height. Keeping your chest up, press the weights directly overhead until your arms are straight, then lower them back to the start.

3B Lateral raise

Sets 3 Reps 12 Tempo 2111 Rest 0sec

Stand tall with a light dumbbell in each hand with palms facing. Keeping your chest up and a bend in your elbows, raise the weights out to shoulder height, then lower back to the start.

3C Reverse lateral raise

Sets 3 Reps 12 Tempo 2111 Rest 60sec

Bend forwards from the hips with a light dumbbell in each hand, palms facing. Keeping a bend in your elbows, raise the weights out to shoulder height, then lower back to the start.

Workout 3: Legs And Abs

1 Back squat

Sets 5 Reps 8 Tempo 2010 Rest 60sec

Stand tall with a bar across the back of your shoulders. Keeping your chest up and core braced, squat down as deep as you can. Drive back up through your heels to return to the start.

2 Front squat

Sets 5 Reps 8 Tempo 2010 Rest 60sec

Stand tall holding a bar across the front of your shoulders with elbows up. Keeping your core braced, squat down as deep as you can. Drive back up through your heels to return to the start.

3A Glute bridge

Sets 3 Reps 12 Tempo 2111 Rest 0sec

Lie with your upper back supported on a bench and a barbell across the top of your thighs. Thrust your hips up, squeezing your glutes at the top, then return to the start.

3B Good morning

Sets 3 Reps 12 Tempo 2010 Rest 0sec

Stand tall holding a light barbell across the back of your shoulders, feet shoulder-width apart. Keeping your core braced, bend forwards slowly from the hips, as far as your hamstrings allow but not past horizontal. Return to the start.

3C Barbell roll-out

Sets 3 Reps 12 Tempo 2111 Rest 60sec

Kneel on the floor holding a barbell with both hands. Roll the bar forwards so you lower your torso, keeping your core braced. Then use your abs muscles to return to the start.

Workout 4: Arms And Shoulders

1 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.

2 Rack pull

Sets 5 Reps 8 Tempo 2010 Rest 60sec

Stand tall in front of a barbell resting on safety bars at knee height. Using a double overhand grip, bend down and deadlift the bar up, squeezing your shoulder blades together at the top.

3A Seated dumbbell curl

Sets 3 Reps 12 Tempo 2111 Rest 0sec

Sit on a bench with dumbbells by your sides, palms facing forwards. Keeping your elbows tucked in, curl the weights up, squeezing your biceps at the top. Lower them back to the start.

3B Standing dumbbell curl

Sets 3 Reps 12 Tempo 2111 Rest 0sec

Hold dumbbells by your sides with straight arms, palms facing forwards. Keeping your elbows tucked in, curl the weights up, squeezing your biceps at the top. Lower them back to the start.

3C Triceps extension

Sets 3 Reps 12 Tempo 2010 Rest 60sec

Stand tall holding a dumbbell over your head with both hands, arms straight. Keeping your chest up, lower the weight behind your head, then raise it back to the start.

To build bigger arms you need to do more than crank out countless dumbbell curls or cable press-downs. Doing the same moves over and over again means your muscles adapt to this training stimulus and stop growing. To keep them growing you must work your biceps and triceps from a variety of angles and using multiple rep ranges – which is exactly what this six-move superset session does, starting with two tough compound moves and finishing with an intense isolation superset blitz.

How to do the workout

This is a six-move session made up of three supersets. Do all reps of move 1A, sticking to the sets, reps and rest shown, then do all reps of 1B. Then do moves 2A and 2B as a superset, and the same again for moves 3A and 3B, and you’ll work every part of your arms effectively.

Superset 1

Warm up thoroughly, starting with some shoulder, elbow and wrist movements, followed by some light overhead presses and underhand lat pull-downs, interspersed with more mobility work in the rest periods between warm-up sets. Gradually increase the weight of each warm-up set while reducing the reps until you’re fully ready to go.

1A Triceps dip

Sets 5 Reps 5-10 Rest 30sec

Why The best bodyweight move for bigger triceps, plus it works your shoulders and chest.

How Grip parallel bars with your arms straight and legs crossed. With your chest up and core braced, bend your elbows to lower yourself as far as you can. Press back up to return to the start.

1B Chin-up

Sets 5 Reps 5-10 Rest 60sec

Why The best bodyweight move for bigger arms, and one that also works your entire upper back.

How Hang from a bar with a shoulder-width underhand grip. Engage your abs and glutes and, keeping your chest up, pull yourself up until your chin clears the bar. Pause in this position, then slowly lower yourself back to the start.

Superset 2

This second superset has been designed to work your biceps and triceps from a different angle and through a slightly different range of motion to stimulate different parts of these muscles and recruit more muscle fibres. Keep your reps slow and controlled to really feel the muscles working and make each set more effective.

2A Incline dumbbell biceps curl

Sets 3 Reps 12 Rest 30sec

Why Starting with your arms behind your torso increases the range of motion

How Lie back on a incline bench with a dumbbell in each hand and arms straight. Keeping your elbows in position, curl the weights up to shoulder height and squeeze your biceps. Slowly lower back to the start.

2B Incline EZ-bar skullcrusher

Sets 3 Reps 12 Rest 60sec

Why Using an incline bench changes the angle of attack on your triceps.

How Lie back on an incline bench, holding an EZ-bar in both hands with a shoulder-width overhand grip. Keeping your elbows pointing straight up, lower the bar towards the top of your head, then straighten your arms to return the bar to the start position.

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Superset 3

This final superset is made up of higher-rep sets to fatigue the triceps and biceps safely. If you can’t complete all 15 reps, do as many as you can, then reduce the weight and continue until you complete the set. Keep reps slow and controlled.

3A Cable rope overhead extension

Sets 3 Reps 15 Rest 30sec

Why It works your triceps through a full range of motion, and the cable forces your muscles to work hard in both the lifting and lowering phases.

How Stand tall, holding a double-rope handle attached to the low pulley of a cable machine. Turn to face away, bringing your hands up to your head. Keeping your elbows still and pointing up, press the handles up and forwards to straighten your arms. Flex your triceps at the top, then return to the start.

3B Cable bar biceps curl

Sets 3 Reps 15 Rest 60sec

Why It works your biceps hard on the way up and down.

How Stand tall in front of a cable machine, holding a bar handle attached to the lower pulley with palms facing. Keeping your elbows fixed to your sides, curl your hands up to shoulder height. Squeeze your biceps at the top, then lower until your arms are fully straight.

Lots of women worry about bingo wings, especially when it’s warm enough to wear short-sleeved tops. While there’s no quick fix for bingo wings (do we even need to fix them?), it’s well worth including arms exercises in your workout programme.

Having stronger arms is empowering (think 💪) and it makes many aspects of life easier, from carrying heavy things to opening that stubborn jar of olives. And having better-defined muscles in your upper arms might well make you feel more confident in showing them off.

We spoke to Mimi Bines, personal trainer and co-founder of Lift Studio—a women-only weightlifting studio in London—about bingo wings and what, if anything, you can do about them. As well as a body image pep talk, she gave us a simple four-move arms workout to help build upper-body strength.  

The Arms Workout For Strong, Defined Arms

The workout starts with two compound exercises—those that use more than one joint to complete the movement, so you get as much bang for your buck as possible. There’s an upper-body pull exercise followed by an upper-body push move.

This is followed by two isolation exercises—using one joint—targeting first the biceps and then the triceps.

To ensure you’re able to maintain good form, choose a weight that allows you to complete the sets feeling you could only manage to perform one or two more reps. Over time, you should find yourself getting stronger. In order to make progress you need to keep challenging your muscles. You can increase the number of reps, use heavier weights, or make the exercise harder by slowing down the movements.

Aim to make progress over the course of five to 10 weeks before changing the exercises. 

Having process- or performance-driven goals is the best way to ensure you make great progress. “Aim to be consistent or to get strong,” says Bines. “This form of goal setting is not only proven to have better results but is also associated with better body image.”

Our guide to strength to training for women features a home workout plan to tackle, and this arms workout for women may also be of interest.

1 Inverted row

Sets 3 Reps 10 

Target: back, biceps

Find a suitable bar to use; if you’re in the gym you can set up a Smith machine with the bar just out of reach when lying on the floor underneath it. Lie under the bar and grasp it with an overhand grip, hands just wider than shoulder-width apart. Hold yourself up so your body forms a straight line from your head to your heels. Pull yourself up until your chest touches the bar, then lower slowly to the start.

If you’re struggling to get through your reps, move your feet closer to the bar, or bend your knees and place your feet flat on the ground. This will reduce the resistance involved and make it easier.

2 Dumbbell floor press

Sets 3 Reps 10 

Target: chest, shoulders, triceps

Lie on the floor with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Hold dumbbells with your upper arms on the floor, elbows out to the sides and bent at 90°. Press the dumbbells straight up, keeping them in line with your shoulders, then lower to the start under control.

3 Dumbbell biceps curl

Sets 3 Reps 10

Target: biceps

Stand holding dumbbells in front of your thighs with your palms facing forward. Keeping your upper arms still, bend your elbows to lift the dumbbells to your shoulders. Lower the weights to the start. Keep your movements slow and avoid using momentum.

4 Dumbbell triceps extension

Sets 3 Reps 10

Target: triceps

Choose a light set of dumbbells and stand with feet shoulder-width apart, holding the dumbbells above your head with your arms extended. Bend your elbows to lower the dumbbells slowly behind your head, keeping your upper arms still. Don’t let your elbows flare out to the sides. Raise the dumbbells slowly again until your arms are extended.

Want to sculpt a strong, V-shaped torso? It’s not all about building a big chest and burning fat for a lean waist – getting muscular, well-defined arms is just as important. Targeting your arms is based on three training pillars: time under tension, high volume and maximum recruitment of muscle fibres. Tri-sets, where you do three exercises back to back with minimal rest, deliver all three.

“This workout uses a wide variety of exercises, rep ranges and tempos to hit your upper body muscles from every angle,” says personal trainer and body transformation specialist Rich Phillipps. The result will be a body that Greek tailors would dream of fitting – or at least one that turns a few heads in black tie.

Complete all the reps in Tri-set 1 without resting, then rest for two to three minutes. Repeat until you’ve done a total of four tri-sets. Then do the same for Tri-set 2. The tempo of a move is indicated by a four-digit number where the first digit is the time taken (in seconds) to lower the weight, the second is the length of the pause at the bottom of the move, the third is the time taken to lift the weight and the last is the pause at the top.

Read more: The Chest and Back Workout for a V-Shaped Torso

Tri-set 1

1A. Barbell curl

via GIPHY

Reps 8
Tempo 3010
Stand holding a barbell with your hands shoulder-width apart and palms facing forwards. Keeping your elbows close to your sides, and without leaning back, curl the bar up to your chest. Squeeze your biceps hard, then lower the bar.

1B. Incline seated curl

via GIPHY

Reps 6
Tempo 4010
Lie on a bench set at a 45° angle holding dumbbells with your arms straight down by your sides, palms facing forwards. Curl the weights up to shoulder height. Squeeze your biceps hard, then lower the weights slowly.

1C. Prone hammer curl

via GIPHY

Reps 12
Tempo 2020
Lie chest-down on a bench set at a 45° angle, holding dumbbells with your arms hanging straight down and palms facing each other. Curl the weights slowly up towards your shoulders, then slowly lower them again.

Tri-set 2

2A. Skullcrusher

via GIPHY

Reps 10
Tempo 2210
Lie on a flat bench holding light dumbbells straight above you. Keeping your elbow still, bend your arm to lower the weights to either side of your head. Pause, then press them back up to the start.

2B. Narrow-grip bench press

via GIPHY

Reps 6
Tempo 4110
Lie on a flat bench holding the bar with an overhand grip, hands slightly narrower than shoulder-width apart. Drive your feet hard into the floor and press the weights straight up powerfully, then lower them slowly to the start position.

2C. Standing triceps extension

via GIPHY

Reps 12
Tempo 2010
Stand holding dumbbells above your head with your upper arms close to your ears. Keeping your upper arms static, bend at the elbows to lower the weights behind your head, then flex your triceps to raise the weights straight up.

"Arm wrestling is about 50% strength and 50% technique, so most guys will be able to beat someone stronger than them," says Kirlew. Here’s how to get better at both.

The Stance

"Find a high table so you can wrestle standing up. Most people opt to sit down but being upright increases the power you can leverage. If you’re right-handed, stand with your leading leg (right foot) forward, with your body very close to the table to maximise power transfer."

Leg Work

"Push your leading leg against the inside of the nearest table leg to gain some extra stability. This is especially important if you are wrestling while seated."

The Start

"Most arm wrestles are won within the first couple of seconds, so starting hard and fast puts you at an immediate advantage. Bend your wrist forward to improve leverage. Most opponents will try to “push” your arm down but to win you have to 'pull' his arm towards you, which weakens his forearm. Gain extra power by shifting your bodyweight to your left leg."

Knuckle Down

"In pro arm wrestling we have pads so the knuckles don’t have to hit the table, but this is often insisted upon in pub matches. Try the “top roll” approach: wrist high and knuckles facing the ceiling while pulling backwards to bend your opponent’s wrist back so the knuckles get grounded."

The Grip

"Make sure your elbow is not directly in line with your opponent’s. The elbows need to be on a slight diagonal, or else there is an increased risk of injury because the forearm and wrist are not in natural alignment."

Thumbs Down

"Make sure your index finger is wrapped over your thumb, rather than having your thumb sticking out. Keeping the hand locked will make the wrist more stable and improve power efficiency."
 

Stephen Kirlew is a member of Milton Keynes Armwrestling

Armwrestling training

Break it down “Success is more down to tendon strength than muscle size, so I do lots of half-range exercises, such as barbell curls and pull-ups, and hold the weight for a few seconds to work the ligaments.”

Think negative “Doing heavyweight, negative sets [lowering a weight that is heavier than you can lift] is great for building strong and stable muscles. I focus on the biceps, forearms and back.”
 
Head for heights “Rock climbing is perfect for increasing finger and wrist strength and I’ll climb at least once a week.”

Hitting your biceps and triceps muscles from as many different angles as possible is crucial if you want your arms workouts to be effective. That’s why this workout – provided by trainer Rich Phillipps and demonstrated by contributor Ben Ince as part of his eight-week body plan transformation – has lots of variety to help maximise lean muscle growth and leave you with a serious pump.

1A Seated dumbbell biceps curl

Sets 4 Reps 5-6 Rest 90sec

Sit on an upright bench holding a dumbbell in each hand by your sides with your palms facing away. Keeping your back flat against the bench and your elbows close to your sides, curl the weights up to shoulder height. Squeeze your biceps at the top of the move, then slowly returning the start.

1B E-Z bar triceps extension

Sets 4 Reps 5-6 Rest 90sec

Lie flat on a bench, holding an E-Z bar with a narrow grip directly above you with straight arms. Slowly lower the bar towards your chest, keeping your elbows close to your sides. Press the bar back to the start position by straightening your arms.

2A E-Z bar Scott curl

Sets 3 Reps 6-8 Rest 10sec

Hold the E-Z bar with your hands around 15cm apart and rest the backs of your upper arms against the bench. Lift the bar towards your chin, maintaining the tension at the top of the lift. Lower the weight slowly till your elbows are fully extended.

2B Incline bench Zottman curl

Sets 3 Reps 4-6 Rest 10sec

Lay face down on a bench set at around 50°, holding dumbbells with your palms up. Curl them towards your chin. At the top of the lift rotate the dumbbells till your palms are facing down and lower the weight slowly. Rotate the dumbbells back to the starting position.

2C Incline dumbbell hammer curl

Sets 3 Reps 8-10 Rest 2min

Sit on a bench set at around 40° holding dumbbells in each hand with a hammer grip. Curl the weights towards your shoulders, keeping your arms close to your body. Lower the weights till your elbows are fully extended.

3A Decline lying triceps extension

Sets 3 Reps 6-8 Rest 10sec

Lie on a decline bench, holding dumbbells above you with straight arms. Slowly lower the weights towards the top of your head by bending your elbows, which should stay pointing directly to the ceiling. Without arching your back, slowly return the weights to the start position by straightening your arms. This can also be done with an E-Z bar.

3B Dip

Sets 3 Reps 4-6 Rest 10sec

Grip parallel bars, keeping your body upright. With your elbows pointing straight back, lower your body as far as you can comfortably go without stressing your shoulders. Keep your core braced and don’t swing your legs for momentum. Press back up powerfully but don’t lock out your elbows at the top.

3C Reverse triceps cable pull-down

Sets 3 Reps 10-12 Rest 2min

Hold a straight bar cable attachment so your palms are facing upward. Keep your elbows directly below your shoulders, close to your sides. Pull the weight down, locking your elbows at the bottom. Allow the weight to rise back to the start, keeping it under control and ensuring your elbows stay directly below your shoulders.

Looking for a effective arms-building workout to do during your lunch break? Try this superset session. It works opposing muscle groups in turn to minimise the amount rest you need during the workout and thereby maximise the reps.

How to do this workout

Perform all reps of 1A then 1B without rest. After 1B rest for 90sec, then repeat until all sets are repeated. Rest for two minutes then move on to the next superset and continue until all supersets are completed.

Tempo

The tempo of each move is expressed as a four-digit figure. The first digit indicates how long in seconds it should take to lower the weight, the second how long you should pause at the bottom, the third how long you should take to lift, and the fourth how long you should pause at the top.

1A Biceps curl

Sets 4 Reps 8 Tempo 2010 Rest 0sec

Stand tall with your shoulders back and feet close together, holding a barbell with an underhand grip with your hands just outside your hips. Keeping your elbows tucked in to your sides, curl the bar up towards your chest, stopping just before your forearms reach vertical. Slowly lower the bar back to the start. Avoid rocking back and forth to generate momentum, which takes the emphasis away from the biceps.

1B Inverted row

Sets 4 Reps 8 Tempo 2010 Rest 90sec

Set a Smith machine bar at about chest height. Lie underneath the bar and hold it with an overhand grip, with your hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart. Keeping your hips in line with your torso, pull your body up towards the bar until you touch it with your sternum. Slowly lower yourself back to the start.

2A Underhand lat pull-down

Sets 4 Reps 8 Tempo 2010 Rest 0sec

Sit on the seat and take an underhand, shoulder-width grip on the bar. Look forwards, retract your shoulder blades and keep your torso upright. Pull the bar down in front of you until it reaches your upper chest. Don’t lean back to aid the movement. At the bottom of the move, squeeze your lats, then return the bar slowly to the start.

2B Seated cable row

Sets 4 Reps 8 Tempo 2010 Rest 90sec

Sit on the bench with a slight bend in your knees. Hold a double-D handle with a neutral grip attached to the lower pulley of a cable machine. Ensure there’s tension in the cable before you begin. Pull the handle in to your sternum, keeping upper-body movement to a minimum, and squeeze your shoulder blades together. Return slowly to the start.

3A Cable standing biceps curl

Sets 4 Reps 8 Tempo 2010 Rest 0sec

Stand tall, holding a double-rope cable handle attached to the low pulley of a cable machine with your palms facing upwards. Keeping your elbows close to your body, curl your hands up to raise the handles towards your chin. At the top of the move squeeze your biceps then return to the start, squeezing your triceps at the very bottom of the move.

3B Cable standing reverse flye

Sets 4 Reps 8 Tempo 2010 Rest 90sec

Stand in the middle of a cable machine with your arms crossed, holding a D-handle attachment attached to the high pulley in each hand. Extend your arms away from your body until both arms are straight. Return to the start, maintaining control of the weight throughout.

See related 

• The Arm Workout to Help You Fill Your Shirt Sleeves
• The Best Biceps Workout
• The Workout To Build Bigger Biceps

4A Incline dumbbell biceps curl

Sets 4 Reps: 8 Tempo 2010 Rest 0sec

Sit on an upright bench holding a dumbbell in each hand with your palms facing forwards. Keeping your elbows close to your sides, slowly raise the dumbbells to shoulder height, squeezing your biceps at the top of the move. Slowly return the weights to the start.

4B Incline dumbbell hammer curl

Sets 4 Reps 8 Tempo 2010 Rest 2min

Sit on an upright bench holding a dumbbell in each hand with your palms facing each other. Keeping your elbows close to your sides, raise the dumbbells to shoulder height, squeezing your biceps at the top of the move. Return the weights slowly to the start.

When people think about building muscle, the two things they always consider are training and nutrition. But sleep quality and quantity are equally pivotal.

That’s because sleep deprivation lowers testosterone and growth hormone, which play important roles in repairing muscle tissue. What’s more, poor sleep is linked to increased inflammation in the body – which will make it harder to recover from your gym sessions – and an increase in the levels of insulin and cortisol, both of which lead to increased fat storage and insulin resistance.

Research published by Vielife in 2012 found that more than 60% of British people get less than seven hours’ sleep a night. Most health practitioners recommend getting eight to nine hours, so there’s a good chance your sleeping habits are hampering your muscle-building efforts. With that in mind, here are my top tips to help you increase the quality and quantity of your shut-eye.

Think positive

Before you go to bed, grab a pad and pen and write 
down a full page of things you’re grateful for in life. Start the sentences with ‘I am grateful for’ or ‘Thank you for’. This will put you in a very positive and calm frame of mind and will stop your mind from racing all night and keeping you awake. Also try answering three key questions: ‘What did I do today that was nice for someone?’ ‘What did someone do that was nice for me?’ and ‘What did I learn today?’ Answering these questions will put your life in perspective, reset your brain in a positive way and enable you to fall asleep more easily. Every single client of mine who has used this technique has seen an improvement in the quality of his or her sleep.

Sleep in a bat cave

You should aim to sleep in complete darkness or as close to it as possible. Even the tiniest bit of light in the room can mess up your daily biological processes and affect your body’s production of melatonin and serotonin, which will have an adverse affect on your sleep. It really doesn’t take much light – even something as dim as the standby light on your television can make a difference. The same rule applies if you have to get up in the night to use the toilet – if possible, do it with the light off. Turning it on will instantly interrupt your body’s production of melatonin.

Minimise electrical fields

You will be amazed by how much better you’ll sleep if you minimise the electromagnetic fields around your bed. Turn off any plug sockets that don’t need to be left on overnight, and if you need to use an alarm clock, buy a battery-operated one. Also, make sure you keep the clock out of view, especially if you’re a worrier who has difficulty staying asleep – watching the clock if you do wake up in the night will only make things worse. Covering it with a towel will minimise light and remove the temptation to look at it, without stopping it from waking you up in the morning.

Stretch in the evening

Performing static stretches in the evening is an excellent way to calm an excited nervous system and get your body ready for sleep. Static stretching has also been shown to accelerate strength and muscle-building gains. Current thinking is that gains in static flexibility are directly proportional to the time muscles spend being stretched, so go for multiple sets of at least 15-second stretches, returning to the start position between each.

Combat stress with magnesium

Cortisol is a stress hormone produced by the adrenal glands. High levels of cortisol will affect your quality of sleep, to the point where you might get eight hours but still wake up feeling exhausted. Taking magnesium will help to counteract this because it plays a key role in detoxifying cortisol in the body. What’s more, several studies have found low levels of magnesium can alter electrical activity in the brain and cause agitated sleep. Try a supplement or eating magnesium-rich foods such as spinach, pumpkin seeds and soya beans.

Avoid junk in the evening

Eating grains and refined sugars before you go to bed will raise your blood sugar levels and create a reactive hypoglycaemic effect that will wake you up and make it difficult to fall asleep again. Refined grains also contain allergens such as gluten, which will cause the body to produce more cortisol. Instead, try a pre-bedtime snack of tryptophan-rich almonds and calcium-packed milk, both of which will help your body produce more sleep-inducing serotonin.

Sets: 3 / Reps: 12 each side

Target: forearms, wrists

Why it works: Because your wrist and forearms are so mobile, they need to be exercised in a rotational aspect. This move strengthens the stabilising muscles in the wrist and hits the muscles that rotate your palm inwards and outwards.

• Rest the whole weight of your lower arm on the bench.
• Relax your shoulders and rotate the dumb-bell outwards.
• Keep your hand in line with your forearm.
• Rotate the dumb-bell inwards to complete the rep.

Dumb-bell forearm rotation

Dumb-bell forearm rotation