Arm training can be flipped and turned a million different ways. When I am talking about arm exercise what I mean are the smaller muscles that are actually on the arm (biceps, triceps, forearms)
Disclaimer to start–> using weights to exercise your arms will not make them bulky. It will allow them to add some muscle and in the absence of the body fat that you will be losing along the way from the rest of your training, your arms will be looking good to go.
Bicep Training:
The biceps are at the top of the arm facing forward. When we do bicep training we first need to know that the shoulders can be directly affected by these exercises. So, we want to make sure our shoulders are strong and healthy, along with keeping It in our minds to keep that area protected during every movement.
Curls will be the main movement for most bicep exercises. There are a lot of variations we can do with that–> dumbbells, barbells, kettlebells, bands, suspension trainers.
The main thing to switch around other than equipment, is position. You can have your elbows directly by your side, your elbows placed in front of the body (like a spider curl), or have the elbows placed behind the body (like an incline curl).
Another thing we can change with the biceps is hand position. Palms facing in, palms facing up, palms facing down will all have a different effect on the bicep exercise.
For reps I would stay in a relatively high range, about 10-20 and that is mostly due to the fact of keeping less stress on the shoulder joint during these exercises. We want to train hard but we also want to keep our joints feeling good along the way.
My 3 favorite bicep exercises
1.) Dumbbell hammer curl (with my back against the wall)
2.) Kettlebell Rope bicep curl
3.) Chin-ups
Tricep Training:
The triceps will be on the opposite side of the upper arm from the biceps. Triceps are a much bigger muscle group and can have a big carry over to other exercises such as bench press and overhead presses. I tend to have more tricep training in a particular program than bicep work. These exercises can have a big impact on the elbows so exercise selection has to be a top priority.
When It comes to the actual training the same ideas apply as the bicep training. We can use different tools (Dumbbells, barbells, Kettlebells, bands) and different arm positions to get some more variety in your training. BUT your hand position will not have an effect on your overall tricep training, so find the ones that feel the best and stick with those.
When It comes to reps for tricep training the ranges are based on the exercises. There will be times where we stick with 4-6 reps and other times that we are shooting for 20-25. The things I do watch out for are dips, and skullcrushers.
Dips can be very demanding on the shoulder so doing a-lot of them over time can begin to wear on the shoulders. Skull crushers are a targeted movement but tend to stress the elbow more than others. This doesn’t mean skip these exercises, just be cautious and keep a close eye on your form.
My 3 favorite tricep exercises:
1.) Close grip bench press
2.) Rolling tricep extensions
3.) Band tricep press downs
Forearm Training:
The forearms are often a forgotten piece to arm training. Now I do not personally look at It as “forearm work” I like to look at It as GRIP WORK.
More or less because how important grip strength is to everything else we do and also because It will have a bigger carryover to other exercises in the gym. Grip work does not come easy and we have to work at It consistently.
Most grip work contains our hands being closed together (bringing our fingers closer to our inner wrist), I like to combat that with exercises that open up the fingers and/or bring the backside of the hand upwards. This will strengthen the opposite muscles of the forearm and counter any possible imbalances built up over time.
The things I use most in my training are timed holds, weighted carries, wrist curls, wrist extensions, banded finger extensions. The exercises change so much over the course of a training cycle but my top three exercises for grip work would be–>
1.) Farmers carry
2.) Grippers
3.) Banded finger extensions
Arm training does not have to be boring, just plan It out, be smart about It, and keep things feeling good!
In good health,
Jeff
