A good set of arms, toned or huge, makes a statement about your physical condition. This article is about the best exercises you can do to add size to your arms in the shortest time possible. Everybody who works out wants an impressive set of biceps. Whether you’re male or female,
Vanity is the mother of invention
Variations abound on the biceps curl.
- Curls with cables, dumbells, lying down, curls standing up, curls on an incline bench, preacher curls, EZ bar curls, etc.
- The amount of training most people engage in is counterproductive
What about triceps?
Negative repetitions work because you can always lower more weight than you can lift, so it’s a good place to start building your strength.
- Dips are a fantastic triceps exercise that also builds the chest and shoulders.
- Chin ups and dips are the best exercises to quickly add size to your arms.
Compound vs isolation
Compound exercises generate more growth than isolation exercises
- Bicep curls and all of their variations are isolation exercises.
- The best compound exercise for your biceps is the chin up
- Cable crossovers or bench presses are both compound exercises
The workout
After three years of not being able to train his arms (or do any form of resistance training) due to adhesive capsulitis (a frozen shoulder), she started doing chin ups in her local park, once a week, in June 2021
- On her first attempt, she managed 3 repetitions with a very limited range of motion
- She decided to add 10kg to her bodyweight by holding a dumbbell between her feet, and with the added weight, she got up to 13 repetitions
- In October she stopped using the extra weight and concentrated on doing each repetition perfectly, making sure she went all the way down on each one and not swinging her legs to get her moving
Good advice
Any exercise performed in the most effective manner for inducing muscle growth is going to be unpleasant
- If you want to get big and strong, you’re going to suffer in the gym whatever exercise you perform, so you may as well pick the best effective exercises
If you’re old, weak, or untrained, and you can’t perform a single chin up
Perform negatives instead
- To do a negative, grab the bar and jump up to the top of the movement, where your arms are bent, your biceps are fully contracted, and your chin is above the bar.
- From the top position, start to lower yourself slowly as slowly as you can, repeating the movement until you are no longer able to control the descent and you’re essentially just dropping from the top to the bottom
Work hard, work smart
Chin ups are the best way to train biceps
- Depending on your level of strength and the amount of intensity you can generate, perform one set of chin ups, to failure, once or twice a week. Intensity refers to how hard you can push without stopping.
- When you have pushed to the point where no movement is possible despite your greatest effort, you have trained to failure.
Isn’t more better?
Trigger growth, then stop exercising and let it occur. Growth occurs whilst you are resting, and you are not resting in the gym.
- The stronger you become, the less regularly you should train. The body needs to rest, recuperate, and then overcompensate to get stronger.