Everyone makes the same mistake when training arms. Biceps and triceps once a week, thrown in at the end of another workout, done tired. Then they wonder why the tape never moves. I found three little changes that brought my arms from 13 to 19 inches. Here they are, plus my arm workout and the tips that didn't make the video.
Frequency
Hitting biceps and triceps once a week is not going to grow your arms.From the video
Arms are small muscles and they recover fast. Train them once a week and you get one growth signal, then six days of nothing. That's a lot of dead time for a muscle that's ready to go again in two or three days.
Hit them two or three times a week instead. Same total work, spread out. Six to eight hard sets per session beats sixteen sets crammed into one day you can barely finish, and every session is another chance to add a rep or a plate. If your split has no room for two arm days, put arms on two of your upper days. Just get the frequency up.
Placement in the workout
If your main focus is growing arms, don't put them at the end of the workout. Do them first.From the video
Whatever you train first gets your best energy, your best focus and your heaviest loads. Arms at the end of chest day get a pre-fatigued triceps and three rushed sets of pushdowns while you're thinking about leaving.
If bigger arms are the goal, train them first and treat them like a main lift. Chest and back will still get done after. The order of your workout tells your body what you care about.
Set up
If you do biceps first one arm day, then the next arm day do triceps first. This will make sure you did both parts of your arm with higher intensity.From the video. One of the best tips.
Even on a dedicated arm day, something goes first and something goes last. If biceps always lead, triceps always get the leftovers, and after a few months one half of the arm is ahead of the other.
So alternate the order now and then, so both halves get the fresh, high-intensity slot. My default is triceps first, and the tips below explain why, but if biceps only ever go second they only ever get the leftovers. It's a small thing most people never think about.
My arm workout
One arm session, run 2 to 3 times a week. Triceps first, then biceps. Do it at the start of the workout, before anything else you train that day.
Triceps first
| Heavy JM Press or Close-Grip BenchYour heavy press. Pick whichever one your elbows like. | 3 × 8–12 |
| Straight-Bar PushdownElbows locked in. Full extension at the bottom. | 3 × 10–12 |
| Overhead Rope Cable ExtensionLong head. Get the full stretch behind your head. | 3 × 10–15 |
Biceps
| Single-Arm Preacher CurlOne arm at a time. Full stretch at the bottom, no bouncing. | 3 × 8–12 |
| Single-Arm Behind-the-Back Cable CurlArm behind you so the biceps are loaded in the stretch. | 3 × 8–12 |
| Hammer CurlLast. If you're going to ego lift, this is the only place for it. | 3 × 8–12 |
How to run it
- Run it 2 to 3 times a week.
- Triceps first, every time. If you pump the biceps up first it limits your range of motion and you won't get the full stretch.
- No ego lifting. Lifting as heavy as possible with bad reps is going to limit so much muscle growth. Save it for the hammer curls at the end.
- Take the last set of every exercise to one rep in reserve. Close to failure, still clean.
- When you hit the top of the rep range on every set, add weight next session.
The stuff that didn't fit in the video
Do it 2 to 3 times a week
Not once. This is the whole first change. The session above is short enough to run two or three times a week without wrecking your elbows, and that frequency is what moves the tape.
Triceps first
If you do biceps first and pump them up, it limits your range of motion for the rest of the session and you won't get the full stretch on your triceps. Triceps first means the heavy press and the overhead extension get a fresh arm and a full range. Then the biceps work.
Do not ego lift
I know everyone says this. Do it anyway. Trying to lift as heavy as possible with bad reps is going to limit so much muscle growth, because the weight stops going through the muscle and starts going through your shoulders, your lower back and momentum. Pick a weight you can control through the full range. If you want to ego lift, save it for the end when you're doing hammer curls.
Train the stretch
The preacher curl, the behind-the-back cable curl and the overhead extension are in this workout for a reason. They load the muscle where it's longest, and that's where the growth signal is strongest. Control the bottom of every rep instead of bouncing out of it.
Triceps are two-thirds of your arm
Most people chase biceps and wonder why the arm doesn't look bigger. The triceps make up most of the upper arm, and the long head only gets fully worked when your arm is overhead. Pushdowns alone won't do it. That's why the overhead rope extension is in here every session.
Progress it like a main lift
Arms grow from the same thing everything else grows from: more weight or more reps over time. Write your sets down. If your curl weight hasn't changed in three months, your arms probably haven't either. Add a rep this week, add weight when you hit the top of the range.
Eat for it
You can't put two inches on your arms in a deep deficit. I went from 100 lbs to 220 and the arms came with the rest of me. Protein around 0.8 to 1 gram per pound of bodyweight, enough food to gain slowly, and real sleep. Training makes the demand. Food and sleep pay for it.
Measure it
Tape both arms, flexed, same spot, once a month. Don't guess from the mirror. If the number hasn't moved in eight weeks, change one thing: add a session, add sets, or fix your food. Then give it another eight.
None of this is a secret. Train arms 2 to 3 times a week, train them first, triceps before biceps, and leave the ego for the hammer curls. Run the workout above for six months and measure. The tape will tell you.
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