Big Arms Can Move Rocks
Looking muscular is everyone’s fascination. That is to say, everyone wants to gain more muscle in their hustle to look big in the room. It is natural to feel that desire and for you to train your arms to increase your strength. This was depicted in various television programs. For instance, Popeye had huge arms and he would not give up without a fight, ever. To clarify, everyone believes that looking muscular is directly related to being strong. Such beliefs were proven right through various scientific research and experiments. According to research done by Stefano Schiaffino and Carlo Reggiani, it was found that strength increases exponentially with the increase in muscle and that there is no chance that the ratio drastically decreases. In other words, strength manifests as more blood flows into it and this phenomenon is called Muscular Hypertrophy.
Certainly, gaining more mass on the arms gives an aesthetic look to your body and tones it in a way so you can look good in your outfits as well. The fundamental movements involved in bodybuilding are pushing (the movements involving the push motion) and pulling (the movements involving the pull motion). Therefore, while training any muscle during the week, you need a secondary muscle to put in the effort during your working sets. Most of the days of your workout routines, you will find your arms to be the main proponent of these. Thus, bigger arms have the potential to lift heavier objects and it can include lifting your kids or even rocks!
Muscle Composition Of An Arm
You must be wondering how I can grow my arms quickly. How can I give more volume to them? How can I give them more shape? Why do my arms still look weird even after training them so hard? It is possible that you might only be training one part of your arm or snubbing the other parts of the arm or not training each part of your arm timely. The following shows the composition of an arm:
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Deltoid:
The deltoid is most commonly known as the Shoulder and is a triangular muscle that contains various muscular parts. Certainly, the Deltoid muscle contains three heads:
- Posterior Deltoid (Rear).
- Lateral Deltoid (Side).
- Anterior Deltoid (Front).
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Triceps:
The triceps form a large part of the arm. Most importantly, it is known to represent ⅔ of the upper portion of your arms. The Triceps muscle comprises three parts:
- Medial Head.
- Lateral Head.
- Long Head.
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Biceps:
Biceps form the front part of your upper arm and are connected to the bones through tendons (connective tissues). The Biceps muscle includes two heads namely:
- Short Head.
- Long Head.
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Forearms:
The lower portion of the arm is known as the Forearm. To clarify, it is the region that lies between the wrist and the elbow of your arm. The following are the two parts of a Forearm muscle:
- Anterior Part.
- Posterior Part.
The Best Workout To Grow Arms; Exercises For Triceps And Biceps
HenceHealth brings you a variety of informative articles that enhance and augment your know-how about the way you see your health. Moreover, in this article we will talk about those two primary muscles of the upper arm that will make your arms look bigger and better. To clarify, in this article, we will guide you on the best exercises for Biceps and Triceps. Hence, to add more volume and shape to your arms, it is crucial to target all the heads of these two muscles during your workout. Hence, we will specify a workout that will target all the heads of your Biceps and Triceps:
Triceps
Certainly, the Triceps form ⅔ of the upper part of your arm. Although bodybuilders tend to target their Biceps when they are aiming to get bigger arms and the reality is that one should not ignore training the Triceps when training arms because it forms the major part of it. The following exercises will most definitely help you grow your Triceps muscle:
Diamond Push-Ups
A diamond push-up can be done anywhere, and it does not require any weight to perform it. Sounds easy right? On the contrary, it is one of the most challenging exercises to build your triceps. Diamond push-ups work the lateral head of your Triceps muscle.
Technique:
To do diamond push-ups:
- Set your body up in the form of a conventional push-up with your hands and your toes touching the floor.
- Form a triangle or a diamond shape between your hands with your thumbs and forefingers.
- Keep your core tight and your legs along with your torso straight.
- Lower your body to the point your nose comes closer to your hands.
- Push your body back up.
- Do 3 sets of these with 10-15 reps according to your strength.
TIP: If it is difficult for you to perform, you can take the help of your knees instead of keeping your legs straight.
Skull Crushers
Skull crushers can either be performed with the help of dumbbells or barbell rods or an EZ bar. In addition, they can be performed either on a straight or an incline bench depending on the person performing it. That is to say, some people feel the stretch in their Triceps more on a straight bench while others do on an incline one. The skull crushes target the medial head of your Triceps muscle.
Technique:
To do a skull crusher:
- Extend your arms above your chest and hold the dumbbells or the rod should-width apart
- Lower the weight in the direction of your forehead. Provided, if you are performing a French press, the weight can be lowered lower than the forehead.
- Make sure the weight is in line with the top of the bench.
- Push the weight upward and squeeze your Triceps to get the best out of this exercise.
- Make sure not to lock your elbows to avoid any injuries and to keep maximum tension on your Triceps.
- Do 3 sets of these with 10-15 reps.
TIP: If you have a Triceps imbalance, then you can perform the exercise unilaterally to prevent any further imbalances.
Rope Pushdown
Rope pushdown utilizes a rope attachment to a cable and predominantly hits your Triceps muscle. Meanwhile, the pushdown can be through a straight bar cable attachment, but that only works for the medial and lateral heads. On the other hand, the rope pushdown provides a firm grip and works all 3 heads of the Triceps muscle.
Technique:
To do a rope pushdown:
- Attach the rope attachment to the cable machine. The attachment should be set on the highest notch for better isolation.
- Keep your back straight, stick your torso out and tuck in your arms.
- Push down the rope from both ends of it to extend your Triceps muscle.
- For a better contraction, hold down the motion for 3 seconds and let the rope up slowly.
- Do 3 sets of these with 10-15 reps. Add a dropset on your last set if you want to pump your Triceps even more.
Biceps
The Biceps muscle is quite possibly the most outwardly striking and has been a symbol of lifting weights for a long time. That is to say, not many muscles gather more preparation consideration than these and considering how they are generally apparent when you are in short sleeves, that is justifiable. However, not as major as the Triceps, but it would be unfair not to train Biceps too. Here are the exercises to let you gain some inches in your Biceps:
Chin-Ups
If you are out for a jog or a run at the park, it is most likely that you will find a chin-up bar where chin-ups can be performed. Moreover, they do not require any weight to perform until you are doing an advanced chin-up. That is to say, it utilizes your body weight and it is one of the most efficacious exercises for your Biceps. The chin-ups are great for targeting both the long and the short head of the Biceps.
Technique:
To do a chin-up:
- Stand beneath the chin-up bar and approach the chin-up bar by reaching your arms.
- Grab the chin-up bar firmly with both hands with your thumbs wrapping your fist.
- Keep your body steady to maintain momentum and avoid any swinging.
- Pull your body upwards.
- Pause for a bit and then lower your body slowly keeping the mind-to-muscle connection with your Biceps.
- Do 3 sets of 10-15 reps.
TIP: If the chin-up is too difficult to perform with your current body weight, utilize assisted chin-up machine at your gym.
Concentration Curl
The concentration curl primarily targets and works the long head of your Biceps. Above all, if you are looking for an exercise that you can perform in perfect form, give it a go. With concentration curls, you can build the peak of your biceps without cheating your reps. Also, this is a unilateral exercise and it can ably work the weaker areas of your Biceps.
Technique:
To do a concentration curl:
- Sit on a bench with some space between your legs to place the dumbbell.
- Pick a dumbbell of your choice and place it between that space.
- You can either rest your elbow or let it loose, depending on what position you feel the most contraction.
- Curl the dumbbell towards your shoulders.
- Rotate your wrist at a slight angle as you go up to contract your Bicep more.
- Do 3 sets of 10-15 reps for each arm.
Barbell Curl
With the inception of bodybuilding, came the barbell curl exercise. Most importantly, it is a classic exercise and has been utilized by professional bodybuilders to build solid arms. If you want all the tension to move to your Biceps, make sure you keep your form accurate. The close grip barbell curl targets the short head of your Biceps. On the other hand, the wide grip barbell curl targets and works the long head of your Biceps.
Technique:
To do a barbell curl:
- Position your feet shoulder-width apart and stand next to the barbell rod.
- Hold the barbell with your hands at the length depending on the type of barbell curl (close or wide grip).
- Bring the barbell up by curling it towards your chest while keeping your back straight.
- Once you have successfully pulled the rod towards your chest, now slowly lower it.
- Do 3 sets of 10-15 reps. Go heavy and add a dropset in the end if you wish.
TIP: If the barbell rod is painful for your wrists, grab an EZ bar to do the same exercise. In other words, it will eliminate any wrist pain as you are grabbing the bar at an angle easier for the wrists.
Why Your Arms Still Are Not Growing?
To sum it, you have tried your luck with this workout, and you have achieved a beastly pump at the gym as well. However, your arms still have not significantly grown to your desire, why is that so? The reason for this is that there are chances that you are skipping out on other factors. In other words, these other factors can involve proper sleep, a balanced diet, progressive overloading, training the muscle to its limit, and more. In the same vein, if you want to have detailed insights about such factors, stay connected with HenceHealth. Therefore, HenceHealth is the place that welcomes every individual to be enlightened with all the necessary information related to his well-being therein. Hence, health is on the way!