Upper arm training

Having larger, more defined, and better shaped upper arms are goals which are shared among the masses. Bodybuilding has always been commonly portrayed with the front double biceps pose, so having large peaky biceps, and titanic triceps, are key parts to a bodybuilders arsenal when pulling off the classic pose. But even for trainers with less extreme goals, the upper arms are still an important body part for those into creating an aesthetically pleasing body. A well defined and shaped upper arm projects a look of athleticism, whilst a well built upper arm shouts power and strength. For the middle aged, older or more obese trainers, the upper arm can be a body part which carries a lot of excess fat, especially on the triceps (back of the upper arm), creating the look often referred to as "bingo wings". What ever your goal, the upper arms will likely be an area which you will be looking to train and improve upon.

Before we begin looking at upper arm exercises and routines, lets firstly look at the muscles which compose the upper arm.

Upper arm muscles

Biceps Brachii of the upper arm

The biceps brachii has both a long head; the outer region to the front of the upper arm, and also the short head; the inner region to the front of the upper arm, closest to the chest. The biceps brachii is responsible for the flexion of the elbow, where the lower arm is brought towards the upper arm.

Read our biceps brachii muscle information pages for more details.

Triceps Brachii of the upper arm

The triceps brachii is composed of three heads, and is located to the rear of the upper arm. The three heads of the triceps brachii are the lateral head, medial head, and the long head. The lateral head is situated to the outer area to the back of the upper arm, the region furthest away from the body, and is responsible for the "horse shoe" like shape in well defined triceps brachii. The medial head is located near to the elbow, the inner area, towards the back of the upper arm. The long head composes the main bulk of the back of the upper arm, located between the medial and lateral heads. The triceps brachii is responsible for the extension of the elbow, where the lower arm is brought away from the upper arm so the arm is straight.

Read our triceps brachii muscle information pages for more details.

Brachialis of the upper arm

The brachialis is a muscle which runs under the biceps brachii and is involved in elbow flexion, similar to the biceps brachii. In fact, brachialis actually means "to the arm" in Latin.

Read our brachialis muscle information pages for more details.

Brachialis

Upper arm exercises

So, which exercises are effective at targeting the above upper arm muscles?

Biceps Brachii & Brachialis exercises

As we have motioned, the biceps brachii and brachialis are responsible for the flexion of the elbow, to bring the lower arm towards the upper arm. This action can be mimicked with a whole host of different subtle variations, but all involve this fundamental action of the curling of the arm. Variations include differences in the position of the upper arm during execution, such as using a preacher pad, being in a prone curl position, having the arms down to the side, the upper arms perpendicular to the floor (when using two side cables to mimic the biceps curl pose), and also having the upper arms above the head (when curling using an overhead cable). All of these upper arm positions are used to try to offer slight differences in stress to the muscle during the execution of the exercise. Another difference we can apply to curling exercises is the rotational position of the wrist. For example, we can curl a barbell with an underhand grip, or with an overhead grip, both offering different stimulus to the arm flexor muscles. Dumbbells offer the ability to freely rotate the wrist during a curl, potentially targeting various arm flexor muscles to different degrees during the execution.

The following exercises will effectively target the biceps brachii and brachialis muscles of the upper arm. Follow the links to read more information on each specific exercise.

Triceps Brachii exercises

The triceps brachii can be targeted with exercises which are variations of the basic elbow flexion movement, where you extend the upper arm out so that the arm is out stretched. The variations in the various triceps exercises again involve the position of the upper arm during the execution of the exercise, and also the position of the wrist. Many triceps brachii exercises involve the upper arms being situated above the head, with the various over head triceps extensions being effective at stressing the triceps brachii heads. Other exercises involve the upper arms being situated perpendicular to the body (such as laying skull crushers), or the upper arms down near the side of the body, such as with cable triceps extensions.

The following exercises will effectively target the triceps brachii muscles of the upper arm. Follow the links to read more information on each specific exercise.

Upper arm work out sessions

Many work out programs involve a workout session specifically for direct arm training, some on the other hand may have the upper arm muscles trained on days when other muscles are also trained, furthermore there are many workout programmes which do not involve any direct training of upper arms.

If we are looking to directly target the upper arm muscles then there are a countless number of training splits which could be followed. The chest and triceps can be trained on the same day, with two to three chest exercises followed by two triceps exercises. Similarly, the back and biceps can be trained together, with two or three back exercises followed by two biceps exercises. This split type allows for the bigger muscle groups (back and chest) to be trained at the beginning of the sessions when the trainer is fresh and strongest, followed by direct arm work, after the upper arm muscles are already fatigued from the chest or back exercises.

Another common training split would involve the specific training of the upper arm muscles for one session. The biceps may be trained first, follow by the triceps, or vice versa. This could be useful if you feel either the triceps or biceps are lagging, allowing for that particular upper arm muscle to be trained first. If there is no notable lagging upper arm muscle then we may be better inclined towards alternating which upper arm muscle we train first, so to allow both the triceps and biceps to be trained at the beginning of the sessions. An alternative method would be to alternate the exercises between triceps and biceps exercises, which also allows for more recovery between exercises. This method can also be used to allow for the supper setting of upper arm exercises, where a biceps exercise is immediately followed by a triceps exercise, with no rest time between the two exercises.

If your goal is to increase the strength of your upper arm muscles then it would likely be best to focus on compound exercises which involve the upper arm muscles, and train within a low repetition range. The triceps are effectively targeted during most pressing variations, and specially targeted well during dips. The biceps are equally stressed during row and pull up variations. The reason behind using these compound exercises for increasing the strength of the upper arm muscles is the lower repetition ranges (one to six repetitions per set), which promote better advances in muscle strength, can be performed more safely and effectively.

Increasing the size of the upper arm is best achieved with slightly high repetition ranges than the ranges mentioned in the previous paragraph. Muscle hypertrophy would be best achieved within a repetition range of eight to fifteen, although it is often advised to try a series of repetition ranges (for eight to twelve weeks) to see which you respond to the best.

If you are looking to firm up your upper arms then this is best approached in two ways. Performing the exercises outlined in this article will stimulate the muscles effectively, but such exercises will do little for fat loss from the upper arm region. Creating more firmer and defined upper arms is best achieved from targeting the muscles via resistance training, in other words following a training split which targets the upper arm muscles with the exercises mentioned, but more importantly steps must be taken to reduce overall body fat. By performing cardiovascular training for fat loss and following the correct nutritional intake, fat loss will be achieved, resulting in more defined upper arms, coupled with the increase in muscle mass achieved from the resistance training.