This is the most important piece of advice that is also the easiest to ignore. Strangely, curls are not the most effective way to grow your arms since they isolate only the bicep. They don’t hurt, truth be told, but way more gains could be made if you just put down the barbell and paid attention to the rest of your arm.
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One of the many problems with curls is that they neglect the brachioradialis, a forearm muscle that crosses the elbow joint. This muscle will add size to the lower half of the upper arm, and completes the look of big arms since the forearms will be larger to match the biceps. To zero in on their development, switch to a neutral hammer-grip when performing your curls, and you’ll be glad you did. As a bonus, you can also use this grip for chin ups, and you’ll be killing two birds with one stone.
Just like sprinters are known for having well-developed glutes and legs, gymnasts have some of the most enviable biceps in sports. Why? In short, pull-ups and chins are great for upper arm development. Under the superficial biceps muscles lays a smaller muscle called the brachialis. The most effective way to train this muscle is by pulling it from above. The development of the brachialis will push the “peak” of the biceps up much higher and add to overall thickness of the upper arm in the process. It’s something the curls just can’t reach.
Try this: At the end of your workouts that don’t involve chins, try a descending ladder.
A muscle’s growth often depends on the cumulative volume it endures. Most people look at volume simply as the amount of sets and exercises for a given muscle in a given workout. In reality, it also refers to the amount of times the muscle is hit over the course of the week. It’s one reason Olympic lifters and cyclists all have monster quadriceps. In most exercises, biceps act as assistants to muscle groups like the lats and rhomboids. Making sure you’re keeping up with your back workouts is the first step to arm size. Throw in 3 sets of 20 straight bar curls at the end of your other workouts of the week. It may not feel like much at the time, but it adds up. Not only will it improve the cosmetic appearance of your arms, but it’ll pack on strength too. You’ll be surprised at what you can lift after six weeks.
When you want a bigger upper body, you don’t only train bench press and shoulder flys. You remember to train your back. It’s the non-mirror muscle that most of your upper body thickness and width depends on. Likewise, your arms won’t be strong at all if you only train your biceps. A group of three muscles makes up 60 percent of the size of your arm, and increasing your arm circumference will be nearly impossible without a pair of well developed triceps. It doesn’t mean doing a few diamond push-ups and rope pressdowns either. Instead go with:
Most guys you see with impressive arms are sporting a full set of triceps. It’s the true answer to arm size. All four of the above exercises combined will effectively hit all 3 heads of the triceps.
