The Best Biceps and Triceps Exercises for Bigger Arms

Arm size comes down to two muscle groups doing their fair share: the biceps on the front of the upper arm, and the triceps — which actually make up about two-thirds of upper-arm mass — on the back. A lot of lifters chase arm size by curling constantly and undertraining triceps, which is backwards from what the anatomy suggests. Here are the eight best exercises for both, four per muscle, and how to combine them into a session that actually moves the tape measure.

Biceps have two heads, triceps have three

The biceps brachii has a long head and a short head; changing your grip width and arm angle shifts emphasis between them. The triceps brachii has three heads (long, lateral, and medial), and different pressing and extension angles bias each one differently — which is why a varied arm routine outperforms doing the same curl and pushdown every session forever.

The 4 best biceps exercises

1. Barbell curl

The barbell curl is the classic biceps mass-builder, letting you load both arms together with more total weight than a dumbbell equivalent. Keep your elbows pinned to your sides and avoid swinging your torso to cheat the weight up — momentum reduces tension on the biceps and shifts injury risk to your lower back. 3 sets of 8–12 reps.

2. Hammer curl

The hammer curl uses a neutral, palms-facing-in grip that shifts emphasis onto the brachialis, a muscle underneath the biceps that pushes it upward and adds thickness to the arm when viewed from the side, along with the forearm. It's also easier on the wrists and elbows than a standard curl for lifters with joint sensitivity. 3 sets of 10–12 reps.

3. Incline dumbbell curl

The incline dumbbell curl puts the arm in a stretched position behind the torso, which increases the range of motion and loads the long head of the biceps under stretch — a position that standing curls don't reach. Sit back on an incline bench set to 45–60 degrees and let your arms hang straight down before curling. 3 sets of 10–15 reps.

4. Preacher curl

The preacher curl locks your upper arm against a pad, removing shoulder movement and any ability to cheat with body momentum, which makes it one of the strictest biceps isolation exercises available. It also emphasizes the bottom portion of the curl, where most lifters lose tension on a standard curl. 3 sets of 8–12 reps.

The 4 best triceps exercises

1. Tricep pushdown

The tricep pushdown is the most efficient triceps isolation movement for building volume without much joint stress, thanks to the cable's constant tension. Keep your elbows locked at your sides throughout — letting them drift forward turns the exercise into a chest-dominant movement and reduces triceps involvement. 3 sets of 10–15 reps.

2. Close-grip bench press

The close-grip bench press is the best compound exercise for triceps mass, letting you load the muscle with genuinely heavy weight while also getting secondary chest and shoulder work. Use a grip roughly shoulder-width apart — too narrow stresses the wrists unnecessarily — and keep your elbows tucked closer to your body than on a standard bench press. 3 sets of 6–10 reps.

3. Skull crusher

The skull crusher loads the triceps through a long stretch behind the head, which is one of the most effective growth stimuli available for the long head of the triceps. Lower the bar or dumbbells toward your forehead or just behind it, keeping your upper arms stationary and vertical throughout. 3 sets of 10–12 reps.

4. Overhead tricep extension

The overhead tricep extension — done with a dumbbell, EZ-bar, or cable — puts the long head of the triceps in its most stretched position of any common exercise, since the arm is raised fully overhead. This makes it a strong complement to pushdowns, which train the triceps mostly in a shortened position. 3 sets of 10–15 reps.

A complete arm day

Alternate biceps and triceps exercises through the workout rather than doing all of one muscle first — it keeps each muscle fresher for its next set and tends to make for a more time-efficient session overall. If you're training arms twice a week, consider leading with compound movements (close-grip bench, weighted chin-ups) on one day and isolation work (curls, pushdowns, extensions) on the other.

Supersetting a biceps exercise with a triceps exercise — doing one set of each back to back with minimal rest — is one of the most time-efficient ways to train arms, since the two muscles are antagonists and don't compete much for the same energy systems. A curl followed immediately by a pushdown, repeated for three or four rounds, is a fast and effective finisher at the end of any workout.

Common arm-training mistakes

• Undertraining triceps relative to biceps. Because the triceps make up roughly two-thirds of upper-arm size, a program that curls constantly but treats triceps as an afterthought is working against the anatomy, not with it.
• Swinging curls with body momentum. Rocking your torso to heave the weight up takes tension off the biceps and puts unnecessary stress on your lower back. Keep your elbows pinned and let the muscle do the work.
• Flaring the elbows out on pushdowns and extensions. Letting your elbows drift away from your sides recruits the chest and shoulders instead of the triceps. Keep them tucked for the whole set.
• Only training in the shortened position. Pushdowns and standard curls mostly load the muscle when it's already partially contracted. Adding a stretch-focused exercise (overhead extensions, incline curls) trains the parts of the range that get missed otherwise.
• Training arms only once a week. Because biceps and triceps are relatively small and recover quickly, twice-weekly training is usually a better use of the same total volume than one long, exhausting arm day.

Small muscles, but they add up fast

Because the biceps and triceps are relatively small muscles, the difference between a mediocre arm program and a great one often comes down to consistency and volume tracking more than exercise selection — an extra set or two per week, sustained for months, matters more than which curl variation you pick. Gimmy logs every set of every arm exercise automatically, tracks whether your biceps and triceps volume is actually balanced, and nudges your weights up as you get stronger, so arm day compounds instead of plateauing.

Frequently asked questions