Biceps and triceps exercises: the best ones for bigger arms
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The muscle that gives the arm the most size is not the biceps. Which exercises work best according to the evidence and why overhead extension changes the triceps.
Few questions come up in the gym as often as "what exercises should I do for bigger arms?". And few get so many bad answers: hundreds of swinging curls, routines with 20 sets of biceps and not a glance at the muscle that really gives the arm its size. Because the muscle that takes up most of your arm's volume is not the biceps, it is the triceps.
In this guide we will look at how the arm muscles work, which exercises train them best according to the latest evidence, how many sets you need per week and the mistakes that stall almost everyone's progress. With one finding that has changed how the triceps is trained: shoulder angle matters, a lot.
Quick anatomy: which muscles make up the arm
Understanding what each muscle does is not useless theory: it tells you which exercise to choose. At the front of the arm are the elbow flexors, and at the back, the triceps.
| Muscle | Main function | Key detail | Exercise that prioritises it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Biceps brachii | Flexes the elbow and turns the palm up (supination) | Two heads; the long head crosses the shoulder | Incline curl, barbell curl |
| Brachialis | Flexes the elbow in any hand position | Sits under the biceps and pushes it outwards | Hammer curl, reverse curl |
| Brachioradialis | Flexes the elbow with a neutral grip | Adds size to the upper forearm | Hammer curl |
| Triceps brachii | Extends the elbow | Three heads; the long head crosses the shoulder and stretches with the arm overhead | Overhead extension, dips |
The detail with the biggest consequences concerns the long heads. Both the biceps and the triceps long heads cross the shoulder joint, so the position of the arm relative to the body changes how much they stretch during the exercise. And training a muscle in stretched positions is one of the factors most strongly linked to hypertrophy.
Do you need to train arms if you already press and row?
It is a reasonable question. Compound pushing exercises work the triceps, and pulling exercises the biceps. Gentil and colleagues tested this in 2013, in Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism: over 10 weeks, untrained men who added biceps curls to a lat pulldown programme did not gain significantly more elbow flexor thickness or strength than those who only did the pulldown.
But that result has a clear limit: they were beginners, who grow with almost any stimulus. In experienced lifters, direct work lets you add specific volume to a muscle without the fatigue a compound exercise causes. Gentil's own 2015 review sums it up: compounds are the foundation, and isolation exercises are useful for completing the volume of specific muscles.
The practical answer: if you are just starting, prioritise compound exercises and your arms will grow anyway. If you have been training for more than a year or your arms are lagging, direct biceps and triceps work makes the difference.
The best triceps exercises
We start with the triceps because it contributes the most volume to the arm and is the worst trained. Most people stick to cable pushdowns with the arm pinned to the body, and part of the stimulus is lost there.
Overhead extension: the 2023 finding
Maeo and his team published a study in 2023, in the European Journal of Sport Science, in which each participant trained one arm with overhead elbow extensions and the other with the arm in a neutral position, beside the body, for 12 weeks. The arm trained overhead grew about 1.4 times more in the whole triceps and around 1.5 times more in the long head.
The explanation is mechanical: with the arm raised, the long head of the triceps works in a stretched position. It is the best reason to make overhead extension, with a dumbbell, cable or EZ bar, a staple of your routine.
Other triceps exercises that work
- Skull crusher: with an EZ bar or dumbbells. Lowering the bar behind your head instead of to your forehead increases the stretch on the long head.
- Parallel bar dips: they let you move heavy loads and also work the chest and shoulders. Keep your torso fairly upright to load the triceps more.
- Close-grip bench press: a compound for progressing pushing strength.
- Cable pushdown: useful for accumulating volume with little fatigue, but it should not be your only triceps exercise.
The best biceps exercises
Something similar happens with the biceps: shoulder position changes which part of the range is hardest and how much the muscle stretches.
Incline dumbbell curl
Seated on a bench inclined at 45-60 degrees, with the arms hanging behind the body, the long head of the biceps starts the movement highly stretched. It is the most stretched version of all curls. The review by Oranchuk and colleagues (2019) on isometric training found greater gains in muscle mass when training at long muscle lengths, a principle that supports prioritising variations like this.
Preacher curl
With the arm supported in front of the body, the hardest part of the movement is at the start, with the elbow almost straight. It is a good complement to the incline curl and forces you to do the exercise without cheating.
Hammer curl
With a neutral grip, palms facing each other, the load shifts to the brachialis and brachioradialis. A more developed brachialis pushes the biceps outwards and gives the arm thickness from the front, so it is worth not forgetting.
Barbell or EZ-bar curl
It is the exercise where you move the most weight, which makes it the best candidate for progressing load week after week. The EZ bar reduces strain on the wrists.
How many sets of arms per week
The meta-analysis by Schoenfeld, Ogborn and Krieger in the Journal of Sports Sciences (2017) found a dose-response relationship between weekly volume and muscle growth: 10 or more weekly sets per muscle produced more hypertrophy than fewer than 5. For arms there is an important nuance: compound exercises already provide indirect volume.
A widespread practical convention is to count each set of pressing or rowing as half a set for the triceps or biceps. So if you do 12 weekly sets of pushing exercises, your triceps already receives the equivalent of about 6, and 6-8 direct sets are enough to reach a high volume.
| Exercise | Sets | Reps | Rest | Goal |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overhead triceps extension | 3 | 8-12 | 90 s | Triceps long head in a stretched position |
| Incline dumbbell curl | 3 | 8-12 | 90 s | Biceps long head in a stretched position |
| EZ-bar skull crusher | 2-3 | 8-10 | 90 s | Total triceps volume |
| Hammer curl | 2-3 | 10-12 | 60-90 s | Brachialis and brachioradialis |
| Cable pushdown | 2 | 12-15 | 60 s | Volume with little fatigue |
The mistakes that stall your arm growth
- Swinging your body on curls. If you need momentum to lift the weight, the load is too heavy and the biceps works less than you think.
- Cutting the range of motion. Not fully extending the elbow removes exactly the most stretched part, which is the most valuable.
- Forgetting the triceps. Doing three times as many biceps sets as triceps sets is training the opposite of how the arm is built.
- Only doing cable pushdowns. Without an overhead exercise, the long head gets less stimulus than it could.
- Not progressing. Repeating the same weight and reps for months gives the muscle no reason to grow.
How arm work fits into your routine
You do not need an "arm day". In a push-pull-legs routine, triceps go at the end of push day and biceps at the end of pull day. In an upper-lower split, two or three arm exercises spread across the upper days are enough. What matters is weekly frequency and total volume, not the name of the day.
If you would rather not count sets yourself, the Progrevia routine generator distributes volume by muscle group according to your level and training days, and you can mark biceps and triceps as priority groups so they receive extra sets.
The summary worth remembering
The triceps takes up most of the arm's volume, so it deserves at least as much attention as the biceps. Shoulder position matters: overhead extension grew the triceps about 1.4 times more than extension with the arm beside the body, and the incline curl gives the biceps its greatest stretch. If you are a beginner, compounds are enough; if you already have experience, add 6-10 direct weekly sets per muscle, with full range of motion, no swinging and aiming to progress in load.
- Maeo S, Wu Y, Huang M, et al. Triceps brachii hypertrophy is substantially greater after elbow extension training performed in the overhead versus neutral arm position. European Journal of Sport Science. 2023;23(7):1240-1250.
- Gentil P, Soares SR, Pereira MC, et al. Effect of adding single-joint exercises to a multi-joint exercise resistance-training program on strength and hypertrophy in untrained subjects. Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism. 2013;38(3):341-344.
- Gentil P, Soares S, Bottaro M. Single vs. multi-joint resistance exercises: effects on muscle strength and hypertrophy. Asian Journal of Sports Medicine. 2015;6(2):e24057.
- Schoenfeld BJ, Ogborn D, Krieger JW. Dose-response relationship between weekly resistance training volume and increases in muscle mass: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Sports Sciences. 2017;35(11):1073-1082.
- Oranchuk DJ, Storey AG, Nelson AR, Cronin JB. Isometric training and long-term adaptations: effects of muscle length, intensity, and intent: a systematic review. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports. 2019;29(4):484-503.
Frequently asked questions
What matters more for big arms, the biceps or the triceps?
The triceps, because it takes up most of the arm's volume. It deserves at least as much attention as the biceps, and it is worth including an overhead exercise to properly train its long head.
What is the best triceps exercise?
Overhead extension stands out in the evidence: in the study by Maeo and colleagues (2023), the arm trained with overhead extensions grew about 1.4 times more in the whole triceps than the arm trained beside the body. Dips, skull crushers and close-grip bench press round out the work well.
What is the best biceps exercise?
There is no single one, but the incline dumbbell curl gives the long head its greatest stretch, the barbell curl lets you progress in load and the hammer curl works the brachialis and brachioradialis. Combining two or three variations covers the muscle well.
How many sets of arms should you do per week?
Schoenfeld's meta-analysis (2017) found more hypertrophy with 10 or more weekly sets per muscle than with fewer than 5. Since presses and rows already work the arms, 6-10 direct weekly sets for biceps and the same for triceps are usually enough.
Do you need to train arms if you already do compound exercises?
As a beginner, it is not essential: in Gentil's study (2013), adding curls to a lat pulldown programme produced no extra growth over 10 weeks. If you are experienced or your arms are lagging, direct work does make the difference.