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How to Build Bigger Arms

This is a guest post by AnaxFitness.com. They are a fitness clothing retailer with a wide range of gear at great prices. If you use the code HOYLE15 you’ll receive 15% off your order!

Build Bigger Arms

What might be the most common target amongst all male gym goers is to build bigger arms. Nothing evokes the Alpha male facade like having sleeve busting biceps. Your arms are more often on show more than any other part of your body, and therefore it’s more likely for someone to notice the hard work you put in at the gym, and I’m very sure this is not unwelcome attention.

Whilst the actual exercises you are performing are key to your success in achieving bigger arms there are other factors that come into the mix too. Firstly, let’s look at the fundamentals of setting yourself up for success with any muscle building goals.

Set a goal

Make sure your training is targeted and you are making measured progress. Part of the reason for lack of progress is the failure of planning.

You need to provide yourself with a focus or result that you can work towards so you will know you have achieved what you have set out to do. What constitutes the success of your goal? How are you going to know you have ‘bigger’ arms? Whether it be the maximum weight you can lift or the way you look in your collection of body building clothing, you need to pinpoint what your measure of success will be and dial in your training to achieve this.

Increase the weights

Increasing the weight may sound very simple but it is not always that easy. Adding weight will predominately increases strength and the ability that your muscles can generate force. Stronger muscles are perpetually bigger, more toned and have a greater volume for work.

That being said moving up to the next set of dumbbells or increment on a resistance training machine may be a big leap early in your training. For example, stepping up from 10 kg to 12.5 kg signifies a 25% weight increase which is quite substantial.

build bigger arms

A great way to build yourself up for a jump in weight is changing the number of reps you do at the new weight. This will ease your muscle into it and not overload the muscle before they’re ready.

Try adding one rep per set to what you are currently lifting gradually over a couple of weeks until you can comfortable manage full sets of 12 before increasing the weight.

Nutrition

Like anyone embarking on demanding physical activity, it’s important to realize that while the work you do in the gym is a trigger for muscle growth, you need to provide your body with adequate calories and nutrients for this to happen. Your efforts in the gym will be lost if you don’t eat properly.

Exercise leaves your muscles in a state where they are primed for nutrient absorption, an excellent opportunity to provide them with nutrients that will ignite muscle growth. This increased nutrient sensitivity is heightened post workout so make sure you are refuelling with the best possible post work out meal containing protein and carbs.

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Now the foundation is set for you to get results it is time to look at your training plan. If you want to put more of a focus on your arms, then include these tried and tested exercises into your workout and make those gym hours’ worth the graft.

Barbell power curl

By observation, some may say that the barbell power curl movement looks like you are cheating however, it is actually one of the best biceps building exercises you can perform.

Start by grabbing the barbell with an underhand grip with hands about hip width apart. It is best to perform this standing with a slight bend in the knees and with your feet shoulder-width apart. With a slight forward lean engage your core and drive your hips forward, use the movement to curl the bar up to your chest and lower back down to the starting position with a full arm extension.

Due to the nature of the movement of lowering a weight, you should have the ability to curl 20% more weight than you would on a standard curl.

Alternating dumbbell curls

The benefit of doing your curls with dumbbells one arm at a time allows you to apply more mental focus to the movement which means you’ll be able to lift more weight and do more reps. These can be performed seated or standing, just make sure you complete the movement on one arm before beginning on the other side.

If you feel you need to add a bit of power curl-style ‘cheating’ towards the end of your reps, be sure that you always emphasize on lowering the weight slowly for every rep – this is called negatives and is a great way to build bigger arms.

Overhead Dumbbell Press

Having big arms isn’t all about building a massive bicep. A well rounded shoulder sets off the look by making you boarder and this has the added bonus of making the waist appear smaller too.

When it comes to building your deltoids, overhead pressing is pretty hard to beat. Whether using a single bar or two dumbbells, focus on keeping your arm vertical and your shoulder fully engaged. Lifting a weight over your head works the muscles in your shoulder isometrically meaning the deltoid muscle has to work very hard to stabilise the weight, rather than cause movement. This places lots of muscle-building tension on your deltoids, and having stronger shoulders will benefit every other arm exercise.

build bigger arms

Tricep focus – Parallel bar dips

There is a common misconception that the parallel bar dip is a chest exercise however, with a little modification, it can also be a very good triceps exercise to hit all three triceps heads at once. Try to avoid leaning forward as this put the focus on your lower and outer chest, but with an uptight torso you’re making your triceps do the majority of the work.

With a shoulder-width grip, set yourself up with you chin tucked in and your legs straight. Having straight legs will allow you to keep your torso upright. Bend your arms and lower your feet towards the floor until your elbows are bent to at least 90-degrees then push yourself back up. When you can do 12 or more reps you can start to add some weight to ensure your muscles are being made to work at their full capacity. Do this by placing a dumbbell between your feet or wearing a weighted belt or vest.

Not only will putting a training focus on your arms build bigger arms, but the body confidence and ego boost are also part of the package. Get yourself amped up for arm day by wearing a stringer gym vest so you can see your muscles in action which will increase your motivation to push out one more rep.

Keep your goals in sight and your training plan dialled in to make sure you are getting the most out of every gym session.

As mentioned at the start of the article, this is a guest post by AnaxFitness.com. They are a fitness clothing retailer with a wide range of gear at great prices. If you use the code HOYLE15 you’ll receive 15% off your entire order!

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HoylesFitness

Owner of www.hoylesfitness.com. Personal Trainer, Father and fitness copy writer. Working hard making the world fitter and healthier!

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