Arm Exercises

Looking for some arm exercises guaranteed to jolt your muscles into action? Here are 10 proven ways to make your arms stronger.

Arm training is more than just biceps. In fact, triceps -- the back of the upper arm -- is considerably larger than biceps, and let's not forget forearms. Guys who pump up their upper bodies yet walk around with stick-like legs look ridiculous, and the arms are no different; you need to approach arms with a similar big-picture view to get even development.

Standing Barbell Curls - Stand straight with your feet about shoulder-width apart, knees slightly bent and your abs tense. Shoulders should be relaxed and neutral, with arms hanging straight down holding the barbell. Curl up all the way, keeping the elbows snug against your sides. Avoid swaying, as this robs you of much of the benefit of the exercise. If a straight bar makes your wrists hurt, use a cambered bar ("EZ bar").

Seated Concentration Curls - Sit at the foot end of a bench with your knees wide apart and feet planted firmly on the ground. Grab a dumbbell in one hand and let it hang straight down with the palm towards you, elbow resting against the inside of the knee. You'll need to lean forward a little, but do so at the hip so you don't round the back. Place the other hand on the other knee for balance. Now curl the dumbbell up, twisting the hand so that the thumb is pointing away from you at the end.

Alternating Dumbbell Hammer Curls - Stand with feet shoulder width-apart, knees bent and abs tense. Keep your shoulders neutral and relaxed as you hold one dumbbell in each hand. Now curl your arms up with thumbs pointing straight up, alternating to that both arms are constantly in motion (not one resting while the other does a curl).

Standing Cable Pressdowns (aka Pushdowns) - Face a cable machine with a short handle attached to the upper pulley. Stand with feet shoulder-width apart, knees bent and abs tense. Grab the bar and hold it with your elbows tucked in against your sides. As you push down, make sure to keep elbows still, and avoid swaying.

Dips - Grab a set of dip bars and hoist yourself up so that your bodyweight is suspended on your hands. Lean slightly forward as you lower yourself to the point where your upper arms are parallel to the floor. You may also use a dip machine, if your gym lacks a set of traditional dip bars.

Skullcrushers - Lie flat on your back on a bench with your head resting just at the edge. Hold a barbell straight up over your head, using a normal grip (thumbs opposing other fingers). Keeping your elbows pointing straight at the ceiling, lower the barbell down until it lightly touches your forehead, then push back up to the starting position.

Dumbbell Kickbacks - Grab a dumbbell in one hand, then put the opposing knee and opposing hand on a bench and lean forward. Raise the upper arm of the dumbbell-arm so that it is parallel to the floor, with the elbow at a 90-degree angle letting the dumbbell hang down. Then straighten the elbow so that the forearm too is parellel to the floor.

Reverse Barbell Curls - Position yourself like you would do the standing barbell curl described earlier, except you place your hands so that your knuckles point up instead. You may use a somewhat more narrow grip on the bar for comfort.

Forearm Rolls Behind the Back - Set a barbell rack so the barbell is about at your upper thigh. Turn your back against the loaded barbell and stand straight with your feet shoulder-width apart, knees bent and abs tense. Grab the bar and roll it from the tips of your fingers (almost open hands) to full contraction (closed fist). Make sure to stay close enough to the rack so that if you drop the barbell, the rack catches it rather than have it crash down and give your calfs a rap they won't soon forget.

Dumbbell Forearm Rolls - Kneel in front of a bench letting the forearm rest across it with the fist (palm up) sticking over the other end. Place a dumbbell in that hand give it a good stretch at the bottom, followed by a full contraction.

Do two working sets of each exercise above and you're bound to get good, even development across the entire arm. Start with 10-12 reps per set, but feel free to alternate with heavier weight/lower reps and lighter weight/more reps (6-8 reps and 12-15 reps, respectively) to make sure the muscles don't stagnate. Good luck!

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