Most people who want big arms mainly focus on curls and extensions. These are indeed very good biceps and triceps exercises. However, if you have little time, there are muscle groups that are larger and more important than your arms. Often, when you train with a full-body routine or an upper body/lower body split, you have too little time to dedicate to your arms.
Training Arms with Compound Exercises
Here, I mention a few exercises that you can incorporate into your full-body/upper-body/split training routine that train ONE or more major muscle groups AND have a significant impact on arm growth.
Strict Overhead Press
Targets: Shoulders, upper chest, triceps
This exercise, also known as the ‘military press’, is quite simple. Stand with a barbell resting on your chest. Now, press it overhead.
A common technique mistake, however, is ‘leaning back’. The best and most effective way to perform this exercise is to initially look slightly backward (to avoid hitting your chin with the bar) but as soon as the bar passes your head, tuck your head under the bar. This ensures that the exercise is safer for your back and doesn’t turn into an inclined press in disguise.
If you perform this exercise in a controlled manner with a pause at the chest, you engage most muscle groups and will make the best progress in strength. If you don’t go all the way down as many people do, or if you ‘bounce’ off your chest, then the initial part of the movement will be less trained, so you might press 5 x 70kg but fail at 1 x 75kg.
You can also cheat on the initial part by hopping with your legs, turning it into a so-called push press. However, this is an unnecessary risk for bodybuilders because it requires a lot of practice to fully master the technique.
If you take approximately shoulder-width apart, you not only train the shoulders but also considerably work the triceps. The wider you grip, the more emphasis you put purely on the shoulders. This works conversely for the triceps. However, shoulder-width is ideal for me to train both shoulders and triceps effectively without feeling any discomfort.
Close Grip Bench Press
Targets: Triceps, shoulders, chest
This exercise is known as a triceps exercise, but it’s much more than that. Although the angle targets more triceps and shoulders than the chest, you’ll definitely work your chest as well. Gripping extremely narrow is not good for anything except messing up your wrists. It’s better to grip around shoulder-width apart.
Lower the bar with your arms alongside your body. The weight you use for this exercise depends on where your strength lies.
For me, I can lift more weight with this bench press variant than with the wide version. To isolate your triceps more, you can also perform this exercise from the pins (the so-called ‘lock-out’), although I prefer the full range of motion myself because it trains more muscles.
Chinups
Targets: Back, biceps, forearms
The well-known pull-up with a narrow grip and palms facing you is known as a biceps exercise, but when performed correctly, it also works your back superbly. Hanging completely, going up as high as possible, and performing the entire movement slowly and controlled trains the back/biceps/forearms like almost no other exercise can.
The wider variant with your palms facing away is also a good exercise, but it’s often too difficult for many people and emphasizes the back more, less on the biceps and forearms. I dare to say that if you double your number of repetitions on this exercise in good form, you’ll definitely add some size to your biceps. Additionally, you’ll build wide wings that make Red Bull redundant.
One Arm Dumbbell Rows
Targets: Back, rear shoulders, biceps, and forearms
This exercise is also quite popular, it’s usually referred to as ‘rowing’. You can do this exercise in many ways. Many people see you placing one knee on a bench, but I find this unnecessary. Simply stand bent over (with a good, straight back), one arm on a raised surface, and row. This stance offers you more freedom, allowing you to lift more weight.
You can choose to focus on moving your elbow backward, which primarily works the back (your biceps and forearms still contribute). However, if you cheat a bit, hop a bit, and really ‘pull’ with your arms, you’ll lift more weight and train not only your back but also slightly more your biceps. Moreover, as the weight becomes heavier, you automatically train your grip (forearms) because they have to hold a heavy dumbbell. Both variations are good to incorporate into your training.
If you do these exercises, along with a curl and an extension variation, you’ll have a complete upper body workout that focuses mainly on the arms. Add heavy squats and stiff-legged deadlifts, and you have a full-body workout.
If arms are not particularly important to you, you can turn the close grip bench press into a regular bench press, replace chin-ups with pull-ups, and perform rows strictly. However, these are exercises that make your body work together as it’s meant to function. In addition to a broader ‘body’ and bigger arms, you’ll also become stronger with these exercises.
