Your arms are on display more than most other body parts, the reason many people work toward toning and building strength in their upper body. If you repeat the same exercises each week without boosting volume and intensity, you won't see the results you're after.
Your biceps muscles consist of a short and long head while your triceps have three heads: long, lateral, and medial. Each muscle head in your upper arms can be targeted and worked separately with different exercises. Training your biceps and triceps in tandem while targeting multiple heads to build stronger arms is essential.
“Training biceps and triceps together is a good strategy because they’re complementary muscles, meaning while one works, the other rests,” says Kate Meier, a certified personal trainer, When you do a biceps curl, you flex the biceps while the triceps let loose and relax to allow your biceps to pull the weight. Conversely, during an overhead triceps extension, your biceps lengthen while your triceps contract and shorten to work those muscles.”
Whether you’re looking to get toned or add size to your arms, keep reading for a biceps and triceps workout designed by personal trainers.
What You’ll Need
Before diving in and working your biceps and triceps, ensure you have essential equipment, including:
- Light to medium dumbbells that you can perform 8 to 12 reps of with moderate difficulty
- A sturdy, secure bench or chair that can safely support your body weight
- An EZ curl bar
Simple Biceps and Triceps Workout
This simple upper body workout was created by personal trainers and is designed to target your biceps and triceps. It also is best suited for experienced exercisers.
Dumbbell Biceps Curls
The iconic dumbbell biceps curl targets muscles at the front of your upper arms—the biceps brachii, brachialis, and brachioradialis.
- Stand in an athletic stance with knees slightly bent, holding either dumbbells or a barbell with your palms facing forward.
- Contract your biceps to bend your elbows and lift the weight toward your chest.
- Keep the tops of your arms straight against your sides without swinging the weight up.
- Take a few seconds to channel the biceps and pause at the top before lowering the weight with control.
- Aim for four sets of 8 to 12 reps.
Bodyweight Bench Dips
Next, you’ll target the triceps with bodyweight bench dips. Feel free to use a sturdy, stable chair (or even your couch) if you don’t have access to a bench. Dips are effective as part of a triceps workout because they also work the biceps and your anterior deltoids (shoulders) while strengthening all three heads of the triceps brachii.
- Sit on the edge of a bench or a sturdy chair, couch, or table.
- Step your feet forward and hold onto the edge of the bench, hovering your body just in front of the edge with your arms straight.
- Bend at the arms, using your triceps to slowly lower yourself down until your elbows are at 90 degrees. You feel the movement in your triceps.
- Push back up, and repeat for four sets of 8 to 12 reps.
Alternating Dumbbell Hammer Curls
Target your biceps with alternating dumbbell hammer curls. Besides adding strength to the outside of your upper arm, hammer curls also strengthen your brachioradialis (forearm), increasing wrist stability and grip strength.
- Start standing in an athletic stance with knees slightly bent.
- Hold a dumbbell in each hand with your palms facing your outer thighs. The dumbbells should be slightly to the outsides of your hips to start.
- Keep your upper arms still as you bend one of your elbows.
- Pull the weight toward the same shoulder in an arc motion.
- Lower the weight slowly back down, then switch sides.
- Do 8 to 12 reps per side and repeat for four sets.
Diamond Push-ups
Another bodyweight exercise, this push-up variation will make your triceps burn. It also works other muscles across your body, including your pectoralis major (chest), anterior deltoids (shoulders), and quadriceps (upper legs), while improving your core strength and stability.
- Set up as you would for a typical push-up, getting on all fours with your shoulders and wrists in line.
- Move your hands together until the index fingers and thumbs of each hand touch, forming a diamond shape in the space between your hands.
- Step your feet back or rest on your knees if that is too difficult.
- Lower yourself down, keeping your arms close to your sides and back straight.
- Push back up to the start position, then repeat.
- Do as many reps as possible for four sets to achieve a solid triceps burn.
EZ Bar Biceps Curls
This classic biceps workout uses the EZ bar which is shorter than a straight barbell and allows for an angled grip.
- Stand holding the EZ bar with an underhand grip and feet shoulder-width apart.
- Keep your back straight and maintain a neutral head and neck.
- Bend your elbows while lifting the weight until your lower arms touch your upper arms without moving your upper arms or leaning backward.
- Pause for one to two seconds at the top while squeezing your biceps.
- Lower the EZ bar slowly to the start position keeping your elbows locked.
- Repeat for four sets of 8 to 12 reps.
EZ Bar Triceps Curls
EZ bar triceps curls will activate all three heads of your triceps brachii while reducing strain on your wrists.
- Lie flat on a bench while holding the EZ bar above your chest with an overhand grip and arms fully extended shoulder-width apart.
- Keep your elbows locked and lower the bar until it is about an inch or two above your forehead.
- Hold for one to two seconds.
- Squeeze your triceps to return the bar to the starting position.
- Do four sets of 8 to 12 reps to maximize gains in strength and size.
A Word From Verywell
Whether you prefer training your arms in a dedicated biceps and triceps workout or including them in full-body workouts, perform exercises that target each muscle head in your biceps and triceps. When training your arms, alternate between biceps and triceps workouts to balance out the movements performed by your elbow joints.
The above biceps and triceps workout is for advanced exercisers that can be done at the gym or in the comfort of your home. Use it as a guide and incorporate other biceps and triceps exercises to avoid plateaus. Always talk to a healthcare provider before starting a new workout routine.
Frequently Asked Questions
-
Combining exercises that work the biceps and triceps is beneficial because it provides balance for movement around the elbow joint. For example, bicep exercises are “pull” movements (elbow flexion), while tricep exercises are “push” movements (elbow extension). If you train only in one direction, you increase your risk of injury and muscle imbalance.
Learn More Sports Injury First Aid Treatment -
Like any other muscles, the biceps and triceps require rest periods to recover, repair, and grow from workouts. Rest and recovery are when muscles grow and gain strength. Therefore, five days a week of training your biceps and triceps is overdoing it and will increase your chances of burnout, fatigue, and overuse injury. It’s better to train specific muscle groups twice a week with at least four sets per muscle group and two days of rest between workouts.
-
Significant muscular hypertrophy (muscle growth) occurs when you perform most of your training sets with moderate to high loads and leave three or four reps left in the tank. For example, aim for 8 to 12 reps with each set without reaching failure (meaning you’re still able to pump out a few more reps). Interestingly, doing higher reps in the range of 15 to 20 can also build muscle. Evidence shows that a high number of repetitions of a given exercise increasing muscle mass but not strength.
Learn More What Is Muscle Hypertrophy?