Almost every muscle in your upper and lower arms works to either flex or extend the elbow joint. The largest, strongest movers are the triceps brachii in the back of your upper arm, the biceps brachii and brachialis in the front of your upper arm, and the brachioradialis in your forearm. Hand weight exercises are a good option to work these muscles.
Triceps Presses
Your triceps brachii muscle is primarily responsible for extending (straightening) your arm at the elbow, so any exercise that requires your arm to straighten under a load will strengthen your triceps.
Triceps presses are a good exercise to work this muscle. Lay down on your back with a hand weight in your right hand. Extend your right arm straight up, stabilize your right elbow with your left hand, then slowly bend your right arm at the elbow, lowering the weight beside your head. Keep your right elbow stationary as you lower the weight as far as possible, then extend your right arm straight up again. Make sure to repeat the same number of repetitions on the left side.
21s
The biceps brachii is a powerful elbow flexor; it's guaranteed to be working during any exercise that involves bending your elbow up against the load of a hand weight, and tends to work hardest when your palms are facing forward or nearly so.
"21s" are a particularly nefarious, and well-known, variation on the standard biceps curl, guaranteed to tire your biceps out quickly. Stand or sit with a hand weight in each hand, palms facing forward, arms by your side. Curl the weights halfway up, then back down, seven times. Then curl the weights all the way up, lower them halfway, then bring them all the way up again--seven times. Finally, curl the weights all the way through the full range of motion, from bottom to top, seven more times.
Hammer Curls
The brachialis is an upper-arm muscle, located just underneath the biceps muscle. The brachialis, sometimes known as the lower biceps, also flexes the elbow.
Hammer curls are good for developing the brachialis; they'll also strengthen the biceps somewhat as well. To do hammer curls, stand or sit with a weight in each hand, palms facing in toward your sides. Curl the weights as far up as possible without moving your elbows away from your sides, then lower back to the starting position and repeat.
Reverse Curls
The brachioradialis, located in your forearm, is a powerful elbow flexor. It also aids with pronation and supination (turning your hand either palm down or palm up, respectively) during flexion.
The brachioradialis is recruited during hammer curls or any other exercise when the forearm is in between the palm-up or palm-down position but can best be stressed by doing reverse curls (palms facing downward).
To do reverse curls, stand or sit as for hammer curls but with your palms facing back. Bend your arms at the elbow, curling the weights up as far as possible while keeping both elbows stationary against your body. Lower back to the starting position and repeat.
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