Bicep & Tricep Workout Program

The ever-popular arm workouts are a mainstay of most gyms. If you are wondering what you can do to outshine your competition in the mirror, by following a few basic principles you will make outstanding progress. Training of the triceps is critical, as they contribute greatly to all pressing exercises.

Train the Triceps Hard

The triceps make up the bulk of the upper arm being responsible for nearly 65 to 70 percent of the mass of the upper arm. The triceps need to be trained in a variety of rep ranges, so train with both heavy, compound movements, and lighter isolation movements. Close grip bench presses, where the hands are placed closer than normal work the triceps to a very great degree, according to research by Dr. Chris Barnett of the University of Queensland.

Train the Biceps Directly and Indirectly

Heavy, compound movements, such as chin-ups and rows, work the biceps while training the back. These exercises have the benefit of stretching the muscle through a full range of motion assuming they are done properly, and allow more stress to be brought to bear upon the triceps by virtue of the greater weight being utilized. The biceps also function to suppinate the palm, or turn it upward. Exercises that involve rotating the palm up toward the ceiling while flexing the elbow, such as dumbbell curls, work the entire bicep.

Basic Workout Concepts

Warm-up thoroughly with light weights before doing the heavy work, then do the heavy work first. A simple example would be to do three sets of close grip bench presses for six to eight reps, three sets of barbell extensions, eight to ten reps, and three sets of triceps cable push downs, ten to twelve reps. Then work your biceps. Three sets of chin ups or rows, six to eight reps, should follow. If you can do more reps, add weight to your body. Follow this with three sets of barbell curls, eight to ten reps, and three sets of dumbbell curls, ten to twelve reps.

Advanced Workouts

Pre-exhaustion is an advanced technique where you do an isolation exercise such as preacher curls, followed by a compound exercise, such as rows, to exhaust the smaller muscle and force it to work even harder during the second exercise. Another example would be to perform triceps extension prior to doing dips or close grip bench pressing. Super setting your workout is a way to burn more calories and force your entire arm to work harder. Alternating bicep and triceps exercises with little rest in between sets will burn more even more calories.