Building big arm muscles is a goal which many bodybuilders, athletes and general gym-goers all have in common. A big set of arms can make your physique stand out, and boost your confidence levels. Getting your arms to the size you want takes hard work but can be accomplished if you train with intensity and stick to basic, tried and tested exercises.
Chinups
While often thought of as a back exercise, chinups are effective for training your biceps. To place more of the focus on your biceps when doing chinups, use a narrow grip, with your palms facing toward you, and start each repetition with your arms fully extended, finishing with your chin level with your hands. If you find bodyweight chinups too easy, then add weight using a dipping belt or weighted vest.
Curls
There are many variations of curls you can do to target your biceps -- and you should include two curl variations in every arm workout. According to Tim Henriques, Director of the National Personal Training Institute of Virginia, exercises such as straight bar and EZ bar curls, as well as preacher curls hit the long head of your biceps, which is important for building your biceps "peak." You should also use other exercises like hammer curls, concentration curls and incline curls to hit the other parts of your biceps -- and for an added twist, try doing your curls with fat handled bars or dumbbells, which will work your biceps even harder.
Presses
Traditional pressing exercises like bench presses and military presses work your triceps muscles to a moderate degree. However, you can make these presses even more triceps-dominant with a couple of simple variations. Try close grip bench presses with your hands around 12 inches apart, or do partial repetitions when bench pressing or military pressing. Set the pins in a power rack at the midpoint of the exercises, and press the bar from that position. Both these small tweaks to your pressing can stimulate new triceps growth.
Dips
Former champion bodybuilder and trainer Vince Gironda was a huge fan of dips for building muscle -- so much so that in his gym, he replaced his bench presses with dipping stations. Use a fairly narrow grip for your dips, and aim to keep your torso upright throughout the movement. Descend as low as you can, then explode upward on every repetition. Just as with chinups, if you find regular dips too easy, increase the load with a dipping belt or weight vest.
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