We all want bigger biceps. And no wonder! Having muscular arms is often seen as a sign of athleticism and strength. However, there is more to the upper arm than just your biceps. In this blog, we’ll break down the anatomy of the upper arm and provide a variety of exercises to train the full range of muscles involved.

There are four major muscles in your upper arm -

• Biceps brachii (biceps)

• Brachialis

• Coracobrachialis

• Triceps brachii (triceps)

The brachialis and the coracobrachialis sit underneath your biceps and are therefore not readily ‘visible’ from the outside. Your biceps and triceps, on the other hand, are positioned much closer to the skin’s surface. When training our upper arms, we often tend to focus on these two muscles as we can ‘see’ the results more easily.

Your biceps muscle is positioned in the middle of your upper arm and is (together with your brachialis and coracobrachialis) responsible for elbow flexion; your triceps sits in the back of your arm and has elbow extension as its main job. Because your biceps and triceps have opposite functions, you will need different exercises to train them.

The following upper arm exercises are split into three groups, each group focusses on different muscles. Perform one suggested exercise from each group for 5-10 reps with a challenging load. Start with one or two sets twice a week. As you build strength you can up the sets and frequency of your training.

Biceps and Coracobrachialis Focused Exercises

Incline Bicep Curl

This classic exercise works the biceps and coracobrachialis in relative isolation, which means no other muscles share the load. This makes the bicep curl super effective to achieve that much-coveted bicep pump.

• Position your Incline Bench at (approximately) a 60-degree angle. Sit upright with your back flat against the pad.

• Hold a dumbbell in each hand using an underhand grip at arm’s length, take a deep breath, brace, and bring the weight towards your shoulders.

• Slowly lower the dumbbells back to the starting position.

Exercises with a similar effect - concentration curls, twisted bicep curls, hammer curls, chin ups, underhand seated rows.

Brachialis Focused Exercises

Reverse Curl

This exercise hits the brachialis, one of the ‘hidden’ muscles in your upper arm. Increasing the size of your brachialis will help push the bulk of the biceps to the surface, making for a bigger, more muscular-looking arm. For this example, we’re using a barbell, but you can replicate this movement using a range of different equipment, such as dumbbells, an EZ Bar or a cable machine.

• Stand up straight and overhand grip your (loaded) barbell at shoulder width.

• Bend at the elbow only to bring the bar upwards in line with your shoulders.

• Slowly lower the bar to the starting position.

Exercises with a similar effect - preacher reverse curls, narrow or wide grip reverse curls, cable reverse curls, EZ bar reverse curls, dumbbell reverse curls.

Triceps Focused Exercises

Overhead Tricep Extension

The overhead tricep extension is one of the most effective exercises for stronger, more prominent triceps that will really bulk up your upper arm. Your triceps are your biggest upper arm muscle and are therefore crucial to train to achieve big-arm aesthetic.

• Assume a slightly staggered stance or sit down on your bench. Use both your hands to grip a single Dumbbell and lift it over your head with straight arms.

• Slowly bend at the elbow so the dumbbell finishes behind your head.

• Straighten your arms to return to the starting position.

Exercises with a similar effect - tricep kickbacks, dips, dumbbell or barbell skull crushers, diamond push ups.

These movements will help you create that upper arm aesthetic so many of us are after. But strong upper arms don’t just look great; they have a great functional benefit too.

Even more reason to include these upper arm exercises into your training regime!

Written by guest author Liz Van Ingen.

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Tags: Equipment > Bars and Weight Plates ; Exercise Type > Strength