There’s a reason why you can’t go into a gym without seeing at least a few people doing bicep curls. Guys and girls alike desire an awesome pair of biceps since they are one of the most prominent and noticeable muscle groups on the human body.
To get the most out of your arms, you need to fully comprehend how they’re constructed. Details like specific positions, muscular attachment points, and different grips may have a significant impact on your growth. Here’s what you need to know about your arm muscles in order to get the most out of your workouts.
Biceps Anatomy
To train your upper arms, you need to focus on three specific muscles: the biceps brachii, the brachialis, and the brachioradialis.
Biceps Brachii
Biceps means “two heads.” The short head of your biceps originates at the front of your scapula and inserts on the top of your radius (the forearm bone that ends near your thumb), whereas the long head arises at the scapula and inserts on your radius.
Brachialis
The brachialis is a tiny muscle that extends from the midpoint of your humerus (your upper-arm bone) to your ulna (the forearm bone that ends near your pinky finger). Because the brachialis does not insert on the radius, it has no function in pronating or supinating your arm. Its major purpose is to assist bend the elbow.
Brachioradialis
The brachioradialis is a large forearm muscle that begins on the humerus and connects to the radial bone at the end.
Muscular Anatomy: Triceps
Biceps are one of the most popular bodybuilding exercises for men, yet triceps brachii make up the bulk of your upper arm, so you should pay them equal attention. Triceps means “three heads.” To get the horseshoe shape, you must train each head of your triceps.
Lateral Head
The lateral head of your triceps begins on the upper humerus and connects to the elbow, also known as the olecranon process.
Medial Head
The medial head starts on the back of the humerus and connects to your elbow.
Long Head
The long head extends from your scapula and connects at your elbow. Because it’s attached to the scapula, you may move the arm and shoulder to isolate it.(as discussed in more detail below).
As you get to know the many shoulder and elbow positions, you’ll learn how to make the most of each training session and improve your arm development.
Supinated Grip
The biceps brachii aid in both flexion and supination. To target the biceps brachii efficiently, you must use a supinated grip.
Neutral Grip
When you enter into a neutral grip, such as in a hammer curl, you have a direct line of pull that will encourage brachialis growth. This can also make your biceps appear larger by “pushing” them up from below.
Pronated Grip
A completely pronated grip loses the biceps’ mechanical advantage, allowing you to apply direct force to the brachioradialis. The reverse curl is a great exercise for isolating this muscle, which can help add size to the upper arm and forearm.
Elbow Extension
When you change from a flexed to an extended elbow position, you’re training all three triceps heads equally. This is what occurs on traditional triceps exercises like push-downs.
Overhead Elbow Extension
The long head of your triceps is quickly activated as soon as you move the weight above your head.
Today we are gonna cover biceps and triceps workout using only dumbbells and don’t get mistaken that these would be any less effective because we are gonna focus on creating a mind-muscle connection, and there’s just so many variations where you can target different muscle groups in so many different ways that it would give you better results than any fancy machine you are ever gonna use, so if you are ready, let’s do it
This arms workout is a superset based routine that consists of alternating bicep and tricep exercises with minimal rest in between. This type of program utilizes all major bicep and tricep heads, providing the best possible opportunity for growth. It’s also a great way to maximize your time in the gym!
How to go about it
Perform exercise
- (1) which is biceps curl for around 10 reps and immediately follow it with exercise (2) Triceps Extension for 10 reps, rest and repeat for 4 sets total.
- Perform exercise (3) Hammer curl for 10 reps and immediately follow it with exercise (4) Triceps Kick back for 10 reps, rest and repeat for 4 sets total
- Perform exercise (5) Spider curl for 10 reps and immediately follow it with exercise (6) Narrow Dumbbell Press-up for 10 reps, rest and repeat for 4 sets total
- No rest while supersetting, 45 second rest between two supersets
Biceps and triceps Dumbbell workout
1 Biceps curl
Sets 4 Reps 10
How: Stand with your palms facing forward and dumbbells at your sides. Curl the weights up, squeezing your biceps at the top, keeping your elbows tucked in to your sides. Return to the start position.
Why: The biceps curl is a classic bicep builder for a reason: executing the movement flawlessly is one of the quickest techniques to grow your biceps. To prevent swinging the dumbbells up and down, keep your reps controlled.
Safety and Precautions
This is a safe and effective exercise that most people can do. However, if you have an arm injury or experience discomfort during the motion, stop immediately. Also, never start a workout without going for a relevant warmup and stretching routine. After a few lifts, you might feel tiredness and even discomfort in your biceps and forearm muscles, which is necessary for your muscles to strengthen and grow. However, don’t push yourself to do more repetitions if you can’t perform them correctly. Before doing the subsequent set, take a break.
Start off with light weights and gradually increase the amount you lift if it’s uncomfortable. Large biceps are popular, but don’t go right to heavier weights until you’re ready. If you suffer an elbow or wrist injury, your training regimen may be put to a halt.
2 Triceps Extension
Sets 4 Reps 10
How: Stand up straight, holding a dumbbell over your head with one hand and the arm extended. Lower the weight behind your head, then raise it back to the start, keeping your chest up. Do all of the reps with one arm before switching hands and repeating.
Why: Working one arm at a time helps you to focus on making your triceps work hard keeping the dumbbell under complete control throughout the lift and lowering, while your core must be engaged to keep your torso upright. In this variation, you can concentrate on excellent form in one arm and provide a more extensive range of motion, ensuring that you’re working every area of the triceps with the exercise.
Safety and Precautions
Because you’re hoisting a dumbbell overhead, don’t go any heavier than you can handle safely. It’s quite possible that you may hurt yourself by dropping it. If you’re attempting a new weight increase and are unsure about your capabilities, have a friend assist you.
Another issue occurs when the elbows flare out to the side. When your elbows spread out away from your ears, your body utilizes your biceps and shoulders to help with flexion and extension. The triceps will not be isolated any longer. To prevent this issue, keep the elbows tucked in. To maintain proper elbow placement, reduce your weight as needed. In addition, if you find that your arms keep moving forward during the triceps extension, perform a few upper body stretches before doing it.
3 Hammer curl
Sets 4 Reps 10
How: Stand with your palms facing each other and your weights by your sides.Keep your elbows tucked in to your sides and curl the weights up, squeezing your biceps at the top. Return the dumbbells to their starting position slowly under control.
Why: When you change your wrist posture so that your palms face each other for the entire set, it shifts the workload to a different sector of your biceps muscles and also activates your forearms. The brachialis muscles are positioned on the outside of your upper arms, adjacent to the biceps. You’ll build mass in your upper arms and help your biceps stand out more if you target the brachialis in your workouts. And one of the best ways to work the brachialis is to add the hammer curl to your training routine
Safety and Precautions
While the hammer curl is a wonderful exercise for most athletes, those suffering from arm problems (such as carpal tunnel syndrome) may benefit from an alternative or modified version. The biceps are sensitive to tension when they are being stretched. This indicates that the movement is most likely working—that it is effectively targeting your upper arm muscles. However, stop If you feel discomfort while doing the hammer curl.
Begin with two sets of seven to ten reps each. Add repetitions first when you get stronger and more flexible. Then increase the weight.
4 Triceps Kick back
Sets 4 Reps 10 each side
How: keep your back straight and arm bent holding a dumbbell. Lean forward from your hips. Raise the weight behind you until your arm is straight, then slowly lower it back to the beginning. Do all the reps on one side, then repeat with the other arm.
Why: The secret to making this an effective triceps-building exercise is to fully contract the working muscle as you straighten your arm, and then lower the dumbbell back to the starting position with complete control.
Safety and Precautions
This activity is suitable for most people, including those who are new to exercise (with less weight). However, those with prior shoulder injuries should consult a professional fitness trainer to verify that utilizing poor form does not exacerbate their problem.
It’s critical to keep the elbow up so that the upper arm remains parallel to the ground. This aids in muscle growth since it works against gravity. When the triceps become fatigued, it is common for the elbows to drop so keep an eye out for that.
5 Spider curl
Sets 4 Reps 10
How: You’ll need a bench set at 45 degrees, as well as dumbbells. Lie down on the bench with your torso and stomach against the backrest. With your palms facing up and your hands shoulder-width apart, hold the dumbbells beneath you with a supinated grip (palms upward). Slowly curl the dumbbells up and pause at the top of the move, then squeeze your biceps before lowering them under control.
Why: It may raise a few eyebrows in the gym, but This exercise targets your biceps via a full range of motion, which means you’ll hit them from a slightly different angle, resulting in even more muscle fibres being activated. The spider curl is particularly beneficial since it allows for a greater range of motion than other curls while also keeping the biceps muscles under tension for a long time.
Safety and Precautions
The greater range of motion of the move comes from having your arms dangling beneath your body. However, it does imply you’ll need to apply a lot of self-discipline not to utilize other muscles during the curl. Make sure your upper arms are perpendicular to the ground throughout and only move your forearms as you curl the weights up and down. If you allow your upper arms to drift forward, several of the work will be taken on by your shoulders and the biceps will get neglected.
6 Narrow Dumbbell Press-up
Sets 4 Reps 10
How: Assume a push-up position with your feet together and hands grasping dumbbells that are close to each other. Brace your core and straighten your body from head to heels. Bend your arms to lower your chest, then push yourself up powerfully.
Why: When you bring your hands close together, the involvement of your chest and shoulders is reduced, so your triceps have to do a lot more of the heavy lifting and lowering.
Safety and Precautions
Because this move is difficult, you may need to start with some progressions. It’s always a good idea to concentrate on form by lowering your knees to the ground, but make sure you’re still engaging your core and not hinging at the hips.
We hope you were able to follow along easily and now are armed with the knowledge to blow up your arms with just dumbbells.
Please leave a comment if you want us to cover any particular topic we’ll try our best to provide you no nonsense easy to follow workouts.
Rahul is a sports and performance consultant. Over the course of his 15-year career in the fitness sector, he has held positions as a strength and conditioning instructor, gym owner, and consultant.
He is deeply committed to assisting people in finding happiness and feeling good about themselves.
Rahul has a master’s degree in exercise science and is a certified NSCA CSCS and CISSN.