You can get big, strong arms if you want – but efforts often fail if they don’t start in the right direction. The arm is not just the bicep or triceps. It has some small but important muscles that, if not properly targeted, will never be truly visible in your hands. The secret benefits of well-developed arms are not only visual appeal but also strength, stability, and balance of the body.
And the biggest thing getting bigger arms is a combination of science and practice. A few small, precise techniques and regular practice can challenge your muscles in ways that a traditional lifting routine can never. If you really want results, then it is necessary to know not only lifting heavy weights, but also those “strategic” methods.
Train your shoulder
It sounds a little strange, but it is very important. You may be surprised that about 25 to 30 % of the muscles in your arm are part of your shoulder. That’s why it’s very important to train your shoulder for your overall arm development. Those who haven’t developed their shoulder muscles properly, their arm size always looks small.
Also, a study showed that upper-body strength can be increased by up to 15% with shoulder exercises. Shoulder workout not only enhances your visual appeal but it also improves your stability and reduces the risk of injury when you perform any exercise.
Pay more attention to the development of your side deltas. You can do dumbbell lateral raises, overhead press, Arnold press, and cable lateral raise exercises. Mix your shoulder workout program with both compound and isolation exercises to ensure overall development.
Focus on the Brachialis Muscle
It’s a hidden muscle under your bicep, but it has a direct impact on the size of your arm. It lies in the middle of your Breaky and humorous bone. When the muscle starts to grow, it pushes your bicep upward, and this little baby adds more volume to your biceps. As a result, your bicep peak becomes more prominent, and it fills your t-shirt.
But generally, you cannot target this muscle with regular curling. targeting this specific muscle requires some specific variation, such as,
- Hammer curl: It specifically targets because of the neutral grip.
- Reverse curl: While using a pronated grip, it targets more of the brachialis rather than the bicep.
- Zootman Curl: This curl combines both a supinated and a pronated grip in a single movement.
Research found that the hammer curl activates the brachial muscle more than the bicep. And this muscle is the secret weapon to make your biceps more prominent.
Moreover, the brachialis muscle is not just for an aesthetic look; it’s also important for your arm flexion. which means it works in heavy pulling movements like chin-up, rows, or deadlift. Most people ignore this muscle, or they don’t even know the importance of this to make their biceps dense as a professional bodybuilder.
Focusing on Pump Movement
Often, gym gears make the same mistake. Always chasing to lift heavier and stuck in a maze of circle to show their ego on that little muscle. But they have no idea that there is a trick, which is pumping. Pumping ensures your body pumps more blood to your muscles.
As blood flow to your muscles increases, it supplies your muscles with the nutrients and oxygen that you get through inhaling and food. This disturbs your muscle growth and recovery even more.
In a word, Pumping is basically performing high reps with light or moderate weight with proper mind-muscle connection. Reputation may be 12 to 20, or more, 25 or more.
And rest between sets should not be longer than 30-60 seconds. Because with a shorter resting period, you can feel more tension in your muscles, and it increases the effectiveness of pumping. Besides, drop sets are another powerful way for pumping.
Focusing on the Weak Point
When you’re not satisfied with your development or recognize any imbalance, then the first thing you should do is find out the weaker point. Now focus on that point. It will ensure a balanced development, and also be helpful to fix the lagging muscles.
Generally, the brachialis is the weakest muscle point in all of us. By targeting it specifically, you will see a significant improvement in your arm size. To specifically target this muscle, the Cross-body hammer curl and Zottman curl are great options.
But before moving forward with the prediction, it’s better to take suggestions from your trainer. He will help to figure out the problem and can professionally fix your workout split with proper adjustments. And this customization is very important to ensure your overall arm development.
Add Variety and Different Grip Variations
If you’re following the same split for years, then you may notice that your body is not responding like it did when you started to follow the routine. It just got stuck in a plateau. Now here’s the solution: by using different varieties and different grips, your muscles get shocked and it ensures targeted training from different angles. This will ensure balanced muscle growth.
For example,
- Varieties: cable curls, dumbbell curls, and barbell curls
- Grips: You can use a narrow grip, a wide grip, reverse grip. These will help you target your muscles from different angles.
Studies have shown that muscle hypertrophy or growth can be increased with regular variations and grip changes. Because the more the body gets used to a type of exercise, the less the result. The new method forces the body to grow muscles in a new way.
Another important tip is that you need to change your workout split after 12-16 weeks. As a result, your muscles get stimulation and challenge, which forces them to respond effectively.
Use a Superset, Dropset, and Giant Set
These are advanced training techniques. By using superset, dropset, and giantset, you can create more stress and tears in your muscles. Also, these techniques help to maintain continuous pressure on your muscles. And more damage equals more volume.
Superset means doing two different exercises without any break or rest. It makes your muscles fatigue quickly.
Dropset means doing the same exercise by just dropping a little weight. To perform this technique, take a weight according to your strength and do this until failure, then reduce the weight by a couple of pounds and again do the same until the dropset failure hits without any rest.
Lastly, a giant set means doing different exercises gradually without any rest for the same group of muscles. But keep in mind that don’t hit failure from the first exercise, save some energy to perform the next one properly. Another important thing is, you can take a rest if you feel exhausted, but the time should not be extended more than 30 seconds.
Train Your Muscles Twice a Week.
Our body has its own recovery system. When we do any exercise, it creates some micro-injury to our muscles and activates our recovery system. Then it starts healing our muscles by supplying oxygen and more nutrients through the blood. Depending on how much damage but our body can fully recover within 24 to 48 hours. Which means we have another chance in a week to train that body part. And don’t miss this chance for your bicep peak.
Studies have shown that people who train their muscles at least twice a week have more muscle mass than those who do it only once. So there is no point in wasting this opportunity. Because it helps your muscles to stretch and stretch. You can make a push-pull routine in your workout schedule for training twice a week.
Try Static Hold and Eccentric Technique
Most of the time, we think that lifting heavy is the only way to build muscle. Which is correct, but there are some other techniques that will help you to progress. Static hold and eccentric control are one of them. These are especially helpful for smaller muscle groups like the biceps and triceps.
When you hold the weight in a position for a couple of seconds, that’s called the static or isometric hold. This is a powerful method that increases the intensity of the contraction part of your exercise.
On the other hand, eccentric is a totally different technique. But this can maximize your potential muscle growth. Let me explain to you simply, eccentric technique means controlling the negative part of your exercise. Which means when you lower the weight, control the tempo.
Most of the time, people focus on lifting, but while lowering, they do it so fast and never focus on that. But eccentric is the part where your muscles get more tension and more tears. Then, when your body heals that part, it increases the volume and strength of your muscle.
You must drop a little bit of weight to apply this technique because it requires more power and focus. Then you can gradually increase the weight every week.
Finally, isometric hold and eccentric tempo are modern and proven methods to increase muscle volume. And for smaller muscle groups like the arm, this method is more effective than just increasing the weight.
Nutrition & Supplementation
Many people believe that part of muscle building happens in the gym. But the reality is, your body builds muscle when you give it proper fuel at the right time with the right amount. And this ‘fuel’ doesn’t mean only the food, nutrient timing, glycogen reload, and some smart supplementation — this whole package is important.
Keeping protein and carbs in pre- and post-workout meals helps to increase the muscle protein synthesis by an average of 25-30%. Because after an intense session, your body needs amino acids and glycogen to repair and increase muscle volume.
- Pre-workout: Consume at least 1-1.5 hours before your workout, slow-digesting complex carbs (like oats, barley, or sweet potato), and some as well.
- Post-workout: Take your meal within 30-45 minutes after your workout. Try to include some fast-digesting carbs like banana, rice cake + fast-absorbing protein like whey or ২০–৩০ gm of lean protein such as chicken, fish, or eggs. This boosts your muscle recovery and reduces the cortisol level.
Some Supplement Tips
If you are a busy guy and don’t have much time to prepare your meal, then some research-backed supplements can help to maximize your gains.
- Creatine Monohydrate: 3-5 g on a daily basis. It will increase your strength, power, and long-term muscle gain.
- Beta-Alanine: Boosts muscular endurance. Which means you can do some extra reps that help to grow your muscles.
- Whey Protein: This is one of the best sources of the fastest-absorbing protein. It’s not just for post-workout, but also a great choice to fill up the gap of low-meal days
- Omega-3 fatty acids (like fish oil): reduce inflammation and muscle soreness.
Some advanced tips:
- “More food = more muscle,” it’s nothing, just a myth. Because timing also matters.
- Try to avoid fat in your post-workout meal, because it reduces the
- Add some Himalayan salt to your water. It reduces the loss of electrolytes and keeps your performance
Sleep And Recovery
A good night’s sleep keeps your hormonal balance in check. Especially growth hormone and testosterone, which are mandatory for muscle growth. Not only that, sleep also activates your body’s anabolic state (muscle-building mode), where protein is absorbed and tissue repair occurs more prominently.
The best way to improve sleep quality,
- 7-9 hours’ sleep and it’s non-negotiable.
- Create your routine and go to bed and get up in the morning at exactly the same time every day, even on weekends.
- Shut down your laptop and don’t touch your phone at least 1 hour before bed. Blue light blocks the sleep hormone melatonin.
- Try to keep your bedroom temperature low, dark, and quiet. It will help you to fall asleep quickly.
- Take your dinner 3 hours before sleep and avoid caffeine for at least 8 hours before.
Remember that exercise makes you tired, and sleep removes that tiredness and freshly prepares your body for the next day. If you’re serious about your health, then prioritize the quality of your sleep because that’s the biggest anabolic factor.
