Best Bicep And Tricep Workout Routine
The five exercises we’ve picked below represent the best ones to perform as part of a well-organized routine. Change the sets and reps according to your exercise goals.
| Exercise | Sets | Reps |
|---|---|---|
| Dumbbell Bicep Curl | 3–4 sets | 8–10 reps |
| Dumbbell Skull Crusher | 3–4 sets | 8–10 reps |
| Dumbbell Preacher Curl | 3–4 sets | 8–10 reps |
| Triceps Dip | 3–4 sets | 8–10 reps |
| Cable Reverse Grip Tricep Pushdown | 3–4 sets | 12–20 reps |
Anatomy Of The Biceps
Your biceps brachii are located at the front of your upper arms, going from your shoulder blades to your forearms. They’re made up of two main muscle heads that vary in location and function. These are your biceps short head and biceps long head.
Biceps Short Head
Most inside portion of the biceps. Located at the front of your upper arm closest to your chest.
Biceps Long Head
Most outside part of your bicep.The front of your upper arm.
Biceps Short Head
The biceps short head is the inner part of your biceps brachii muscle. It originates from your humerus, or upper arm bone, and inserts into your ulna, or forearm bone. Your biceps brachii plays active roles in flexing your elbow, rotating your forearm inward, and stabilizing your shoulder.
Out of these movements, its principal role is to perform elbow flexion. This means bending your elbow to bring it closer to your body.
The activation of your biceps short head depends on the exercise movement pattern. Short head bicep exercises can be performed to target it.
When your elbow is flexed between 50 degrees and 90 degrees, the biceps show the biggest maximum voluntary contraction. This is a measure of how hard the muscle is working. Studies examining this have shown approximate figures of 20% to 25% %MVC.
For most of the exercises listed above, this happens during the second half of the curl. This is when you squeeze at the top of the movement.
Biceps Long Head
The biceps long head is the outer portion of your biceps brachii muscle. Like the short head, it originates from your humerus and inserts into your ulna. True to the name, it’s longer than your biceps short head.
Alongside your short head, its primary function is elbow flexion. It also helps to perform shoulder abduction and inward rotation. This means bringing your arm away from you and turning it towards your body.
Because the long head is on the outer side, using a narrow grip for any of the exercises above will provide a bigger stimulus. These can be done alongside other long-head bicep exercises.
Expert tip
For a bigger muscle-building stimulus, squeeze your biceps at the top of the movement.
Anatomy Of The Triceps
Your triceps brachii are located at the back of your upper arm, directly opposite your biceps brachii. They make up almost two-thirds of your upper arm, making them an important part of your arm training.
They’re made up of three main muscle heads that also differ in location and function. These are your triceps lateral heads, triceps medial heads, and triceps long heads.
Triceps Lateral Heads
Muscles located on the back of your arm between your shoulder and elbow.
Triceps Medial Heads
Small muscles located at the back of your arms. Deep to the triceps long heads between the shoulder and elbow.
Triceps Long Heads
Large muscles located at the back of your arms between your shoulder and elbow. Most outside portion of the tricep.
Triceps Lateral Heads
The lateral head is located on the outside of your upper arm. It originates from your humerus and inserts into your ulna.
Its primary function is to perform elbow extension, or straightening your arm. This is the opposite movement to elbow flexion, primarily performed by the biceps brachii.
No matter the position of your arms, when you’re extending your elbow, your triceps are the primary mover. This goes for each of the tricep exercises listed above.
Your triceps lateral head is only significantly active when working against resistance. This means it doesn’t play much of a role during normal elbow movement.
Triceps Medial Heads
The medial head is located underneath your lateral and long heads. It also originates from the humerus and insets into the ulna.
It primarily functions to extend your elbow, the main movement patterns in the tricep exercises above. Unlike your lateral and long heads, the medial head is active in all forms of elbow extension.
When your arms are elevated to 90 degrees, your medial head shows the highest activation rate. At 60 degrees of elbow flexion, the maximum voluntary contraction is approximately 15%.
What this means is that when performing the dumbbell skull crusher, your medial head will be the most active at this point.
Triceps Long Heads
The triceps long head is above your medial head and beside your lateral head. It originates from your scapula, or shoulder blade, and inserts into your ulna.
As it crosses multiple joints, it plays a primary role in elbow extension and shoulder stabilization. That means that in the tricep exercises above, the triceps long head helps keep the correct movement path.
Benefits Of Tricep And Bicep Workouts
Pairing your bicep and tricep exercises together has several useful benefits. When done correctly, these extend to different aspects of your health. We’ve discussed the main three below.
Builds Muscles
Building muscle, also known as hypertrophy, requires the manipulation of different resistance training variables. Of these training variables, training volume is identified as the main determinant. This refers to the amount of work performed over a given period.
Bicep and tricep workouts perform opposite movement patterns. Because of this, the possibility of overtraining is vastly reduced. This allows you to perform more training volume in a shorter time period when pairing exercises together.
With this, bicep and tricep workouts are a great way to build muscle in your upper arms. Use the exercise guides above to get the right muscle-building stimulus.
Improves Bone Health
Resistance training is well-known to improve bone health when regularly performed as part of your exercise routine. Working against resistance puts stress on your bones and surrounding structures, such as your joints. This stimulates bone-forming cells, leading to their increased activity.
The result is stronger, denser bones. These can then better withstand the demands of exercise and daily activity. With stronger bones, conditions such as osteoporosis and osteoarthritis can be improved.
Bicep and tricep workouts are a great way to provide this bone-building stimulus. They’re fairly easy to perform and complement each other well if you’re looking to increase volume.
Expert tip
If you experience bone or joint pain, stop exercise immediately. Seek the help of a qualified healthcare professional.
Enhances Strength
To enhance strength, the training you do needs to provide a big enough resistance stimulus. When doing this, your muscles adapt to the old stimulus to deal better with it next time around. It’s the body’s adaptive way of improving — something that makes the human body so great.
This means that the training you do needs to be at the right intensity. This allows you to progressively overload the muscles you’re working, in this case, the biceps and triceps.
Most upper body strength-based movements involve your bicep and tricep muscles to some degree. The bench press requires your triceps to perform the lockout, and the barbell row requires your biceps to stabilize the bar.
Therefore, strengthening these muscles with bicep and tricep workouts can build strength in these movement patterns. This can lead to improved performance which means a higher intensity for enhancing strength.
Tips To Keep In Mind
- As a beginner, you should spend at least a year building a solid training foundation. Following this, you can progress to specific workouts that focus on certain body parts. In the beginning stage of training, your arms will get an adequate stimulus when performing your compound lifts.
- This doesn’t mean to say you shouldn’t perform bicep and tricep workouts at this stage. It means that your main focus should be on developing foundational movement patterns first. Once this training is completed, add these workouts while considering the rest periods between muscle groups.
- When programming your bicep and tricep workouts, think about the muscles you’re working. Your biceps are made up of two muscle heads, and your triceps are made up of three. To properly develop them, you need to train each muscle head.
- When considering the set and rep ranges for each exercise, you don’t need to stick to one goal all the time. If you’re training for hypertrophy, feel free to add some endurance rep ranges at the end. The main thing is that the majority of your training uses your primary goal’s rep range.
Conclusion
Whatever your training goal, bicep and tricep workouts can help you accomplish it. The eight exercises we’ve chosen above represent some of the best ones to perform. Follow the form guides and tips to ensure proper practice and prevent injury.
Frequently Asked Questions
You should base the frequency of your arm workouts on the amount of time your muscles need to recover. Allow at least 48–72 hours between each session.
Bicep and tricep workouts are suitable for most populations. However, due to the increased stress in these areas, older populations and those with elbow or wrist injuries should seek medical guidance first.
Perform bicep and tricep workouts according to your training goals and recovery periods. Two sessions a week are adequate for most goals.
The biceps and triceps perform opposite movement patterns, meaning they work opposite muscle groups. Because of this, they are great to pair together while limiting the chances of overtraining.
Resources
Endomondo.com refrains from utilizing tertiary references. We uphold stringent sourcing criteria and depend on peer-reviewed studies and academic research conducted by medical associations and institutions. For more detailed insights, you can explore further by reading our editorial process.
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