Every day I bend at the gym, trying to make my arms bigger. I've seen some results, but there's one problem: my arms are still not wide enough. When the biceps get bigger, they look great from the side, but are still slightly awkward to see from the front. Here are some simple tips to get wider and bigger arms.
1. Focus on the pump feel of the exercise rather than doing the movement
This is arguably the most important tip for building bigger arms. A lot of guys make the small mistake of focusing on doing the movements when training their arms. This may burn calories, but it does little to build muscle. What needs to be done is to try and get the pumping sensation of arm training so that the muscles get the blood and nutrients they need to grow.
The pumping sensation also stretches the fascia, which is a layer of tissue that wraps around the outside of the muscle. If the fascia is too tight, it will stop the muscle from growing. But when blood is pumped into the arms, it exerts a swelling force on the fascia, creating more room for muscle growth.
For the best results in increasing arm width, focus on pump sensation whether you are doing a narrow grip bench press or an upward incline dumbbell curl.
2. Don't neglect the triceps
If you concentrate on your biceps and also train your forearms regularly, but your arms don't get wider, you are probably neglecting the right muscle: the triceps. Although the triceps is the largest muscle group in the arms, it is often forgotten when people want to work on bigger arms. Train your triceps well and you will look big even if you don't flex your arms.
Here are some suggestions for training the triceps.
In addition to your usual movements, make sure to work on shoulder presses, bench presses and dumbbell presses.
To make sure that all three heads of the triceps are at the same level, perform elbow extensions with ropes, dumbbells and barbells to train the triceps from different angles.
To build wide arms you need to increase muscle mass. Increase the circumference of your triceps by adding compound movements with large weights, weighted double bar arm curls and narrow grip bench presses to your routine.
Use reverse rope pulldowns to further concentrate on the weaknesses of the triceps. Holding the rope overhead with a reverse grip and then straightening the arm down and squeezing at the lowest point will train to the inner arm and effectively build muscle mass in that area.
3. All curls
Bends are important for building big arms. But can the curls you are doing make your arms wider?
These bending movements help to increase the width of the arms.
The preacher's chair bend: The preacher's chair bend helps develop the lower biceps area. Hold the preacher's chair against your chest and stretch your arms over the back of the chair above. In this position, the arms will be at an angle where the lower muscles are under more stress. Make sure to fully extend the arms at the lowest point of each movement. Do not lean your body back so that the pressure is transferred to the biceps.
Standing bicep: The standing bicep improves the overall muscle mass of the biceps. Not as complex as the preacher's chair bend, but very effective for building bigger arms. Keep your feet shoulder-width apart and grip the bar squarely, making sure your hands are shoulder-width apart. Keep your elbows still and close to your body. The path of movement of the bar should be a wide arc away from the body, whether the arms are up or down.
Hammer Bend: The hammer bend is where the dumbbells are compared to a hammer and the movement is like a hammer hammer on a nail. The difference is that it needs to be done slowly. Squeeze the upper arms hard as you bring the dumbbells up. This will bring maximum pumping sensation and allow the training effect to be reflected in the arms.
Switching the dumbbells to thick bar dumbbells will maximise the effect of the workout. This type of dumbbell will not only help develop upper body strength, but also build muscle arm circumference. Try using thick bar dumbbells for movements like the dumbbell curl and the overhead bend.
4. Give your forearms some attention
If you want sexier arms, you don't want your biceps to be big and wide and your forearms to be skinny and underdeveloped. This requires an even distribution of strength across the biceps, triceps and forearms. The forearms can be trained in isolation like the rest of the body during training. Developing the forearms will also increase arm strength and enable the use of greater weight in other movements.
Wrist curl: The wrist curl trains the inner forearm muscles. To do this, straddle a bench and rest your forearms on your legs with your wrists and hands free. Hold the barbell in a square grip and stabilise it with your knees against your elbows. Flex your wrists and slowly lower the weight downwards. If the exercise reaches its limit, release your hand and let the weight roll towards your fingers, hooking it with your fingers. Wait a few seconds and then let the weight roll backwards as far as possible without raising your forearms.
Reverse wrist curl: As well as training the forearms, the reverse wrist curl also trains the lateral biceps. The best way to exercise this movement is on the preacher's chair. Hold the barbell with a positive grip with your hands 10 inches apart. The key is to make sure the arms are parallel to the floor. Now bend your wrists forward while lowering the dumbbell as far as possible. Once you have reached your limit, bring your wrists back up without moving your forearms.
5. Eat well to get it right
Protein is the fuel for muscle growth, so a large increase in protein intake is needed to increase muscle girth and width. If your dietary protein intake is inadequate, you can add healthy protein such as lean meat, eggs and yoghurt to your daily diet.
Muscle building can also be enhanced by supplementing with supplements during the day. This helps to compensate for the parts of the body that are reluctant to build muscle. But make sure you choose the right supplements and take them correctly. But supplements are not a panacea for building big muscles, take them in the recommended amounts.
