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Exercises

Arm exercises at home: biceps, triceps and grip with whatever you have

Published October 19, 2026

The best arm exercises at home are close-grip push-ups and chair dips for the triceps, the doorway curl or chin-ups for the biceps, and, if you own dumbbells, the overhead triceps extension and the dumbbell curl. Pair one biceps and one triceps exercise as a superset, do 3 sets of each, and stop 1 to 2 reps short of failure. Two or three short sessions a week are enough to build or firm up your arms.

  1. Close-Grip Push-Up Triceps, Chest
  2. Bodyweight Bicep Curl Biceps
  3. Bench Dip Triceps
  4. Chin-Up Lats
  5. Seated Dumbbell Overhead Triceps Extension Triceps
  6. Dumbbell Curl Biceps
  7. Triceps Kickback Triceps
  8. Hammer Curl Biceps, Forearms

Triceps without weights

The triceps is the larger muscle of the upper arm, so for bigger or firmer arms it needs at least as much work as the biceps. With no equipment, these three are the options, from hardest to easiest.

Triceps, bodyweight press

Close-Grip Push-Up

Triceps, Chest

A push-up with your hands under your shoulders is the main triceps lift when you train arms with no gear. Every rep straightens the elbows against most of your bodyweight.

How to do it

  1. Get into a high plank with your hands directly below your shoulders.
  2. Lower yourself with your elbows sliding back past your ribs.
  3. Stop just above the floor, then push up to locked elbows.
  4. Drop to your knees for the last reps if your hips start to sag.

Cues

  • Hands under shoulders
  • Elbows travel back
  • Full lockout

Common mistakes

  • Flaring the elbows into a T: that moves the work to your chest.
  • Half reps near the top: lower until your chest is close to the floor.

Swap for: Kneeling Push-Up, Incline Push-Up

Build a session with Close-Grip Push-Up

Triceps on a chair

Bench Dip

Triceps

A dining chair or couch edge turns into a dip station. Your triceps raise and lower your body, and bending or straightening your legs sets how hard it is.

How to do it

  1. Sit on the front of a stable chair, hands gripping the edge next to your hips.
  2. Move your hips off the seat and set your heels out in front.
  3. Lower your body by bending your elbows until your upper arms are level with the floor.
  4. Straighten your arms to come back up.

Cues

  • Hips close to the chair
  • Elbows point back
  • Stop at level

Common mistakes

  • Going so deep that your shoulders pinch: shorten the range.
  • Pushing with your legs: keep them relaxed and let your arms lift you.

Swap for: Floor Triceps Dip, Close-Grip Push-Up

Build a session with Bench Dip

Triceps, easiest dip

Floor Triceps Dip

Triceps

With your hands on the floor behind you, the dip gets short and light. Good for a first arm session, for high-rep finishers, and for anyone whose shoulders do not like chair dips.

How to do it

  1. Sit with your knees bent and your hands flat behind you, fingers facing forward.
  2. Lift your hips slightly off the floor by straightening your arms.
  3. Bend your elbows to bring your hips down toward the floor, stopping just short of it.
  4. Push back up to straight arms.

Cues

  • Fingers face your feet
  • Hover the hips
  • Elbows straight back

Common mistakes

  • Sitting all the way down between reps: keep the tension on.
  • Letting the feet do the lifting: press from the hands.

Swap for: Bench Dip

Build a session with Floor Triceps Dip

Triceps with one dumbbell or kettlebell

A single weight adds the stretched and shortened ends of the triceps range that bodyweight misses.

Triceps long head with one dumbbell

Seated Dumbbell Overhead Triceps Extension

Triceps

Lowering one dumbbell behind your head stretches the biggest part of the triceps, the long head, which push-ups and dips barely do. It turns one dumbbell into the most useful triceps exercise in a home set.

How to do it

  1. Sit tall on a chair and lift one dumbbell overhead, both hands under the top plate.
  2. Bend your elbows to bring the weight down behind your neck, upper arms close to your head.
  3. Feel the stretch, then press it back up to straight arms.
  4. Keep your back from arching as you press.

Cues

  • Elbows forward
  • Weight behind your neck
  • Ribs stay down

Common mistakes

  • Elbows drifting out to the sides: keep them pointed ahead.
  • Short lowering: take it as deep as your shoulders allow.

Swap for: Kettlebell Overhead Triceps Extension, Overhead Cable Triceps Extension

Build a session with Seated Dumbbell Overhead Triceps Extension

Triceps at lockout

Triceps Kickback

Triceps

With your torso leaning forward, you straighten your arm behind you, which is hardest exactly where push-ups are easiest. A light dumbbell is enough.

How to do it

  1. Brace one hand on a chair or bench and hinge forward with a flat back.
  2. Lift the dumbbell arm so your upper arm sits against your side, elbow bent.
  3. Push the dumbbell back until your arm is straight, and hold it for a second.
  4. Bend back to the start; finish the set, then change arms.

Cues

  • Upper arm stays level
  • Hold the lockout
  • Light weight

Common mistakes

  • Swinging the weight up: lighten it so you can pause at the top.
  • Upper arm sinking toward the floor: lift it back to your side.

Swap for: Cable Triceps Kickback, Seated Dumbbell Overhead Triceps Extension

Build a session with Triceps Kickback

Triceps lying on the floor

Kettlebell Skullcrusher

Triceps

Lying on the floor with a kettlebell held by the horns, you bend only at the elbows. All three heads of the triceps work, and no bench is needed.

How to do it

  1. Lie back with knees bent and hold a kettlebell by the horns over your chest, arms straight.
  2. Angle your arms a little toward your head.
  3. Bend your elbows to lower the bell to just above your forehead.
  4. Extend your elbows to return it above your face.

Cues

  • Shoulders fixed
  • Elbows narrow
  • Two seconds down

Common mistakes

  • Moving the arms from the shoulder: only the elbows bend.
  • Letting the elbows splay out: keep them shoulder-width.

Swap for: Dumbbell Skullcrusher, Seated Dumbbell Overhead Triceps Extension

Build a session with Kettlebell Skullcrusher

Biceps with a bar, a door or a band

Push-ups and dips do nothing for the biceps, so a home arm session needs a pull or a curl. A doorway, a bar or a band covers it.

Biceps and back on a doorway bar

Chin-Up

Lats

A palms-up chin-up has your biceps pull your bodyweight with the lats, which makes it the heaviest arm exercise at home if you have a bar.

How to do it

  1. Hang from the bar with your palms toward you and hands shoulder-width.
  2. Pull your elbows down and back until your chin is over the bar.
  3. Lower to a full hang with straight arms.
  4. Keep your legs quiet and your body still between reps.

Cues

  • Palms toward you
  • Chin over the bar
  • Dead hang at the bottom

Common mistakes

  • Kipping or kicking to finish: stop the set when you cannot pull cleanly.
  • Half reps at the top: straighten your arms fully every time.

Swap for: Close-Grip Chin-Up, Assisted Pull-Up

Build a session with Chin-Up

Biceps curl in a doorway

Bodyweight Bicep Curl

Biceps

Holding the sides of a door frame and leaning back, you curl your body toward it. It is the one true biceps curl you can do with no equipment.

How to do it

  1. Grip both sides of a door frame around hip level and walk your feet in toward it.
  2. Lean back until your arms are straight and your body is rigid from heels to head.
  3. Bend your elbows to bring your chest to the frame.
  4. Lower back out under control.

Cues

  • Elbows forward, not back
  • Body rigid
  • Feet in to make it harder

Common mistakes

  • Rowing instead of curling: keep the elbows in front of you.
  • Bending at the hips: tense your glutes and keep a straight line.

Swap for: Chin-Up, TRX Chin-Up

Build a session with Bodyweight Bicep Curl

Biceps and brachialis with a band

Band Hammer Curl

Biceps

A band hammer curl trains the elbow flexors with gear that fits in a drawer. Resistance rises as you curl, so hold the top.

How to do it

  1. Stand on a band, feet about hip-width, ends in your hands with palms facing in.
  2. Curl your hands up toward your shoulders with your elbows at your sides.
  3. Hold the top for a second.
  4. Lower slowly to straight arms.

Cues

  • Elbows still
  • Hold one second
  • Control the band down

Common mistakes

  • Rushing the lowering: let the band pull for two seconds.
  • Too little tension: shorten the band by stepping wider.

Swap for: Hammer Curl, Cable Rope Hammer Curl

Build a session with Band Hammer Curl

Biceps with dumbbells

Three curls that work with a light pair: palms up for the biceps, palms in for thickness, and the Zottman to bring in the forearms.

Biceps, standard dumbbell curl

Dumbbell Curl

Biceps

The palms-up curl is the simplest biceps exercise to load and track, and it works with one dumbbell if you curl one arm at a time.

How to do it

  1. Stand tall with one or two dumbbells, palms facing forward.
  2. Curl the weight toward your shoulder, keeping your upper arm still.
  3. Squeeze the biceps hard when your forearm is upright.
  4. Lower until your elbow is straight.

Cues

  • Upper arm still
  • Squeeze at the top
  • Straight elbow at the bottom

Common mistakes

  • Rocking your body: brace against a wall.
  • Stopping short at the bottom: lower all the way.

Swap for: Kettlebell Curl, EZ-Bar Curl

Build a session with Dumbbell Curl

Brachialis and forearm

Hammer Curl

Biceps, Forearms

Palms facing in moves the curl toward the brachialis and forearm, adding thickness to the arm from the side. It pairs well with a palms-up curl.

How to do it

  1. Hold the dumbbells at your sides with your palms facing your thighs.
  2. Bend your elbows to bring the dumbbells up, thumbs leading.
  3. Keep the dumbbells vertical the whole way.
  4. Lower slowly to the start.

Cues

  • Thumbs lead
  • Dumbbells vertical
  • Elbows by your sides

Common mistakes

  • Swinging heavier weight with your back: keep your torso still.
  • Curling across your body: keep each dumbbell in line with its shoulder.

Swap for: Band Hammer Curl, Alternating Hammer Curl

Build a session with Hammer Curl

Biceps on the way up, forearms on the way down

Zottman Curl

Biceps, Forearms

Curling palms up and lowering palms down lets one light pair train the biceps and the top of the forearm in the same rep, which saves time in a short arm session.

How to do it

  1. Stand with your palms facing forward and the dumbbells at your sides.
  2. Curl them up to shoulder height.
  3. Rotate your palms to face down at the top.
  4. Lower slowly, palms down, and rotate back at the bottom.

Cues

  • Turn at the top
  • Slow lowering
  • Elbows stay at your sides

Common mistakes

  • Turning the palms on the way down: finish the rotation first.
  • Going too heavy: the palms-down lowering sets the weight.

Swap for: Hammer Curl, Reverse Curl

Build a session with Zottman Curl

Forearms and grip

Curls train the forearm a little; carries train it a lot. Finish one session a week with a carry.

Grip and forearms

Farmer's Walk

Forearms, Traps, Shoulders

Walking while holding heavy dumbbells trains grip, forearms and traps in one move. A minute of carrying at the end of a session is the simplest forearm work at home.

How to do it

  1. Pick up your two heaviest dumbbells and let them hang at your sides.
  2. Stand tall, chest up, shoulders pulled down away from your ears.
  3. Walk with short, controlled steps for the target time or distance.
  4. Set the dumbbells down with a flat back.

Cues

  • Tall posture
  • Crush the handles
  • Short steps

Common mistakes

  • Leaning to one side: hold weights of equal size.
  • Letting your shoulders round forward: pull them back as you walk.

Swap for: Dumbbell Suitcase Carry, Dumbbell Single-Arm Overhead Carry

Build a session with Farmer's Walk

Put them together: example sessions

Each session below picks from the exercises above for one situation, with the sets, reps, rest and RIR filled in. Open one in the session builder to change a pick, price it from a recent set, and add it to RIRLift.

Session 1

No equipment, 15 minutes

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts3× a week
  • Working sets39 a week
  • Per workout~20 min
  • EquipmentFlat Bench

You have no weights, a door frame and a chair, and want a short arm workout you can do in the living room.

The doorway curl is the only biceps exercise without gear, so it is paired with close-grip push-ups in a superset: one arm group rests while the other works. Chair dips and then floor dips follow, because the triceps is the larger muscle and handles more sets. Push-ups stop at 2 RIR so the curl that follows is not hurt by a tired body; curls and chair dips go to 1, and floor dips, the last and safest, to 0. It fits in about 15 minutes.

15-Minute Arms
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
A1 Close-Grip Push-UpKnees down when form breaks. 4 × 6–15 2 1 min
A2 Bodyweight Bicep CurlDoor frame. 4 × 8–15 1 1 min
Bench DipChair against the wall. 3 × 8–20 1 1 min
Floor Triceps DipHips hover. 2 × 12–25 0 45 s
How to run it
Do the session two or three times a week on non-consecutive days. Rest 60 seconds after each round of the superset, not between its two exercises.
How to progress
Add reps until each set hits the top of the range. Then make it harder: walk your feet closer on doorway curls, straighten your legs on dips, and slow every lowering to three seconds.
Open in the session builder

Session 2

One light pair of dumbbells, firmer arms

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts2× a week
  • Working sets24 a week
  • Per workout~15 min
  • EquipmentDumbbells

You own a pair of light to moderate dumbbells and want firmer, more defined arms, whether you are new to lifting or returning to it later in life.

Firmer arms come from more muscle under the skin, so the plan uses real sets close to failure rather than many light reps. Light dumbbells suit the overhead extension and kickback for the back of the arm and the curl and Zottman curl for the front. Each pair runs as a superset to keep the session to 20 minutes. RIR 1 to 2 is the target for anyone new; returning lifters can go to 1 on the last set. About 12 sets.

Arms Superset
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
A1 Seated Dumbbell Overhead Triceps ExtensionOne dumbbell, both hands. 3 × 10–15 2 1 min
A2 Dumbbell CurlElbows still. 3 × 10–15 2 1 min
B1 Triceps KickbackPer arm. Hold the lockout. 3 × 12–15 1 1 min
B2 Zottman CurlSlow on the way down. 3 × 10–15 1 1 min
How to run it
Twice a week, two or more days apart. Warm up with a set of 15 easy curls and extensions with no weight.
How to progress
Add reps until all sets reach 15 at the target RIR, then slow the lowering to three seconds. Once that is easy too, step up to the next dumbbell.
Open in the session builder

Session 3

Pull-up bar plus dumbbells, bigger arms

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts2× a week
  • Working sets24 a week
  • Per workout~25 min
  • EquipmentPull-Up Bar, Dumbbells, Kettlebells, Resistance Bands

You have a doorway bar, a few dumbbells or a kettlebell, and want to add arm size with two arm-focused days a week.

With a bar, chin-ups become the heavy biceps lift and close-grip push-ups the heavy triceps lift, each at 1 to 2 RIR with long rests. Then each session adds isolation work for the parts those miss: the overhead extension and skullcrusher for the long head of the triceps, the hammer curl for the brachialis. Isolation goes to 0 to 1 RIR. Day B finishes with a carry for grip. Roughly 12 sets per session, enough for growth when arms are the priority.

Day A
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Chin-Up1 warm-up set firstFull hang. 4 × 5–10 2 2:30 min
Close-Grip Push-UpElbows to ribs. 3 × 8–15 1 90 s
Hammer Curl 3 × 8–12 1 75 s
Seated Dumbbell Overhead Triceps ExtensionDeep stretch. 3 × 10–15 0 75 s

Open Day A in the session builder

Day B
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Dumbbell CurlOne arm at a time if needed. 3 × 8–12 1 75 s
Kettlebell SkullcrusherLie on the floor. 3 × 10–15 1 75 s
Band Hammer CurlHold the top. 3 × 15–20 0 1 min
Farmer's WalkSeconds, not reps. Heaviest dumbbells. 2 × 30–45 1 90 s

Open Day B in the session builder

How to run it
Alternate Day A and Day B, two days per week, or do both in one week alongside your other training on different days.
How to progress
On chin-ups and push-ups, add reps up to 12, then slow the lowering. On dumbbell work, add reps to the top of the range, then move up a weight.
Open in the session builder

Make it fit you

Questions

How many reps should I do for arm exercises?

Between 8 and 20 per set for most arm exercises, with each set ending 0 to 2 reps short of failure. Heavier moves like chin-ups and close-grip push-ups can go as low as 5; light isolation like kickbacks works best at 12 to 20.

Can I build arms at home without weights?

Yes. Close-grip push-ups and dips train the triceps, and doorway curls or chin-ups train the biceps. Make them harder as you get stronger by changing body position and slowing the lowering, and add a band or a single dumbbell when bodyweight gets too easy.

Can a 70 year old get rid of flabby arms?

Yes. Muscle responds to training at any age. Twice-weekly sessions of push-ups against a counter, floor dips and light curls, with gradually more reps or weight, build muscle under the skin. Losing body fat overall, through diet and activity, does the rest.

How do I slim my arms?

You cannot burn fat from one body part by training it. Overall fat loss slims the arms, and arm exercises add muscle so they look toned rather than just smaller. Train them two or three times a week alongside that.

How often should I train arms at home?

Two or three times a week with at least a day between sessions. Each session should have 3 to 6 hard sets per muscle.