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Exercises

Machine exercises for arms: curls, extensions, dips and pressdowns

Published October 29, 2026

The best machine exercises for arms are the preacher curl, cable curl, overhead cable curl and twisting cable curl for your biceps; the triceps extension machine, triceps dip machine, cable pressdown, overhead cable extension and cable kickback for your triceps; and the cable wrist extension for your forearms. Pick two biceps and two triceps exercises, do 3 sets of 8 to 15 reps each at 0 to 2 reps in reserve, and train arms twice a week. Include one curl and one extension done with your arms overhead or in front of your body, so each muscle also works from its stretched position.

  1. Machine Preacher Curl Biceps
  2. Cable Curl Biceps
  3. Machine Triceps Extension Triceps
  4. Machine Triceps Dip Triceps
  5. Cable Triceps Pressdown Triceps
  6. Overhead Cable Triceps Extension Triceps
  7. Overhead Cable Curl Biceps

Biceps machines and cable curls

Your biceps bend the elbow and turn the palm up. The preacher curl locks your upper arm on a pad so nothing else can help, the cable curl keeps tension even at the top where a dumbbell goes light, and the overhead and twisting curls train the biceps in positions a standard curl never reaches.

Biceps, cable preacher curl

Machine Preacher Curl

Biceps

The preacher pad holds your upper arm still while a low pulley does the loading, so you cannot swing the weight or lean back, and your biceps work hardest at the bottom where they are stretched. It is the curl most people can take closest to failure with clean reps.

How to do it

  1. Set a preacher bench in front of a low pulley and clip a straight bar on.
  2. Sit with the back of your upper arms flat on the pad and take the bar palms up.
  3. Curl the bar toward your chin, keeping your arms on the pad.
  4. Let it return until your arms are nearly straight and repeat.

Cues

  • Arms flat on the pad
  • Squeeze at the top
  • Slow return

Common mistakes

  • Sitting so far from the pulley that the cable pulls you forward: move the bench close enough that you stay seated.
  • Rounding your shoulders to help the curl: keep your chest up against the pad.

Swap for: Preacher Curl, Cable Curl, Concentration Curl

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Biceps, standing cable curl

Cable Curl

Biceps

The cable keeps pulling at the top of the curl, the point where a dumbbell gets easy, so the whole rep is work. Every gym has a low pulley, which makes it the easiest curl to fit into any session.

How to do it

  1. Attach a bar to a low pulley and grip it palms up.
  2. Stand close and curl the bar toward your chest.
  3. Lower until your arms are straight, keeping tension on the cable.

Cues

  • Elbows pinned
  • Straight arms at the bottom

Common mistakes

  • Stepping too far from the stack: stand close so the cable pulls straight up.

Swap for: EZ-Bar Curl, Dumbbell Curl, Band Hammer Curl

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Biceps, curl with arms raised

Overhead Cable Curl

Biceps

With your arms raised out to the sides, the biceps start each rep from a different position than a standard curl, and the peak squeeze is hard to cheat. It is a good second biceps exercise once the cable curl or preacher curl is in place.

How to do it

  1. Stand centered between two high pulleys, one handle per hand, palms up.
  2. Lift your arms wide until they are level with your shoulders.
  3. Bend your elbows to bring the handles toward your ears without dropping your upper arms.
  4. Straighten your arms back out against the cables and repeat.

Cues

  • Upper arms stay level
  • Handles toward your ears
  • Slow return

Common mistakes

  • Letting your elbows sink as you tire: keep them level or end the set.
  • Pulling with your shoulders and chest: keep your torso still and bend only at the elbows.

Swap for: Cable Curl, Bayesian Cable Curl, Incline Dumbbell Curl

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Biceps and forearms, rotating curl

Cable Twisting Curl

Biceps

Turning your palm up as you curl trains both jobs of the biceps, bending the elbow and rotating the forearm. Using one handle at a time also lets you match reps between a stronger and a weaker arm.

How to do it

  1. Attach a single handle to a low pulley and hold it in one hand with your palm facing in.
  2. Stand side-on or facing the pulley, elbow by your side, arm straight.
  3. Curl the handle up and rotate your hand so your palm faces the ceiling as you finish.
  4. Untwist back to a neutral grip as you lower to a straight arm, then repeat and switch sides.

Cues

  • Turn the pinky up at the top
  • Elbow stays put
  • One arm, full focus

Common mistakes

  • Rushing the twist at the very end: start rotating early and finish it as your forearm reaches vertical.
  • Swinging the body to finish reps: a single handle is light work, so pick a stack weight you can control.

Swap for: Cable Curl, Overhead Cable Curl, Incline Dumbbell Curl

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Triceps machines for heavy pressing

The triceps are the larger of the two upper-arm muscles, so they decide much of how big your arms look. The dip machine lets you press heavy with all three heads of the triceps working, and the extension machine isolates them on a fixed arc you can take right to failure.

Triceps and chest, seated dip

Machine Triceps Dip

Triceps

The seated dip machine gives you the heavy pressing of a bodyweight dip without hanging between bars or having to lift your whole body. It is the heaviest triceps exercise on this page, so it opens any session where triceps are a priority.

How to do it

  1. Sit on the machine and set the handles beside your lower ribs.
  2. Take the handles with your chest up and elbows pointing back.
  3. Press down until your arms are straight.
  4. Let the handles rise until your elbows are at about 90 degrees, then press again.

Cues

  • Elbows point behind you
  • Hips stay on the seat
  • Full lockout

Common mistakes

  • Elbows flaring out: keep them tucked so the triceps does the work.
  • Coming off the seat to move the stack: lower the pin.

Swap for: Bench Dip, Close-Grip Bench Press, Machine Triceps Extension

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Triceps, machine isolation

Machine Triceps Extension

Triceps

Your upper arms rest on the pad and your elbows line up with the pivot, so the triceps do every rep on a fixed path with nothing to balance. Small weight jumps on the stack make steady progress easy to see.

How to do it

  1. Adjust the seat so your upper arms rest flat on the pad and your elbows line up with the machine's pivot.
  2. Grip the handles and sit tall with your back against the backrest.
  3. Straighten your elbows until your arms are locked out, then pause.
  4. Bend your elbows slowly back to the start, stopping before the weight stack touches down.

Cues

  • Elbows on the pivot
  • Pause at lockout
  • Shoulders down, back on the pad

Common mistakes

  • Seat set too high or too low, so the pad digs into your elbows: move it until the pivot sits next to your elbow joint.
  • Short, bouncy reps near the start: open the elbows all the way until you feel the triceps stretch.

Swap for: Machine Triceps Dip, Cable Triceps Pressdown, JM Press

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Cable triceps work from every angle

The cable lets you change the arm angle without changing the machine. Pressdowns train the triceps with your arms at your sides, the overhead extension trains the long head under its biggest stretch, and the kickback hits them hardest with the elbow fully straight.

Triceps, cable pressdown

Cable Triceps Pressdown

Triceps

The pressdown is the simplest triceps exercise in the gym and one of the easiest on the elbows. Keeping your elbows pinned to your sides makes the triceps do all the work, and it is a reliable finisher after heavier presses.

How to do it

  1. Attach a bar or rope to a high pulley and grip it with your elbows at your sides.
  2. Push down until your elbows are straight.
  3. Let the handle rise until your forearms are just past parallel, then push again.

Cues

  • Elbows stay pinned
  • Lock out at the bottom

Common mistakes

  • Letting the elbows rise and flare: keep them glued to your sides.

Swap for: Cable Cross Pushdown, Overhead Cable Triceps Extension, Close-Grip Push-Up

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Triceps long head, overhead extension

Overhead Cable Triceps Extension

Triceps

With your arms overhead, the long head of the triceps is stretched further than in any pressdown. That long head is the biggest part of the triceps, so one overhead exercise per week adds size where the pressdown cannot.

How to do it

  1. Attach a rope to a high pulley, take an end in each hand and turn away from the machine.
  2. Step forward into a split stance with your hands behind your head and elbows pointing forward.
  3. Extend your elbows until your arms are straight out in front of your head.
  4. Let your hands return behind your head for a full stretch.

Cues

  • Upper arms stay high
  • Long stretch every rep
  • Brace your trunk

Common mistakes

  • Bringing your elbows down to push: keep them up and still.
  • Shortening the stretch as the set gets hard: reduce the weight instead.

Swap for: Seated Dumbbell Overhead Triceps Extension, EZ-Bar Skullcrusher, Kettlebell Overhead Triceps Extension

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Triceps, one-arm cable kickback

Cable Triceps Kickback

Triceps

The cable pulls from the front, so the triceps stay loaded even with your elbow fully straight, where a dumbbell kickback goes light. Working one arm at a time makes it a good last exercise when you want to finish the triceps without heavy loads.

How to do it

  1. Set a pulley low, grip the handle with one hand, and hinge forward with a flat back.
  2. Raise your upper arm until it is about parallel to the floor, elbow by your side and bent to roughly a right angle.
  3. Straighten your arm back until it is fully locked.
  4. Let the forearm swing back down slowly without moving the upper arm.

Cues

  • Upper arm stays parallel to the floor
  • Lock the elbow, then pause
  • Hinge, don't stand up

Common mistakes

  • Swinging the upper arm to move the weight: lighten the pin until only the elbow moves.
  • Standing too upright: the cable then pulls along the arm instead of against it.

Swap for: Cable Triceps Pressdown, Cable Cross Pushdown, Overhead Cable Triceps Extension

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Forearms

Curls train the muscles that bend your wrist, but almost nothing in an arm workout trains the ones on the back of the forearm. Two sets of cable wrist extensions at the end of an arm day cover them.

Forearm extensors, wrist extension

Cable Wrist Extension

Forearms

Holding a bar palms down and lifting only your wrists trains the back of the forearm, which curls and pressdowns leave out. Two light sets are enough, and the steady cable makes it smoother than a dumbbell version.

How to do it

  1. Attach a short bar to the low pulley and hold it palms-down.
  2. Rest your forearms on your thighs or a bench so only your wrists can move, hands hanging past the edge.
  3. Raise the backs of your hands toward you as far as the wrist allows.
  4. Lower slowly until your knuckles point down, then repeat.

Cues

  • Forearms stay flat
  • Lift with the knuckles
  • Small weight, many reps

Common mistakes

  • Bending the elbows to help: keep the forearms pinned and lighten the pin.
  • Bouncing at the bottom: lower slowly through the full stretch.

Swap for: Cable Twisting Curl, Cable Curl, Reverse-Grip Lat Pulldown

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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.

Session 1

Starting out, arms after your main workout

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts2× a week
  • Working sets12 a week
  • Per workout~10 min
  • EquipmentPreacher Curl Machine, Triceps Machine, Adjustable Cable

You are in your first months in the gym, you do full-body or upper-body sessions, and you want to add arm machines at the end without making the session much longer.

Two exercises per day, 6 sets in about 12 minutes, adds 6 direct biceps and 6 direct triceps sets a week on top of the rows and presses you already do. At 2 reps in reserve you learn each machine with full, controlled reps.

Finisher A
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Machine Preacher Curl 3 × 10–12 2 75 s
Machine Triceps Extension 3 × 10–12 2 75 s

Open Finisher A in the session builder

Finisher B
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Cable Curl 3 × 10–12 2 75 s
Cable Triceps Pressdown 3 × 10–12 2 75 s

Open Finisher B in the session builder

How to run it
Add Finisher A at the end of your first session of the week and Finisher B at the end of your second. Rest 60 to 90 seconds between sets so you stay on schedule.
How to progress
Once all three sets of a machine hit 12 reps with 2 still in the tank, put the pin one plate lower next session. Expect slow jumps on arm machines; a single plate is often a big step, so add reps for longer before moving up.
Open in the session builder

Session 2

Bigger arms, a dedicated arm day plus a second dose

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts2× a week
  • Working sets25 a week
  • Per workout~25 min
  • EquipmentDip Machine, Preacher Curl Machine, Adjustable Cable, Cable Crossover +1

You have trained for a while, your arms lag behind your chest and back, and you are willing to give them their own day plus a short second session.

The arm day is 17 sets and the second session 8, so the biceps get 10 direct sets a week and the triceps 13, on top of your pulling and pressing. Each muscle is trained once with the arm overhead or in front of the body for the stretch and once with heavier loads, and the paired supersets keep the long day near 50 minutes.

Arm day
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Machine Triceps Dip1 warm-up set first 4 × 6–10 1 2 min
Machine Preacher Curl 4 × 8–12 1 90 s
A1 Overhead Cable Triceps Extension 3 × 10–15 1 1 min
A2 Overhead Cable Curl 3 × 10–15 1 1 min
Cable Triceps KickbackPer arm. 3 × 12–15 0 1 min

Open Arm day in the session builder

Second arm session
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
A1 Cable Twisting CurlPer arm. 3 × 10–12 0 1 min
A2 Machine Triceps Extension 3 × 10–12 0 1 min
Cable Wrist Extension 2 × 15–20 1 1 min

Open Second arm session in the session builder

How to run it
Do the arm day on its own day, or after a light leg session. Add the second session to the end of an upper-body or pull day three or four days later.
How to progress
Double progression with the supersets: when both exercises in a pair reach the top of the range at the target reps in reserve, add weight to both next time. If the dip machine stalls, add one set rather than more weight for two weeks.
Open in the session builder

Session 3

Elbows that ache on heavy curls and extensions

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts2× a week
  • Working sets18 a week
  • Per workout~20 min
  • EquipmentAdjustable Cable

Heavy curls, skull crushers or dips leave your elbows sore, and you still want to train your arms twice a week.

Every exercise here is a cable or a selectorized machine on a smooth path, loaded for 12 to 20 reps at 2 reps in reserve, so the elbow never takes a grinding heavy rep. Nine sets per session, twice a week, still gives the biceps 10 direct sets and the triceps 8.

Light-load arm session
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Cable Curl 3 × 12–20 2 1 min
Cable Triceps Pressdown 3 × 12–20 2 1 min
Cable Twisting CurlPer arm. 2 × 12–15 2 1 min
Cable Triceps KickbackPer arm. 1 × 15–20 2 1 min
How to run it
Do the session twice a week after your upper-body work, with at least two days between. Use a rope or a slightly angled bar on the pressdown, whichever your elbows like better, and keep it the same each week.
How to progress
Add reps before weight. When all sets reach 20 at 2 reps in reserve, add the smallest weight step and drop back to 12 to 15 reps. If one exercise still aches, swap it for its partner on this page rather than pushing through.
Open in the session builder

Make it fit you

Questions

What are the arm machines at the gym?

The preacher curl machine and the biceps curl machine for biceps, the triceps extension machine and the seated dip machine for triceps, and the cable machine, which does curls, pressdowns, overhead extensions and kickbacks. The assisted dip and chin-up machine also works your arms along with your chest and back.

Are 4 exercises enough for arm day?

Yes. Two biceps and two triceps exercises at 3 to 4 sets each is 12 to 16 sets, enough for an arm day. Choose one exercise per muscle that trains it stretched, like the overhead extension, and one you can load heavy, like the dip machine.

What is the 7 7 7 bicep exercise?

It is the curl method usually called 21s: 7 reps through the bottom half of the curl, 7 through the top half, then 7 full reps, with no rest between. It suits the cable or preacher curl here. Count it as one set and use less weight than your normal 10-rep load.

Can you build big arms using only machines?

Yes. Your arms grow from hard sets close to failure with more weight or reps over time, and machines and cables make that easy to track. Many lifters with big arms rely on cables and machines for most of their arm work.

How many sets per week should I do for arms?

About 8 to 15 direct sets per week each for biceps and triceps, on top of your rows and presses. Beginners grow well at 6 to 8; if your arms lag, aim for the higher end split across two sessions.

How much rest between arm sets?

60 to 90 seconds for curls, pressdowns and extensions, and up to 2 minutes for the dip machine. If you superset biceps with triceps, rest after each pair rather than after each exercise.