The best workout for arms: biceps, triceps and forearms together
Published October 12, 2026
The best workout for arms trains biceps, triceps and forearms in the same session: a heavy press or curl first, an overhead triceps extension and an incline curl for the stretch, and a hammer curl or wrist exercise for the forearms. Give biceps and triceps about 8 to 10 direct hard sets a week each, on top of your pressing and pulling, mostly 6 to 20 reps, stopping 0 to 2 reps short of failure. Short on time? Pair each curl with a triceps exercise as a superset.
EquipmentBarbells, Flat Bench, EZ Bar, Adjustable Cable +2
You train in a gym on a split with a dedicated arm day, and you want biceps, triceps and forearms covered in one session.
A whole arm day lets you start with a heavy press and a heavy curl while you are fresh, then move to the stretch-focused lifts: the Incline Dumbbell Curl for the biceps and the Overhead Cable Triceps Extension, which grew the triceps more than the same extension done with the arms at your sides. Straight sets keep each lift heavy. That is 8 sets each for biceps and triceps (counting Hammer Curls as biceps) plus 2 for the forearms, on top of the pressing and pulling from your other days.
Run it once a week, at least two days after your back or pull day so your biceps are fresh. Drop any curls or pushdowns you already do on other days.
How to progress
Double progression: when every set of an exercise reaches the top of its rep range at the target RIR, add the smallest weight jump next week and build the reps back up. On the close-grip bench, add weight once all three sets hit 10.
You can spare a short block at the end of two workouts a week and want your arms to keep growing without a separate arm day.
Each biceps exercise is paired with a triceps exercise and done back to back, so one muscle recovers while the other works. Pairs like this have built about the same muscle as regular sets in less time, and opposing pairs let you keep your reps up. Everything stays at one cable station plus a pair of dumbbells, so you never wait for a second machine. Over two sessions you get 10 sets each for biceps and triceps (counting Hammer Curls as biceps) and 4 for the forearms.
Quick Arms
Exercise
Sets × reps
RIR
Rest
A1Cable Curl1 warm-up set firstGo straight into the pressdown
Add it to the end of two upper-body or full-body workouts, or do it on its own, on non-consecutive days. Do the two exercises in a pair back to back, rest 60 seconds, and repeat for the listed rounds.
How to progress
Add one rep per set each week until you reach the top of the range at 1 RIR, then move up one pin on the stack. Keep the rest between rounds at 60 seconds; a shorter rest is not progress.
You are in your first months of lifting, train at home with a pair of adjustable dumbbells, and want stronger, more defined arms.
In your first months almost any hard set builds muscle, so this plan starts at 4 sets each for biceps and triceps per session (8 a week each) and stops 2 reps short of failure while you learn how each lift should feel. Higher reps fit light home dumbbells: lighter loads build about as much muscle as heavy ones when the set ends close to failure. Straight sets let you settle into each exercise before you start pairing them.
Arms at Home
Exercise
Sets × reps
RIR
Rest
Dumbbell Curl1 warm-up set firstTurn your palms up as you curl
Do the same workout twice a week with at least one rest day between, on its own or after your other home training.
How to progress
Add a rep each session until every set reaches the top of its range at 2 RIR, then use the next dumbbell up. After about eight weeks of steady progress, add a third set to the curls and the overhead extension.
Start with the lift you can load heaviest, the Close-Grip Bench Press, then the EZ-Bar Curl, while you are fresh. Move to the stretch lifts next, then finish with the exercises you can safely push closest to failure: pressdowns, hammer curls and wrist work. Schedule arm day at least two days after back day so your biceps are not already tired.
Biceps and triceps do opposite jobs, so you can pair them: curl, go straight into a triceps exercise, rest, repeat. Opposing pairs like this have built about the same muscle as regular sets in less time. Keep both exercises at one station, like a cable curl and a pressdown, so the switch takes seconds.
With one pair of dumbbells you can train all three arm muscles: Dumbbell Curls and Hammer Curls for the front, a Seated Dumbbell Overhead Triceps Extension and Close-Grip Push-Ups for the back, and Reverse Wrist Curls for the forearm. When the dumbbells get light, use higher reps and finish each set closer to failure. Add a rep before you add weight.
Start with 2 sets per exercise, twice a week, and stop each set when you could do 2 more good reps. That is 8 sets a week each for biceps and triceps, enough to grow in your first months. Add reps before weight, and add a third set only once progress slows.
It is the one triceps exercise you can load heavy, and it lets you start arm day with real weight while you are fresh. The narrower grip shifts more of the press onto the triceps than a regular bench press.
How to do it
Lie on a flat bench with your eyes under the bar and grip it with your hands just inside shoulder width.
Plant your feet, squeeze your shoulder blades together and unrack the bar over your shoulders.
Lower the bar to your lower chest with your elbows tucked about 30 to 45 degrees from your sides.
Press back up until your arms are straight, keeping the bar over your lower chest.
Cues
Elbows tucked, not flared
Touch low chest
Wrists stacked over elbows
Common mistakes
Gripping so narrow that your hands touch. It strains the wrists without adding triceps work; keep your hands about a fist inside shoulder width.
Bouncing the bar off your chest. Touch lightly and press, so the triceps do the lifting.
Swap for: JM Press, Dumbbell Floor Press, Machine Triceps Dip
Heavy biceps curl
EZ-Bar Curl
Biceps
The bar lets both arms lift more weight than any dumbbell curl, and the angled grip spares your wrists. Put it early on arm day, while your grip is still fresh.
How to do it
Stand with your feet hip-width apart and take the bar on the angled grips, palms up, arms straight.
Brace your stomach and keep your upper arms against your sides.
Curl until the bar reaches upper-chest height, moving only at the elbows.
Lower for about two seconds until your arms are fully straight.
Cues
Upper arms still
Ribs down
Straight arms between reps
Common mistakes
Rocking back to start each rep. Use 10 percent less weight and keep your hips still.
Cutting the bottom short as the set gets hard. A rep only counts if the arms straighten.
Swap for: Barbell Curl, Cable Curl, Preacher Curl
Biceps at long length
Incline Dumbbell Curl
Biceps
Leaning back puts your arms behind your body, so every rep starts with the biceps stretched. It covers the part of the range a standing curl skips.
How to do it
Set a bench to about 45 to 60 degrees and sit with your back and shoulders flat on the pad.
Let the dumbbells hang straight down with your palms facing forward.
Curl both dumbbells without letting your elbows move forward.
Lower slowly all the way to straight arms before the next rep.
Cues
Shoulders stay on the pad
Elbows stay back
Full stretch at the bottom
Common mistakes
Swinging the elbows forward to finish reps. Choose a lighter pair and keep the arms hanging.
Sitting too upright. If you feel no stretch, drop the bench one notch.
Swap for: Spider Curl, Cable Curl, Dumbbell Curl
Triceps long head, overhead
Overhead Cable Triceps Extension
Triceps
With your arms overhead the long head of the triceps works from a stretched position. In a 12-week study, overhead extensions grew the triceps substantially more than the same exercise done with the arms down.
How to do it
Set a rope on the cable at about chest height and face away from the machine.
Take the rope over your head and step forward into a split stance, leaning slightly forward.
Start with your elbows bent and the rope behind your head, upper arms close to your ears.
Straighten your arms until they point forward and up, then let the rope travel back behind your head.
Cues
Elbows point forward
Deep stretch behind the head
Only the forearms move
Common mistakes
Letting the elbows flare wide. Keep them about shoulder-width so the triceps stay loaded.
Turning it into a press by moving your upper arms. Freeze the upper arms and go lighter.
The pressdown is stable and simple, so you can take it to failure safely. It finishes the triceps after the heavier press and overhead work, and pairs naturally with a cable curl at the same station.
How to do it
Attach a straight bar or rope to the high pulley and grip it with your elbows bent at your sides.
Lean forward slightly from the hips and brace.
Push the handle down until your arms are fully straight.
Let it rise until your forearms pass horizontal, keeping your elbows in place.
Cues
Elbows glued to your ribs
Lock out every rep
Control the way up
Common mistakes
Letting the elbows drift forward on the way up, which turns it into a press with your chest. Pin them and go lighter.
Leaning your bodyweight on the bar. Stand tall enough that the arms do the work.
The neutral grip puts the brachialis and brachioradialis to work alongside the biceps, so one exercise thickens the upper arm and the top of the forearm. That makes it the bridge between your biceps and forearm work.
How to do it
Stand with a dumbbell in each hand at your sides, palms facing your thighs.
Keep your thumbs up and curl both dumbbells toward your shoulders.
Stop when your forearms are just past horizontal.
Lower to straight arms under control.
Cues
Thumbs to the ceiling
Wrists straight
No swinging
Common mistakes
Letting the wrists bend under a heavy weight. Squeeze the handles hard or use a lighter pair.
Swinging the dumbbells behind your hips between reps. Pause with straight arms at your sides.
Curls and grip already work the inside of the forearm. The top of the forearm gets little direct work, and this is the simplest way to train it with one pair of dumbbells.
How to do it
Sit with your forearms resting on your thighs, palms facing down, wrists just past your knees.
Let your hands lower until your knuckles point toward the floor.
Lift the backs of your hands as high as they go, moving only at the wrists.
Lower slowly back to the start.
Cues
Forearms stay on your thighs
Move only the wrists
Slow down, slow up
Common mistakes
Using a weight so heavy your forearms lift off your thighs. Go lighter; this muscle is small.
Bouncing at the bottom. Pause briefly before each lift.
Turning the palm up as you curl uses both jobs of the biceps, bending the elbow and rotating the forearm. With dumbbells only, it is the curl you build the rest of the plan around.
How to do it
Stand with a dumbbell in each hand, arms straight, palms facing your thighs.
Curl both dumbbells, rotating your palms up as they pass your hips.
Stop at shoulder height with your elbows still at your sides.
Lower slowly, turning the palms back in at the bottom.
Cues
Palms up early
Elbows stay at your sides
Lower slower than you lift
Common mistakes
Leaning back to lift a pair that is too heavy. Pick the weight you can curl standing tall.
Stopping before your arms straighten. Finish each rep at the bottom.
It is the press you can do anywhere, and the narrow hand position puts more of the work on the triceps. Raise your hands to make it easier or add a pause to make it harder.
How to do it
Set your hands under your shoulders, a little narrower than a regular push-up, fingers forward.
Brace so your body is one straight line from head to heels.
Lower your chest toward your hands, elbows brushing your sides.
Push back up until your arms are straight.
Cues
Elbows brush your ribs
Body in one line
Chest to the floor
Common mistakes
Letting the hips sag. Squeeze your glutes and stomach, or put your hands on a table.
Flaring the elbows out. Keep them tucked so the triceps do the pushing.
Split the full-gym arm day into two shorter sessions: the heavy press, the EZ-bar curl and the wrist work on one day, the stretch lifts and finishers on the other. Keep the total sets the same. Twice a week works at least as well as once at equal volume, so pick whichever fits your week.
Turn the arm day into supersets
If the full-gym arm day runs long, pair the overhead extension with the incline curl and the pressdown with the hammer curls. Keep the close-grip bench and EZ-bar curl as straight sets so they stay heavy.
Elbows sore on extensions
Swap the overhead extension for more pressdown sets in the 15 to 25 rep range and lower each rep for two seconds. If curls bother your elbows, use hammer curls in their place for a few weeks.
Forearms lagging
Add a second forearm exercise, like Wrist Curls or Reverse Curls, for 2 sets at the end of each session. For a full forearm plan, use the forearm workout linked below.
Questions
What is the best workout for arms?
One that trains biceps, triceps and forearms with a heavy lift, a stretched-position lift and a finisher for each, for about 8 to 10 direct hard sets per muscle a week on top of your pressing and pulling. Pick the plan above that matches your gym and your schedule, log each set and add reps or weight every week.
Is one arm day a week enough?
Yes, if it has enough hard sets. With weekly sets equal, training a muscle twice a week builds at least as much as once, but not reliably more. If one long arm day leaves you flat by the last exercise, split it into two shorter sessions.
Can you train biceps and triceps together?
Yes. They do opposite jobs at the elbow, so you can pair them as supersets, rest after each pair, and keep your reps up. Opposing supersets have produced about the same muscle growth as regular sets in less time.
Is a short arm workout enough?
It can be, if the sets are hard. The superset plan above fits about 5 sets per muscle into each short session by pairing biceps and triceps, and twice a week that adds up to 10 sets each. Rest between rounds, not between every exercise.
Is 4 exercises enough for arms?
Yes. Two to three exercises per muscle covers it: a heavier lift, one in the stretched position, and an easy-to-push finisher. Adding more exercises without more hard sets does not add more growth.
Do rows and presses build your arms enough?
Not fully. In one study of untrained men, the arm that did curls grew more than the arm that only did rows. Keep your rows and presses, and add direct arm work like the plans above.
What muscle makes up most of your arm?
The triceps covers the whole back of your upper arm and has three heads, so it is the bigger target. That is why every plan here gives the triceps at least as many hard sets as the biceps.
What is the most effective way to tone arms?
Toned arms are arms with more muscle you can see, so train them like this page says: hard sets that end close to failure. Light dumbbells for higher reps work about as well as heavy weights when you take the set close to failure, so the home plan works for toning too.
