Many people wonder how to get bigger arms fast. If that’s the question on your mind, look no further. I’m not a movie star with a personal trainer and a limitless budget. So, if you want real and proven techniques to get bigger arms, I’ve got a lot of great tips for you.
First, it’s important to take a quick look at the three main muscle groups in your arms.
What Are the Main Muscle Groups in Your Arms?
Before I teach you how to get bigger arms fast, it’s good to take a second and learn about the anatomy of this part of the body.
Trust me, I’ll make it quick. Reading this section will give you an understanding of how to train the right way and how so many people mess this up.
Biceps
This is the classic “show-off” muscle. With that said, there’s a lot of misinformation out there about how much pull your biceps have in helping you get bigger arms fast.
You don’t want to be someone who only does biceps exercises in an effort to get larger arms. Your bicep is about the size of a baseball.
Instead of only worrying about training your biceps, train all of the muscles in your upper arms. In the long run, you’ll gain much more muscle mass than someone obsessively just training their biceps muscles.
Triceps
If you want to know how to bigger arms, it’s time to start focusing on your triceps. As shocking as it might sound, your triceps are about three times larger than your bicep.
Considering that, you’ll want to spend serious time and effort training this part of your arms to see fast muscle gains.
Since triceps make up so much of your upper arm, training these muscles with triceps exercises usually pays off in a big way.
Forearms
The forearms are often forgotten about by most weightlifters, but they shouldn’t be. Make sure to include a few forearms workouts into your plan.
You’ll be amazed at how fast the muscles in your forearms begin growing. In most cases, people that start training this muscle group notice faster gains than when they train their biceps and triceps.
Another reason to not skip out on forearm training is to not have huge upper arms and skinny lower arms. Plus, training your forearms gives you stronger arms overall than if you only train your biceps and triceps.
How to Get Stronger and Bigger Arms: Exercises
As mentioned earlier, you need to spend lots of time working out your triceps, biceps and forearms to start getting bigger arms quickly.
Fortunately, I’ve got the best exercises for training arms to get bigger. After a few months of these exercises, you’ll never wonder how to get your arms bigger.
Close Grip Bench Press
This exercise is a lot like a traditional bench press. The only difference is you keep your hands parallel to your sides. Just like a bench press, you’ll bring the weight back up. It’s a great way to build up your triceps and a great way to bulk up.
Since this is a compound lift, it’s not only your triceps that will be moving the barbell. Your chest muscles also provide you with some help.
With other muscles helping your triceps carry the weight, this exercise can build lots of muscle mass on your triceps insanely fast. After over 10 years of training, this exercise is still my favorite way to build bigger arm muscles.
How to Do the Close Grip Bench Press
- Load up your barbell with a manageable weight (nothing too heavy).
- Your starting position will be to lay down on your bench and extend your hands up to the bar so that they’re parallel to your sides.
- Tightly grip the bar and control it as it slowly lowers to your chest.
- With your arms parallel to your chest, raise the bar (making sure to keep your arms straight).
- Repeat steps 1 through 4 each rep.
Overhead Tricep Extensions
When you perform them carefully, overhead tricep extensions can be a game-changer. If someone wants to know how to get bigger arms fast, I recommend this exercise. To do the overhead tricep extension, you’ll take a dumbbell in your hand and slowly move the hand holding your dumbbell behind your head.
Your tricep should now be facing the wall and parallel with the front of your face.
Next, slowly bring your arm with weight in hand as straight as you can get it. After setting your arm back behind your head and getting your arms straight, that’s one rep.
How to Do This Exercise
- Start by standing with your arms shoulder width apart.
- With a dumbbell in one of your hands, slowly raise your arm until it’s in an L-shape behind your back. Only perform this exercise one arm at a time.
- Now, slowly bend your arm upwards behind your head until the arm is fully straightened.
- Bring your arm back down to complete the rep.
21s – The Secret for How to Get Bigger Arms Fast
Let me start by saying that 21s are NOT for beginners. 21s are grueling exercises that are recommended for people who’ve been lifting for a while and have hit a strength plateau.
However, if you’re able to handle it, 21s are great ways to build your arms. This exercise consists of three types of curls for seven reps each, totaling to (as the name implies) 21 reps.
During each of your movements, it’s imperative to keep your elbows tucked to your sides and not spread out wide.
I recommend definitely consider a pre-workout supplement before you start your 21s. Here’s a list of popular caffeine-free pre-workout products.
How to Do 21s (If You’re Brave)
- First, you’re going to need either a barbell or an EZ curl bar. I prefer using the latter for 21s, but it’s totally up to you.
- Next, pick up the barbell with your arms shoulder width apart from each other. You’ll want your palms facing away from your body.
- Lift the barbell from your sides up to the midway point of a full bicep curl for seven reps.
- Next, take the barbell and move it from the mid-point to a full curl for seven reps.
- Finally, if you’re able, you’ll now need to do seven full bicep curls with the barbell.
Chin-Ups
I’m also a huge fan of body weight exercises, including chin-ups. Because you’re moving the entire weight of your body instead of a dumbbell or barbell, it’s much better for muscle building purposes.
Chin-ups are one of a few arm exercises that works out the big three muscles: your biceps, triceps, and forearms.
If you’re going to be doing these bodyweight moves at home, please don’t buy a cheap “As Seen on TV” chin-up bar. There’s way too many videos of people getting hurt using them.
Instead of buying that, I’d recommend shelling out about $150 for a high-quality and SAFER professional strength chin-up machine.
How to Do Chin-Ups
- Your starting position will be standing up under a chin-up machine.
- Instead of using an overhand grip, you’ll want an underhand grip on the chin-up machine or bar you’re using.
- Next, pull yourself up until your chin is able to go over the bar. As you’ll find out, this is much easier said than done.
Dips
If you need a great way to workout your upper arms, doing dips can help you out. What I love about dips is that they’re simple to do. Plus, you can do dips almost anywhere.
Correct form here is a must. If not, you’re going to feel the pain in your shoulders. While a good set of dips won’t be painless, the only real place you should feel soreness is in your triceps. Even then, the soreness should be a minimal amount and never painful.
How to Do Dips
- Your starting position will be to have your arms behind your shoulders.
- Lean forward slightly and slowly lower yourself to a level where you’re able to pull yourself back up.
How to Get Bigger Arms Fast – 8 Proven Tips
Another essential aspect of learning building bigger arms fast doesn’t happen while you’re working out. Instead, it’s what you do outside of the gym (and in the kitchen) that helps your muscle grow.
Here are a few recommendations to try out to help you learn how to get bigger arm fast.
1. Start Eating More Protein
You don’t need me to explain the in’s and out’s of why it’s important to have protein. However, if you’re not getting bigger arms as fast as you want, it’s probably because you’re not consuming enough protein. No matter what you read about how to get bigger arms, most people will mention protein. There’s a reason for that – protein is what muscles are made from.
If you find that meeting your caloric requirements is difficult, try ordering a few protein powders and using these as ways to get more protein into your diet.
2. Consume Your Calories in Liquid Form
If you’re struggling to gain muscle size around your arms, it could be because you’re not eating enough. When I was in my mid early-20s, I had an extremely difficult time building muscle beyond a certain point.
As mentioned previously, protein or weight gaining shakes are great ways to start adding more size onto your frame.
My advice: Avoid the expensive store-bought weight gainers and make your own with a combination of protein powder, peanut butter, oats, and fruits. Get creative and have fun!
3. How to Get Bigger Arms Fast? Reps Over Weight
When it comes to lifting weights, you can either choose to lift more reps with lower weights or low reps with high weights. Both of these styles have their advantages.
But, if you’re wanting to get bigger arms, it’s time to lift weights you can safely lift for 8-12 reps.
It might not seem like you’re not doing enough, especially if you’re used to lifting heavy. However, I promise you that major results will come if you stick to this type of lifting for a few weeks or months.
4. Start a Full-Body Training Program
I get it. You’re probably like most people who are only worried about how to get bigger arms fast. That was why I first started lifting weights.
After wasting a few months only working out my arms, a friend (who was in much better shape than me) told me the mistakes I was making.
After this, I started a full-body training program and never looked back. When you’re bench pressing, you’re still working out your triceps.
Feel like working out your back with some rows? Great, the pulling motions you’re doing are working out your biceps.
5. Eat More
It’s so easy to assume that everything about how to get bigger arms fast happens in a gym. Instead of focusing on that, you need to make sure you’re consuming enough calories throughout the day.
Many people think they’re eating enough because they go by when they feel full. Unfortunately, this isn’t an accurate way to track how many calories you’re consuming. Instead, download one of many free calorie intake apps.
It takes a little effort to track your calories, but I promise you, it’s solves about 80% of people’s problems regarding why they can’t gain muscle.
You might also consider trying out a weight gainer supplement for a few weeks. These supplements can be beneficial while trying to get bigger arms because they’re high in calories and protein.
6. Avoid Overtraining Your Muscles
Many people (including a lot of beginning weightlifters) think that lifting more often means faster muscle growth. This isn’t true. Your muscles need enough time to repair after you work them out.
7. Track Your Progress
Another mistake that I committed during my first year of lifting weights was not tracking my weightlifting results. Tracking how much you’re lifting and how many reps you do it for might seem complicated. But it’s the best way to determine where your training is lacking and how to fix it.
Learning how to properly get bigger arms combined when progress tracking are an unbeatable combination.
8. Consider Having Blood Work Done
This tip mainly applies if you’re learning how to get bigger arms fast in your 30s or 40s. Around these ages, your testosterone levels can drop sharply. However, it’s sometimes hard for someone to know this is happening to them. For help determining your testosterone levels, you’ll need to have blood work performed.
This can sound a little scary, but don’t worry. You can get blood work performed in a short time at most medical facilities. Best of all, it’s fairly inexpensive. With this type of test, you can find if you have low testosterone.
Workout Equipment for Getting Bigger Arms Fast at Home
We’ve looked at many a biceps and triceps workout. Now, it’s time to discuss the equipment you can use to build your new set of huge arms at home.
If you’re interested in setting up your own home gym, I recommend the following products based on personal use and overall reviews from other people.
1. Bowflex SelectTech 552 Adjustable Dumbbell
If you want to learn how to get bigger arms you need a good set of dumbbells. There’s just one problem, you’d typically need many sets of weights and dumbbells to really start building muscle.
Fortunately, you won’t have to deal with those problems and expenses with the Bowflex SelectTech 522 Adjustable Dumbbell.
Each of these dumbbells adjust from five to 52.5 pounds, giving you low weight for more repetitions or the maximum amount if you need heavier weight.
With many sets of dumbbells costing $35 or more, you’ll save a ton of money getting a set of adjustable dumbbells.
You can buy one adjustable dumbbell on Amazon for $199 or a set of two for $399.
2. PASYOU Adjustable Weight Bench
Another great thing to have is either a flat bench or an incline bench. With the PASYOU Adjustable Weight Bench, you get both.
This weight bench supports up to 500 lbs, which is great for anyone that wants to lift heavier weights.
3. Sportsroyals Power Tower Dip Station
For bigger arm size, I definitely recommend doing dips and chin-ups. However, these exercises aren’t easy for people to do at home.
Unless you have the Sportsroyals Power Tower Dip Station. I actually picked this machine up during this year’s Black Friday sales and love it.
You can perform multiple targeted exercises with this machine, all of which can help you build larger biceps, triceps, and forearms.
I hope you this information helped you learn how to get bigger arms fast. Is building bigger arms the easiest thing in the world? No. But putting in the time and work is absolutely worth it. Follow my advice and your arms will be busting out of your t-shirt in no time.
We also recently published a piece that answers the most common questions about squats.