The Best Exercises for Building Arm Muscle and Burning Fat

1. Is it Difficult to Build Arm Muscle? Why?

Each of our arms consists of 24 muscles, allowing for fluid movement. The main muscle groups you engage when training the upper body include:

• Biceps: This is the large muscle located in the front compartment of the upper arm. It helps facilitate flexible movement of the elbow and forearm.
• Forearm Extensors: These muscles are situated in the back compartment of the forearm. They assist in extending the wrist and fingers comfortably.
• Forearm Flexors: These muscles are located in the front compartment of the forearm. They help flex your wrist and fingers.
• Triceps: This is the large muscle in the back compartment of the upper arm. The triceps have three heads, enabling the extension and flexion of the elbow and shoulder.

Thus, it can be seen that each arm has many muscles, making it not difficult to build arm muscle. However, to effectively increase arm muscle, you need good and suitable arm exercises combined with a proper nutrition plan to accelerate muscle growth and fat burning.

2. What Are the Best Exercises for Building Arm Muscle?

As mentioned above, to build arm muscle, especially for women, it's important to have the right arm-strengthening exercises. Below are some of the best arm exercises and detailed instructions on how to perform them perfectly.

Bicep Curls with Dumbbell

How to Perform:

• Sit at the end of a flat bench with your legs spread in a V shape.
• Grasp a dumbbell with one hand and lean slightly forward.
• With your palm facing inward, place your elbow on the inside of your thigh.
• Stabilize by placing your other hand or elbow on the other thigh.
• While keeping your upper body still, lift the dumbbell towards your shoulder.
• As you lift, slightly rotate your wrist to finish the curl with your palm facing your shoulder.
• Pause for a moment to feel the tension in your biceps, then slowly lower the dumbbell. However, do not place the dumbbell on the floor until the last repetition.
• Repeat 12 to 15 times, then switch arms.

This is one of the most effective bicep exercises as it isolates the bicep more than any other exercise.

Barbell Curl

How to Perform:

• Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart.
• Take a barbell with a grip wider than shoulder-width, holding it with your arms at your sides and palms facing outward.
• While exhaling, slowly lift the barbell towards your chest. Keep your chest stable and use only your arms to lift the barbell.
• Hold the position for a second, then slowly lower the barbell back to the starting position.
• Repeat 12 to 15 times.

This is the best exercise for your biceps. During your workout, you can add more weight to the barbell; however, ensure that the weight is appropriate. You can also replace the barbell with two smaller dumbbells, which can be useful for women aiming to build arm muscle.

Triangle Push-Ups

How to Perform:

• Get into a traditional push-up position with only your toes and hands touching the floor.
• Place your hands beneath your chest, with your index fingers and thumbs touching to form a triangle shape between your hands.
• While keeping your body and legs straight, slowly lower your body until your nose is close to your hands.
• Push your body back to the starting position, being careful not to arch your back or let your body sag.
• Repeat 12 to 15 times.

If this is too difficult at first, try performing the triangle push-up with your knees on the ground while keeping your body straight.

According to research, the triangle push-up is identified as one of the most effective exercises for training the triceps. Therefore, be persistent in your practice to effectively build your triceps.

Tricep Push-Ups

How to Perform:

• Hold a dumbbell in each hand, adjusting so that your palms face inward, and slightly bend your knees. Rotate your waist forward, keeping your back straight and your core engaged until your upper body is nearly parallel to the floor.
• Keep your arms close to your sides, bending your elbows to lift the dumbbells along one side of your chest.
• Slowly extend your forearms, keeping your upper arms stationary. Hold for a second, then bend your elbows back to the starting position, close to your chest.
• Repeat 12 to 15 times.
• If doing this one arm at a time, rest for a minute before switching arms and repeating.

This tricep push-up exercise is very similar to triangle push-ups in effectively training your triceps.

Overhead Dumbbell Extension for Triceps

How to Perform:

• When raising both hands overhead, you should only use one dumbbell. Start with a lighter weight and progress to a heavier weight as you become accustomed to the exercise.
• Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, one foot slightly in front of the other for balance. This exercise can also be done while seated on a bench.
• Raise the dumbbell overhead, ensuring your arms are straight.
• Slowly bend your elbows at a 90-degree angle so that the dumbbell ends up behind your head.
• Gradually straighten your arms to return the weight overhead.

The goal of this exercise is to help develop your triceps.

3. Tips for Training to Build Muscle

To effectively and sustainably increase arm muscle, you should keep the following in mind during your training:

• Exercises targeting the biceps and triceps are essential for building larger arms. Aim to train these muscles at least two to three times a week and strive to perform more repetitions with each exercise as you build your muscle strength.
• When starting out, you should lift lighter weights and gradually increase the weight until you reach a maximum that you can handle. You should train with a weight that you can manage for about 5 serious repetitions before lowering the repetitions for arm exercises. Aim for 8–10 repetitions on one side (one arm at a time), keeping your elbow close to your body, back straight, and avoiding any swinging movements.
• Along with targeted exercises, it’s important to follow a nutrition plan rich in complex carbohydrates, proteins, and healthy fats, while also including enough calories to fuel your workouts.

In summary, to effectively and sustainably build arm muscle, you need to focus on doing arm exercises regularly. Maintaining a scientific training and eating regimen will not only help increase arm muscle but also effectively develop other muscle groups in your body.

Sources: healthline.com - menshealth.com