ABOUT OUR EXPERTS: Jenny Liebl, C.P.T., is an elite trainer and an ISSA<\/a> senior content developer. Rachel MacPherson, C.P.T., is a trainer and a pain-free performance specialist at Garage Gym Reviews<\/a>. Kim Yawitz<\/a>, R.D., is registered dietitian and owner of Two Six Fitness in St. Louis, Mo. Ryan Horton, is a C.S.C.S. trainer who spent two decades as a collegiate sports performance coach (most recently as the Director of Sports Science at Georgia Tech) and the owner of Horton Barbell<\/a>. Sergio Pedemnote, C.P.T., is a celebrity trainer and CEO of Your House Fitness<\/a>.<\/p>\n For instance, she says, how challenging the work you put in matters. Ideally, if you want to grow muscle, every set of exercise for that muscle or muscle group should bring you within 2 to 3 repetitions of failure\u2014meaning you only have 2 or 3 more repetitions in the tank when you end a set. This is known as “reps in reserve,” or RIR.\u00a0<\/p>\n “Your sets should be challenging and if they aren’t, you’re likely not pushing hard enough to force your arm muscles to grow,” Liebl says. “Most people have never truly reached failure during exercise\u2014nor do they really want to!\u2014so finding 2 to 3 RIR may be a challenge if you don’t push yourself.”<\/p>\n Looking to grow huge arms? Here’s more do’s and don’ts that will help you do just that, according to trainers.<\/p>\n Do:\u00a0 Change up your sets and reps Changing up your sets, reps and weights can challenge your muscles in different ways and help keep your arm workouts from feeling stale.<\/p>\n (sergey kolesnikov \/ Shutterstock)<\/p>\n The interesting thing about building muscle is that you can use any weight, any number of repetitions, and any number of sets you’d like as long as you’re reaching 2 to 3 RIR, Liebl says.<\/p>\n So, if you use a heavy weight for your biceps curls and can only get 6 reps and you do that for 3 sets, that can work, she says. But so, too, can doing a lighter weight that you can do 20 reps with for 3 sets.<\/p>\n “You most likely don’t want to lift heavy every time you train, so sometimes, using a lighter weight and more reps makes sense, too,” she says.<\/p>\n Do: Focus on your shoulders<\/p>\n To build big arms that look proportionate, full, and strong, you need to focus on working all the muscles of your arms, including your shoulders, says trainer Rachel MacPherson, C.P.T., pain-free performance specialist at Garage Gym Reviews<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n “Large shoulders also look much better when you develop your trap muscles, which are smaller muscles that sit on your upper back, above your shoulders,” MacPherson says.\u00a0<\/p>\n Her go-to exercises include upright rows, front raises, and face pulls will work your shoulders and your traps. Here’s some more moves for sculpted shoulders<\/a>.<\/p>\n Don’t: Forget to Work out Your Triceps Woman performing strength training exercise with cable machine.<\/p>\n (Studia72 via Getty Images)<\/p>\n A lot of times, lifters who want bigger arms go straight for the curls. But don’t forget the triceps are much bigger than the biceps so they need lots of attention, MacPherson says.<\/p>\n “A lot of people focus on the biceps because those are the muscles that you are taught to flex when you’re showing off your arms,” she says.\u00a0<\/p>\n But the triceps are actually a much larger portion of your upper arms then your biceps are, MacPherson points out, taking up about two-thirds of your upper arms.<\/p>\n To work on your triceps, she recommends performing at least one movement per week that works the long head of the triceps and one that works the short head.\u00a0<\/p>\n The long head is the portion of your tricep that sits on the inner part of your arm and is also the largest part of the tricep, she explains. Exercises like the JM press, a close grip bench press, overhead triceps extensions, skull crushers, and kickbacks are particularly effective, MacPherson says.<\/p>\n The lateral head (which some also call the short head) will also be hit when you perform push downs and dips.\u00a0<\/p>\n “It sits on the outside of the upper arm and has a curved appearance that can make your arms look more muscular,” she says.<\/p>\n Do: Get Enough Protein Aim to get about 0.7 grams of protein per pound of body weight daily if you’re trying to build bigger arms.<\/p>\n (OksanaKiian via Getty Images)<\/p>\n If you want to build bigger arms, you need to get enough calories and eat plenty of protein, says Kim Yawitz<\/a>, RD, owner of Two Six Fitness in St. Louis, Mo.\u00a0<\/p>\n A good starting point for bigger arms is 0.7 grams of protein per pound of body weight daily, she says.\u00a0<\/p>\n “You may find it difficult to gain muscle mass eating less than that,<\/a> but protein intakes much higher than that can also make it more difficult to get enough calories<\/a> for muscle growth,” she says.<\/p>\n Of course, eating more protein won’t hurt if you don’t feel particularly full after high-protein meals, but, she says, it might not provide any additional benefit<\/a>, according to research published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.\u00a0<\/p>\n Do: emphasize compound movements<\/p>\n When you’re focusing on growing your arms, your first thoughts may be to curls and triceps pushdowns, says Ryan Horton, a C.S.C.S. trainer who spent two decades as a collegiate sports performance coach and is the owner of Horton Barbell<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n While those exercises will help build muscle, if you truly want to add mass to your arms you need to emphasize compound movements in your program, Horton says. Compound movements are exercises that workouts multiple muscle groups\u2014think squats, deadlifts, bent over rows whereas isolation movements like curls and pushdowns only focus on one muscle group, he explains.\u00a0<\/p>\n That’s to say that exercises like bench press and bent over rows will allow you to move a lot more weight than isolation exercises, which means more mass. “Don’t be fooled that those exercises are just chest or back exercises, the arms are putting in a ton of work as well,” Horton says.<\/p>\n Don’t: Skip arm day Trainers recommend targeting the arm muscles at least two to three times a week.<\/p>\n (FatCamera via Getty Images)<\/p>\n A common mistake people make is not working the arm muscles frequently enough to see significant gains, says Sergio Pedemnote, C.P.T. and CEO of Your House Fitness<\/a>. It’s a misconception to work on arms just once a week and expect growth.\u00a0<\/p>\n His advice: Target the arm muscles at least two to three times a week (but preferably three) while also having rest days in between to allow muscle fibers to recover. Focus on a repetition range of 8 to 20, with a rest period of 30 seconds to 2 minutes between sets, he says.<\/p>\n![\"Woman](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/https:\/\/d29szjachogqwa.cloudfront.net\/images\/user-uploaded\/building-bigger-arms_5988.jpg\"\/)
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