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#MassiveArms
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00:00If you want to grow your twigs into thick, defined arms, you've come to the right place.
00:05After cutting out all the fluff and focusing on just two sides-backed exercises,
00:10my arms grew bigger and fuller than they ever have. But don't just take my word for it. I asked
00:15the top natural bodybuilders and muscle growth researchers the same question. If you could only
00:21pick one biceps exercise and one triceps exercise, what would you pick? And they all pointed to the
00:28same two weird exercises I've been using. So like most people, I started in the gym with just
00:33standard bicep curls. And I'm not going to lie, they did the job. But after I passed my newbie
00:38gains phase, my arms became a lot harder to grow. And that's when I started learning more about the
00:43potential downsides of regular curls. They challenge your biceps mostly in the middle position when your
00:50arm is flexed. But this is a similar type of challenge your biceps already get from back
00:54exercises like rows and pull-ups, which also tend to be most difficult when your arm is in that same
01:00position. Plus, because the biceps cross all the way over the shoulder, exercises like dumbbell curls
01:06don't stretch your biceps as much as they could be by exercises where your arms stay behind you,
01:12which at least based on research for other muscle groups, seems to be a powerful way to stimulate more
01:17growth. But to discover the best exercise for your biceps, scientists from a brand new 2025 study
01:24ran an exercise comparison. They split participants into two groups. One group did only incline curls
01:30for eight weeks, whereas the other group did preacher curls. Now, although both these exercises
01:35work the biceps, the challenge that they place on them is actually very different. During incline curls,
01:41your arms hang behind your body, providing an even greater stretch on the biceps. But the exercise
01:47is still hardest right around the middle, just like regular curls. With preacher curls, however,
01:52your arm is placed in front of your body, so the biceps aren't stretched as much. But unlike the
01:58incline curls, this setup now challenges your biceps much more at the bottom position when your arm is
02:04almost fully extended. So with the study design, the researchers wanted to find out what causes more
02:10growth. An exercise that focuses more on stretching the biceps or an exercise that focuses more on
02:17challenging the biceps than most at the bottom, when the bicep is still quite stretched, but just not
02:22stretched quite as much as it is during incline curls. And the results were confusing. Incline curls
02:29led to more growth in the upper part of the arm, but preacher curls led to more growth in the
02:34lower
02:34part of the arm. Another study that's yet to be released tested the exact same thing, but using MRI for
02:40more accurate measurement. And they got similar results. So what does this mean? Well, theoretically,
02:47to maximize growth in all parts of your biceps, you'd want an exercise where the challenge is
02:53hardest at the bottom, just like they are with preacher curls, but without the arm held in front
02:58of the body, so the biceps are more stretched. Which leads me to the weird exercise most of the fitness
03:04experts I spoke to recommended, starting with pro natural bodybuilder and elite coach Alberto Nunez.
03:11So for me personally, I really like those preacher curl benches or tables that are really wide,
03:19where I can lean back and have my humerus and slight, it's not full shoulder extension, but they're
03:26right at about my midline and basically perform a curl like this. Daniel Plotkin, one of the science
03:32advisors for us at Built with Science, has designed and published several muscle growth studies and
03:37explains why this exercise is so effective. I'm going to have to go with a reverse preacher curl,
03:42it covers a lot of bases that wouldn't be covered with those compound back movements,
03:46where the exercises are typically hardest in the mid to shorten position.
03:50So by lying back on a preacher curl bench, your biceps are still challenged near the bottom,
03:55just like they would be during a normal preacher curl, but your arms are positioned in more of a stretch
04:00because they aren't held in front of the body. Plus, it comes with another unique benefit that
04:06most dumbbell curls miss out on. And I found it very beneficial to just have something on my arm
04:11when I'm curling. I really like the stability aspect of it. When you think about it, like,
04:16you know, arms, like, it can move all over the place. That's something people forget is like,
04:20the bigger you get, probably the more strict form you need, because it's very easy for you to use your
04:25own body weight to contaminate an exercise. However, Dr. Mike, PhD researcher and competitive
04:31bodybuilder, actually recommended an even weirder exercise that still applies a similar concept.
04:37Flat bench dumbbell curl really puts that tension at the maximum stretch and length and position of
04:42the muscles. It has that same feel for your biceps that stiff-legged deadlifts done properly have for
04:48your hamstrings. You know what I'm talking about? Like they're getting a hold apart with maximum tension
04:51at the stretch. There's just no replacement for that. Once you try it, it's like the crystal of
04:56champagne of bicep exercises. You're like, f*** all the rest of this. Now I will admit, this is quite
05:01the weird looking exercise, and even I was skeptical at first. Now even though pumps and soreness aren't
05:06everything, I'm not gonna lie, after I tried this exercise for the first time, it gave me the biggest
05:11pump and post-workout soreness I have ever had. Holy s***. That's insane. So much so that it's easily
05:20become one of my current favorites. But, the downside of this version is that they do lack
05:25the stability that the preacher bench provides. And supporting your arms in this free held position
05:30can place a lot of demand on your front delts. So an easy fix I've been recommended by biomechanics
05:36expert Coach Kassem is to position yourself sideways so that your arms are now supported by the bench.
05:42You might lose a bit of the stretch on the biceps, but it does make up for it with the
05:46extra stability,
05:47which I personally find makes this exercise a lot more comfortable. But, use caution. Both of these
05:53still require good amounts of shoulder mobility, and they will take some time to get used to.
05:58So don't force it if it feels off, and start light. I can do regular curls with 55 pounds,
06:04but for these, I'm using max 30 pounds. But, because not everyone will have a preacher
06:09curl bench or feel comfortable doing the lion dumbbell curls, there's a third option with cables.
06:14Now, I have shown this in past videos, but you set up the cables to about wrist height,
06:19and then curl with your arms held behind your body. While these do lack the arm support you get
06:24from using a bench, you still take the boxes in terms of the stretch and the resistance challenge.
06:29Now, all three exercises are very similar in terms of what they're doing to the biceps. So pick the one
06:35that best suits what equipment you have available, but also feels really good on your joints. But even with
06:40the best bicep exercise, they only contribute to about one third of your arm size. The other two
06:46thirds? Triceps. And unfortunately, most people use exercises that don't allow this muscle to reach
06:53their full potential, like pushdowns, close grip presses, or dips. But these exercises seem to mostly
07:00work just two parts of the triceps. The lateral head and medial head, which would beef up the triceps from
07:06the front and side. But the third head, the long head, is actually the biggest part of the triceps,
07:11and beefs them up from the back and hangs down when you flex your arms. So, what's the better
07:16exercise to grow all three of these areas? Luckily, scientists from a 2022 paper designed an experiment
07:23to find the answer. For 12 weeks, they had subjects perform overhead extensions with one arm and pushdowns
07:29with the other arm. Now, because the long head crosses over the shoulders, whenever you do a triceps
07:34exercise with your arm overhead, this muscle gets stretched, which, as you know by now,
07:39in certain muscles, seems to boost growth. But surprisingly, all three heads grew more with the
07:45overhead extensions, resulting in 1.4 times overall triceps growth than the pushdowns. Now,
07:51we don't yet know why exactly the other two heads grew more, and we could definitely use another study
07:55to confirm these findings, but the researchers used MRI, which is the gold standard of measurement,
08:00so the study is strong. And this is also why every single expert I spoke to chose the overhead
08:06extension as their number one triceps exercise. For triceps, personally, I just like the overhead
08:12tricep extension with a rope. Very easy for me. I would say easy bar standing or seated behind the neck
08:23tricep extensions are amazing. If you're already doing pressing for your chest, you're doing the motion for
08:28your triceps that has the other angles built in anyway. You might as well go overhead to get all
08:32those awesome benefits. If I had to choose one, I'd go with an overhead tricep extension with a cable,
08:37usually with my hand wrapped through the D handle and my elbow propped up. It's one of the few exercises
08:42that feels really good on my elbow, especially in that overhead position, and it checks a lot of boxes,
08:48so hardest in the length in position puts the long head of the tricep in a length in position, so
08:54can't go wrong. But what you may have noticed is that each expert I spoke to preferred a different
08:59variation. Why? I think this is where most people find their elbow issues over time. Very few people
09:06after the age of 30 do you see like skull crushing like the 45. But you know, we've all done
09:10that,
09:11but like, and when you see a young man doing it, you're like, okay, you probably got five more years
09:14of that, and you're gonna be joining me over here in the cables. So especially with triceps,
09:18just like pick the movement that you just feel like it's just custom made for you. So even though
09:23Dr. Mike loves the bar overhead extensions, my body structure finds it extremely uncomfortable
09:29because it locks my hands into a fixed position. I've actually injured myself a couple times trying
09:34to force it. My personal favorite right now is either Daniel's single arm recommendation with cables
09:38because it feels easiest on my joints, or even something as simple as a standing single arm dumbbell
09:45overhead extension, because it's just really easy to set up and doesn't rely on a cable machine
09:49being available. But try out the different variations and what you're looking for is the
09:53one where you feel very little to no pain in your elbows or shoulders as you do it, yet feel
09:59a great
09:59pump in your triceps after you finish your set. But whichever variation you do end up choosing,
10:04here's the key. If you're using cables, bump up the cable to about hip height and stand close to the
10:09cable so that the challenge is hardest closer to the bottom when the muscle is stretched. For the dumbbell
10:13version, keep your upper arm locked straight up and down. Don't allow it to bend too much as you get
10:19tired. And on all the variations, don't stop halfway. Get as deep a stretch in the triceps as possible
10:25by letting your hand come down behind your neck as far as it can. But now the important part,
10:29how do you actually implement these exercises into your routine? Well, first off, it's not like all
10:35other arm exercises are useless, but these are likely going to give you the most bang for your buck.
10:40So make sure they're somewhere in your current routine by doing them for three sets of 10 to 15
10:46reps at least one to two times per week. And the good news is that with my new app,
10:50Built with Science Plus, all of this programming is taken care of for you. We carefully select each
10:56exercise in your routine based not only on what's been proven to be most effective,
11:00but also based on what suits your specific body best and what equipment you have available to you.
11:06Plus, after you start your workout program, it coaches you every single week,
11:10telling you exactly how much weight and how many reps to do based on how you've been progressing.
11:15And the same goes with your nutrition and tracking your body weight. It's honestly the only fitness
11:20app you need. You can try two weeks free at BuiltWithScience.com and see the difference for
11:25yourself. And then give this video a watch next to learn about the two best exercises to grow your
11:30shoulders. Thank you so much for watching. Hope you're good for one. I'll see you next time.
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