Ultimate Arm and Chest Workouts

Biceps:

• Barbell Curl: Stand with feet shoulder-width apart, grasp a barbell with an underhand grip, and curl the barbell towards your chest while keeping your elbows close to your body.
• Dumbbell Curl: Similar to the barbell curl but using dumbbells, allowing for greater range of motion and unilateral work.
• Hammer Curl: Hold dumbbells with a neutral grip (palms facing each other) and curl them up, targeting both the biceps and forearms.
• Preacher Curl: Using a preacher bench, curl a barbell or dumbbells, focusing on isolating the biceps.

Triceps:

• Tricep Dips: Using parallel bars, lower your body by bending your elbows until they’re at 90-degree angles, then push yourself back up.
• Tricep Extension (Skull Crushers): Lie on a bench with a barbell or dumbbells, lower the weight towards your forehead, then extend your arms back up.
• Tricep Pushdown: Using a cable machine with a rope or bar attachment, push the weight down by extending your arms, focusing on the triceps.
• Close-Grip Bench Press: Perform a bench press with hands closer together, targeting the triceps more than the chest.

Compound Movements:

• Bench Press: The classic exercise for building chest strength, performed lying on a bench and pushing a barbell or dumbbells away from the body.
• Incline Bench Press: Similar to the bench press, but performed on an incline bench, targeting the upper chest.
• Decline Bench Press: Performed on a decline bench, targeting the lower chest.

Isolation Exercises:

• Dumbbell Flyes: Lie on a flat bench with dumbbells, arms extended, and lower the weights out to the sides in a wide arc, then bring them back up.
• Cable Crossover: Using cable machines with handles set high, pull the handles down and together in front of you, crossing them at the bottom of the movement.
• Pec Deck Machine: Sit in a pec deck machine with elbows at 90-degree angles, push the handles together in front of you, squeezing the chest.
• Push-Ups: A bodyweight exercise that targets the chest, shoulders, and triceps, performed by pushing the body up and down from a prone position.

Biceps:

• Barbell Curl: This compound exercise primarily targets the biceps brachii muscle. Variations include wide-grip curls, narrow-grip curls, and EZ-bar curls.

• Dumbbell Curl: Allows for unilateral work, helping to address muscle imbalances. Variations include alternating curls, concentration curls, and preacher curls using a bench or incline bench for support.

• Hammer Curl: Targets not only the biceps but also the brachialis and brachioradialis muscles. Variations include alternating hammer curls and cross-body hammer curls.

• Preacher Curl: Provides strict isolation of the biceps by eliminating momentum. Variations include using dumbbells or an EZ-bar, and performing the exercise on a preacher bench or using a preacher curl machine.

Triceps:

• Tricep Dips: Can be performed using parallel bars, a dip station, or a bench. Variations include weighted dips and bench dips.

• Tricep Extension (Skull Crushers): Variations include using an EZ-bar, dumbbells, or a cable machine. Performing the exercise on an incline or decline bench changes the angle of the movement, emphasizing different portions of the triceps.

• Tricep Pushdown: Variations include using a straight bar, V-bar, or rope attachment. Changing hand position (overhand or underhand grip) alters the emphasis on different parts of the triceps.

• Close-Grip Bench Press: This compound exercise primarily targets the triceps but also engages the chest and shoulders. Variations include using different grip widths and performing the exercise on an incline or decline bench.

Compound Movements:

• Bench Press: Variations include flat bench press, incline bench press, decline bench press, and using dumbbells instead of a barbell. Grip width (wide, narrow, or neutral) can also be adjusted to target different areas of the chest.

• Incline Bench Press: Targets the upper chest (pectoralis major clavicular head) to a greater extent than the flat bench press. Variations include using different incline angles (30, 45, or 60 degrees).

• Decline Bench Press: Emphasizes the lower chest (pectoralis major sternal head) and may reduce shoulder strain compared to flat bench press. Variations include using different decline angles and using dumbbells instead of a barbell.

Isolation Exercises:

• Dumbbell Flyes: Variations include performing flyes on a flat bench, incline bench, or decline bench, and using different hand positions (palms facing each other or facing forward).

• Cable Crossover: Variations include adjusting the height of the pulleys, changing hand positions (overhand, underhand, or neutral grip), and performing the exercise unilaterally or bilaterally.

• Pec Deck Machine: Provides constant tension on the chest muscles throughout the range of motion. Variations include adjusting the seat height and grip width.

• Push-Ups: Variations include standard push-ups, wide-grip push-ups, narrow-grip push-ups, decline push-ups, and explosive push-ups (plyometric).