3 Dimensional Arms

by John Izzo


What do large arms do for you? When you see an individual with 18 inch or 20 arms, what do you automatically assume? Do you assume that they train in a gym? Or maybe they are an athlete? Maybe you assume that are really strong? Society typically assumes all the aforementioned, while more specifically; women tend to find big arms as a feeling of added security, masculine, and downright sexy. Females with muscular arms tend to be looked at as strong-willed, health conscientious, and athletic.

Arms have always defined our character to a degree simply because they are allowed to be visible in public, and the size of our arms ultimately showcase our efforts in the gym.  How do they display our efforts in the gym? Visuals play a big role in society—especially in America. Therefore, it is important that if you want your efforts to be noticed, it is paramount that you learn how to maximize those efforts. Want big arms? Well, begin by forgetting curls and kickbacks for the moment.

Function of the Biceps and Triceps (Science)

The flexors of the elbow are the biceps brachii, brachialis, and brachioradialis. The muscles that act at the elbow joint produce the motion of flexion in the forearm. The ulnohumeral (elbow) joint is a hinge joint, which allows motion to only occur in the sagital (median) plane. The biceps brachii is comprised of two heads, the long (outer head) and the short (inner head). The biceps brachii is involved in flexion of the elbow as well as supination of the forearm. The long head originates on the supraglenoid tuberosity of the scapulae. The short head originates on the coracoid process of the scapulae. Both heads insert on the radial tuberosity and bicipital aponeurosis. The brachialis is also involved in flexion at the elbow. It originates on the anterior humerus and inserts at the ulna tuberosity and coronoid process of the ulna. The brachioradialis is also involved in flexion of the elbow. It originates on the lateral condyle of the humerus and inserts at the styloid process of the radius. Now that we have the basic functions of the muscles involved in elbow flexion we will discuss exercises that will optimize your biceps size.

Conventional Exercises for the Arms

History shows us that basic elbow flexion and extension exercises like the curl, concentration curl, hammer curl, and press-downs are great for isolating the biceps and triceps for hypertrophy needs. These exercises have long been staples in exercise programs since the early days of weight-training. However, we tend to overlook a couple of factors when training the biceps. Isolated elbow flexion is not the only means of developing massive arms—especially 3D arms. From what we understand, the long and short head of the biceps begin at the scapula. And the triceps’ longer head originates at the scapula also. This is important because it enables to think out side of the box when training arms. We have a gracious amount of liberty when understanding arm function and its relation to the scapula. The scapula is an irregular boney structure that houses many proximal tendonious structures--tendons that control many muscles including the back, shoulders, and arms. For programming purposes, we need to look at two key aspects in arm training:

1.) amount of elbow flexion and extension we perform relative to the goal and recovery time and
2.) involvement of the elbow flexors and extensors in other key exercises that include scapula movement.

Table 1: Most novice lifters begin with original elbow flexion exercises like the ones listed in the left column.

Through time, they begin to use variations as depicted in the right column.
Conventional Exercise for Biceps Variations of Elbow Flexion Exercises

• Curl
• Hammer Curls
• Reverse Curl
• Concentration Curl 
• Barbell Curl
• Dumbbell Curl
• Cable Curl
• Reverse Cable Curl
• Zottman Curls
• Standing Double Biceps Curl
• Rope Curls
• EZ Curls
• Preacher Curls
• 1-Arm Preacher Curls
• Cable Concentration Curls

Variations aside, the movement is still the same – Elbow flexion!

Table 2: Most novice lifters begin with original elbow extension exercises like the ones listed in the left column.

Through time, they begin to use variations as depicted in the right column.
Conventional Exercises for Triceps: Variations of Elbow Extension Exercises

• Pressdowns
• Skull-crushers
• Kickbacks • Straight Bar Pressdowns (also known as Pushdown)
• EZ Bar Pressdowns
• 1-Arm s Cable Pressdowns
• Dips
• Machine Dips
• Cable Kickbacks
• Straight Bar French Press
• EZ Bar French Press
• Overhead Rope Pushdowns
• Overhead bar Pushdowns
• Cable Kickbacks
• 1-Arm Overhead DB Extensions

Again, Variations aside, the movement is still the same – Elbow extension!

Many enthusiastic lifters usually become over-zealous in their arm training compared to other body parts simply for the mere belief that if some curls are good for size, than more must be better. However, in order to really put on size to the arms—a three dimensional look—we need to uncover the role of the brachialis and lateral head of the triceps specifically.

Brachialis & the Cubital Fossa

Three dimensional arms have a common characteristic. They are thick and massive. This is due to a very well developed brachialis. The brachialis (brachialis anticus) is a muscle in the upper arm that flexes the elbow joint. It lies just deep to biceps brachii, and is a more powerful flexor of the elbow. It makes up part of the “floor” of the region known as the cubital fossa. 

The cubital fossa is the triangular area on the anterior view of the elbow joint of the arm. This area, if the surrounding musculature is developed fully, gives an incredible “3D-effect” to the arms. Surrounding muscles involve the forearms (brachioradialis and flexor carpi ulnaris) and most notably the brachialis.

However, because the brachialis is a powerful elbow flexor, we will examine other exercises that will focus on muscular development in a region that is dominated by a 2-dimensional muscle (bi-ceps: 2 heads-short & long).

The Coracobrachialis

The coracobrachialis is a forgotten muscle. It is a small muscle that originates from the scapula and is responsible for drawing the humerus forward (shoulder flexion) and towards the torso (shoulder adduction). Although it is not an elbow flexor, it adds much mass to the upper arm once developed. Again, we are stressing circumference of the arm in order to bust out of our sleeve shirts, so a well-developed coracobrachialis is key in achieving this—not only for aesthetic purposes, but for pure mass and strength. Chins and pull-ups become superb exercises to help develop this muscle.

Table 3: Auxiliary exercises that help develop the brachialis
• Pull-ups
• Chins
• Neutral Grip Rows
• High Pulls
• Cable Rows
• Crossover DB Snatches
• Inverted Body Rows

Lateral Head of Triceps & Anconeus

The triceps accounts for approximately 70 percent of the upper arm's muscle mass. The triceps can be worked through either isolation elbow extension movements, contract statically to keep the arm straightened against resistance, or compound pressing movements. The lateral head, when developed, can increase arm size simply because the cubital fossa is located below it. Keep in mind the cubital fossa here…the lateral triceps head provides substantial mass to the upper arm when developed.  The anconeus muscle, when developed, also adds mass to a usually hard-to-develop area of the arm. The anconeus muscle is a small muscle on the posterior aspect of the elbow joint. Some consider the anconeus to be a continuation of the triceps brachii muscle, while others consider it part of the posterior compartment of the forearm.

The anconeus is located at a crucial area of the arm because the boney structures (radial tuberosity) do not support large musculature attachments. Therefore, it is a small muscle. However, it assists the triceps in extending the arm and stabilizes the elbow joint—two critical factors when weightlifting for size and strength. The joint action should not be limited to simply elbow extension when seeking three dimension arm development; but we should include secondary movements as our tools to develop these key areas.

The Forearm

Remember the cubittal fossa? The area that really gives your arms the “Popeye” look? Well, this area is further enhanced with the addition of well-developed brachioradialis and flexor carpi ulnaris/ radialis muscles of the forearm. These muscles are typically developed through the lack of using wrist straps and specific grip training. For the Average Joes out there, we will focus our efforts on negating from the use of wrist straps for upper body work.

Wrist straps

The invention of wrist straps (also known as lifting straps) became a god-send for those in the weight-lifting realms because it enabled big lifters to use big weight. It enables one to have a secure grip on the barbell during heavy sets of trap shrugs, deadlifts, and/ or farmer walks. Unfortunately, many lifters tend to use the wrist straps excessively for most exercises that particularly don’t need them. Exercises such as lat pulldowns, upright rows, barbell rows, and heck, I’ve even seen them during biceps curls! Ever wonder how the wrist straps work? According to Wikipedia, “The centripetal force is the external force required to make a body follow a circular path at constant speed (speed being the magnitude of velocity). Hence centripetal force is a force requirement, not a particular kind of force. Any force (gravitational, electromagnetic, etc.) can act as a centripetal force. The force is directed inward, toward the center of the circle or "oriented toward the axis of rotation. The centripetal force always acts perpendicular to the direction of motion of the body. In the case of an object that moves along a circular arc with a changing speed, the net force on the body may be decomposed into a perpendicular component that changes the direction of motion (the centripetal force), and a parallel, or tangential component, that changes the speed.” So the heavier the load on the bar becomes, the more force will be needed to hold it in place (in the hands). Internal tensile stress is the centripetal force that prevents the barbell from falling from your grasp.

Putting it Together

So what type of program can be put together to achieve well developed arms? As previously mentioned, forgetting about isolated curls and pressdowns as the chunk of your arm training. Unlearn these isolated movements and split routines for the time being and let’s focus our efforts on overall mass development. Remember, most young lifters perform too much isolated elbow flexion and extension leaving the arms with insufficient time to recover fully between workout sessions. This same population also begins to suffer from elbow problems and wrist pain within 6-8 months of beginning an unsupervised exercise program. Remember, it is important to note that integrating the arms with mass-developing exercises is key to developing 3 dimensional arms.
So the objective of this article is to use isolated arm work as secondary exercises and not primary, within the 3D Arm Program.

Table 5: The following exercises in the right column can substitute any of the isolated arm exercises listed. The key to a 3D Arm Program is to reduce isolated arm work to just (1) one for biceps and (1) one for triceps in each training session.

Isolated Elbow Flexion Replace with…
• Barbell Curl
• Dumbbell Curl
• Cable Curl
• Reverse Cable Curl
• Zottman Curls
• Standing Double Biceps Curl
• Rope Curls
• EZ Curls
• Preacher Curls
• 1-Arm Preacher Curls
• Cable Concentration Curls • Deadlifts
• Chin or Pulls
• Inverted Rows
• High Pulls
• Farmer Walks
• Crossover Snatches
• Lo to Hi Woodchops
• Lat Pulldown

Table 6: The following exercises in the right column can substitute any of the isolated arm exercises listed. The key to a 3D Arm Program is to reduce isolated arm work to just (1) one for biceps and (1) one for triceps in each training session.

Isolated Arm Extension Replace with…
• Straight Bar Pressdowns (also known as Pushdown)
• EZ Bar Pressdowns
• 1-Arm s Cable Pressdowns
• Dips
• Machine Dips
• Cable Kickbacks
• Straight Bar French Press
• EZ Bar French Press
• Overhead Rope Pushdowns
• Overhead bar Pushdowns
• Cable Kickbacks
• 1-Arm Overhead DB Extensions • Close Grip Bench Press
• Dips
• Snatch
• Standing Push Press
• Bodyweight Extensions Against Bar
• Windmill
• Overhead Squat
• Landmines
• AB Wheel Roll-outs

An example of a Total Body Workout that includes a 3D Arm Routine would be as follows:

Example of a Total Body Workout #1 Example of a Total Body Workout #2

Deadlift
5 x 6, 5, 4, 4, 2

Backwards Lunge
3 x 10, 10, 8

Lo to Hi Woodchop
3 x 10, 10, 8

Calf Raises
3 x15, 12, 10

Standing Chest Press on Cable
3 x 10, 10, 8

Barbell Curl
3 x10, 8, 8

Overhead Squat
2 x 10, 10

Overhead Rope Pressdowns
3 x 10, 8, 8

Exercises should stay in order as detailed, however, may be moved around to suit your needs. 

Pull ups
4 x 10, 8, 6, 6

Crossover DB Snatch
3 x10, 8, 6

Ab Wheel Roll-outs
3 x 12, 10, 8

Standing Push Press
3 x10, 8, 6

Landmines
3 x12, 10, 10

Rope Curls
3 x 10, 10, 8

DB Shrugs
3 x 10, 10, 10

Dips
3 x10, 10, 8

Exercises should stay in order as detailed, however, may be moved around to suit your needs.

Factors that May Affect Building 3D Arms

Lastly, building overall muscle mass, regardless of what area you would like to enhance depends on various factors. When training towards 3D arms, be sure to keep these factors in check:

Muscle maturation – giving muscles time to respond to training stress positively takes time…meaning years. Tendons and fasica become accustomed to regular training and as the body ages and matures, so does the ability to develop mass…pending number #2.

Nutrition – Following an optimal diet of complex carbs, protein, and healthy fats at tactful times of the day are important. Overall calorie consumption will make or break your mass expedition.

Rest/Recovery – the first step of this program is to recognize that arm work never “shuts off” when you are not performing isolated work. Evaluate the number of flexion and extension you perform in a given workout session and take into consideration rest between sets and load used.

Pronated/Supinated/Neutral Grip Exchange – Vary your grip from time to time on pulling exercises in order to stimulate growth throughout the upper arm.

Be good to your shoulders – Arm training is made possible by having healthy shoulders. This means that keep your shoulders happy and healthy. Scapula training should consist of mobility, stabilization, and strengthening. [END]