Compound Exercise Workout for Strong, Massive Arms

How big are your arms? Regardless of the actual measurement, your answer will probably be “not big enough!” Your arms may have even stopped growing altogether, which, for a bodybuilder, is incredibly frustrating.

While you could just do more curls and pushdowns and hope your arms start growing again, that’s probably not going to happen.

That’s because there is a limit to how much weight you can use in most arm exercises. After all, curls, kickbacks, etc., are isolation exercises, which means they involve movement at just one joint. Isolation exercises are usually all but impossible with very heavy weights.

In contrast, compound exercises allow you to lift far more weight. For example, you can probably lat pulldown much more than you can biceps curl. While some of that weight is borne by other muscles, a lot of it ends up on your arms, and that’s a very good thing.

More weight means more mechanical tension, which is often the missing link in many arm-building workouts.

So, if you’re stuck in an arm-training rut, maybe it’s time to move away from biceps and triceps isolation exercises and start doing more arm-specific compound exercises. Better yet, try our compound exercise arm workout and get your triceps and biceps growing again.

Compound Exercise Arm Workout

While you could just drop the isolation exercises from your training schedule and spend a little more time benching and rowing, you’ll get better results if you modify your upper body workouts to make them more arm-centric.

Do this workout once or twice a week as part of a split routine.

But, before you start, make sure you spend a few minutes warming up and preparing your body for what you are about to do. Begin with a few minutes of easy cardio followed by some dynamic mobility and flexibility exercises for the joints and muscles you’re about to use.

Ready? Then let’s begin!

AMRAP = As Many Reps as Possible; just rep out to failure.

Exercise Instructions  

You’ll get more from this workout if you do each exercise with a near-perfect form. Cheating might mean you can use more weight or do more reps, but only by taking stress off the target muscles and increasing your risk of injury. So, follow these instructions to get the best results from this workout while minimizing aches and pains.

1a. Supinated Chin-up

Chin-ups are one of the best back exercises you can do, but they’re also a superb biceps builder. When you do chin-ups, your hands are supinated, which puts your biceps in a strong position, so you should be able to crank out plenty of reps. Despite appearances to the contrary, chin-ups are very similar to barbell curls.

The only real difference is that, instead of curling a bar up to your shoulders, you curl your shoulders up to the bar.

How to do it:

1. Hold the bar with a supinated or underhand grip. Your hands should be slightly less than shoulder-width apart. Hang down from the bar with your arms straight. Brace your core and pull your shoulders down and back.
2. Without swinging or kicking your legs, bend your arms and pull your chin up and over the bar.
3. Descend under control and repeat.
4. Do as many reps as you can (AMRAP), and then move straight to the next exercise.

1b. Triceps Dip

If you want to build a bigger chest, especially the lower pecs, dips are tough to beat. However, they’re also an excellent triceps exercise. There are two ways to do dips – one that emphasizes the pecs and another that emphasizes the triceps. Needless to say, it’s the latter you need for this workout.

How to do it:

1. Use dipping bars that are no wider than shoulder-width apart. A wider grip will increase chest activation.
2. Place your hands on the bars with your palms turned inward. Support your weight on straight arms. Push your shoulders down and back.
3. Let your legs hang down below you and keep your torso as upright as possible. Some foreword lean is unavoidable and expected, but try to keep it to a minimum.
4. Bend your arms and descend until your elbows are bent to around 90-degrees or more. Tuck your arms in and imagine you are pointing your elbows behind you.
5. Push yourself upward, extending your arms fully but not entirely locking your elbows. Pause here for 1-2 seconds to really challenge your triceps.
6. Descend and repeat.

Related: Chest dips vs. Triceps dips – what’s the difference?

2a. Narrow Grip Yates Row

The Yates row is named after six-time Mr. Olympia winner Dorian Yates. The Shadow, as he was known, was famed for his huge back, which Yates attributed to his use of this signature exercise. That said, the Yates row is also an effective biceps exercise, as it allows you to work your arms hard and heavy without compromising your lower back.

How to do it:

1. Hold a barbell with a supinated (underhand) less than shoulder-width grip. Use lifting straps if you are going really heavy. You can deadlift the bar from the floor to get into position or, a better choice, place the bar in a power rack or on blocks and lift it from mid-thigh height.
2. Pull your shoulders down and back, brace your core, stand with your feet roughly hip-width apart, and bend your knees slightly.
3. Without rounding your lower back, hinge forward from the hips. Lean forward until your torso is angled to around 45-degrees. The bar should be just above knee height.
4. Bend your arms and pull the bar up and into your upper abdomen/sternum. Tuck your elbows in as you pull.
5. Squeeze your shoulders back and together briefly, then lower the bar, maintaining your core tension and neutral spine.
6. Pause at the bottom of the rep to briefly stretch your upper back and then repeat.

2b. Close Grip Floor Press

Floor presses are often viewed as the poor man’s bench press. Done with a barbell or dumbbells, this exercise is popular with banged-up bodybuilders and powerlifters as it’s surprisingly easy on the shoulder joints. However, this is not just a chest exercise; it’s good for your triceps too. Pausing with your upper arms on the floor and using a narrow grip make this exercise even more effective.

How to do it:

1. Set up a squat rack so that the J-hooks are set to about knee height. Place a barbell on the hooks.
2. Lie down on the floor so that your eyes are directly beneath the bar. Bend your legs and place your feet on the floor or straighten your legs as preferred.
3. Grip the bar with an overhand, slightly narrower than shoulder-width grip. Pull your shoulders back and down and press your upper back into the floor. This will increase shoulder stability.
4. Unrack the bar and hold the weight with your arms straight. Inhale, bend your arms, and lower the bar down until the back of your upper arms lightly touch the floor. Pause for 1-2 seconds.
5. Without bouncing, forcefully extend your arms and push the weight back up to arms’ length. Continue until you have completed all the required reps. On completion, carefully re-rack the bar.

3a. Supinated Inverted Row

Chin-ups aren’t the only bodyweight compound exercise that can help you build bigger biceps; you can also do supinated inverted rows. The main advantage of this exercise is that you’ll be lifting a smaller percentage of your body weight, so it’s the ideal move for near the end of your compound arms workout. Rep out to failure and chase that pump!

How to do it:

1. Set the bar in a squat rack or Smith machine to around waist height. Sit below the bar and hold it with an underhand, shoulder-width grip. Lean back, straighten your arms, and lift your hips off the floor, so your feet, knees, hips, and shoulders form a line. Pull your shoulders down and back and brace your abs.
2. Bend your arms and pull your chest up to the bar.
3. Descend under control and repeat.
4. Do as many reps as you can, and then immediately move to the next exercise.

3b. Diamond Push-ups

All types of push-ups (and there are a lot of them!) involve your triceps, but this variation is the most triceps-centric. Like inverted rows, it’s not a super-intense exercise, but because your triceps should be tired, it provides an excellent way to finish your compound arms workout.

How to do it:

1. Kneel down and place your hands on the floor so that your thumbs and first fingers form a diamond shape. Walk your feet back, so your body is straight. Brace your core.
2. Bend your elbows and lower your chest down to the backs of your hands. Keep your upper arms tucked in close to your sides.
3. Extend your arms and push yourself back up and into the starting position.
4. Continue until you are unable to do any more reps.

4. Hammer Curl & Press

Your final exercise works your biceps, triceps, and deltoids. While the biceps portion of this move is not a compound exercise, the overhead press is.

For this exercise, pick a weight you can use for about 8-10 reps. Then, crank out 40 reps in total in as few sets as possible. Rest no more than 30 seconds between efforts to get a great pump and burn in your arms and shoulders.

How to do it:

1. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, and your knees slightly bent for balance. Hold a dumbbell in each hand with your arms by your sides. Use a neutral or palms-in grip. Brace your abs.
2. Bend your elbows and curl the weights up to your shoulders.
3. From there, press the dumbbells straight up and above your head.
4. Bend your arms, lower the weights to your shoulders, and then back down to your legs.
5. That’s one rep – keep going!

Related Exercises and Workouts:

• The Best Compound Exercises
• Big Arms With Compound Exercises
• Compound Vs Isolation Movements
• Best Compound Movements For Every Muscle
• Best Compound Exercises for Stronger Abdominals
• Best Compound Triceps Exercises for Size and Strength

Compound Exercise Workout – Wrapping Up

While there is nothing wrong with biceps curls and triceps pushdowns, compound exercises are often best if you want to build muscle strength and size. Why? Because they allow you to handle more weight.

More weight means more mechanical tension, which is critical for building big, dense muscle. And, as an added benefit, using these exercises will make your upper body workouts more effective and productive, which is the very definition of a win-win!

So, if your arms have stopped growing, or you want to build strength and muscle size simultaneously, it’s time to include more compound arm exercises in your workouts. Better yet, take our compound arm workout for a spin. You’re going to LOVE it.

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