While biceps and triceps are considered “glamour” muscles, you still need to train them while you’re dieting. After all, that will continue to enhance their appearance. For many people, details in the arms come in quickly because they carry little fat in this body area.
Nevertheless, arms are an essential part of your physique because they can help draw attention away from weaknesses in other body parts if they’re one of your strengths. For that reason, I continue to train them while I’m dieting. But I place them at the end of the week because they’re an easy body part to train, which will help you recover for the more challenging workouts at the beginning of the next week.
Here’s more about how your biceps and triceps are structured, and how to train them to maximize their appearance:
TRICEPS
Your triceps are attached from your elbow to your shoulder along the backside of your upper arms. They are constructed of three primary muscles, contracting when your arms extend and stretching when your arms bend.
Outer head: Also known as the long head, it is the largest of the triceps muscles and also the most noticeable. It responds well with growth when you perform pressing moves.
Inner head: This muscle runs along the backside of your upper arms near your torso. It has a similar shape to the outer head, and the gap between these two muscles creates the “horseshoe.” This muscle grows well with overhead moves that stretch the triceps.
Middle head: This muscle is less visible, lying beneath the other two triceps heads. One of the best ways to target the middle head of the triceps is to include compound (multi-joint) exercises such as dips.
BICEPS
As you would expect, your biceps have two heads. One is short and the other is long.
Long head: This muscle is structured on the outside of your upper arms, attaching your shoulder to your elbow. The primary purpose of this muscle group is to bend your arm and bring your hand closer to your face.
Short head: The short head runs parallel to the long inside and on top of your upper arm. Both heads of the biceps respond well to growth with moves such as dumbbell and barbell curls.
Brachialis: This less-visible muscle lies under the biceps. Yet the brachialis is visible when it is well developed. You can see it on both the inside and outside of the upper portion of your arm. Developing the brachialis helps thicken the arm muscles for more impressive biceps peaks. Moves such as hammer curls target the brachialis.
