Ask any kid or anybody who’s never had anything to do with bodybuilding, to show you some muscle. Guess what they’re going to do… Curl up their arm to show you the biceps, right? Right. Big arms have grown to be associated with quality physiques in a way that they actually became the very symbol of bodybuilding.
Arms in bodybuilding are what matter the most to young kids hitting the gym for the first time. They always train arms harder than any other body-part, so arm-development in beginner bodybuilders is usually way ahead of their other body-parts. Big arms are, however, not enough, not on competition level, and not for those who strive for their arms not only to look big but aesthetic as well.
In order to achieve full development in the arms the muscles making it up need to be hit with a wide variety of exercises from a wide variety of angles. There are many muscle-groups belonging to the arm and this makes the number of sets they each individually need to be hit with, very high.
The biceps branchii is the most famous and well-known muscle of the human body. It serves to raise the lower arm to the front and up. Whenever we lift something the biceps kicks in. It is also the fastest regenerating muscle-group in the human body. Although apparently simple (with only two heads) this muscle needs a ton of different exercises to develop it to its full potential. First of all, one needs thickness and bulk in the biceps. There are quite a few exercises to achieve this, as you will see in our “exercises” section. Then the inner heads of the biceps need to show clear separation as well as mass. The same goes for the outer head. For both there are specific exercises. The bicep also needs to have a good peak, which again requires a few different exercises. This multitude of exercises often times proves to be the downfall of young bodybuilders. With so much emphasis on this muscle-group alone, they neglect the triceps branhii, which in fact makes up the bigger portion of the upper arms. (about two thirds of the upper arms are made up by the triceps and one third by the biceps)
Given the fact that the triceps is a bigger muscle-group than the biceps (not only in size but in structure as well - it has 3 heads) it has a whole bunch of exercises that it needs to fully develop.
The muscles of the arm don’t end with the biceps and triceps though. For a full and ripe general look one also needs to have big forearms as well. The muscles of the forearms can also be divided into two groups: the extensors - which lift the hand up and to the front, and the flexors - which make it possible for us to curl our hands inwards. Together these two muscles rotate the wrists. For both of them, there are a number of specific exercises, so you can see we’ve really got out hands full trying to present you all the exercises that bodybuilders use for the development of their arms.
Speaking of bodybuilders, we again need to bring Dorian Yates up as a fine example of a super-massive upper arm, and Flex Wheeler as an example of definition and muscular harmony. (back in the days when he used to compete of course..). Remember that in the case of bodybuilders as huge as the above mentioned two, the term “big arm” takes on a whole new meaning. They need to have big arms proportionate to their bodies’ development. Now there’s a task for you if I ever saw one…
Having discussed all of the above, let’s get down and see what someone can actually do to develop all these different areas, the muscles of the arm consist of.
Let’s first see the biceps exercises:

1) Barbell curls done in a standing position
2) Barbell curls done while cheating
3) Curls at the preacher-bench
4) Platoon curls
5) Curls done with dumbbells on a 45 degree incline bench
6) Curls done with dumbbells in a seated position
7) Curls done with dumbbells in the “hammer” hand position
8) Curls with dumbbells done alternatively
9) Concentrated biceps curls
10) Curls done at a cable machine(two handed)
11) Curls done with a barbell with an overhand grip
12) Curls done with a barbell with an overhand grip at the preacher-bench
13) Curls done at different biceps machines

As said before, the sheer amount of exercises one can do to achieve as complete a development in the biceps as possible, is quite overwhelming. Let us take a look at the triceps now, which, after all, accounts for two thirds of the upper arm:

1) Triceps press-downs
2) Triceps press-downs done with an underhand grip (single handed)
3) Presses done while sitting
4) Skull crusher
5) Z-bar close gripper
6) Horse-kicks
7) Dumbbell overhead triceps extensions
8) Parallel bar dips
9) Dips executed leaning onto a bench behind the back

Exercises for the forearm flexors are as follows:

1) Curls done with a barbell sitting down (wristcurls)
2) Alternate wristcurls with dumbbells
3) Curls done behind the back with a barbell (wristcurls)

The extensors are best hit by the following exercises:

1) Barbell wristcurls with an overhand grip
2) Dumbbell wristcurls with an overhand grip
3) Barbell curls (full not just wrist) with an overhand grip
4) Preacher bench curls (full not just wrist) with an overhand grip