Bodyweight Arm Exercises To Build Bigger Bicep & Tricep At Home

Many people think they need to lift a lot of weight at the gym to make their arms bigger and stronger. However, they ignored the benefits of doing bodyweight arm exercises without any fancy equipment at the comfort of home.

Bodyweight arm exercises can effectively strengthen your biceps and triceps. These simple yet effective exercises can also get your arms in shape.

They are easy to use and work many muscles at once, which helps you build a strong foundation. So, get ready to use your body weight to gain the arm gains you want.

Let’s discuss the best bodyweight arm exercises and how to do them with workout routines you can do at home or anywhere you want to build arm size and strength.

Why Should I Do Arm Workouts With Bodyweight?

There are many reasons to do bodyweight exercises during your home arm workout routine.

• Bodyweight arm exercises allow for greater joint safety and stabilization.
• It affords a greater variety, preventing physical and mental burnout.
• It allows the joints to move naturally within their range of motion by creating more joint stability.
• No need for expensive gym memberships or equipment, making it a budget-friendly option.
• They are perfect for the at-home exerciser with limited space.
• Bodyweight exercises promote balanced muscle development and reduce the risk of muscle imbalances.
• Many bodyweight arm exercises also engage the core muscles, improving stability and overall body strength.

These exercises focus on the biceps and triceps muscles, including the 

• The lateral head, the long head, the medial head of the triceps 
• And short head, long head of biceps.
• Forearm muscles.

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12 Best Bodyweight Arm Exercises That You Can Do At Home

To build your arms and develop enough strength, you must focus on your triceps and biceps muscles.

Before your workout, it is best to start doing mobility training exercises for a few minutes and then do a warm-up for about a minute or two.

1. Bench Dip

A bench dip is a medium-intensity exercise to strengthen your triceps. It is fairly simple to learn and can be done almost anywhere, making it a great home workout.

This is one of the simple and best bodyweight exercises, you should add this bodyweight triceps exercise to your workout regime.

Try different ways of doing it to make it easier or harder.

• To make Bench Dips easier, bend your knees and keep your feet closer to your body.
• Extend your legs fully or place weight on your lap to make them more challenging.

How To Do It

1. Sit on the edge of a bench with your arms extended and hands on the bench.
2. Slide your hips forward off the bench and keep your feet flat on the floor with your knees bent.
3. Inhale and slowly lower yourself towards the ground by letting your arm flex and bend downwards, while keeping your torso straight.
4. Extend your elbows and squeeze your triceps hard to raise back up.
5. Start with 3 sets of 8 to 10 controlled reps.

Tips

• Keep your back close to the bench, shoulders down.
• Perform the exercise with slow and controlled motions
• Really squeeze the triceps at the top of the movement to get the most out of this exercise.
• Do not dip down too low, as it places unnecessary strain on the shoulder joints.

Know More: Bench Dips Exercises: Muscle Worked, Form, Variation

2. Chin Up

One of the best bodyweight exercises for your biceps is the chin-up. This compound exercise primarily targets the muscles in your upper back, including the latissimus dorsi (lats), rhomboids, and rear deltoids, as well as the biceps.

In this exercise, the palms are faced towards the body. Since the lifter is pulling their own bodyweight, the biceps are usually exposed to loads heavier than what one can lift with a barbell.

You can make the exercise harder or easier. You can utilize assistance bands or an assisted Chin-Up machine to gradually progress towards performing standard chin-ups.

How To Do It

1. Grasp a pull-up bar with an underhand grip.
2. Keep your arms straight, your knees bent, and your lower legs crossed.
3. Pull your body up towards the bar and squeeze your shoulder blades together as you do so.
4. Continue pulling until your chin is above the bar.
5. Pause at the top for one to two seconds, with the biceps under maximum tension.
6. Slowly lower your body back down to the starting position with control.

Tips

• Don’t get in the habit of doing half-reps and chasing numbers.
• Lower to almost full extension of the elbow, but avoid locking out completely.
• Gradually increase repetitions and sets as your strength improves.

3. Diamond Push-Ups

If you’re looking for a good bodyweight arm exercise, then diamond pushups are the one movement you should do.

Diamond or triangle push-ups are a more advanced variation of the classic push-up.

This is a unique movement because it does a great job of developing the lateral (outermost) tricep head. Doing them contributes to the horseshoe tricep look many trainees aspire for.

How To Do It

1. Get on all fours with your hands together under your chest.
2. Position your index fingers and thumbs, so they’re touching and forming a diamond shape.
3. Keep in mind that your body forms a straight line from your head to your feet.
4. Bend your elbows and lower your body toward the ground, until your chest touches your hands.
5. Keep your entire body straight and your core engaged as you press through your palms to return to the plank position.

Tips

• Keep your body straight and rigid.
• Ensure your elbows don’t flare to the sides.
• To make the diamond push-up easier, do it on your knees.

Know More: 20 Different Types Of Push Ups For Mass And Strength

4. Reverse Grip Push-Ups

The reverse grip push-up is a fun and great variation of the standard push-up. You do it with your fingers facing your feet (your palms outward).

Many consider it the “bicep push-up” because of its hand position, which emphasizes the biceps a little more than the standard push-up.

For an easier variation, you can do the reverse grip push-ups on the knee or on an inclined surface.

How To Do It

1. Start in a standard push-up position with your hands slightly wider than your shoulders, palms flat on the floor, and your fingers pointing towards your feet.
2. Inhale and slowly start to bend your elbows. Do not let your elbows move outwards (away from your body).
3. Lower yourself until you are about an inch from the floor. Pause the movement when you are at the bottom for a second. 
4. Exhale and start pushing your body back up. Push through your palms like you would try to push the floor away from yourself.
5. Finish the exercise by extending your arms completely out.
6. Do this as many times as you want. 

Tips

1. If your wrists are not strong enough for this push-up variation, or it hurts them, you can try warm before exercise, use wrist straps, or do the same on an inclined surface.
2. Always warm up properly, especially by focusing on warming up and stretching your wrists! 
3. Keep your body in a straight line for the entire exercise.

5. Kneeling Bodyweight Triceps Extension

The body-weight triceps extension, also known as the body-weight skull crusher, is an effective workout for targeting and strengthening the triceps muscles without any equipment.

It’s an ideal beginner’s tricep exercise for those with limited upper body strength, and it can be used to build muscle and strength progressively.

To make it even more difficult, you can either move your knees backward or lean forward so that more of your bodyweight is over your hands.

How To Do It

1. Begin in a hands-and-knees position on the floor.
2. Lower yourself onto your forearms, placing your hands flat on the ground.
3. Lean forward so that your elbows support your body weight.
4. Exhale as you push your body off the floor by extending your elbows.
5. Inhale as you return to the starting position, lowering yourself back onto your forearms.

Tips

• Keep your elbows tucked into your body. Do not flare them out.
• Stop the exercise if you feel pain in your wrists.

Know More: Best Push-Ups For Biceps That You Can Do Anywhere

6. Bodyweight Bicep Curl

The bodyweight bicep curl is a very effective bodyweight bicep isolation exercise for building muscle and strength. 

It can be performed anywhere, making it a convenient option when access to weights or a gym is limited.

How To Do It

1. Sit on a chair as close to the edge as possible.
2. Then, place your right hand under your left thigh at the crease between your hamstrings and calves.
3. Slowly curl your right up as high as possible—Exhale during this exercise portion.
4. Hold for a couple of seconds. Slowly lower your leg so your foot is just above the ground as you inhale.
5. Repeat for the desired number of reps. Repeat the exercise with your left arm.

Tips

• Try to get as much range of motion as possible.
• You can perform a variation of the bicep leg curl lying down.

7. Inverted Row

Inverted rows, also known as bodyweight rows, are a great exercise to not only target your bicep muscles, but also build strength in other areas such as your back and core.

It puts your body in a horizontal position, making it easier to perform. Most people do this exercise on the Smith machine in the gym.

However, you can also perform the inverted row at home by lying under a chair, holding its sides, and pulling yourself up.

How To Do It

1. Adjust the height of the chair and bar so that it’s a little higher than arm’s length from the floor.
2. Lie under the bar with your legs and body straight.
3. Grasp the bar with an overhand grip that’s a little wider than shoulder width.
4. Keeping your legs and body straight, exhale as you pull your chest up to the bar.
5. Hold for a count of two and squeeze your back muscles.
6. Inhale as you lower your body until your arms and shoulders are fully extended. Repeat.

Tips

• Try to avoid excessive arching or sagging of the back.
• Grab the bar with your hands slightly closer together.
• Keep your elbows at an angle to your body, like you would do a bench press.
• Make sure you go down completely.

Know More: Bodyweight Biceps Exercises At Home To Bigger Arm

8. Plank To Push-Up

The Plank to Push-up is a dynamic bodyweight exercise that combines the benefits of the plank and the push-up. It involves transitioning from a forearm plank position to a push-up position.

The exercise targets the chest, shoulders, triceps, and core muscles, thereby enhancing upper body strength and enhancing arm muscle definition.

Maintaining a plank position, you alternate between a forearm plank and a high plank. This exercise is excellent for strengthening the core and triceps.

How To Do It

1. Start in a forearm plank position with your elbows directly under your shoulders.
2. Push through your hands to straighten your arms one at a time, transitioning into a high plank position, with your hands directly under your shoulders.
3. Keep your core engaged and your body in a straight line.
4. Lower your body by bending your elbows, keeping them close to your sides.
5. Push yourself back up to the high plank position by extending your arms.
6. Lower your forearms back down one at a time to return to the starting forearm plank position.
7. Repeat the movement, alternating between the forearm plank and the push-up position.

Tips

• Keep your body in a straight line from head to heels.
• Avoid letting your hips sag during the exercise.

9. Pike Push Up

Pike Push-ups are a variation of the push-up that increases strength and stability in the shoulders and triceps.

Performing the exercise in a more upright position will target the shoulders more than the chest.

The pike push-up looks like a mash-up of Downward-Facing Dog and Dolphin Pose, and this move can build major strength.

How To Do It

1. Start in a standard push-up position with your hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart and elbows completely locked out.
2. Lift the hips up and back until your body forms an inverted V shape.
3. Keep arms and legs as straight as possible.
4. Slowly lower the top of your head towards the ground.
5. Once your head is about to contact the ground, pause for a second.
6. Then, slowly push back up until your arms are straight and you’re in the inverted V position.

Tips

• Make sure you maintain control throughout the movement.
• Keep your glutes and core muscles contracted.

10. Archer Push-Up

The Archer Push-Up is a challenging variation of the standard push-up that primarily targets the chest, shoulders, and arm.

In Archer push-up, you raise your arms wider than usual and lower your body. You move most of your weight to one hand and move it towards it while keeping the other hand straight.

The asymmetric hand placement forces your muscles to work harder to stabilize your body, increasing bicep and tricep muscle activation.

How To Do It

1. Start in a standard push-up position with your hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart.
2. Maintain a strong core position and shift your upper body toward your right side.
3. Pull your right chest toward your right hand as you bend your right elbow.
4. As you lower toward the right side, allow your left arm to straighten.
5. Your left arm should be fully extended, forming a straight line from your shoulder to your hand.

Tips

• Don’t let your hips raise.
• Gradually increase the range of motion.
• If the exercise initially feels too challenging, you can modify it by performing it on your knees or against an elevated surface.

11. Inchworm

The inchworm is a full-body exercise that works many different muscle groups. Best of all, it requires no equipment—just the correct form.

How To Do It

1. Stand up straight with your hands at your side.
2. Keep your legs straight, and then hinge your hips so that your hands can touch the floor in front of you. Be sure not to move your feet from their original position.
3. Using your hands as if they were your feet, slowly move your hands forward, attempting to travel as far as possible. You’ll eventually end up in a stretched, extended plank position.
4. When your hands are touching your toes, reverse the motion and repeat. You’ve now done an inchworm!

12. Wall Walks

The wall walk is more than just an exercise; it’s a fundamental movement that unlocks a world of upper body strength and control.

Wall walks target your shoulders, triceps, and core, all crucial for pushing and holding your bodyweight.

How To Do It

1. Begin in a plank position on the floor, with your hands shoulder-width apart and your body forming a straight line from head to heels.
2. Slowly walk your feet up the wall while simultaneously walking your hands toward the wall.
3. Continue walking your hands and feet up the wall until you’re in an inverted position, with your belly facing the wall and your hands a few inches away from it.
4. Hold the handstand position briefly, then reverse the movement by walking your hands back away from the wall and walking your feet down until you return to the starting plank position.

Bodyweight Workout Routine For Beginner

Here is a beginner bodyweight arm workout routine that can be done at home:

No Equipment Arm Workout

Conclusion

Bodyweight exercises are a great way to sculpt your biceps and triceps anywhere without relying on gym equipment or weights.

These bodyweight arm exercises are highly recommended for anyone interested in building bicep and tricep muscles and gaining strength.

Exercises such as diamond push-ups, reverse grip push-ups, and bench dips can help improve arm and upper body strength, increase muscle endurance, and achieve a more toned physique.

If done consistently, the results will speak for themselves.

Thanks for reading; enjoy your workout.

Best Arm Exercises To Build Bigger Bicep And Tricep

Manish Kumar

Manish is a NASM-certified fitness and nutrition coach with over 10 years of experience in weight lifting and fat loss fitness coaching. He specializes in gym-based training and has a lot of knowledge about exercise, lifting technique, biomechanics, and more.

Through “Fit Life Regime,” he generously shares the insights he’s gained over a decade in the field. His goal is to equip others with the knowledge to start their own fitness journey.