Can You Train Biceps And Triceps Together?

April 15, 2023

If you want to pump up your arms and achieve the coveted “gun show,” you might wonder if you can train your biceps and triceps together. After all, these muscle groups work together to perform a variety of upper-body movements.

You can train the biceps and triceps together or separately, depending on your training split. For example, an arm day will train biceps and triceps together, whereas a body part split may train them on separate days with chest and back.

However, is it efficient to train them in the same workout?

Should You Train Biceps And Triceps Together Or Separately?

Whether you should train biceps and triceps together or separately is a different story. If you are specializing in arm development, you will probably do both. Have an arm day and dedicated days to biceps and triceps after larger muscle groups like chest and back.

This way, you hit the biceps and triceps twice a week. But there are certain splits where you will only train the biceps separately:

These training splits are ones you most likely will train biceps and triceps together:

  • Upper/lower
  • Full body

This isn’t set in stone. You may train biceps and triceps separately with the above training splits depending on your training focus.

Pros Of Training Biceps And Triceps Together

Save Time

One advantage to training biceps and triceps together is it saves time. Instead of hitting arms twice, you can train them once directly on the same day and get adequate volume of biceps and triceps.

Small Muscle Group Training Is Easy To Recover From

Arm days are like active recovery days with less systemic fatigue than training big body parts like legs or back. It means you can train arms before or after leg day, depending on the following day’s training.

Cons Of Training Biceps And Triceps Together

Should You Train Biceps Or Triceps First

Reduced Focus For One Muscle Group

Typically when training biceps and triceps, you’ll complete all exercises for one muscle group before moving to the next. This means the muscle you’re training second is trained when you’re under some fatigue.

However, you can alternate biceps and triceps within the workout to potentially mitigate this.

Should You Train Biceps Or Triceps First?

My preference is to train the triceps first when training them together. This is the order to train when wanting to get bigger triceps. I find if I do biceps first, it’s hard to extend my arm fully to get peak triceps contractions. However, it doesn’t mean you should always train the biceps and triceps in this order.

If you want to get bigger biceps, you should train them first in the workout, then follow it with triceps. That way, you hit the biceps when you’re fresh. The last exercises in your workout benefit less than the first exercises regarding strength [1].

But that’s not the only way to structure an arm day. Alternating biceps and triceps and even supersetting them is another way to train arms for an epic arm pump. You can even perform a giant circuit of arms like the old-time strongmen.

This routine is one of my favorites I used to blow up my arms:

A1) Towel Barbell Curl 3-4 x 8-12

A2) DB Towel Hammer Curl 3-4 x 8-12

A3) Towel Cable Triceps Extension 3-4 x 10-12

A4) Close Grip Push-Up 3-4 x 10-15

You can get this done in less than 15 minutes, and you’ve smashed your biceps and triceps.

Summary

You can train your biceps and triceps together, but if you do and how you structure the session depends on your training priorities. Hit the muscle group that is lagging first. You can alternate biceps and triceps exercises for a complete arm workout.

References

1. Nunes, J. P., Grgic, J., Cunha, P. M., Ribeiro, A. S., Schoenfeld, B. J., de Salles, B. F., & Cyrino, E. S. (2021). What influence does resistance exercise order have on muscular strength gains and muscle hypertrophy? A systematic review and meta-analysis. European journal of sport science21(2), 149-157.

About the Author

I am a professional strength & conditioning coach that works with professional and international teams and athletes. I am a published scientific researcher and have completed my Masters in Sport & Exercise Science. I've combined my knowledge of research and experience to bring you the most practical bites to be applied to your training.

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