Can You Work Your Triceps and Biceps on the Same Day?

You have fallen head over heels for weightlifting, and it is all you can think of. If you had your way, you would spend three hours working each specific muscle of your body for optimal effects. However, there is one little problem; you do not have nearly enough time to dedicate to weightlifting as much as you would like. This is a common issue among weightlifters, and the standard response is to train multiple muscles in one session. In this regard, you may want to train your biceps and triceps in one session, and you may wonder, can you work your triceps and biceps on the same day? Well, this article will examine your question and provide an answer. 

It is essential to understand how your triceps and biceps function to know whether you can work both on the same day. While the biceps enable you to bend your elbows, the triceps are more concerned with extending the elbow and bringing your upper arm down from an overhead position. 

That said, the question remains whether you can work your triceps and biceps on the same day. Yes, you can work your triceps and biceps on the same day. However, you need to observe specific tips to ensure you properly navigate the practice. 

Target different heads on different days

It is largely impossible to isolate your triceps’ or biceps’ heads. Nevertheless, you can engage them with precise movements. For example, overhead extensions generally work the triceps’ long head, while tricep dips hit the tricep’s lateral head. This is also the case with biceps, as preacher curls usually engage the bicep’s short head, with its long head getting worked by concentration curls instead. Following this, you should aim to target different muscle heads different heads on different days when you plan your bicep and tricep training. This can ensure your muscles recover properly, leading to optimal growth.

Use seated and standing exercises

In addition to switching the focus daily, altering your workout stance during training could be beneficial. For example, sitting helps to stop you from cheating during exercises by swaying movements by capitalizing the swinging motions or momentum as you work your hand. As a result, you can incorporate lying tricep exercises on one day, alternating them with standing cable push-downs on other days.

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Don’t work to failure

It is common among weightlifters and bodybuilders, especially to work their muscles to failure. However, you should avoid going to failure if you intend to work your triceps and biceps on the same day until you get to your session’s last exercise. This is because both muscles typically support each other, and it may be challenging to exercise the other muscle if one has failed. 

Examples of exercises that work the biceps

Here are some exercises you can do for your biceps:

Dumbbell bicep curls

The dumbbell bicep curl is one of the fundamental arm and bicep builders. As the name implies, you use a dumbbell to perform curls rather than a barbell. With the exercise, you can use a pair of dumbbells to work both arms together, or perform the curls one arm at a time. You can also choose to do the exercise while sitting or standing. However, it is easier to cheat when you perform the exercise standing as you can unconsciously take advantage of your body’s momentum to lift the dumbbells, making your biceps do less of the work. You can cop Hex Dumbells for this, as they are cheap and easy to use. 

Barbell bicep curls

The barbell curl is very similar to the dumbbell bicep curl, and it entails the same motion and goal as its dumbbell equivalent. The primary differences are that you use a barbell for the barbell curls and dumbbells for the dumbbell curls, as is in their names, and that you can only perform the barbell curl with both arms. Another resulting difference is that the barbell curl generally allows you to curl more weight, making it more suitable for optimizing hypertrophy. On the other hand, dumbbell curls are excellent at resolving muscular imbalances and recruiting your upper body’s stabilizing muscles. 

Chin-ups

Chin-ups are another excellent bicep builder as you recruit your biceps to pull your entire body weight up against gravity. As a bonus, chin-ups also develop your back muscles, including your lats and rhomboid muscles. The exercise also helps to sculpt your deltoid muscles and increase mobility in your shoulder joints. 

Examples of exercises that work the triceps

Here are some of the exercises that work your triceps:

Tricep dips

Some people see tricep dips as a form of reverse pull-up or chin-up exercise. The exercise involves pushing yourself up and down with your arms bending backward at your elbows at a 90-degree angle. The exercise primarily targets your triceps and works your core as it helps keep your body stable as you push your entire body weight with your arms. If you are unsatisfied with your body weight, you could leverage the 5.11 Tactec Plate Carrier for increased resistance.

Tricep extensions

Tricep extensions are another exercise that you can look to develop your triceps. The exercise is flexible, as you can do it with many forms of resistance. For example, you can perform tricep extensions with a pair of dumbbells, a single dumbbell, a resistance band, a cable machine, or a dedicated tricep extension bar. You need an excellent grip to perform this exercise, so I recommend the Rogue Mechanix Gloves V2.

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