Easily overlooked, resistance bands are a versatile tool for resistance training wherever you are.
Easily packed in suitcases for travel workouts, a budget-friendly option for a good home workout, and a great accessory for warm-ups and supersets.
Their use case is varied, but today we're going to focus on building strength and definition in our biceps and triceps with the best resistance band arm exercises.
And we're also going to provide examples for each exercise, along with resistance band arm workouts for you to try!
What Are Resistance Bands?
Resistance bands come in all shapes and sizes, and materials can vary. In general, they come as either a looped rubber band, or a single length of rubber with a handle at each end.
The aim of these bands? To add resistance to movements, just like that of weights in the gym.
Resistance bands have varying, well, resistance. From lighter resistance bands to heavier resistance bands – with different lengths of bands making them more suitable for specific exercises, such as glute bands.
A short looped resistance band would be great for glute bridges or crab walks, while a longer resistance band may prove useful for bicep curls, or assisting pull-ups.
Benefits Of Resistance Bands
Due to the variety of uses that resistance bands have, there are many benefits to having a set on hand. These benefits include;
Convenience
Due to the lightweight nature and low cost of resistance bands, it makes them a convenient option for working out anywhere - from morning garage workouts to sunset beach sessions.
A set of resistance bands can literally go anywhere with you.
A Great Way To Learn Exercises
If you're new to the gym, or maybe you don't feel confident going to the gym alone, a set of resistance bands can help you build familiarity with exercises.
By making use of light resistance bands to learn new exercises, you can begin improving strength and range of motion, along with the movement principles of exercises before moving on to heavier resistance weights or machines.
If you want try arm exercises with weights, check out the best exercises for biceps and triceps.
Suitable For All Abilities
With such a wide choice of resistance bands and incredible versatility, they can be just as useful for beginners as advanced athletes.
They can be used for training all body parts
A selection of different strength resistance bands is enough for a challenging full-body workout.
Add exercises to HIIT sessions or keep up with your bodybuilding routine, just a couple of bands can help keep you on track with your training.
Warm-ups, Injury & Mobility
Building muscles and strength isn't everything.
Light resistance bands can be used to warm-up muscles and prepare them for exercise, and can also be used to aid stretching and improve mobility.
Teamed with the right exercises, resistance bands can be a fantastic tool for injury prevention and rehabilitation.
8 Of The Best Resistance Band Arm Exercises
We've put together eight of the best resistance band arm exercises to target your triceps and biceps;
Resistance Band Tricep Exercises;
Overhead Tricep Extension
Skull Crushers
Tricep Pushdown
Single-Arm Tricep Pushdown
Resistance Band Bicep Exercises;
Single-Arm Hammer Curl
Two-Handed Bicep Curl
Reverse Grip Bicep Curl
Assisted Close-Grip Chin Up
Resistance Band Tricep Exercises
Looking to build strength in your triceps, the muscles on the back of your arm? These resistance band tricep exercises are a great place to start!
Overhead Tricep Extensions With Resistance Bands
A great exercise to get a full range of motion through the tricep muscles, the overhead tricep extension has been shown to be one of the best exercises for tricep muscle activation.
Here's how to do the overhead tricep extension with resistance bands:
Tricep Pushdown With Resistance Bands
A staple tricep exercise, the tricep pushdowns are a great exercise for targeting the triceps, and can be really effective with resistance bands.
Skull Crushers With Resistance Bands
You've probably heard of this one. Similar to the overhead tricep extension, the main difference is our body position. Utilizing a bench, you can lie down keeping the torso supported, placing more emphasis on the triceps.
Single-Arm Tricep Pushdowns With Resistance Bands
It's important to include unilateral exercises in your training, to prevent muscular imbalances and improve strength - which is why we've included the single-arm tricep pushdown in this list.
Resistance Band Tricep Workout
Now we've given you four great resistance band exercises for triceps, it's time to put them together for a tricep-focused workout.
Try this resistance band tricep workout on its own, or combine it with other exercises for a full-body session.
The Workout:
Skull Crushers: 3 sets x 10 reps - medium resistance
Single-arm Tricep Pushdowns: 3 sets x 12 reps (each arm) - light resistance
Tricep Pushdowns X Overhead Tricep Extensions: 3 sets x 15 reps (each exercise) - light/medium resistance
Resistance Band Bicep Exercises
Now it's time to target the front of our arms, the biceps. Build strength and muscle with these essential resistance band bicep exercises.
Single-Arm Hammer Curls With Resistance Bands
A fantastic exercise for targeting the often neglected area of the biceps, the hammer curls are a great way to target the long head of the bicep, along with the brachialis – both located towards the outside of the bicep.
Here's how to do the single-arm hammer curl with resistance bands:
Two-Handed Bicep Curls With Resistance Bands
The bicep curl is a classic exercise that you're most likely familiar with. This helps place more emphasis on the short head of the bicep, using both arms to curl a heavier resistance.
Here's how to do the two-handed bicep curl with resistance bands:
Reverse Grip Bicep Curls With Resistance Bands
Often neglected in arm workouts is the brachioradalis muscle, which runs from your upper arm to your forearm. The reverse grip creates greater engagement of this muscle than regular bicep curls.
Here's how to do the reverse grip bicep curl with resistance bands:
Assisted Close-Grip Chin Up
Ok, technically not just a bicep exercise, but hear us out.
Chin-ups are a great exercise to build upper body strength, and by utilizing the close grip variation we can put a huge amount of stress on our biceps. Use the resistance bands to assist with higher volume training with this exercise.
Resistance Band Bicep Workout
The Workout:
Assisted Chin Ups: 3 sets x 4-8 reps
Single Arm Hammer Curls: 3 sets x 12 reps - medium resistance
Reverse Grip Bicep Curls X Two-Handed Bicep Curls: 3 sets x 10 reps (each exercise) - light/medium resistance
Resistance Band Arm Workout
If training biceps and triceps sera-rely isn't your thing. Don't worry.
We've also put together an effective resistance band arm workout that targets your biceps and triceps.
The Workout:
Assisted Chin-Ups: 3 sets x 4-8 reps
Single Arm Bicep Curls: 3 sets x 12 reps - medium resistance
Skull Crushers: 3 sets x 10 reps - medium resistance
Reverse Grip Bicep Curls X Overhead Tricep Extensions: 3 sets x 15 reps (each exercise) - light/medium resistance
Hopefully, we've given you the inspiration you need to make the most of your arm workouts, whether it's arm day or part of a full-body session.
Explore our Gymshark resistance bands if you're yet to add them to your workout accessory list.
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WRITTEN BY: CHRIS BECK
Chris Beck is Senior Editor at Gymshark, with a passion for writing informative conditioning, health and fitness tech content. Chris is an avid gym-goer and sportsman, Personal Trainer, and also holds qualifications in Nutrition, Sports Performance, and is a certified Crossfit Level 1 Trainer.
