How to train arms twice a week the smart way
You can train arms twice a week, but only if the rest of your program supports it. If chest, back and shoulders already drain all your energy, no extra set will save your biceps or triceps.
Below is a practical split you can use to prioritize your arms. It is not THE ONE AND ONLY solution, but a tool for a period when the goal is to get your biceps and triceps growing better.
Why train arms twice a week?
A very common question is whether you should train arms, meaning biceps and triceps, once or twice a week. The honest answer is simple: it depends. It depends on your recovery, your goal, your training experience, your diet and how much work your arms already do inside the big exercises.
If you do rows on back day, your biceps get training load anyway. If you press on chest day, your triceps work along. That’s why you can’t stack arm work on top as if the rest of the program didn’t count. It does.
Then again, there are periods when arms are the priority. You want to give them more attention, you’ve tried earlier approaches and feel that the usual once a week no longer gives you the feeling you’re after. In that case, training twice a week can make sense, as long as volume is under control.
A weekly split that prioritizes arms
One layout that works could look like this, or very similar:
- Day 1 – Thighs, calves
- Day 2 – Lats, biceps (light)
- Day 3 – Chest, front delts, triceps (light)
- Day 4 – rest
- Day 5 – Deadlift, traps, rear delts
- Day 6 – Biceps, triceps, forearms.
- Day 7 – rest
The idea behind this plan is simple. Biceps and triceps get one lighter touch after a bigger muscle group and one separate day where you can focus on them. That gives you a frequency of 2 times per week without blowing up your training load.
The key is not to play the hero on the light day. After chest and shoulders, triceps should get 3 – 5 working sets, no more. If you’ve already done 15 – 18 sets for chest and 12 sets for shoulders, it isn’t smart to add another 10 – 12 working sets for triceps. That’s no longer prioritization, it’s sabotaging your recovery.
A more sensible limit looks like this: about 10 sets for chest, 8 for shoulders and a maximum of 3 – 5 sets for triceps. In total that comes to up to 24 sets. A workout like that should fit into 60 – 70 minutes if your pace is normal and your rest periods don’t drag on forever.
The same logic applies to biceps on back day. Back is a big job. After it, you don’t need to put your biceps through a second full-volume workout.
How should you load your arms on a dedicated day?
On a dedicated arm day, you can do 8 – 12 sets each for biceps and triceps. Whether you pick 8 or 12 depends on how you feel, your recovery and how hard you trained on the previous days. Don’t go over 12, because intensity usually starts to drop.
In practice, I recommend sticking with 8 – 10 sets for each muscle. If every set is honest, that’s plenty. On arm day you can use a set scheme, for example 5 x 5, or keep one exercise heavier and go more by feel on the other.
On the light day, your choice of exercises can be freer. For example, after back it’s sometimes enough to do one light feeler set of standing barbell curls and then 3 – 4 working sets of “TWENTY-ONES”. That’s it. More doesn’t always have to be better.
For triceps in the same role, 4 – 5 sets of weighted presses on parallel bars can fit after chest and shoulders. If your shoulders and elbows start sending warning signals, choose a calmer exercise. The simple truth: an exercise should reach the muscle, not scream into the joints.
The arm-building split in reverse order
You can use the same layout in a different order:
- Day 1 – Deadlift, traps, rear delts
- Day 2 – Biceps, triceps, forearms.
- Day 3 – rest
- Day 4 – Thighs, calves
- Day 5 – Lats, biceps (light)
- Day 6 – Chest, front delts, triceps (light)
- Day 7 – rest
If you feel your recovery isn’t keeping up, take 2 rest days every 2 weeks after the last training day, before starting a new cycle. That’s not a sign of weakness. It’s managing your program.
The big plus of this split is that a rest day follows the dedicated arm day. Your arms get their training load and then have time to recover. Another plus is rep variation: you can use one repetition range in one workout and a different one in the next.
What to keep in mind when training arms
It’s worth swapping exercises every now and then. You don’t have to stick to the same movements, although if an exercise works and you’re making progress, there’s no need to throw it out just for the sake of it. Variety helps load the muscle from different angles and keeps your training fresh.
Calves and abs can be left more flexible: everyone decides for themselves how many times a week to train them or on which days. The main thing is that prioritizing arms doesn’t make your whole plan confusing. When everything is important at once, nothing really is.
So give it a try, keep an eye on your recovery and don’t let the volume get too high. It’s just one of many options that might suit you when it comes to making your arms grow.
FAQ
Can you always train arms 2 times a week?
You can, but not always with the same volume. If your recovery gets worse, your working weights drop or your elbows start to complain, you need to cut back on sets.
Should biceps and triceps be trained on the same day?
They can be. A dedicated arm day is a good chance to focus on both muscles, while lighter work can be left for the end of your back and chest days.
When is it too many sets?
If your intensity drops and the muscle doesn’t recover in time for the next session, the volume is too high. It’s better to start with 8 – 10 sets and only add more once your body can truly handle it.
Author: Janar Rückenberg
Come and train! ArtGym
