Building bigger arms doesn’t require the endless stream of fancy exercise variations flooding social media.
According to fitness expert Sean Nalewanyj, the truth is actually far simpler than what most fitness influencers suggest.
Biceps and triceps have straightforward functions, and growth primarily comes from consistent progressive overload using basic movements.
However, certain popular arm exercises create unnecessary joint strain while delivering inferior muscle stimulation—and ditching them could accelerate your progress significantly.
Jump to:
- The Overhead Dumbbell Problem
- Why Waiter Curls Miss The Mark
- Kickbacks: Awkward And Inefficient
- The Wide Grip Trap
- Reverse Grip Pushdowns Create Unnecessary Weak Links
- Preacher Curls: High Risk, Replaceable Reward
- Bench Dips: All Stress, Less Growth
- Plate Curls: Social Media Over Substance
- Simplicity Beats Complexity
The Overhead Dumbbell Problem
Two-handed overhead dumbbell extensions—often called “powerbombs”—rank among the most commonly performed triceps exercises. Despite their popularity, they’re far from optimal.
The natural extension path for triceps moves outward from your body’s midline in a circular motion. When both hands grip a single dumbbell, resistance gets locked onto a fixed vertical line.
This misalignment limits triceps output while increasing stress through shoulders, elbows, and wrists.
Better alternatives include:
- Single-arm overhead extensions
- Cable overhead extensions
These variations properly align resistance with natural muscle mechanics.
Why Waiter Curls Miss The Mark
Waiter curls gained massive popularity through social media, but their effectiveness is largely an illusion.
The reason why this exercise feels so effective is not because the biceps are being loaded more effectively by the resistance it’s actually because of that unnatural curling motion along with the super narrow supinated grip plus the awkwardness of having to balance the dumbbell on each rep.
That perceived intensity actually comes from negative feedback created by instability at shoulder and elbow joints. Natural biceps curling motion travels outward, not along the fixed vertical path required by waiter curls.
Standard dumbbell curls with aligned shoulders, elbows, and wrists deliver superior stimulation with reduced joint strain.
Kickbacks: Awkward And Inefficient
Dumbbell triceps kickbacks suffer from multiple design flaws. Their resistance curve provides minimal tension where triceps are strongest—the bottom half—then sharply increases at the top where muscles are weakest.
Rear deltoid fatigue compounds the problem since that muscle group must hold position throughout the movement.
Cable kickbacks improve the exercise somewhat by smoothing out the resistance curve. Even better? Standing triceps pushdowns essentially replicate the same movement pattern while placing you in a stronger, more stable position.
The Wide Grip Trap
Wide-grip straight bar curls—whether performed with barbells, EZ bars, or cables—create the same alignment issues as waiter curls.
Locking hands wide on a straight bar prevents resistance from aligning with biceps’ natural pulling path. This limitation reduces overall muscle output while straining elbows and wrists unnecessarily.
Basic straight bar curls represent one of the most effective biceps builders available. Just maintain shoulder-width grip to keep wrists, elbows, and shoulders properly aligned.
Reverse Grip Pushdowns Create Unnecessary Weak Links
Reverse grip triceps pushdowns inspire passionate defense from their advocates, yet they offer no unique stimulation advantages.
Their primary disadvantage? Wrists and forearms become potential limiting factors before triceps approach genuine failure.
When forearms give out prematurely, the entire point of the exercise evaporates.
Superior alternatives using neutral grip:
- Rope pushdowns (single or dual rope)
- Single-arm pushdowns
- Cross-body pushdowns
These variations eliminate weak links while creating ideal arm paths—slightly flared with arms pressing away from body midline.
Preacher Curls: High Risk, Replaceable Reward
Free weight preacher curls on standard benches carry disproportionate injury risk, especially with heavier loads and lower reps.
Arms fully extended with weight driving straight down onto biceps tendons in bottom position creates dangerous leverage. This variation causes more biceps tears than any other curling exercise.
Unless you’re training to compete in the preacher curl olympics there’s just no good reason to take the risk considering how devastating a serious biceps injury can be.
If you insist on free weight preacher curls, stick to moderate weights with higher reps under strict control. Better options include higher bench angles that change resistance direction or cable preacher curls.
Bench Dips: All Stress, Less Growth
Triceps bench dips load muscles inefficiently while placing excessive stress on joints. Elevated scapulae combined with humerus driving forward into shoulder sockets creates problematic mechanics.
Wrist strain increases as loading becomes heavier.
Standard triceps dips train muscles more effectively with reduced injury likelihood. Stop around 90 degrees of elbow flexion for most individuals, and maintain upright torso positioning to emphasize triceps over chest.
Plate Curls: Social Media Over Substance
Plate curls appear primarily as social media content rather than serious training tools—fortunately.
These offer zero advantages for biceps stimulation. They simply use awkward-to-grip tools with limited loading potential—45 pounds maximum for bilateral movements proves too light for most intermediate lifters unless performing extremely high reps.
Simplicity Beats Complexity
Arm development responds to fundamental principles: progressive overload through basic movement patterns aligned with natural muscle mechanics.
Optimal exercise selection prioritizes:
- Proper alignment: Wrists, elbows, and shoulders working along natural paths
- Effective resistance curves: Tension matching strength throughout ranges of motion
- Joint preservation: Minimal unnecessary strain on connective tissues
- Loading potential: Ability to progressively increase resistance over time
These refinements compound significantly when extrapolated across months and years of consistent training.
Building impressive arms doesn’t require complicated strategies or exotic movements. Smart exercise selection combined with patient progressive overload delivers results far more reliably than chasing trending variations designed primarily for clicks rather than growth.
