Everyone wants sexy arms. Whether you are sporting a tank top during the summer time, your favorite workout top in the gym or you wanna wear the most beautiful gown to an event, those arms better represent all the hard efforts you put into yourself each week.
Don’t be shy when it comes to how much weight you lift. You always want to be able to control the resistance without any momentum. However, if you go too light, then you'll never have any of the biochemical benefits within the muscle.
According to Physical Therapist and Owner of Back2HealthPT, Dr Slava Shut, “People think of lifting weights as only applicable to body builders and people who want to get “bigger.” However, one must note that lifting weights also improves your physical capacity and ability to perform activities of daily living (ADL’s) better. Moderate resistance training to complete muscle fatigue can accomplish notable benefits to any person’s physique and overall strength.”
The workout below doesn’t exhaust every muscle group so be sure to hit those other muscles on other days. Remember that the arms are used for all exercises associated with training the chest and back muscles so the workout below is a great addendum to maximizing that weekly muscle fatigue, as Dr Slava mentioned.
How cool is it that all you need are dumbbells? This arms workout can be done at home or in the gym.
What to do: Perform each exercise in a superset fashion with little to no rest in between triceps and biceps exercises. Only perform 10-12 repetitions of each exercise, 3 sets each (except for the biceps 21's). Feel the burn baby!
1a) Dumbbells Hammer Curls:
Turn your palms to face inward. Pin your elbows close to your side ribs to isolate the biceps and avoid swinging the arms at the shoulders. Exhale on the way up, and in a controlled fashion, lower the arms down on every inhale. See video demonstration HERE.
Superset with...
1b) Iso Squat Dumbbells Kickbacks:
First get into a squat position bringing your chest at a 45 degree angle to the ground. Bend at the knees and hips. Your knees should track forward and in alignment with your ankles, behind your toes and in the same direction as your toes. Pin your elbows close to your side ribs and then kick your arms straight back into extension. Do not lock out the elbows. Energetically push your knuckles towards the back wall which will keep your shoulders down and away from your ears. Only come half way forward with your hands to keep tension on the muscles. Avoid swinging. Remain low in the iso-squat the entire set. See video demonstration HERE.
2a) Alternating Dumbbells Hammer Curls:
Same as exercise number one “a”, only one arm at a time. See video demonstration HERE.
Superset with...
2b) Overhead Triceps Extensions:
Grab one dumbbell and position your elbows to face forward. Relax your shoulders. Grip the bell so that the other bell is vertically hanging down below it. Extend your elbows fully, but avoid locking. Be mindful of your lower back and avoid hyperextending it. Keep your core engaged as you drive your arms overhead. If you have any shoulder injuries, simply do more iso-squat kickbacks for your triceps. See video demonstration HERE.
3a) Biceps 21’s:
My favorite biceps exercise. It’s a total of 21 reps and you will do 7 reps full range of motion, 7 reps halfway up, and 7 reps halfway down. The order doesn’t matter too much. Supinate the hands to face your palms up, since you already did a bunch of hammer-curls above. See video demonstration HERE.
Superset with...
3b) Triceps Iso-Holds:
This one is fun, and very challenging. Place your hands right next to your hips on either a couch or a very sturdy chair. Without jamming your shoulders up into your ears, drive your scapula (the wings on your back) down towards your hips as you drive yourself up into the isometric hold. Avoid locking the elbows. If you want to have a little step stool under your feet to progress into this challenging move, take that option. You will hold each isometric hold for 10 seconds, release for 2 seconds and continue for 10 reps. See video demonstration HERE.
Photos and Video Credits: Mr Smith