10 Minute Arm Workout

“She Makes Her Arms Strong”, Proverbs 31:17

Summer is here and it is time for those short sleeve tops or tanks! We all want strong, toned arms but maybe we don’t feel like we have the time to exercise. Maybe it is hard to know what to do at the gym to target those muscles that we all want to be toned up! I want to share some simple arm strengthening and toning exercises you can do at home, or anywhere, with a set of dumbbells. I suggest 3-5 lb weights for beginners and 5-10 lb weights if you have been doing strength training for a while. You can do each of these arm exercises in sets of 15 repetitions, 3 times. Take a very short rest in between sets and stay hydrated. I suggest doing this arm routine, along with your other strengthening exercises, 3-4 times per week. This along with healthier eating, drinking plenty of water and some cardio exercises each week, you will be on your way to seeing results! Grab your dumbbells and let’s get started! Oh, and if you don’t have dumbbells, grab a couple of larger sized canned goods from your pantry! They will work too!

First, let’s focus on our bicep muscles. These are the muscles in the front of our upper arms. The first exercise I will introduce is the bicep curl. This exercise isolates the bicep muscle and will strengthen your arms for your everyday activities, like picking up objects or carrying the kids. For the bicep curl, lock your elbows in by your sides, brace your core and lift the weights to your shoulders and back down near your thighs for a full range of motion. Be sure not to swing your weight.

This next exercise, the hammer curl, is also for the bicep muscle, but it also helps improve wrist stability and strengthens your grip. Hold your weights with your thumbs in front. Bring them all the way up to your shoulders giving your bicep a squeeze.

Now we will focus on that little muscle in the back of our arm, the tricep muscle. We don’t naturally use this muscle quite as much as the bicep, so it can get weak. These next two exercises will strengthen and tone up those triceps! The first one is the tricep extension. Take the weight and drop it behind your head, all the way to the base of your neck. Then bring the weight up to straight arms, squeezing the tricep at the top.

Here we have the tricep kickback. The goal is to straighten your arm in the back and then come back down to your hip with the weight, hinging back at the elbow.

Next we will focus on shaping and strengthening our shoulders. These exercises will strengthen your deltoid muscle which protects and stabilizes your shoulder joint and helps your arm move in different directions. These exercises will work all sides of your deltoid muscle. The first shoulder exercise I will share with you is the overhead press. Start with your elbows out to the side at shoulder level, then lift your weights straight up and then back down to starting position. Be sure to always brace your core and have good posture as you do all the exercises.

Next is the front raise. Begin with your weights in front of your thighs. Lift them up just to shoulder height. Again, be sure to brace your core!

This is the side raise. Bring your weights up and out to the side, stopping at shoulder level. The farther the weights are apart, the more of a challenge it will be.

This next shoulder exercise is the rotator raise. You start with the side raise but then you hinge up when you are at the top. Then you hinge back down. This has three steps to it. It’s a good one! It really works all sides of your shoulders!

We are not finished with your shoulders yet! Next is the rear delt raise. As the name suggests, this focuses on the backs of the deltoids, or rear deltoid muscles. This exercise will help you maintain proper posture and will help stabilize your shoulder to help prevent back pain and shoulder dislocation.

These are all easy to do at home or wherever you may be, and they all only require dumbbells or other hand weights. If you will do these arm exercises 3-4 times per week, along with your healthy eating, you will soon notice your arms getting more toned and gaining strength!  We use our arms for almost everything we do! Let’s make them strong!