Most women I’ve met want beautiful, toned arms. And I’m here to tell you there’s no secret to getting them. It just takes engaging in a short, basic workout on a regular basis with the help of a few weights or bands. My goal is to make it as simple as possible for you to get those toned arms in the comfort of your own home with very little equipment and time.
Unless you’ve got a physical job lifting, pushing and pulling heavy things all day long (like my last career as a dog groomer!), it just takes a little planning for toned arms. But not much! All you need is a dedicated ten to fifteen-minute arm workout twice a week to get them looking defined and much stronger.
Most women don’t have physically demanding jobs. I also suspect that you’re all tired of researching everything! I know I am! That’s why I want to help by giving you a set of basic exercises to get your arms looking fabulous as soon as possible. And the only equipment you need is either dumbbells or bands, which are inexpensive.
But before we get to the workout, let’s talk about some even more important reasons you should be doing regular arm workouts.
What matters more than toned arms?
Besides the aesthetics of having those nicely toned arms, there are even better reasons to commit to regular arm workouts. One of the most important is to help maintain bone density. Around 10 million Americans have Osteoporosis. And that’s not an inevitable consequence of aging, btw!
When we’re young and naturally active our bodies are building bone mass. But by the time we hit 30, they quit building and start breaking down bones. That’s when it becomes imperative to start getting some physical activity through exercise. Strength training specifically helps to maintain the bone density we acquired in youth.
The next best reason to focus on arm workouts is to be strong enough to maintain a good quality of life. That means, being able to do the things you need and want to do on a regular basis to help yourself. Lifting grandchildren comes to mind! But also being able to lift grocery bags or anything else in your home.
If you enjoy your independence, then having physical strength will help you maintain that. When people lose strength they start to worry about doing anything that might challenge their bodies. And that means doing less and less over time.
Related article: 5 Benefits of strength training for women.
Target ALL the muscles for toned arms
It’s amazing how many muscles our arms have and all the ways we use them. They help us to flex and extend our arms and wrists, push and pull, lift and lower, reach overhead and open and close our hands. But you really don’t need to know individual muscles, you just need to make sure you work them all in a balanced way.
That means working them out from front to back, side to side and overhead. In other words, you can’t just do a couple of exercises and call it good. It takes a minimum of the six listed below for a good basic arm workout.
By focusing on the major muscle groups, all the smaller muscles naturally act as “helpers” and get worked along the way. So do this basic workout for a couple of months to build some strength. Then you can start working on individual muscles to improve specific functions if needed.
Basic exercises for toned arms
The next six exercises are the basic workout you need to get stronger, toned arms in a couple of months if you do them regularly. But remember, you can’t spot reduce fat. So if you’re carrying extra weight and some of that is in your arms, then you may not notice those new muscles until some of that weight goes away.
To get rid of the stored fat, you need to eat a healthy diet and do cardio regularly to burn it off. You can read my blog “Why do cardio for exercise?” to learn more about that. But in the meantime, you should still be working on building muscle because of the other benefits I already mentioned above.
So these are the basic exercises you should work on to get those beautiful, toned arms. This is a circuit-type workout meaning you start at the top doing one exercise at a time, then start over again repeating them all.
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- Bicep Curls
- Reverse fly’s
- Tricep Kickbacks
- Bench/floor Chest Press
- Bent-over Rows
- Lateral arm lifts
This is how they’re done!
Bicep Curls: (Video demo) Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and arms down to your sides holding 2-5lb dumbbells. Start with your palms facing your body.
Now bend your elbows and lift both arms up to your chest switching your palms so they’re facing your chest. Lower and repeat 10-15 times.
Reverse Fly’s: (Video demo) Bend over slightly with your knees also slightly bent. Hang your arms straight down holding 1-3lb dumbbells in each hand with your palms facing each other.
With your elbows slightly bent, raise both arms out to the sides going no higher than the shoulders. Repeat 5-10 times. This can also be done with no weights, but then you would do more reps (10-20).
Tricep Kickbacks: (Video demo) Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart holding dumbbells in both hands. Bend forward slightly with your knees bent slightly too. Keep your back straight and raise your elbows up to your sides with your hands hanging down.
Now raise your hands out back until your arms are straight. Lower and repeat 10-15 times.
Bench/floor Chest Press: (Video demo) Lie on your back either on a bench or on the floor with your elbows out to the sides holding 2-5 lb dumbbells in both hands.
Now raise your arms up straight over your chest then back down again. Keep your palms facing your feet and (if on a bench) your elbows no lower than your body when lowered. Repeat 10-15 times.
Bent-over Rows: (Video demo) Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart holding 2-5lb dumbbells in each hand. Bend forward slightly with your knees also slightly bent and your arms hanging straight down toward the floor.
Lift both elbows up to your sides (hands still hanging toward the floor) and lower again. Repeat 10-15 times.
Lateral arm lifts: (Video demo) Stand with feet shoulder-width apart holding 1-3lb dumbbells in both hands hanging down to your sides. Lift both arms straight out to the sides then lower. Do not raise your arms higher than your shoulders. Repeat 10-15 times.
Words of caution
All of these exercises should be done slowly (it’s not a race!) and with weights that are low enough that you can do at least 10 reps in most cases. Be extra careful with the shoulder exercises (lateral arm lifts and reverse fly’s). Shoulders are more prone to injury, so stop if anything hurts!
Also, keep in mind that if your form (the correct way of doing the exercise) starts to deteriorate then you know you’ve done enough reps of that exercise. Deteriorating form means you’re getting tired and need a break.
Go through each exercise once (with the number of reps you’re able to do). That makes one set. Then start over again doing each set of exercises a second and a third time if you’re able. Write down the weights you’re using and how many sets and reps you do each time. That way you’ll notice when you’re improving!
Related article: Track your exercise progress for more motivation.
One last thing…use the weights that work best for your fitness level. There’s no shame in starting with 1lb weights and working your way up over time. When an exercise becomes easy for you, then you know you need to go up in weight. Some muscles are stronger than others so the weights we use need to reflect that difference.
Keep in mind that with each weight increase, you should lower your reps. It’s a new starting point from which to work your way up (in reps) again.
My final thoughts
So this is my “secret” to getting beautifully toned arms to show off this summer! It involves committing to a regular basic strength workout specifically for the arms and doing enough exercises to target the major muscle groups.
Just remember that a layer of fat stored over those muscles will make them harder to see. And the way to combat fat is to also commit to doing cardio workouts on a regular basis. It doesn’t take high-intensity workouts, just consistency and a little time. And if it’s important to you, you’ll do it!
For an arm workout, the time commitment is only about 15 minutes on two days a week. With cardio, do as much as you can to start and work up to at least 30 minutes 5 days a week. With all exercise, where you start is not where you end up! You always need to progress to keep growing (or losing weight!).
Every month or two, change up your workouts with new exercises to challenge other muscles. That way you’ll continue to progress while also keeping your exercise routine interesting!
Let me know in the comments below if you’ve been doing regular arm workouts and how they’ve helped you.