15 effective exercises that will help you achieve strong, sculpted arms.

Sumo squats with curls

The exercise simultaneously engages the arms and lower body.

Holding a pair of dumbbells in your hands, lower them along your body, with your palms facing you. Position your feet so that there is about 50 centimeters between your heels. Socks turned out.
When you're ready, bend your knees and elbows at the same time, squatting down and pushing your bent elbows up. Your body weight is on your heels.
Then straighten your legs and arms, returning to the starting position.

Do 2-3 sets of 10-12 repetitions.

Exercises to develop arm strength: hands

The muscles of the wrist are responsible for grip strength. Physiologists distinguish four types of grip:

Holding . The hand in this case works like a crane hook. We use it when, for example, we perform deadlifts or pull-ups.
Compressive . Imagine that you are trying to squeeze the juice out of an orange with one hand - this is a squeezing grip. Its strength can be assessed by shaking hands.
Carpal . Now imagine that you are holding a chair suspended by one leg. Here it is important not only to keep the object in the hand, but also to fix the hand in one position, so in this case the work of both the muscles of the hand and the forearm is very important.
Pinch . The name speaks for itself. The essence of this grip is to compress the tips of almost straight fingers. Try to hold a more or less heavy object like this - it’s not an easy task.

There are also muscles in the hand that are responsible for unclenching the fingers. And although in practice the load on them is rarely noticeable, there are special exercises for working them out. But first things first.

Hanging on the horizontal bar is aimed primarily at developing a holding grip. There are many variations of it. So, hanging on several fingers will strengthen your pinch grip, while hanging on one hand or on a rotating bar will strengthen your wrist grip.

Hanging on towels . Take a towel or a fairly long piece of any other strong fabric and throw it over the horizontal bar. Perform a hang while holding the ends of the material. This allows you to make maximum use of your thumb, which bears significantly less load when working with a conventional bar. This exercise will strengthen both your holding and squeezing grip.
Rope climbing . The exercise may differ in the position of the hands; weights can be used when performing it. Static hanging on a rope is essentially similar to the previous exercise.
The resistance band squeeze is an ideal exercise for developing compression strength. Many people love it because it can be done almost anywhere, even on public transport. If you don't have a resistance band (although getting one isn't a problem), you can use a tennis ball instead.
stationery erasers can be used as a projectile . Twist their bundle in a figure eight around the fingers of different hands and pull in different directions.
And now the exercise for unclenching your fingers . Squeeze your hand into a pinch and pull the same rubber bands over it. Rhythmically unclench your fingers, stretching the rubber, and then return them to their original position.

Dumbbell row to the chin

This exercise works well on the shoulder muscles and pectoral muscles.

Holding a dumbbell in each hand, stand with your feet shoulder-width apart. Your palms should be facing your body. The back is straight, the knees are slightly bent.
Holding the dumbbells close to your body, almost pull them up to your chin, spreading your elbows out to the side.
Slowly lower your arms back to the starting position. Perform 2-3 sets of 10-12 repetitions.

see also

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French press standing

This exercise helps strengthen your triceps.

Stand straight, feet shoulder-width apart. Hold one dumbbell with both hands, straight above your head.
Bend your elbows and slowly lower the dumbbell behind your head. Make sure your elbows are parallel to each other.
Pause and return to the starting position.

Perform 2-3 sets of 10-12 repetitions.

How to do arm exercises

Exercise 2-3 times a week. Take at least 48 hours of rest between workouts to give your muscles time to recover.

Select 1-2 exercises from each category and include them in your program. Vary the movements each session to target all muscle fibers and speed up progress.

That is, perform 3-6 arm exercises at each workout.

For movements with barbells and dumbbells, select the weight so that you can complete 8–12 repetitions without breaking your movement technique. Do 3-5 approaches.

If you choose an exercise with your own body weight, do 3-5 sets of close-up exercises - as many repetitions as possible. If you cannot perform a movement 6–8 times without breaking your technique—swinging, jerking, or lower back collapse—replace it with a simpler option.

Standing Dumbbell Pull Back

Expect to feel tension in your triceps, deltoids, and latissimus dorsi.

Lean forward, legs bent at the knees, back straight.
Stretch your arms straight out in front of you with dumbbells.
Then start moving. At the same time, raise the dumbbells to chest level, bending your elbows and squeezing your shoulder blades together. Make sure your elbows are pointing toward the ceiling and your back is straight.
Slowly lower the dumbbells back to the starting position.

Perform 2-3 sets of 10-12 repetitions.

Standing dumbbell raises

With this exercise you can strengthen the posterior deltoid muscles of the shoulder.

Holding a dumbbell in each hand, stand with your knees slightly bent.
Keeping your back straight, lean your body forward.
Exhale and raise both arms to the sides, without fully extending your arms, squeezing your shoulder blades together.
Hold for a couple of seconds and return to the starting position.

Perform 2-3 sets of 10-12 repetitions.

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How to increase arm strength at home?

There are many reasons why not all people want to go to the gym. But even if you don’t have the opportunity to train with an experienced trainer in special conditions, you can take the first steps towards your dream at home. To do this you need to follow the following principles:

Warm up. You need to start your workout with simple exercises to prepare your muscles for work.
Bodyweight exercises. You don't have to immediately start doing weighted push-ups or lifting ten-liter water bottles. At first, you can use your own weight. Trust me, this will give you enough exercise to make your arms stronger.
Training with an expander. When your body weight and arm strength begin to increase, purchase an expander. Exercises with it are an integral part of any upper limb training.
Isometric exercises for arms. They are based on the use of different types of muscle contractions.
Slow execution speed. This point is a consequence of the previous one. At the moment of extreme tension, do not return to the starting position, sharply relaxing your arms, but make efforts to move your body. This will help develop your arm strength even more.
Rest. For any training, you need to take rest days. This is necessary so that the muscles have time to recover. There must be at least 24 hours between workouts!
Cool down and stretch. You need to complete any series of physical exercises with a cool down and stretching. This will not only help you fight muscle soreness, but will also prevent blood stagnation in the body.

Dumbbell Overhead Press

This is a very effective exercise for developing the same deltoid muscles.

Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart. Hold dumbbells in your hands, palms facing out, at shoulder level. Maintain a arch in your lower back.
As you exhale, press the dumbbells up, straightening your arms, bringing them together above your head.
As you inhale, return to the starting position.

Perform 2-3 sets of 10-12 repetitions.

Bodyweight exercises

How to increase arm strength if you can’t go to the gym? The following exercises will help you with this:

Pull-ups. Grab the bar and lift your body up.
Pull-ups with a narrow reverse grip. Grab the bar with your hands close. Your fingertips should be in front of your face. Raise and lower your body.
Lifting while lying down from the forearms. This is a variation of push-ups (which you did during your warm-up, right?). You need to take a lying position, leaning on your elbows and placing your hands palms down. Alternately straighten your arms and return to the starting position.
Push-ups from behind or on a bench. Grab a bench, stretch your legs forward or put them on a stand, and do reverse push-ups. You can do this on one hand.

"Scarecrow" or Cuban press

Test your sense of balance while working your shoulder muscles.

Stand on your left leg, lift your right knee up until your thigh is parallel to the floor. Holding a dumbbell in each hand, raise your arms out to the sides until they are parallel to the floor, bending your elbows at a 90-degree angle.
Holding yourself on one leg, rotate your arms forward downwards so that your fists and dumbbells point towards the floor.
Use your shoulder to rotate your dumbbell arms back up. Remember to keep the line from shoulder to elbow parallel to the floor.

Do 10 reps, then switch legs.

Raising arms to the sides

Another simple but effective exercise for your shoulders.

Stand straight with your feet shoulder-width apart. Hold a dumbbell in each hand with your palms facing your body.
Start with your right hand. Keeping your arm straight, while inhaling, lift it to the side until it is parallel to the floor. The palm of the dumbbell is turned down. As you exhale, slowly lower your hand down.
Do the same movement with your left hand.

If the exercise seems easy to you, try the movement with both hands at the same time.

Perform 2 to 3 sets of 10-12 reps.

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How to train arm strength

It is clear that the main goal of training will not be to gain muscle mass, but to increase strength. Therefore, you need to pay attention to exercises that increase strength, but not only. To perform a power load, you also need to develop strength endurance. Both strength and strength endurance depend on how well developed and strong the ligaments are, and how long the muscles can work in force mode. That is, training should be structured so that development occurs in several directions at once.
The classic mass-gaining regime in this case will not give a good result, and working on strength like training lifters is also not the best option, because the task is not only to bench press the maximum weight at one time, but also to be able to work for a long time.
Another important point responsible for hand strength is grip strength. If the grip strength is sufficient, then the person is able to work with heavier weights. It's the same with ligaments. Most often, it is the ligaments that prevent you from performing exercises with heavy weights, not the muscles. This stops the bodybuilder from performing exercises with critical weights. Naturally, they don’t need such training.

"Boxer"

A Pilates exercise aimed at working the triceps.

Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart. Moving your arms behind your back, bend them at the elbows.
Bend your legs at the knees and tilt your body so that your back is almost parallel to the floor. The head, back and pelvis should form a continuous line.
As you exhale, extend your right arm straight out in front of you, while simultaneously extending your left arm behind you. Rotate both wrists so that the palm of your front hand is down and your back hand is facing up.
Return to the starting position and repeat the same on the other side.

Do 2-3 sets of 10-12 repetitions on each arm.

Workout No. 2. Triceps pump strengthening with bands and body weight

1A. Triceps extension with overhead band in a split rack

Sets: 5, reps: 20, rest: 0 seconds

Step 1: Pull the circular tape through a solid object above your head and grab the ends with your hands. Step away from the anchor point and raise your arms above your head. Your legs should be spread apart. Bend your hips back to tighten the band.

Step 2: Extend your elbows without moving your arms or torso. Alternate your front foot on each set.

1B. Simultaneous lifting of straight arms back while bending over

Sets: 5, reps: 20, rest: 30 seconds

Step 1: Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and bend your hips back until your torso is approximately 45 degrees from the floor. Your head, spine and pelvis should form a straight line. Extend your arms towards the floor.

Step 2: Raise your arms 90 degrees until they are parallel to the floor.

2. Close-grip push-ups with lift

Sets: 4, reps: as many as possible, rest: 45 seconds

Step 1: Place your feet on a bench, box, or other elevated surface. Get into a push-up position with your hands shoulder-width apart and bend your pelvis perpendicular to your spine.

Step 2: Take three seconds to lower your body until your chest is just above the floor. Go back and start the next rep.

3A. Bodyweight push-ups from a seated position

Sets: 3, reps: 10, rest: 0 seconds

Step 1: Place two benches or two chairs parallel to each other and stand between them. Place your hands on each bench and bend your hips and knees so that you are suspended by the benches.

Step 2: Lower yourself until your shoulders are parallel to the floor, then push yourself halfway back up. Lower your body again and then press all the way up. This is one repetition.

3B. Push-up hold

Sets: 3, reps: hold 30 seconds, rest: 60 seconds

Step 1: Get into a push-up position with your hands shoulder-width apart. Hold this position with body tension for 30 seconds.

4. One-Arm Overhead Triceps Stretch

Sets: 1, reps: hold 45 seconds (each hand)

Step 1. Extend your arm above your head and bend it at the elbow. With your free hand, gently pull on your elbow until you feel a stretch in your triceps. Repeat on the opposite side.

Lunges with dumbbell press

With this exercise you will work not only your arms, but also the back of your thighs.

Stand with your feet together and hold dumbbells in your arms, elbows bent, at eye level, palms facing out.
Lunge back with your left leg, bending your right knee to a 90-degree angle.
Push off with your left leg, extending your knee forward and up, maintaining a 90-degree angle so that your left thigh is parallel to the floor. At the same time, raise your arms above your head, doing a press. Taking care not to touch the floor with your left foot, lunge back again, thereby starting a new repetition.

To complete one set, do 10-12 reps, then switch legs.

Do 1-2 approaches.

French bench press

An exercise aimed at maintaining triceps tone.

Lie on your back, bend your knees.
Holding one dumbbell in each hand, raise your arms up until they are at chest level.
Slowly lower both arms toward your head, bending your elbows at right angles, until the dumbbells reach the floor. Try to lower the dumbbells so that they are on either side of your head and your elbows are pressed against your head.
Raise your arms back to the starting position. Perform 2-3 sets of 10-12 repetitions.

Lying dumbbell flyes

Although the exercise looks too simple and relaxing, it can actually significantly strengthen your pectoral muscles.

Lie on your back with your legs raised and bent at a 90-degree angle. Using your lower abdominal muscles, press your lower back into the floor.
Raise your arms with the dumbbells up, palms facing each other, slightly bending your elbows. Hands should be placed above the chest.
Slowly spread your arms out to the sides until your elbows are about 5 centimeters off the floor.
Return to the starting position.

Perform 2-3 sets of 10-12 repetitions.

The best exercises for tightening arms for women

We offer you the best hand exercises for women at home, which will help cope with the problem of loss of elasticity and tone in this area. Start your workout with a warm-up - it will help your muscles warm up and prepare. Perform swings, circular movements with your shoulders and arms, rotations forward and backward in turn, raising your arms, imitating the movement of scissors. You can also jump, walk in place at a fast pace, and so on. Now let's move on directly to the exercises.

Exercise 1. Lateral raises with dumbbells

You need to take a vertical position, standing, with your feet together. Relax your arms and stretch them along the body, turn your palms towards your legs. You should have small dumbbells in your hands. At home, you can replace them with plastic bottles filled with water or sand. As you exhale, spread your arms to the sides, lifting them slightly above the shoulder line. A slight bend in the elbows is allowed. At the extreme point, hold for a few seconds, then smoothly return to the starting position. Do three approaches 10-12 times.

Exercise 2. Bent-over dumbbell raises

Starting position – standing. Place your feet together, bend them slightly at the knees. Keep your back straight, tilt your body slightly forward. Lower your hands holding the dumbbells to knee level. In this case, the palms should face each other. As you exhale, you need to raise your arms straight up parallel to the floor. As you inhale, lower them down. Repeat exercises for arm muscles for women in three sets of 10-12 times.

Exercise 3. Alternating dumbbell press

You need to stand straight, place your feet shoulder-width apart. Raise your hands with dumbbells to shoulder level. As you exhale, lift one dumbbell above your head, while inhaling, lower it down, and press the second one up. Perform presses, alternating hands. Do 10-12 reps and three sets in total.

Exercise 4. Push-ups

Push-ups are classic exercises for strengthening arm muscles for women, aimed at strengthening the arms, shoulders, and chest. You need to take a lying position, placing your hands shoulder-width apart at chest level. Point your palms forward and spread your feet approximately pelvis-width apart. Inhaling, you need to lower yourself onto your arms, bent at a right angle, and as you exhale, return to the starting position. It is enough to do 10-12 push-ups in three approaches.

Women's arm muscles are naturally very weak, and classic push-ups can be difficult for them if they lack training. Therefore, at first you can perform simpler versions of the exercise, for example, push-ups from your knees. Everything is exactly the same, only you need to rest on the floor not with your toes, but with your knees.

Exercise 5. Reverse push-ups

To perform reverse push-ups, you will need a chair or bench. Sit down with your legs half-bent, clasp the edges of the seat with your hands. Keep your back straight. The angle between the shoulder and forearm should be 90 degrees. As you inhale, lower yourself as low as you can, then as you exhale, rise up.

There is a simpler version of the exercise. To do this, you need to place your hands close to each other and perform push-ups with your legs straight forward.

Exercise 6. Bench press

To do this exercise, you need to lie on a horizontal bench so that your head does not hang down. Place your feet on the floor. Bend your arms with dumbbells at an angle of 90 degrees. If the exercise is done at home, you can lie on the floor and bend your knees. As you exhale, press the dumbbells up. Hold them above your head for a few seconds with your palms facing each other. Then, while inhaling, return to the starting position.

Exercise 7. Lifting dumbbells for biceps

You need to take the dumbbells with a reverse grip, bend your arms at the knees and press them to your body. Perform smooth bending and extension of your arms. Each time the dumbbells should be pulled towards the chest. Do three sets of 10-12 reps.

Exercise 8. Putting a dumbbell behind your head

You need to stand up straight, place your feet shoulder-width apart. Take a dumbbell in one hand and gently move it behind your head, and lower it just as smoothly. You need to repeat the exercise 10-12 times , then do the same for the other hand. Do three approaches.

Exercise 9. French triceps press

Stand up, straighten your body, place your feet shoulder-width apart. With both hands, take one dumbbell and hold it behind your head, keeping your elbows bent. As you exhale, straighten your arm, lifting the weight toward the ceiling. As you inhale, lower your hand with the dumbbell behind your head again. In total you need to do three approaches , repeating the exercise for each hand 10-12 times.

Exercise 10. Pulling your arms back

Place your feet together, tilt your body slightly forward, while keeping your back straight. Take dumbbells in your hands and bend them at right angles, fix them at chest level. As you exhale, move your arms straight behind your body so that your palms are facing each other. Inhaling, return to the starting position. Repeat the exercise to tighten the arm muscles for women 10-12 times, doing three approaches in total.

Dumbbell plank

The classic plank is already a killer exercise, but what if you supplement it with arm movements?

Take dumbbells in your hands and take an emphasis lying on outstretched arms. Place your feet slightly wider than your shoulders - this position will make you more stable. While resting on your hands with dumbbells, keep your wrist still to protect your knuckles.
Tightening your abs and buttocks, as you exhale, lift your right elbow and move it behind your back: feel the movement of the shoulder blade towards the spine.
Keeping your back and neck straight, return to the starting position.

Repeat with the other hand. Do 2-3 sets of 10-12 repetitions for each arm.

Squat with press

Another combined exercise that combines load on the upper and lower body.

Place your feet slightly wider than your shoulders, with your toes turned slightly to the sides. Raise your arms with dumbbells bent at the elbows to shoulder level.
Do a squat, as if sitting on an invisible chair, keeping your body weight in your heels.
Straightening your knees, press your arms upward, keeping your palms turned out.

Do 2-3 sets of 10-12 repetitions.

Dumbbell Bench Press

The dumbbell press on a bench or any other flat surface is a basic exercise that primarily develops the pectoral muscles.

Lie on a bench, dumbbells in your arms bent at the elbows near your chest, elbows spread to the sides.
Taking a deep breath, lift the dumbbells with your arms fully extended. Exhale.
As you inhale, slowly return to the starting position.

Do 2-3 sets of 10-12 repetitions.

How can you strengthen them?

To strengthen weak hands, you just need to start training them . But forget about isolation exercises and raping your biceps with ten exercises for four hours straight. He won't become stronger from such training.

Usually, to strengthen weak arm muscles, it is enough to simply do the most basic basic exercises for the muscles of the back, chest and deltoids.

For example, doing deadlifts, bent-over rows and pull-ups will put enough stress on your biceps that after a while, when you strain it, your shirt will burst at the seams.

When you do pressing movements, for example, dips, bench presses, push-ups , standing or seated barbell presses, your triceps also receive quite a serious load.

But if this is not enough for your arms, then add exercises where the load is focused on your biceps and triceps.

To pump up biceps that look like a truck from a distance, I advise you to add a barbell or dumbbell curl to the biceps while standing .

For triceps add:

close grip barbell press;
dumbbell overhead press;
French press;
arm extension in the simulator.

Do these exercises for 6-10 repetitions and gradually increase the weight . Then your strong muscular arms will be able to hold two chicks at once.

If for some reason you can’t go to the gym, then go outside, find the nearest horizontal bars and parallel bars and do pull-ups, push-ups using different grips, or even just hang .

If your arms are very weak, then simply hanging on the bar will be enough to start with.

Well, if the bonus to weak arm muscles is the fact that you are generally a skinny guy , then especially for you I wrote an article called Gaining muscle mass for a skinny guy.

And of course, what kind of strength can we talk about if you eat like a sparrow ? To have strength, you need energy, we get energy from carbohydrates, carbohydrates in porridge. Accordingly, the strength is not in the hands, the strength is in the buckwheat, the one who has the buckwheat is the stronger.

If you want to read in more detail about how a strong and independent man should eat, then read the article about nutrition for weight gain.