Benefits of arm exercises with weights
To build muscular arms, strength training with weights is essential. But defined arm muscles aren’t just about aesthetics. Being stronger, with more upper body stability, can help in all aspects of life and make everyday movements easier. “Training and building stronger arms directly crosses over to daily activities. Carrying your shopping, lifting luggage, picking up your kids and even moving furniture becomes easier,” says personal trainer and founder of the Grow Girl app, Hayley Madigan. “Having stronger arms can also support longevity, bone health and ageing, and have injury-prevention elements. When you build muscle and get stronger arms, you will improve your bone density, stabilise your joints, support your posture, improve ligament and tendon strength and reduce the risk of other injuries.”
In this guide, we’ll break down the best arm exercises to hit all the muscles in the arms and shoulders (because often muscular-looking arms come from having defined shoulder muscles), as well as the upper body generally. The exercises are for all fitness levels, and with Madigan’s expertise, we’ll explain how to structure your workouts to see results.
What muscles do arm exercises with weights target?
For balanced strength and muscles, you need to train all parts of the arms. “It’s important not to neglect certain muscles as this can cause imbalances and potentially injuries,” Madigan says. That means you need to target your biceps, triceps, forearms, shoulders and chest muscles.
What weight dumbbells should you use for arm exercises?
You want to be able to push yourself with the weights you choose, you don’t want the exercises to be easy; growth comes from being uncomfortable, Madigan explains. Start with a warm-up weight on any given exercise to get used to the movement, then increase the weight so you can do the allocated reps with control, good form, but the last two to three reps should feel difficult. “Form should come first, but you want to lift as heavy as you can,” Madigan says.
The key to building muscle and strength is progressive overload, which means gradually making the exercise harder, prompting your muscles to adapt and grow. This could mean lifting heavier weights, adding more reps and sets, or changing the tempo of your movements to make them more challenging. “Frequency also matters: training arms two or three times a week, even only for two or three sets, is far more effective than only training them once a week,” Madigan says.
While isolation exercises targeting specific muscles, such as bicep curls, are an important part of building arm muscles, compound exercises, which work multiple muscles at once, give you more bang for your buck. “Bigger lifts, such as rows, pull-ups and bench press, are great for building arm muscles and often better than isolating small muscle groups,” Madigan says. “Try adding in compound lifts at the start of your workouts and save the lighter isolation exercises for the end.”
How many reps and sets you perform will depend on how much time you have. As a base, aiming for two or three sessions a week, with at least two exercises for each arm muscle group, is sufficient to make progress. Typically, the 'bigger' the exercise (e.g. a compound lift), the fewer reps you’d perform, and the 'lighter' the exercise (e.g. an isolation exercise), the higher the rep count. Madigan recommends aiming for five to eight reps on a compound lift and 10 to 15 with isolation exercises.
Finally, don’t forget that nutrition plays a big role in muscle-building. Ensure you’re eating enough calories overall and sufficient protein too. Madigan recommends aiming for 1.6 to 2.2 grams of protein per kilogram of your bodyweight each day.
Compound lifts
1. Barbell bent-over row
With knees bent and body hinged forward at the hip, hold a barbell in both hands and bend at the elbows to lift the barbell to your stomach.
2. Pull-ups
Hang from a bar with an overhand grip (palms facing forward) and engage the upper back muscles to lift your head up to the bar.
3. Bench press
Lying on your back on a bench press machine, un-rack the barbell above your head, lower with control to your chest then push it back up to starting position.
4. Push-ups
From a high plank position, bend at the elbows to lower your body to nearly touching the floor, then push back up.
Biceps
1. Dumbbell bicep curls
Standing with a dumbbell in each hand, palms facing forward, bend at the elbow to curl the dumbbell up and lower.
2. Barbell bicep curls
The same as a bicep curl but holding a barbell rather than dumbbells.
3. Hammer curls
Dumbbell bicep curls with the palms facing each other
4. Concentration curls
Dumbbell bicep curls while sitting on a bench, with the tricep pressed against the inner thigh
5. Incline dumbbell curls
Dumbbell curls while sitting on a reclined bench
6. Bicep 21s
Seven reps of the upper half of a bicep curl, seven of the lower, then seven of the full range of motion
Triceps
1. Tricep kickbacks
With knees bent and body hinged forward at the hip, extend at the elbow moving the dumbbell behind you
2. Overhead tricep extensions
Start with your hands holding a dumbbell above your head, then bend at the elbow to lower the dumbbell and extend
3. Skull crushers
Lying on a bench, start with your arms extended straight above your head, lower the dumbbell or barbell to close to your head and extend
4. Tricep dips
If you can’t do these at bodyweight yet, use a machine or do bench dips
5. Dumbbell close-grip press
This bench press format works the triceps more than a standard variation
Shoulders and upper arms
1. Dumbbell shoulder press
Try variations with the palms facing forwards and towards each other
2. Lateral raises
With a soft bend in the elbows, lift your arms out to the side to shoulder height, holding dumbbells, and lower with control
3. Front raises
The same but forwards
4. Upright rows
Start holding dumbbells in front of your body, lift your hands up to your chest, bending the elbows out to the side, then lower
5. Around the worlds
These support the entire shoulder joint: with your palms facing forward and a soft bend in the elbows, slowly raise your arms out to the side and up to above your head, then back down the same way
6. Rear delt reverse flies
These can be performed with a machine or standing bent over with dumbbells
7. Dumbbell incline press
Midway between a chest press and a shoulder press, performed lying on an incline bench
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