The arms are made up of a few different muscle groups, like the triceps, biceps and shoulders — so the most effective workout routine to tone the arms incorporates exercises that target each of these muscle groups specifically.
There’s reason to incorporate arm exercises into your routine beyond aesthetics, too. Training the upper body, especially the arms, not only helps prevent injury, but also improves posture, strength and mobility, making it easier to perform everyday activities like carrying and lifting items.
When it comes to the best way to work the upper body and tone the arms, I like to include a combination of dumbbell, bodyweight and resistance band exercises into a training plan. Targeted stretches are also important for reducing tension in the upper body that can negatively affect our posture.
For the dumbbell exercises, you can use 3-pound weights to start and work your way up to 5 or even 8 pounds. For the resistance bands, I recommend a medium-strength resistance.
Arm circles
Rotating your arms in circles is a great way to get your blood flowing and warm up your arms and shoulders before trying a bicep curl. Simply straighten your arms out to your sides and begin rotating in small circles. Completing 10 rotations forward and then 10 rotations backward.
Air curls
Another great way to warm up the arms is to perform the bicep curl motion without the weights! Release the arms down by your sides and open your palms up so they’re facing away from you. Curl the arms up so that your hands almost touch your shoulders, and then release down. Repeat 10 times.
Hammer curls
Hold one dumbbell in each hand and turn the arms so that the palms face your body. Hug the elbows in toward your waist and curl the weights up. Reach the weights toward your shoulders as you keep the elbows hugged in. Lower the weights back down by your sides and repeat 10 times.
Single-arm hammer curl
Perform the hammer curl, but with one arm at a time. Instead of curling both weights up…
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