Arm muscles often go unappreciated as muscle groups of importance; however, they’re essential in pushing, pulling, and carrying objects of all shapes and sizes around. To strengthen them properly SELF contributor Delgado-Lugo offers this simple dumbbell arm workout to build strength in them.
Stand upright with good posture and hold two dumbbells by your sides with palms facing one another (A). Contract your biceps to bring the weights up toward your shoulders before slowly lowering them back down again to complete one rep.
Biceps
Your biceps – those muscles at the front of your upper arms — help with any pulling motion, like opening doors, picking something off of the floor or carrying bags. Francine Delgado-Lugo of Form Fitness Brooklyn emphasizes their importance as arm definition muscles as well. Therefore, these biceps must be regularly worked out using dumbbell arm workouts in combination with shoulders and triceps exercises.
This straightforward but effective exercise can be performed both sitting or standing. Hold one dumbbell in each hand with palms facing in, and raise both arms straight up until shoulder height until they form an “I”. Slowly lower back down and repeat this for 10-12 repetitions.
Start out by starting with a light weight that you can comfortably handle for each repetition, but don’t be intimidated to increase the weight as soon as you become familiar with this move. Your aim should be to bring each set to momentary failure wherein lifting the dumbbells any higher would cause form issues and could possibly result in injury.
Assume a standing position with feet shoulder-width apart and two pairs of dumbbells held with underhand grips in each hand, with your core engaged and shoulders back, using an underhand grip to curl each set to your shoulders while simultaneously squeezing biceps at the top of each movement and slowly lower them behind your head while keeping upper arms vertical (B).
Drag curls are another variation on the classic dumbbell biceps curl, but with one key difference: instead of pulling back as you curl, this time pulling your elbows back creates an extended stretch on the long head of biceps (C). This helps promote more arm growth.
Shoulders, biceps and triceps can all be worked using just your bodyweight; however, external resistance like dumbbells provides is much more beneficial in producing the results desired. Beginners and intermediates will likely find one weekly dumbbell arm workout sufficient, while advanced lifters/bodybuilders should train twice each week in order to maximize results. No matter when or how often you exercise with dumbbells – this exercise will build stronger arms with bigger muscles!
Triceps
Triceps muscles located at the back of your upper arm help straighten and extend your arms, as well as stabilize your shoulder joint. Strong triceps can aid you in performing many arm exercises as well as improve performance in sports that involve pushing, pulling or throwing.
When training your triceps, it’s essential that they’re worked slowly and deliberately. Rushing can strain muscles and lead to injury; another mistake could be taking too long to reach full contraction of your triceps – this problem can be avoided by having someone observe you while performing workouts, using lighter weight or starting with less repetitions.
Standing bent-over dumbbell triceps extension is one of the best dumbbell arm workouts to target triceps. Begin by holding two dumbbells, palms facing each other. Raise both arms simultaneously in front of you until they reach about shoulder height (forming an “I”) then lower them slowly behind your head, before slowly raising back up until they are parallel with the floor – repeat this exercise for three sets with 10-12 repetitions each set.
An alternative to standing triceps extension, the seated triceps kickback requires you to sit on a bench with slightly bent knees and hold two dumbbells with palms down at your sides, palms facing in. Contract your triceps by raising them straight overhead until they are approximately parallel with the floor; hold for one second before straightening arms out sideways without over bending elbows beyond their joints.
Another effective triceps exercise is the skull crusher: lie on a bench holding two dumbbells with your palms facing each other and use your triceps to curl them toward each other, then straighten them overhead. You can also perform seated skull crushers by sitting on an edge of a bench, chair or balance ball and hovering your body just above it; hands resting just beneath its edges.
Deltoid
The deltoid muscle, commonly referred to simply as “deltoids”, is responsible for lifting your arms in front of you, out to the side and above your head. Working these three heads simultaneously is key for creating an overall balanced upper body workout and not overtraining any one area.
Starting off this dumbell arm workout with the overhead dumbbell press is a classic exercise to work your anterior, lateral, and rear deltoids. This classic move helps build shoulder and arm strength while warming up for larger and more complex exercises later. Achieve maximum effectiveness from an overhead dumbbell press by slowly lifting weights through their full range of motion – do not rush or use momentum as this could strain shoulders and lead to injury.
Standing Chest Fly: a Simple Exercise designed to strengthen both chest and shoulders without adding bulk, this move pairs beautifully with Lateral Arm Raise to give your upper body an athletic shape that helps you look and feel its best.
Finish your workout off right by performing reverse fly shoulder raises to work on the backs of your shoulders and rhomboids. This move is suitable for use both shoulder days as well as back training days depending on your goals, time constraints and frequency of training sessions.
This simple but effective dumbbell arm workout will help you create a balanced upper body while building strength, taking your performance to new heights. Be sure to track your progress using StrengthLog, a free app which makes planning and recording workouts simple – download it from either Apple Store or Google Play; its basic version will always remain free with no credit card required for lifetime access!
Shoulders
Your shoulders are the anchor of your upper arms, working alongside triceps and chest to form an effective physique. While “push” exercises such as push-ups may help, for maximum results they prefer “pull” exercises like working against resistance such as with dumbbells.
Standing lateral raises are an easy addition to your arm dumbbell workout as they work the entirety of your shoulder complex as well as your triceps, core, and forearms. To perform them effectively, stand with feet shoulder-width apart and each arm holding one dumbbell with palms facing each other and wrists neutral, contract your biceps by pulling each dumbbell up towards your shoulders until they stop in front of you and parallel to the floor; slowly lower back down after stopping then repeat until reaching desired reps have been reached.
This exercise is an excellent triceps builder for novices, since it provides an effective means of strengthening upper arms without adding unnecessary bulk. This exercise specifically targets the long head of triceps as well as shoulders and forearms for a comprehensive upper body workout. To perform one on yourself, lie on a flat bench while grasping one dumbbell with both hands so that your palms cupping its end cap or pressing against it flat are cupping either cupping it flat with both palms; and lift both arms over head by bending only elbows while straightening out again by straightening only your arms until straight arms overhead is reached then slowly lower them by bending only elbows until complete lowering.
Beginner or intermediate lifters should perform this dumbbell arm workout once per week in order to build their biceps and triceps at an optimum rate, while advanced lifters/bodybuilders should train their arms twice weekly so as to maximize potential muscle growth.
This dumbbell arm workout can make a fantastic addition to your regular strength training regimen, but make sure that it includes a warm-up to enhance posture, blood flow and range of motion. And don’t forget StrengthLog; its free app for tracking strength training and nutrition data available both iOS and Android devices.
