What’s better than a sleeveless top and toned arms? Get ready for the summer by shaping your sexy arms a few times per week in the comfort of your own home with strength training exercises.
To truly sculpt shapely sexy arms you must execute a variety of exercises to target the various muscles of the arms, shoulders, chest, and upper back. The individual muscles must be stimulated in order to hypertrophy (tone), and fat levels must be reduced for the muscle definition to be visible. Don’t forget about nutrition, this too is just as important in reducing body fat levels as your workout routine.
To get the most out of your upper body strength training session try incorporating supersets. By doing one exercise right after another not only do you cut down your training time, you can easily increase the intensity. Another way you can spice things up in the weight room or at home is by performing multi joint exercises. Multi joint exercises use more muscles at once and take more time to complete a single rep, which makes the muscles work harder and respond by increasing the time of contraction. Supersets and multi joint exercises are not only more intense, but also more efficient. You are capable of burning more calories and fat in less time.
Here are a few combinations to add to your routine.
Triceps Dip/Incline Push-Up
Targets: Triceps, pectorals, front deltoids, back muscles
(Bodyweight exercise. Perform one set of each consecutively and repeat for a total of 2-3 combo sets.)
- Triceps dip: Using a bench or chair, sit down, place your hands palm down beside you, walk your feet out straight in front and scoot your hips off so your back is against the edge. Keep your arms at a 90-degree angle to begin then extend your arms and raise your body up. Lower back down, and repeat. * To make the exercise more difficult, extend your legs all the way out in front of you with no bend in your knees.
- Incline Push-Up: Place your hands on the bench with your body in a plank position, arms extended and shoulder width apart. Keep your body stable, and lower your chest to the bench as you bend your arms and push back up. * To target the triceps more, keep your hands closer together.
- Bent Over Row/Triceps Kickback Combo
- Targets middle and lower trapezius, rhomboids, latissimus dorsi, posterior deltoids, triceps
- (Use Light weights- dumbbells/resistance band/etc.)
- Start with a Low-Row- In a standing position with your knees slightly bent. Bend over slightly from the hips keeping your arms at your sides. Pull your arms up so your upper arms are parallel to the ground. From that position perform a Triceps kickback by extending your arms all the way out.
- Biceps Curl/Shoulder Press Combo
- Targets Biceps brachii and medial deltoids.
- (Use Light weights-dumbbells/resistance band/etc.)
- Standing tall with your knees slightly bent and the weights down by your side, perform a biceps curl, hold and squeeze for about one second and then raise the weights overhead for a shoulder press, lower back down and repeat for 10-12 repetitions.
- Deltoid Trio
- Targets anterior, posterior, medial deltoids.
- (Use Light weights- dumbbells/resistance band/etc.)
- Standing tall with your knees slightly bent and the weights at your sides-raise the weights straight out in front of you shoulder height, lower back down then immediately raise them up simultaneously at your sides, lower down and finally bend over slightly from your hips and raise the weights out to the side shoulder height for a rear-deltoid raise and lower back down. Repeat the series for 10-12 repetitions