Besides looking good and boosting your confidence, working your arm muscles out has vital health benefits. Strong arms and shoulders lower injury risks and improve your posture. They also stabilize your joints and protect your bones. Strong arms also boost runners’ speed and endurance, while strong shoulders generate maximum forward propulsion for sprinters. Upper body strength enhances running performance.
Thankfully, you can strengthen and tone your forearms, biceps, triceps, and shoulders from the comfort of your home or join a gym. Below are the best exercises to tone your arm muscles.
1. Triceps kickbacks
Triceps kickbacks isolate, tone, and strengthen your muscles. When performing these exercises, engage your core and triceps and ensure your triceps stay still. Only your elbows should move. The rest of your upper body shouldn’t move, and the back should remain flat. Besides working your triceps, triceps kickback strengthens the auxiliary muscles you use when extending your hand. Combine this workout with a variety of other tricep exercises so they remain strong and toned.
2. Arm circles
Arm circles are simple yet effective circular motions that strengthen your arms and shoulders with no equipment. Standing with your feet shoulder-width apart and extending your arms straight to your sides to form a T, slowly rotate your arms and shoulders to form forward circles. Do several repeats and reverse to the opposite direction, then repeat the exercises.
3. Isometric biceps hold
Isometric biceps exercises can be challenging; however, it strengthens your arms and gets rid of fat. Standing with your feet hip-width apart and a weight in each hand, keep your arms close to your body, elbows bent at a 90-degree angle, and your back straight. Hold for as long as you can, then in a controlled manner, lower your hands down, then repeat for as long as you can.
4. Plank sidewalk
Besides being effective core exercises, planks are suitable for flabby arms. With your arms and forefeet on the floor, get into a high plank position and ensure your body is almost parallel to the ground. Ensure your head, back, legs, and hips are in a straight line. Using your right leg and engaged core, step to your right and simultaneously walk your hand out. Perform such multiple steps to your right, then back to the starting point. Perform the same movements to your left.
5. Diamond push-ups
Different push-up variations target various parts of your upper body. A wide-stance push-up focuses on your chest muscles, and putting your hands close together works your triceps. A diamond push-up is a narrow push-up that focuses on your triceps. Although you aim to tone the arms, engaging your core boosts your stability and burns more calories. Be slow and perform your movements in a controlled manner.
6. One arm tricep dips
One-arm tricep dips are effective fat-burning exercises that focus on the triceps as that’s where most of the fat is deposited and requires no equipment. Besides strengthening your triceps, shoulders, and arms, and also increases your body’s motion range.
Endnote
Working your arms not only boosts your physical aesthetics but also strengthens and tones your arms. Consider including the above exercises in your workout routine for lean and strong-arm muscles.
