The most effective arm exercises for women are performed with dumbbells.
Every woman dreams of having beautiful, toned arms. And in this case we are not talking about increasing the volume of biceps, as is the case in men. Girls strive to get rid of excessive roundness, looseness, and make their arms more defined and elastic. Arm exercises for women are selected taking into account the fact that the goal of the training is not to build muscle mass, but to achieve relief and overall tone. Exercises with dumbbells are ideal for working out your arm muscles at home. In particular, since the problem area for most women is the back of the shoulder, it is advisable to include exercises with dumbbells for the triceps in the program. In this article we will look at a selection of exercises that are suitable for girls to perform independently.
Barbell bench press
We stand straight, feet shoulder-width apart, a bar with weight in our hands. The arms are extended down along the body. We bend our elbows, touching the chest with the bar. Unbend, but not completely, to approximately an angle of 90 degrees and repeat.
Under no circumstances should you fully extend your elbow joint, as this can lead to muscle strain and injury to the joint in general. In addition, this way you keep your muscles in constant tension.
We perform 4 sets of 20 repetitions.
The most effective exercises with a barbell for girls
For many girls, pumping up their biceps is a difficult task, since their arms are naturally weaker than those of men.
In addition, female fat deposition means extra pounds on the shoulders, and many people don’t like this. By performing exercises with dumbbells of different weights, you can give your biceps the desired shape and functionality: repeated repetitions of movements with light weights will make the muscle longer, leaner, more defined and more durable. Lifting heavy weights will increase the size of your biceps and their power. Examples of some basic dumbbell exercises are given below.
Arm Curl
This type of training is classified as so-called isolated exercises, which means working exclusively on the target muscles. It is aimed at increasing the volume of the biceps and giving it a convex shape. Most often, it is worked out with small weights with repeated repetitions of movements, to increase the filling of this muscle with blood.
The basis of the exercise is alternate or simultaneous lifting of weight to the shoulder by bending the arm at the elbow joint. Ideally, it is necessary to eliminate body swaying and perform movements due to swings and inertia.
The muscles of the forearm and brachialis are included here. This muscle is located under the biceps, and performs up to 67% of all work in lifting the load to the shoulder. It is the developed brachialis that visually increases the volume of the biceps.
And strong forearms increase grip strength and help hold heavy weight sports equipment. This allows you to increase the intensity of the training process.
In the initial position and when subsequently lifting the load, the hands are turned towards the body. In the negative phase of the exercise, lower the dumbbells while maintaining control. You need to lift the dumbbell within one and lower it within two seconds.
The press is performed from a sitting position. In this exercise, the body should be slightly turned inward. The working hand is located on the inner surface of the hip of the same name and is lowered down.
Her elbow joint is not fully straightened. The top point at which the movement ends is located at shoulder level. Supination is necessary, that is, turning the hand outward. When performing the exercise, only the forearm moves. This press allows you to get impressive, toned biceps without training with heavy weights. This is true for many asthenic men and girls.
Scott's simulator allows you to eliminate swinging and cheating, that is, give a specific target load to the biceps. To begin the exercise, you should sit up straight and place your shoulders with their back surface on the inclined shelf of the bench.
Place them parallel, touching the edge of the shelf with the armpit. Lower the hands holding the dumbbell down. Next, perform arm curls in the same way as in all exercises for training biceps using free weights.
At the start of the exercise, the shoulders are motionless, the elbows are pressed to the body. When raising the forearms, the hands are supinated until they are in a palms-up position. The amplitude of movement always lies in the frontal plane. To visually monitor the correct execution of this exercise, the forearms should be kept in line with the anterior deltoid muscles.
This exercise allows you to stretch the heads of the biceps more strongly and specifically work each of its heads. The bench is installed at an angle from 50 to 70 degrees. Movements are performed smoothly and without rocking. The weight of the dumbbells should be one-fifth of that which is usual for standing work.
Lying arm curl
The exercise is a variation of the previous one. But the muscles are stretched more strongly under the weight of the weight, which tends to bring them to the floor. It is done lying with your back on a weight bench.
At an advanced stage of training, you can start using a barbell instead of dumbbells. Perform training using an empty bar, Olympic barbell or EZ barbell. It is working with a barbell that allows you to focus on both the internal and external segments of the biceps.
The barbell is taken with an underhand grip, 15 cm wider than the shoulders. The feet are shoulder-width apart. Standing with a straight back, lift the projectile to the shoulder. Do not use back movements. Elbows should be pointed down and pressed to the body. The working emphasis in such training shifts to the inner bundle of shoulder muscles.
The exercise is performed in the same way as the previous one. If you grip, holding the bar 10-15 cm narrower than your shoulders, then the outer biceps will work during the movement.
Biceps exercises at home work target areas without even having the opportunity to train with weights. Available tools and simple gymnastic equipment allow you to organize a full-fledged training.
As weights, use eggplants filled with water, a stack of heavy books, or an office chair held by the legs. You can pump up your biceps by using your own body as a weighting agent. It is difficult to increase the volume of biceps without dumbbells and barbells, but increasing its performance with home workouts is much easier.
You can perform this exercise, which resembles biceps hammers, with eggplants filled with water. Many of the smaller canisters have easy-to-grip handles, and the operating weight can be adjusted to fill the containers differently.
The towel will help you train on the train or in your hotel room. This hygiene item can be passed through the handles of a hiking bag or backpack and you can perform biceps curls as if you were holding a barbell or kettlebell in your hands.
This is a household option for working with a concentrated bench press, which has already been described above.
Biceps exercises at home also have a rather exotic version:
- While sitting on a chair, place your forearm under the middle of your opposite thigh.
- Next, you need to pull up the thigh to the maximum possible height.
- In this case, it is necessary to exclude the work of the muscles of the legs and back.
A small horizontal bar can be installed in a doorway, on a blank wall of an apartment, between two shelves in a train compartment, or you can find a suitable branch on a tree in the garden. When performing a grip, the hands need to be turned towards the face. All skeletal muscles should be in good shape. This will avoid unnecessary joint injuries. Pull-ups are done without jerking or swinging the body.
We invite you to read Exercises for a slim figure: how to achieve a beautiful body
Excellent results are obtained by using a rubber band or expander in training. With this type of training, the biceps remain more elastic, acquiring specific endurance. Perform the training similarly to the exercises used in working with iron.
This is a very interesting training option. In addition to the biceps, it involves the back muscles, rear deltoids and trapezius. You can organize such pull-ups on the top of a kitchen or office table, or by placing a transverse pipe on two chairs.
The body is positioned horizontally, the back of the head, shoulders, lower back and hips are lined up. The support is performed on the heels. When pulling yourself up, you need to touch the bar with your chest.
Basic technique for the development of biceps and forearm, deltas. Athletes use it for pumping and burning fat.
- Standing or sitting, we hold the shells in our lowered hands. Fingers point inward, elbows motionless.
- Holding your breath, we lift up to the shoulders, supinating the hand as much as possible. Rotating the wrist optimally reduces the tufts. Delayed or premature rotation will create unnecessary tension in the shoulder joint.
- Having reached the maximum, we extend the arm, turning the wrists in the opposite direction.
Since the emphasis is on accurate movement reproduction,
Isolating practice for the biceps muscle in order to give the biceps density, volume, strength. The brachialis and wrist flexors are involved.
- Adjust the height of the backrest for the arms.
- We place the triceps at the top of the stand. If your back is weak, first we sit on the bench, then ask for the barbell.
- Use a wide grip to grab the EZ bar. A projectile with a bent profile will prevent overstrain of the forearm.
- The hands are facing forward, the knees are bent.
- We firmly fix the feet and back. Do not tear your elbows off the surface.
- Partially stretching the biceps, while inhaling, lower the barbell.
- Using the beams, we raise the barbell to the shoulder line. We do not bend the brushes. We do not pull the bar up - with optimal lifting, the abdominal muscles and back are included in the process.
- We linger in the top position for 2 seconds and lower the projectile down without a jerk.
- Repeat 10 times. We work with moderate weight.
To shock the biceps, it is important to change the types of equipment, weight, and angles.
We take the bar with different grips. The distribution of the load depends on the position of the hands on the base:
- with the classic setting, the entire muscle is evenly loaded;
- with a narrow one, the focus shifts to a long beam, partly to a short one;
- in the wide position the emphasis is on the short head.
Reverse grip rows occur with a narrow hand position. This forces both beams to come into operation. Alternating, reverse curls are effective for gaining mass.
A basic exercise for working out the biceps, serratus anterior, brachioradialis, and abdominal muscles.
- From the classic position we take the barbell - palms facing up, bar at hip level.
- We move our chest forward, move our shoulders back, and tighten our abs.
- To relieve tension from the quadratus dorsi muscle, bend your knees slightly.
- Using the strength of your biceps, pull the barbell up. The lifting trajectory resembles a semicircle.
When lifting in a straight line, the biceps rests (10x3).
Accent: forearm, biceps.
- We take the barbell with a reverse grip. The elbows, attached to the body, are turned back.
- With straight shoulders, without breaking away from the body, pull the bar up.
- Without losing tactile contact with the body, we return to IP (6x3) in reverse order.
Works: biceps, deltoids, chest.
- We stand behind the simulator.
- Take the dumbbell with one palm up and lower it down your back. With your free hand we lean on the edge or corner of the bench.
- By adjusting the breathing rhythm, we bend our arm and pull the load towards the shoulder. At the peak point we freeze and inhale, lowering the dumbbell.
We duplicate the movements with the other hand (10x4).
- We sit on the simulator: our feet rest on the floor, our backs rest against the support.
- Alternately bending the elbow joints, we bring the dumbbells to the shoulders.
- maintaining a stable position of the elbows, at the top point we turn the wrists in the opposite direction.
Incline Dumbbell Press
We lie with our backs on an inclined bench, holding dumbbells in our hands. We pull them down and a little away from us. We bend the elbow joint, pulling the weights towards the chest. Unbend. Again, do not forget that you cannot fully straighten your arms. In addition, in this exercise you must keep your muscles under control. If you understand that you can’t do a repetition again, then it’s better not to do it. This is because if you suddenly straighten your elbow joint with a weight in your hand, then there is a risk of dislocation. But we are for safe sport!
Therefore, we repeat 20 times for 4 approaches.
Girls and biceps
What makes me especially happy about training biceps and triceps is that you don't have to spend too much time on it. Any press, such as push-ups or bench press, also works the triceps. And when you do rows, for example, lat pulldowns or cable rows, you indirectly train your biceps.
In short, if you diligently work hard on your chest and back days, you won't have to devote too much time to training your arms. Moreover, biceps and triceps are small muscles, and you can’t expect any different metabolic benefits from working them out.
What makes me especially happy about training biceps and triceps is that you don’t have to spend too much time on it
I prefer to focus on training my arms just once a week for 30-45 minutes. This workout, combined with indirect biceps and triceps work during other workouts, is more than enough. My arms are strong and look amazing!
Crossover Curl Overhead
We choose two crossovers that are nearby, but this time with a top link. We take the handles of each of them in our hands. Extend your arms completely. We stand a little in such a position so that the muscles stretch, and begin to bend. We move the brush to the head. We remember that the muscles must be in constant tension; we do not fully extend our arms. To complete this exercise, first we smoothly release one arm, then the other, but still do not fully extend it.
We perform 4 sets of 20 repetitions.
Exercises for arm muscles
- Exercises for biceps - slow curls with dumbbells and a barbell, pull-ups with a reverse grip on the bar. When performing such activities, you make an effort to bend your arms. This is how the biceps are trained. When performing exercises with dumbbells, it is better to work with one arm first, then the other, to better feel the biceps of each arm. Doing the exercise in parallel will be less effective
Great video on how to build biceps at home:
- — presses in a lying position with a narrow grip and standing, push-ups on uneven bars and from the floor. It is better to choose narrow bars: the narrower they are, the greater the load on the triceps. If you perform a bench press, carefully monitor the position of your arms - they should not diverge to the sides. When performing such exercises, you train the triceps, making efforts to extend your arms
- Exercises for the forearm muscles - holding equipment with your hands, hanging on the bar for as long as possible
As you can see, before pumping up your arms at home, you need to carefully study the types of muscles, as well as the types of exercises that are aimed at the muscles of the arms. The easiest way to pump up your arms is to do push-ups from the floor, as well as pull-ups on a bar with weights. It’s worth noting right away that weights are needed to increase muscle size.
Standing reverse grip curl
We stand straight, feet shoulder-width apart, a bar with weight in our hands. The arms are extended down along the body. Hold the bar with a reverse grip. Bend at the elbow, touching the chest with the bar. Unbend, but not completely, to approximately an angle of 90 degrees and repeat.
Under no circumstances should you fully extend your elbow joint, as this can lead to muscle strain and injury to the joint in general. In addition, this way you keep your muscles in constant tension.
We perform 4 sets of 20 repetitions.
Performing training to develop biceps at home
- Arm training should begin with a joint warm-up: turning the neck and head to the sides, bending, stretching, rubbing the forearms. Warm-up time is 5-10 minutes.
- Cardio - 5-10 minutes before starting strength training. There is a treadmill, bicycle, jump rope, and ellipse in almost every gym.
- Before starting strength training, warm up with light weights. You shouldn’t lift a 50 kg barbell if you can barely lift 30 kg. Start with a light weight and only then move on to the load with which you plan to work out further. Between approaches, pause for 60-90 seconds so as not to overstrain your muscles.
- To lose weight in the arms, do 3 strength training sessions per week and 2 cardio sessions of 30-60 minutes each or half-hour circuits. To lose weight, do 5 sets of 6-12 repetitions for each exercise.
- To build muscle, exercise 3 times a week at two-day intervals. Emphasis on strength training with additional weight.
- To tone and stay in shape, exercise 3 times a week with an emphasis on strength training, and add cardio for 10-20 minutes at the end of your workouts. Perform exercises in 3 sets of 12 repetitions.
- Stand straight, feet shoulder-width apart.
- Extend your outstretched arms with dumbbells to the sides.
- Raise your arms with dumbbells to shoulder level, slightly bending your elbows.
Barbell press
- Lie down on a bench press and press your feet to the floor.
- Take the bar with an overhand grip.
- Lower the bar to your chest and press it back, pausing at the top point.
Lunges with dumbbells
- Take dumbbells and keep your arms extended.
- Lunge with your knee forward.
- Alternate the leg you lunge on.
- For increased load, raise your arms with dumbbells above your head.
Push-ups on a bench
- Turn your back to the sports bench, place your hands, straighten your knees.
- Do a reverse push-up so that your shoulders are parallel to the floor line, but not lower.
- Return to the starting point and repeat the exercise several times.
Bent-over row
- Place your left hand and left knee on the exercise bench.
- Straighten your back, squeeze your shoulder blades, but lower your shoulders and arm with weights (use dumbbells or water bottles if you are working out at home).
- Pull the weight to your belt, hold for 30 seconds and lower it down.
- Do not raise your arm higher and do not spread your shoulder blades.
- Comprehensive body preparation for summer 2020 – we welcome the warm season fully prepared
How to do a dumbbell press on an incline bench can be found here. An exercise for triceps is a standing French press. A lunge exercise for the buttocks and thighs is described at this link. For those who have trouble doing pull-ups, read about the Australian pull-ups. The crunch exercise on an incline bench is here .and also Technique for performing concentrated biceps curls.
The conditions under which novice bodybuilders train vary. Not always and not everyone has the opportunity to visit the gym. Not having access to a gym doesn't mean you have to stop working out altogether. There are many exercises that you can do at home without any problems. These include push-ups.
This exercise is aimed both at working the biceps and using the muscles of the chest, arms and shoulder girdle. Its implementation does not require large free space or special sports equipment. To increase the load, if such a need exists, a backpack is put on the back, in which a load is placed.
When you have this sports equipment in your yard or at home, doing pull-ups on it will be an excellent exercise for developing your biceps. Pull-ups can be done with either a reverse or direct grip. To get a noticeable result, you need to do at least three approaches. The number of repetitions in each approach varies from 10 to 15 times.
You should increase the load only when pull-ups begin to be easy. This can be done by placing additional weights on your feet or increasing the number of repetitions. To get the most out of pull-ups, keep your arms fully extended.
You can build up your biceps much faster in the gym. This is due to the fact that a bodybuilder has the opportunity to do many more exercises, rather than three or four. A special role in this is played by the exercise equipment and devices that are available to the athlete in the gym. They allow you to work both on individual parts and on the entire biceps muscle.
The trainer will always tell the novice athlete how to create an effective training, and will also provide support when performing difficult exercises. If doing a concentrated lift to develop biceps with maximum weight at home is dangerous, then in the gym this exercise can be safely included in the training program.
It is possible to effectively work out muscles only when the exercises are done without cheating, that is, sacrificing technique in favor of the number of repetitions.
Standing barbell raises
The gym is a great place to lift heavy weights. Raising it at home is not recommended. When there is no experienced coach nearby, there is no one to insure the athlete. In the gym there is no such problem and you can lift the maximum weight without the risk of injury.
The standing barbell lift is a basic biceps exercise and is considered the most effective for increasing both volume and strength:
- take the barbell with an underhand grip, placing your hands shoulder-width apart;
- lift the sports equipment by contracting the biceps.
If a bodybuilder tries to lift the barbell as high as possible, his arms will move forward. This should not be allowed, since the load will be transferred to the delta and will not be placed on the biceps.
To perform the exercise, sit on an inclined bench and take dumbbells in your hands. The back is pressed against the backrest, the legs are pressed against the floor surface. Bending your elbows, they are lifted one by one. When the arm is raised to the maximum, the hand is turned towards itself as much as possible. The main thing is that your elbows do not lean forward.
The barbell is grasped with a medium reverse grip, which allows you to best work the biceps muscles. Keeping your shoulders on a support allows you to focus the entire load on the biceps. The exercise works most effectively on the lower biceps. In cases where an athlete experiences severe tension in the area of the wrist joints, it is permissible to replace a barbell with a regular bar with a projectile with a figured one. Another alternative option is to use dumbbells.
The exercise is performed in 3 approaches. Each one has from 8 to 12 repetitions.
Training on a bench and with a barbell can be performed without exercise equipment. To achieve quick results and maximum benefit from exercises, if you have the opportunity to use these devices, you should definitely use them.
Warming up for the shoulders and arms does not sufficiently prepare the body for a full workout. To warm up the muscles and ligamentous-articular apparatus, activate the work of internal organs, warm-up should take at least 15 minutes and involve all the main muscle groups.
The principles of its implementation are dosing the load and controlled amplitudes of movements. The orbits along which warm-up movements are performed begin from minimum to maximum, without going beyond the anatomical limits of joint movement.
It is imperative to warm up the antagonist muscles as well. And only after the blood flow has been activated throughout the body, they proceed to local additional warm-up of the muscles of the target limbs. To prepare your biceps for work, you need to warm up your shoulder girdle, including your triceps and deltoids, as well as your forearms and wrists.
You can systematize the warm-up as follows: perform bends and rotations from the head through the shoulders, arms, body, hips, shins to the feet. The frequency of exercises is 3-6 times in each direction.
Biceps exercises at home or training in the gym begin to be performed with light weight, making sure that the movements are correct.
Don't miss the most popular article in the section:
Cracks on the fingers - causes and treatment of the skin with folk remedies, ointments, masks and preparations. Photo.
All exercises of this type are performed hanging on a bar. Arms straight. Shoulders laid back. The shoulder blades move towards each other. When doing pull-ups, your legs are bent at the knees and crossed at the ankles.
The narrower the grip, the more difficult it is to perform the exercise. Complete the full upward movement by touching the bar with your chest.
The hands are located slightly wider than the shoulders. To complete the pull-up, touch the bar in the area of the middle of the upper chest.
They should be performed until the middle of the full upward movement. In this case, the collarbones need to be brought as close as possible to the crossbar. The pace of execution is high. This exercise is much more effective than the previous two.
Due to physiological characteristics, training women in the gym differs from training men. Girls are genetically more resilient, having less muscle mass. In this case, for girls it is the basic exercises that bring maximum results.
By itself, the muscle mass of girls is less active, and fat accumulation occurs more intensely under the influence of female hormones - estrogen and progesterone. The distribution of fat and muscle mass also differs - among girls, the favorite places for fat accumulation are the legs and buttocks. They are also the strongest.
The first step is to create a detailed fitness program that takes into account the individual parameters of a woman:
- weight;
- height;
- age;
- the presence of individual contraindications;
- hormonal activity (regularity of the monthly cycle, onset of menopause);
- anthropometric body parameters (waist, arms, hips);
- the ratio of fat and muscle mass in the body.
After a two-day rest on the weekend, at the very beginning of the week, you should focus on heavy weights and maximum energy-intensive exercises.
The seated leg press in a rack is an excellent replacement for classic squats with a barbell; in case there are medical contraindications for squats, such as herniated discs or venous diseases. Main muscles involved: quadriceps, semitendinosus and semitransversus, biceps, gluteus maximus.
Execution order:
- The pelvis and lower back are pressed. Legs stand parallel, spread to shoulder level.
- As you exhale, straighten your knees without locking them, maintaining a slight bend.
- Grasp the handles and remove the locking stop.
- The weight drops as you inhale. The back and tailbone do not come off.
- Exhale and perform a press without bringing your legs together.