Arm and shoulder weakness is one of the most common problems among both boys and girls. Due to flabbiness of the muscles, the arms can have unattractive shapes and the sophistication of the fairer sex is quickly lost. To prevent this, you can carry out simple workouts at home. How to strengthen the muscles of your arms and shoulders without going to the gym is described in this article.
Exercises with dumbbells
Dumbbells are the most common sports equipment. If you don't have them, you can use bottles of water or sand. Using dumbbells, you can perform arm curls, vertical arm extensions, arm swings, and also train for endurance by lifting dumbbells in front of you and holding them in this position for some time. During such training, biceps and triceps are formed, and the brachialis and forearm muscles also work. The intensity of the workout is set experimentally - you need to pay attention to how you feel after each workout. If necessary, the load can be increased, the main thing is to do it gradually.
Hand massage
Arm massage can help tighten your arms. It improves blood circulation, removes waste and toxins, and helps maintain tone. They can be used to complement your hand exercises at home so that the skin does not sag. The massage technique is based on the following movements:
- Using two fingers, stroke the skin of your arms, starting from the shoulder and moving to the elbows. Repeat this procedure 2-3 times twice a week for twenty minutes.
- Rub the skin on your arms from the shoulder to the elbows in a circular motion. Do this 2-3 times a week for half an hour.
- Perform small pinches on the skin of your hands, thus going down to your fingers and going up again. Do this procedure once a week. Movements must be careful so as not to leave bruises.
For massage it is recommended to use massage oil. You can also use essential oils. Please note that massage is contraindicated for those who have skin diseases or many rashes.
Plank
One of the most effective exercises for strengthening arm muscles is the plank. Starting position: lying down, hands shoulder-width apart, feet together. You need to hold out in this position for as long as possible. For a quality workout, you can record your results by measuring them with a stopwatch. If you strive to set a new record every day, you will notice how in just a few days your arms will become noticeably stronger and your shoulders will take on new shapes.
Procedures for tightening the skin of the hands
To improve the condition of your skin, you can resort to services offered by beauty salons and cosmetologists. These are various massages, mesotherapy, lifting, wraps . A number of procedures can be carried out at home, for example, a contrast shower. You can also do the wraps yourself. First you need to cleanse the skin. A scrub is suitable for this. They need to be done in a course of 10-15 sessions, every other day. You can use the following mixture recipes :
- Mix two teaspoons of heavy cream, a tablespoon of corn oil and a few capers of some citrus essential oil. Heat the mixture a little until the mass becomes homogeneous. Apply a thick layer of it to the problem area, wrap with cling film and a towel. After 20 minutes, remove excess cream with a napkin and rub the remainder into the skin.
- You need to mix three tablespoons of honey and three drops of mint and orange esters. Apply the composition to the skin in the same way as in the previous version. Leave for 1-1.5 hours. Rinse off with warm water.
can also be useful in the fight for hand skin tone . Pour a small amount of avocado or grape seed oil into your palm, add a couple of drops of juniper and patchouli esters. Apply the mixture to the skin with massage movements while taking a shower or bath. Leave it overnight.
Of course, such procedures alone will not tighten your skin. It is important to strengthen the muscles , and then the arms will be in good shape. Don't be upset if you notice that you have sagging skin on your arms - exercises will help you deal with it. Give them at least half an hour a day, after a couple of months you will notice clear changes for the better.
https://youtu.be/K5quFO78LxQ
Push ups
There are three variations of push-ups:
- alternating the position of the hands - shoulder-width apart, wide or narrow grip;
- changing the inclination of the body - you can do push-ups from the floor, from a bench (this is an easier option) or with your feet on the bench (this option is more difficult);
- using weights - a small dumbbell or a bag of sand can be used as a weight.
By alternating push-up variations, you can work different areas of your arms and shoulders. During training, the pectoral muscles and latissimus muscles also develop. Push-up exercises are best done over time - 1 minute per set, followed by 30 seconds of rest. You can do 3-4 repetitions and finish the workout. By carrying out such exercises every day, the result can be seen after a week.
By carefully monitoring the load and recording changes, it is important to monitor the well-being and behavior of the body. By regulating the load, you can prevent exhaustion of the body and reduce the risk of injury.
Why don't your arms grow or how to pump up your arms?
Do you want to know how to properly pump your arms? Then read the article “Why don’t your arms grow or how to pump up your arms?”...
Many athletes constantly complain that no matter how much they pump their arms, they still don’t grow. This is understandable, because 90% percent do not understand at all how to properly pump their arms.
Moreover, I noticed that mostly it is the beginners who always complain, who usually have been studying for no more than one or two years.
Although, what is there to hide, sometimes even those athletes who have, let’s say, a solid experience of training with iron behind them, sometimes complain, but even they experience difficulties with the volume of their arms.
I will not talk now about the correct technique of the exercises themselves and about some subtle points related to training, but I will tell you about my observations.
Over my many years of experience, I began to notice how various athletes usually train their arms. And I discovered for myself three main differences in how beginners pump their arms, how advanced athletes with extensive training experience pump their arms, and how professional athletes pump their arms.
I will give only three main options for how athletes usually pump their arms in the gym, depending on their experience.
After which you will draw conclusions for yourself and see which category you currently belong to. Well, in fact, you will understand why your hands don’t grow.
The first option is how beginners usually pump their arms, and this is almost 95% of all practitioners with about one or two years of experience.
Although newcomers also have three to five years of experience or more, i.e. those athletes who usually don’t develop at all from year to year, and don’t really change at all...
So, if you have noticed, all these citizens are engaged mainly in a scheme of a minimum of basic exercises and a maximum of isolated exercises on the arms.
In other words, such athletes perform only a few pressing and pulling exercises, but they constantly hammer their arms with a huge number of isolated exercises.
Moreover, sometimes the number of such exercises reaches almost 5-6 exercises for each muscle group, namely the biceps and triceps.
What does it mean?
This means that they almost always focus exclusively on isolated arm exercises at the forefront of their training. Although at the same time they themselves don’t look very good, to put it mildly, or rather, they don’t look like anything at all.
Usually, it is precisely these athletes who for some reason do not have arms that grow, just like everything else. Well, at least I don’t know people whose arms grow separately from their body.
The second type of athletes are those who have already realized that the first option is not an option and they will not pump up their arms this way. Therefore, these athletes usually have much more experience behind them.
And their training looks like this: a maximum of basic exercises and a minimum of isolated and other exercises they don’t need.
At the same time, they always perform quite a large number of various pressing and pulling exercises. And always with a large number of working approaches, that is, with a large training volume.
In other words, they divide their training into pressing and pulling training. Where they actually perform at least 4 to 6 really heavy basic pressing or pulling movements.
As they say, only the base is only hardcore. And at the same time, they perform only a couple of isolated exercises on the arms, i.e. 1-2 exercises for biceps and triceps per week.
And to the surprise of all beginners, their hands are constantly growing, just like everything else. In my opinion, this is a much more correct and more reasonable option for how to pump your arms.
Why? It's simple...
Heavy basic exercises at first, and this is in the first couple of years, and indeed in the future, work the muscles of your arms much better and much more effectively due to the constant use and work with heavy working weights than in the same isolated exercises.
And the movement itself is more natural!
Therefore, such athletes’ arms grow much faster, and their arms are an order of magnitude larger than those of those athletes who are still working according to the first option.
Well, the last option, as absolutely all pros do, is to completely separate all of their muscle groups in each of their workouts.
If you haven’t come to this yet, then you will come to it sooner or later. Because this is the only way you can work out all your muscles as intensely as possible.
You will have a separate workout for each muscle group, where you will perform 4 - 6 or more exercises in order to properly work your muscles.
Although at first you will most likely work your triceps and biceps in one workout and only then separate them later.
Thus, each of your muscle groups will receive a simply colossal and simply monstrous load in each of your workouts.
And of course, after this, they will also grow well. But you still need to get to this point, and if you start training like this right away, it won’t bring you much results.
Now look at how you are training now...
I am sure that most of you train according to the first option, when you devote more to various isolated exercises than to the main basic ones.
That’s why your hands are still not growing, and they won’t grow if you continue in the same spirit...
If you want your arms to grow, then pay more attention to the basic basic exercises. Do more heavy compound exercises, do more working sets, work with heavier working weights.
This is the only way your arms will respond to muscle growth, but of course you shouldn’t forget about isolated exercises.
But don’t get too carried away with them...
And only after you have gained fairly solid muscle mass, you can move on to the option with separate training to work out each of your muscle groups separately.
Causes of sagging arms
If the skin on your hands is sagging, this could be due to age-related changes or the consequences of an unhealthy lifestyle. Let's take a closer look.
- Overweight . Being overweight means that you have fat not only in your belly and buttocks—excess fat is also deposited in various parts of your body. Leaving aside the few cases of metabolic diseases, the main causes are poor nutrition and a sedentary lifestyle.
- Insufficient muscle tone . With age, as we know, there is a decrease in the volume of muscle tissue and a weakening of muscle tone, which leads to the results of muscle sagging. This is why people who have little to no fat and if they have a thin physique, have problems with saggy arms. Well, this can also apply to people who neglect physical activity.
- Age-related skin changes : with age, the skin loses its elasticity by losing collagen and elastane, which can cause sagging arms.
- Rapid loss of body weight . It happens that adherence to various strict diets leads to a sharp decrease in body weight. You need to approach your weight loss wisely and strive to gradually reduce body weight.
- Long exposure to sunlight . Under the rays of the sun, especially with prolonged exposure to ultraviolet radiation, the skin may lose its original elastic properties.
Review your diet
If the pectoral muscles sag in women, this indicates that the body lacks vitamin D and calcium. Therefore, it is necessary to introduce fatty fish, dairy products, hard cheese, walnuts, eggs, mushrooms and parsley into the diet. It is also important to coordinate the water balance, because due to the abundance of water, the muscles will stretch, and due to a lack, they will “dry out”. On average, they recommend at least 3 liters of water per day, excluding drinks and soups. It is necessary to carefully consider the combination of protein and fatty foods.
The condition when the pectoral muscle sag may also be associated with the restructuring of the body after pregnancy and lactation. Sometimes it is enough to review your menu for the body to return to its usual shape, but most often a certain set of physical exercises is prescribed. Flabbiness cannot be overcome after the first 3-5 workouts; if the body has already begun to show such a reaction once, it is worth exercising constantly. Moreover, if the skin is very sagging, you need as much effort as possible.
Workout training program for arms for weight
Goal: maximum increase in arm volume and strength indicators with or without the use of additional weights.
Warm up. Before your first set, thoroughly work your joints and get your heart rate up.
Number of repetitions. For your first superset, perform 6 to 10 reps. For the second superset, the optimal range will be 8-10 repetitions, and for the last one you can do as many as you can.
Rest. Rest between supersets for 1-2 minutes.
Program using additional weight (weights)
- Medium reverse grip pull-ups 3 to 6-8
- Push-ups on parallel bars (elbows tucked together) 3 to 6-8
- Parallel grip pull-ups 3 x 8-10
- Concentrated push-ups 3 to 8-10
- Bending arms to bars 2 to 12-20
- Reverse push-ups from the bench 2 to 12-20
Program without additional weight (weights)
No additional burden? No problem, try replacing the exercises with the following:
- Single pull-ups (with expander) 3 to 6-8
- One-arm push-ups 3 to 6-8
- Arm curls to parallel bars with a hammer grip 3 to 8-10
- Arm extensions on a low horizontal bar or parallel bars 3 to 8-10
- Bending arms to bars 2 to 12-20
- Reverse push-ups from the bench 2 to 12-20
For a more detailed look at the exercises given, follow this link “Workout training program for mass and strength”
How to remove excess skin? A few more tips
- For strength training, you can use any convenient time, two hours after eating. You can perform them at home or in the gym.
- Strength exercises using weights are good to combine with training on simulators to work the muscles and give all target groups a full workout.
- This type of training should be practiced two to three times a week. This is a must. More frequent training contributes to overload and does not allow the muscles to fully recover. If you do them less often, it will be difficult to achieve your goal.
- When doing strength training, you should eat well. Your diet should include protein foods - fish, chicken, cottage cheese, cheese, kefir. In addition, the diet should include cereals, vegetables and a variety of greens.
- Exertion often causes muscle pain. In this case, a good remedy is a warm bath, to which you need to add two to three handfuls of sea or ordinary table salt. After this, you need to thoroughly rub your hands with a hard towel and lubricate them with camphor oil.
- To make the skin tighten faster and become more elastic, you can add flaxseed oil to your food and also lubricate problem areas with it.
- To tighten the skin, it is good to use homemade scrubs made from ground coffee, eucalyptus essential oil and cream.
Strength training is not as difficult as some people think. The main thing is to buy dumbbells and do your first workout. You will notice results soon, and this will inspire you to continue practicing. The main condition for success is regularity. Don't skip classes, and soon you will notice that your muscles have become stronger, your skin has tightened, and your figure has become slimmer.
Anatomy
In terms of arm mass training, the arm is divided into flexors and extensors. These muscles perform their work efficiently only if the athlete himself follows the technique.
The flexors are the biceps and radialis muscles. The biceps consists of only two bundles that need to be worked out equally well: internal (large) and lateral (small). It is recommended to pump them up with different exercises alternately. The radial muscle functions during flexion of the arm, but is more involved in the work at those moments when the hand is turned with the palm towards the floor or is in a neutral position.
The extensor muscle is a triceps muscle consisting of three heads, each of which differs in size and strength. The strongest head of the triceps is considered to be the medial one, the weakest is the inner one. Professionals strongly recommend spending more time on the inner part, because two muscles always have more strength than one.
The best exercises for biceps and triceps
In bodybuilding, training your arms for mass does not guarantee quick results. A beginning athlete should immediately realize that he will not be able to get everything at once. To increase the size of your biceps, which is the dream of all men and even some women, you need to not only train regularly and not make mistakes, but also learn to wait. Only in this case, after a certain time, will you be able to be proud of yourself and your achievements.
Below is an ideal set of exercises that can be performed both in the gym and at home, provided you have the necessary equipment. It is perfect for men and women. The only thing you need to remember is that you need to start with small weights. This will help you understand how ready your muscles are for loads and exercises of this type.
