You don’t require any fancy equipment to tone the muscles in your arms and make them stronger. Such body weight exercises like plank, pushup, arm circles can help you perform the job anytime and everywhere.
Arm strengthening is the cornerstone of any comprehensive fitness program. Strong arms aren’t just about looks, though. Functionally, arm strength is necessary for many of life’s daily activities, like carrying, lifting, pushing, and pulling.
There are many traditional arm-strengthening exercises involving weights and a gym. However, quite a few exercises can help you strengthen and tone your arms without weights.
The article outlines the muscles you should work towards attaining strong arms and the best 8 weight-free exercises to tone every muscle of your arms.
8 EASY ARM WORKOUT FOR WOMEN
1.Arm circles
This is a beginner exercise targeting the shoulder muscles and strengthening the biceps and triceps isometrically. You can make smaller or larger circles, but make sure you keep tension down your arm throughout the entire set.
How to do arm circles:
- Stand up tall with your arms stretched out to your sides and contracted muscles down the length of your arm.
- Slowly make circles with your arms by turning them around the shoulders keeping them straight while keeping tension in the elbows.
- Perform 3 sets of 10–20 repetitions in both directions. Change the force required by completing sets of large or small diameter circles.
2.Arm front raises
This exercise targets the front of your shoulder and isometrically strengthens your biceps and triceps. Make it more challenging by grabbing two cans of soup or two water bottles to add weight.
To do arm front raises:
- Stand tall with your arms out to the front, locked out straight with your thumbs toward the ceiling.
- Raise your arms overhead, keeping them straight and locked out until they point straight up overhead, with your upper arms blocking your ears when viewed from the side.
- Lower your arms slowly to the starting position.
- Do 3 sets of 10–20 repetitions.
3.Arm lateral raises
This exercise works the top of your shoulder and isometrically strengthens your biceps and triceps. To make this exercise more challenging, grab two cans of soup or two water bottles to add weight.
How to do arm lateral raises:
- Stand with your arms at your sides and your palms facing inward toward your hips.
- Keep your arms straight and raise them until your body forms a “T” when seen from the front.
- Slowly lower to starting position.
- Repeat for 10–20 repetitions.
4.Wall angles
This exercise strengthens the shoulder and triceps and improves shoulder mobility.
To do wall angels:
- Stand with your back against a wall with your knees bent and your feet roughly 1–2 feet (about 0.5 meters) away from the wall. Your head, upper back, and tailbone should be in contact with the wall.
- Bend your elbows to 90 degrees and raise your arms until your upper arms are parallel to the floor, as if you’re putting your hands up.
- Extend your arms overhead until they’re straight. Aim to keep your arms, head, upper back, and tailbone in contact with the wall.
- Return to the starting position.
- Repeat for 3 sets 10–12 repetitions.
5.Downward Dog to plank
This strengthens the chest, shoulders, and triceps. It is also an excellent way to start training in the top of a pushup position.
Perform Downward Dog to plank:
- Assume a pushup plank position with your hands underneath your shoulders and your arms straight. You can start with your knees on the ground if the pushup plank position is too challenging.
- Come back by pressing back with your arms and lifting your hips so that you’re in the Downward Dog Pose. When you first started from the knees, once you’ve pushed back enough you will lift your knees up off of the ground.
- Stabilize briefly in the Downward Dog Pose before going back to the starting position.
- Repeat for 3 sets of 10–12 repetitions.
6.Plank tap
- This exercise is a variation of plank and exercises your shoulder, triceps, and biceps.
- Begin by having the push-up plank position on your hands with your shoulder underneath them, and then keep your spine straight. The harder the exercise the closer your feet are set. To make it an easier exercise set your feet farther apart.
- Bring your left hand up to the right shoulder and tap it. Then, bring your hand back down to the floor.
- Repeat with your right hand and left shoulder.
- Do 3 sets of 10–12 repetitions on each side.
7.Pushup
This classic exercise will engage your chest, shoulders, and triceps with no equipment required. You will also be required to engage your core to keep the position, adding an extra core component to this arm exercise.
If you find the standard variation too difficult, you can do pushups on your knees instead.
To perform a pushup:
- Begin in a pushup position with hands under shoulders, spine neutral, and legs straight. If required, keep your knees on the ground to reduce the difficulty level.
- Lower the entire body in unison toward the floor by bending at the elbow. Keep your elbows close to your sides or at about a 45-degree angle. Lower your chest until your upper arm is parallel to the floor.
- Drive through the floor to push your way back up to top, always maintaining control.
- Repeat 3 times for 10–12 repetitions. The sets get too hard: switch back to the knee version.
8.Triceps dip
For this dip variation, you just need a chair. This exercise mainly works the triceps and chest.
To do bodyweight triceps dips:
- Sit on the chair you’re using to support yourself and place your hands shoulder-width apart on it.
- Roll your pelvis and bottom forward so that there is a gap of 3–6 inches (8–15 cm) between your back and the chair, creating space as you drop down.
- Bend your legs to an angle of 90-degrees with your feet flat to the ground, or extend them straight in front of you-but not lock your knees at this time.
- Slowly lower your body straight down, then push back to standing, focusing on involvement of your triceps muscles
- Do 3 sets of 10–12 reps.
WHO CAN BUILD BIGGER ARMS WITHOUT WEIGHTS?
Building big arm muscles is a common goal alongside the strengthening of the muscle groups. Strength and muscle mass are related, yet they’re not identical.
It is possible to get strong with the bodyweight exercises outlined in this article; however, the number of muscles you can create from these exercises is rather limited.
In the early stages, these exercises will help build some arm muscles. As you progress, you may increase the volume of each by adding more repetitions to up to about 20 per set.
However, as you progress, you’ll find that these exercises will become too easy. At this point, it is necessary to add external resistance to really challenge them enough to grow the muscle.
In addition, as discussed earlier, the back and biceps muscles are not really easy to train without adding some equipment.
That is because these muscles basically only perform pulling movements, and there are no real practical ways to use your body weight to load these movements without a suspension method like a pullup bar or TRX system.