Arm workouts for women are one of the hottest topics that I see women interested in. Of course, most women are interested in exercises to improve their legs and buttocks, but after that it has to be the arms.
Hollywood has a huge influence on how we view ourselves, regardless of whether we are male or female. Most of the female leads have amazing arms. Defined triceps is one of my wife’s biggest goals and it comes mainly from seeing some of the latest beauties on the big screen.
Like most improvements to your body, chances are good that your diet is more important than the arm workout you do. Arm workouts for women or men are important to achieving the look you want, although if you have too much fat covering your muscle, it won’t matter.
Let’s say you’ve got your diet under control and you’re skinny enough to see the muscular definition that makes your arms look so sexy. If you do, then the training you do will make a difference.
The arms mainly consist of two main muscles, the triceps and the biceps. I am going to discuss some exercises that can be done at home with little equipment that can be an effective arm workout for women.
triceps exercises
The triceps are the muscles found on the back of the upper arm and this is the area that women generally want to tighten, especially as they get older.
There are many different exercises to work the triceps, including any exercise that makes you straighten your arm or push to extend your arm. Pushups, dips, triceps extensions, and triceps pushups are all great exercises to work the triceps.
1) Close grip push-ups
A great way to train your triceps at home or even on vacation in a hotel is with close grip pushups. They’re similar to regular push-ups, except your hands are very close together. If you’re having trouble performing these pushups or the standard pushups, try them with your knees touching or even standing up while pushing against a wall. The further you are from the wall, the more resistance there will be. Don’t be afraid to do these types of wall pushups at first until your strength builds. Once you do them consistently for a while, you will soon be able to do them from your knees and eventually full close grip pushups. Don’t worry about where you start, just know where you’re going. If you get to the point where you can do close grip pushups for reps and you’re skinny enough, you’ll definitely have the sexy arms any woman would love to have.
2) Resistance Band Triceps Extensions
Triceps pushdowns are another great exercise and work the triceps in a different way than pushups do. You can buy resistance bands fairly cheap and use them at home with many different exercises. Get a band that has an amount of tension that you can comfortably do about ten repetitions with. You can stand in the center of the band and have one of the handles in each hand. Extend your arms up over your head with elbows pointing up and arms bent. Keep your elbows up and do not move your arms at the shoulder joint. Extend your arms straightening them at the elbows and keeping the shoulder joint locked. You should be able to feel the tension in your triceps or the back of your arm. Do your reps in a slow and controlled manner throughout, pausing slightly in the top or lockout position.
If you’re doing both exercises, do the close-grip pushups first while you’re strongest, and finish with the triceps pushdowns.
biceps exercises
The biceps only make up about 1/3 of your total arm, with the triceps being a much larger muscle, but the biceps are still an important part of the look we’re going for. Common biceps exercises are curls or any other type of pulling movement that causes the arm to bend.
Chinese
There are many different types of curls that can be done, including those with barbells, dumbbells, kettlebells, as well as resistance bands and suspension training.
The key to performing curls correctly, no matter what type you do, is to keep your arms locked at the shoulder joint. Do not swing your arms forward with your shoulders, just bend your arms and lift the weight with your biceps. Start with your arms hanging at your sides and slowly lift the weight up by bending your arms, focusing on keeping the tension in your biceps and off your shoulders.
chin up
Like push-ups, pull-ups are difficult for many people to do, especially if you’re trying to do multiple sets and more than ten reps per set. Like push-ups, there are ways you can start slow and eventually work your way up to regular pull-ups. You can put your feet up on a bench or something sturdy and use your legs to help you. Another great way to “cheat” is to use a resistance band and step into the band while holding the ends in your hands. The band tension will help you with pull-ups until you are strong enough for them without help.
Pull-ups are difficult for many men and women, but the rewards are well worth it if you stick with it. If you’re a woman and can do close grip pushups and full pullups without help for reps, your arms will look amazing! If they don’t and you can do the exercises mentioned above, then it may just be your diet that needs to be altered. However, that will be the subject of a future article.
Good luck and get to work. The only thing standing between you and the body of your dreams is focus and work ethic. Stay focused and work hard and the results will come, guaranteed. Give it a try, these few exercises make up some of the best arm workouts for women I know of.