Exercises For Strengthening Arms
Working out your arms should be part of any fitness training program. You use your arms throughout the day, and strengthening them will get you go through the day much better. As an added benefit, you'll also start to fill out a tee shirt much better! There are plenty of exercises you can do for your arms, and you can do them anywhere-at a gym, at home, or in the yoga studio.
If you want to build arm muscles, remember that your arms are small muscles, and are used to complement your chest and back. So combine your arm workout with either a back or chest workout. Try to do arm strength training at least once or twice a week.
Some of the exercises for arm muscles are:
Bicep curls. Use dumbbells or an arm curl bar, and let the weight hang free. Bending your arm from your elbow, bring the weight up to your chest while exhaling, and slowly lower it. Depending on how hard you're training, do between 8 to 10 repetitions and at least 3 sets of this exercise. Other exercises include concentration curls, preacher curls and hammer curls.
Tricep press. To strengthen your triceps, try the tricep extensions. Hold a dumbbell behind your head, with your arm above your head. Slowly straighten your arm to raise the weight above your head, and slowly lower it back into position. You can start with 8-10 reps, and three sets of this exercise. As your arms get stronger, you can include exercises like tricep kickback, skull crushers and close grip bench presses into your workout.
Forearm exercises. To equalise your arms, you also need to exercise your forearms too. Start with 2 sets of forearm curls along with your arm workout. Use a forearm machine, or with your wrists on a bench, and a barbell or dumbbells in hands, hanging over the bench and curl them towards you. Keep in mind that if you don't strengthen your forearms, your arms will be unequal and your arm weight lifting program ineffective.
You can also do certain yoga exercises for your arms. The yoga asanas that will help you include Sun Salutations (Surya Namaskara), Bakasana or Crow pose, Adho Mukha Svanasana or Downward Dog, Chaturanga dandasana or Four Limbed Staff pose and Tittibhasana or Firefly pose. Other exercises like the plank will also help strengthen your arms. When used together, yoga and strength training will give you both internal and external strength by strengthening your muscles, joints and ligaments.
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