Arm workout at home - 10 great arm exercises
Exercising your arms at home is both simple, time-saving and effective. There are so many challenging arm exercises you can do at home. Here we have put together a training program that you can do with your own body weight and with the help of equipment and weights.
What you need is:
* 2 dumbbells
* A rubber band for training
10 arm exercises that train your arms effectively
You don't have to go to the gym to get effective arm training, there are plenty of exercises you can do to train your arms at home. Arm training can be varied by using both your own body weight and different types of equipment. For example, you can train your arms with rubber bands, dumbbells and kettlebells.
Here we go through 10 arm exercises for really effective training of the arms, it will be a fun and simple session that you can do both at home and at the gym. Start from yourself and what feels good for your body when it comes to weights and repetitions. Try maxing out a little more each time as you feel yourself getting stronger and stronger. Feel free to add two arm workouts a week to your workout routine.
Perform 10 repetitions of each exercise, times 3 sets, with 1 min rest between each set. But first we'll get started with a little warm-up!
Warming up before the workout
Warming up is important to prepare the body for exercise, get the heat up and get the blood circulation going. It can also help prevent injuries. Start warming up by:
Do 1 minute jumping jacks to both warm up and get your arm moving before the next exercises in this workout.
Do a 1-minute dynamic triceps warm-up by extending your arms straight out to the sides so that they are parallel to the floor, palms down. Then rotate the arms in backward circles half the time followed by then switching and rotating the arms in forward circles.
Elevated push-ups against a sofa, chair or wall. Incline push-ups build upper body strength and activate several muscle groups, including triceps and lower chest muscles. Do 10 repetitions.
Walk outs/inchworm – a really good warm-up exercise where you "walk" down into a plank position with the help of your arms. Do 10 repetitions. Here you can see a video on walk outs if you are unsure.
Triceps exercises at home
Triceps are the large muscles at the back of the upper arms that are responsible for elbow, shoulder and forearm movements. When training your triceps, you want to make sure you target each of the three heads of the triceps muscles.
There is a great variety in triceps training and many types of exercises that make it possible to train triceps both at home and in the gym. You can both do exercises with your own body weight or train triceps with dumbbells.
Classic push-ups
No arm workout without push-ups, right? Joking aside, push-ups are a true classic and an exercise that trains many different parts of the body. Here both chest muscles, shoulders, core, and also triceps get to work.
In order to achieve the correct technique, it is important that the body is as straight as possible, that you do not arch your back and that you have a tense torso.
There are endless variations on push-ups, narrow push-ups, wide push-ups, rowed push-ups, and many, many more. If you want to increase the difficulty, you can also add a weight on the back.
10 reps x 3 sets
Walking plank
Walking plank is a really good variation on a classic plank. Here, both core and upper body get to work and you strengthen both triceps and back, as well as your shoulders. The latter really get a push as you build stability in the shoulders by going up and down with one arm at a time.
Do this:
1. Start in plank position with forearms on the floor. Keep your elbows under your shoulders and your legs stretched behind you.
2. Place one hand flat on the floor.
3. Then do the same with the other hand and come up into a push-up position.
4. Then go down with one arm at a time to the starting position.
10 rep x 3 set
Tricep kickbacks
You've probably used the cable machine at the gym to do this exercise, but you can of course do tricep kickbacks at home too, using two dumbbells.
An important thing to remember when it comes to the technique of the exercise is to use your shoulder to stabilize the upper arm, allowing the lower arm to extend behind you. If your elbow slides down a lot, it's a good idea to use a lighter weight to maintain good form.
Do this:
1. Hold a dumbbell in each hand and stand with your knees slightly bent
2. Activate your core as you bend forward so that your torso is almost parallel to the floor, while tucking your chin in slightly and looking down. At the same time, remember to keep a straight spine.
3. Activate your triceps by straightening your elbows. The upper arms should be kept still, only the forearms should move back and forth during this exercise.
10 reps x 3 sets
Tip:
As with many other arm exercises, there are also variations on tricep kickbacks. You can choose for yourself if you want to carry a weight in each hand and do both sides at the same time or if you want to take one arm at a time. If you choose the latter, you take the weight in your left hand, while placing your right leg in front of the left, but keep your weight evenly distributed through the heels of both feet. Switch to the other side after completing the number of repetitions.
If you want to add a little challenge to your tricep kickbacks, you can engage your triceps in the top position for a few extra seconds instead of going straight down.
Tricep dips
Here is another effective triceps exercise that you can do just about anywhere at home. The only thing you need is a chair, sofa or stool. You can adjust how challenging you want this exercise to be, it all depends on how you place your feet. The further you stretch your feet, the more intense it becomes. Choose for yourself what suits you best, but in the example we do it with the knees bent, which makes the movement a little easier.
Do this:
1. Take position. Sit on the edge of the chair and grasp the edge with your hands next to your hips. Your fingers should be pointing toward your feet, legs straight (more challenging) or knees bent (easier) and your feet about hip-width apart, with your heels on the ground. Look straight ahead and keep your chin up.
2. Press the palms down and lift the body, sliding forward so that you can lower the body in front of the chair.
3. Lower yourself down in a controlled manner until your elbows are bent between 45 and 90 degrees. Then slowly push yourself up again until your arms are almost straight.
10 reps x 3 set
Lateral raise
Now we come to a powerful movement that trains both shoulders and triceps. Muscles in the upper back also get to work, so it's a very versatile and effective exercise.
Do this:
1. Stand or sit on a chair, arms by your sides, and hold a dumbbell in each hand. Keep your palms facing your body and your elbows slightly bent.
2. Then raise the dumbbells until the arms are parallel to the floor, so that the body forms a T shape.
3. Slowly lower the dumbbells back to the starting position.
10 reps x 3 set
Biceps workout at home
Do you want to do effective arm exercises at home where you train biceps? Here we show you some fun and rewarding exercises you can do to train your biceps at home. Which exercises then train the biceps? There are lots of different biceps exercises, here we will focus, among other things, on a few different variations on curls.
Biceps curl with resistance band
This is probably the most famous exercise when it comes to biceps workouts and another exercise where you can vary the execution and equipment. Choose for yourself whether you want to do the exercise with dumbbells or with rubber bands. A further variation is if you want to run both arms at the same time or alternate one at a time.
Do this:
1. Stand with your feet on the band, approximately hip-width apart.
2. Grasp the rubber band with your arms straight along the sides, making sure the band is properly stretched.
3. Begin your bends by bringing your hands up and bending your elbows. Remember to keep your upper arms still, it's the forearms that have to work.
10 reps x 3 sets
Hammer curls with dumbbells
Hammer curls are a variation on regular curls, but where you instead start with your arms at your sides and hold a dumbbell in each hand with a firm grip. Both upper and lower arms get to work in this exercise, where you both hit the longer biceps muscle and build forearm wrist and grip strength.
Do this:
1. Bend your elbows by lifting your forearms and pulling the weights toward your shoulders. Remember to keep your upper arms still and let your wrists be in line with your forearms.
2. Hold for a second at the top and then lower the weights in a controlled manner back to the starting position.
10 reps x 3 sets
Reverse curl
Time for another variation of curls, called reverse curl, where you train both biceps and forearms. Here you grip your dumbbells with your palms facing down and let the weights rest along the front of your thighs.
Do this:
1. Keeping your back straight, shoulders back and chest lifted, bend your elbows to lift the weights up towards your shoulders.
2. Slowly and controlled lower the dumbbells back to the starting position. Remember that the upper arms should be relatively still during the exercise.
10 reps x 3 sets
Shoulder overhead press
Here comes an exercise that strengthens shoulders, core and also trains your biceps, it's a shoulder overhead press.
Do this:
1. Stand with your feet hip-width apart. Hold a dumbbell in each hand and place your arms with your elbows out to the side and the dumbbells next to your head.
2. Press the weights up slowly until your arms are straight, then slowly go back down again.
10 reps x 3 sets
Plank shoulder tap
Have we saved the best for last? Yes, maybe, because here comes a real full-body exercise! Shoulders, core, biceps, triceps, back, glutes, yes you hear a real run through for the whole body. The exercise we end the set with is a plank with shoulder taps.
Do this:
1. Stand in plank position, remember to keep your hips steady and your core engaged.
2. Raise one hand and pat the corresponding shoulder.
3. Come back to the starting position and now do the same with your other hand.
4. When you have done it on both sides, you have done one repetition.
10 reps x 3 sets
Great job!
You have now completed an effective session for training your arms at home. Of course, you can also do this session at the gym, and then alternate between using equipment and, for example, using the cable machine.
As you can see, it is easy to vary arm exercises, both when it comes to execution and which tools you use. Design your own customized arm training program and place yourself at your own level with more or less resistance and intensity. It's both fun and challenging to build on and feel how you get stronger each time you do the session.