Every man dreams of big, tall biceps, sculpted triceps and a powerful forearm. However, the best results are shown by exercises with free weights.
Every man and woman who works out in the gym or at home dreams of beautiful arms, impressive biceps, sculpted triceps and developed forearms.
In pursuit of this dream, during training they often use all the possibilities and available equipment at their disposal, but free weight exercises show the best results, although they often forget to include them in their program. And in vain. In this article we will look at arm exercises with dumbbells in detail.
Why are dumbbells so convenient?
Even the most modern exercise machines go out of use over time, but dumbbells have stood the test of time. Indeed, all professional bodybuilders use dumbbells to create quality arms with a variety of exercises: triceps curls, dumbbell flyes, triceps extensions and many others.
Additionally, if your workouts depend on certain machines and let's say one of them breaks or you change gyms, you will be at a loss. This will not happen with dumbbells; their main advantage is accessibility and portability.
In fact, this is the only type of equipment you need for a quality arm workout. Using your imagination and our base of exercises, you can pump up the arms of your dreams with just dumbbells.
Rules for effective training
It doesn’t matter where you work out, at home or in the gym, to pump up your arms, you need to study the anatomy of the muscles in this area. The arms consist of the deltoids, back and front forearms, biceps, and triceps. All these muscles have their own functions, so they need to be loaded in different ways. But it should be remembered that there are small muscles in the arms that are easy to overtrain.
To stimulate muscle growth, you need to put your muscles under stress. But this must be done correctly so as not to cause injury.
Basic rules for training with dumbbells:
- Warm up your muscles before training . Warming up will make muscle fibers more elastic and reduce the risk of injury.
- During the first approach, use half the working weight, gradually increasing the load.
- Train your muscles once every 4-7 days . Frequent exercise causes muscle fatigue. Perform 8-12 exercises three or four times.
- Do basic arm exercises . Start training with basic elements, especially at first.
- Hone your exercise technique . If an athlete violates this rule, then the muscles do not contract or stretch, and therefore do not develop.
- Hand exercises are best done on a separate day. By loading, for example, the biceps and triceps, you will achieve more effective stretching and contraction, then muscle mass will increase.
After training, be sure to stretch your muscles to reduce pain.
Arm workout with dumbbells
Standing dumbbell curl
- 4 sets of 15, 12, 10, 8 repetitions
- Body part: Biceps Equipment: Dumbbells
Seated dumbbell curls
- 3 sets of 10 reps
- Body part: Biceps Equipment: Dumbbells
One-arm dumbbell curl on an incline bench
- 3 sets of 10 reps
- Body part: Biceps Equipment: Dumbbells
Hammer grip dumbbell lift
- 3 sets of 10 reps
- Body part: Biceps Equipment: Dumbbells
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The video explains all the details of the technique of each exercise.
Do not forget to perform the recommended arm stretches after each exercise, try not to make sudden movements or jerks.
Arm stretching - exercises to prevent sagging arms and shoulders
After all exercises, you should definitely stretch.
Stretching exercises will help relax muscles after exercise and make them more elastic.
- Stretching the arm muscles while sitting cross-legged
- Sit cross-legged on the floor cross-legged.
- Extend your left arm towards your right shoulder.
- Bend your right hand and position it so that it is behind your left hand.
- Using your right hand, guide your left hand towards your shoulder and relax as much as possible. You should feel the muscles in your left arm stretch.
Repeat the same stretch with the other arm.
You need to stretch one arm for up to 8 seconds.
- Triceps stretch
This stretch can be performed either sitting or standing.
- Extend your right arm up.
- Begin to bend your right arm back so that your palm touches your shoulder blade. When stretching your right arm, help your left.
Repeat the same with the other hand.
- Arm stretch with arm lock
- Sit or stand up straight.
- Raise your right arm up and your left arm back.
- Next, try to cross your hands behind your back so that a “lock” is formed.
- If your hands are not so flexible, you can take any towel or other material and grab it with your hands on both sides.
- As you perform this stretch, you should feel a stretch in your arm muscles and count to 8.
Repeat the stretch with the other arm.
This simple set of exercises does not take much time and can be included in your daily morning exercises.
By exercising just 15-20 minutes a day, you will prevent sagging arms and return your arms and shoulders to their former beautiful shape and elasticity.
Arm exercises with dumbbells for women
High-quality arm training is as important for women as for men. Here are just a few reasons for this.
- Life will become easier. Strong biceps allow you to carry objects with less effort. You will feel it when you carry a bag of groceries or hold a child in your arms.
- The triceps protect the elbow joints by acting as shock absorbers, which reduces the likelihood of injury from a sudden jolt on the subway or a situation while riding a bicycle.
- The arms are involved in exercises for almost all muscles of the upper body. if the small muscles of your arms get tired before you have time to load the large ones, then you will not be able to work the muscles of your chest, back and shoulder girdle. Strong arm muscles will allow you to more intensively develop all other muscles of the body.
We have selected for you several interesting exercises and mini-complexes to make your workouts even more interesting.
Biceps curls with forearm rotation (Zottman curls)
This exercise works the flexor muscles of the arm and the muscles of the forearms. The concentric part (lifting the projectile upward) is carried out by the biceps brachii muscle. At the top point of the trajectory, when the wrist rotates and the grip changes to a pronated one, the projectile is lowered (the eccentric part of the movement), the brachialis and brachyradialis are included in the work. ;
Biceps curls with forearm rotation (Zottman curls)
Hold dumbbells on straight arms with your palms facing each other. Tightening your biceps, bend your arms and at the same time turn your wrists with your palms facing up. Only the forearms work. At the top point, turn your wrists with your palms facing down and lower your arms. Make sure your little fingers are higher than your thumbs.
Help and advice from professionals
Experienced bodybuilders advise focusing on the technique of performing exercises. First you need to learn how to move correctly to tense certain muscle fibers, and then use dumbbells. In this case, you need to start with lighter weights, gradually increasing the load.
Training should be carried out 1-2 times a week so that the muscles have time to recover and do not become overtired. To accelerate muscle growth, you need to perform movements slowly, with maximum amplitude.
In addition, the pros advise paying attention to nutrition. The diet needs to be replenished with foods containing a lot of protein, complex carbohydrates, and fiber. Sports supplements, such as whey protein, will help enhance the effect.
Sergey Shelestov, coach
Moscow's leading trainer and bodybuilding champion outlined the basic rules for developing arm muscles:
- Periodically change the positions of the exercises, supplement the program with new elements so that the muscles do not get used to the load.
- Constantly increase the weight of the shells by at least 150 g.
- Do not use dumbbells that are too heavy, as the technique is disrupted, and then you can forget about muscle growth.
- At the top point, make a distinct pause so that the maximum number of muscle fibers contracts.
If these rules are followed, progress will be stable.
Lyudmila Kolesnikova, trainer
The athletic fitness champion advises following these rules:
- Move smoothly to maximally load the muscles.
- Exhale when tense, inhale when relaxing to make it easier to overcome the effort.
- Work at maximum amplitude, so you will work more muscle fibers.
- Change the loads. For example, devote one day to triceps and biceps, the second to deltoids and forearms.
- Gradually increase the weight to avoid injury and not disrupt your exercise technique.
The trainer advises giving your muscles 2-3 days of rest so that they can recover and grow.
Yana Babikova, coach
An experienced trainer advises making the set of exercises varied. You can choose 3-4 elements for biceps, triceps, deltas. But it is not necessary to train them at the same time. On one day you can load the biceps and chest, and on the second - the back and triceps.
The specialist does not recommend focusing only on isolated exercises. It is important to develop all muscle groups so that the body is proportional.
Mini complex Hammer and Shoulder Press
Consecutive execution of a set
Lifting dumbbells with a hammer grip with both hands
- 1 set of 10 reps
- Body part: Biceps Equipment: Dumbbells
Standing Neutral Grip Dumbbell Press
- 1 set of 10 reps
- Body part: Shoulders Equipment: Dumbbells
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Perform the exercise by controlling the movement of your arms and trying not to use inertia. Do not begin pressing until the biceps curl is fully completed.
Press the weight overhead with your arms fully extended. Keep your core tight and your back flat throughout the approach.
Lifting dumbbells forward and to the sides
And at the end of any arm routine, try this movement, which effectively works the stabilizing muscles of the shoulder joint.
Lifting dumbbells forward and to the sides
Stand up straight. Hold dumbbells with straight arms along your torso. Bend your elbows slightly and lift the dumbbells in front of you to shoulder level and spread your arms out to the sides. Next time, start by raising the dumbbells to the sides, and then bring your arms together in front of you.
Lying dumbbell extensions (pronated grip) and lying dumbbell press on a horizontal bench
The following ligament on the bench, which includes the triceps and pectoral muscles, enjoys special respect among girls.
Pushups
To pump up your arms, use fist push-ups. They work the pectoral muscles, triceps and many joints. The athlete takes the starting position in a lying position, keeping the body straight. Arms and legs are at the level of the shoulder joints, with the palms clenched into fists. The athlete performs a push-up, the elbows at the lowest point are pressed to the body and tend back, and the chest touches the floor. Lifting to the top point is done with fully straightened arms.
How much to do per set depends on your preparation; trainers recommend doing it according to the “as long as you can stand” principle, gradually building up to 10–12 repetitions in three approaches.
Mini-complex Extension and Press
Consecutive execution of a set of
dumbbell extensions while lying down (pronated grip)
- 1 set of 10 reps
- Body part: Triceps Equipment: Dumbbells
Dumbbell Bench Press
- 1 set of 10 reps
- Body part: Chest Equipment: Dumbbells
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Bodymaster.ru recommends Fitness Trainers:
If you do not want to face this problem, you should take care of your elbow joints. Never make sudden movements at the bottom of a repetition of any upper body exercise, and alternate movements so that you are not using the maximum weight all the time.
If your elbows start to hurt, apply ice and rest the joint, eliminating exercises that put additional stress on the sore joint.
Tendons heal very slowly. Avoid such injuries and continue to pump the iron muscles of your arms.
