Well-toned or muscular arms are sought after by many people. In addition to appearances, strong arms are useful for everyday physical tasks and activities. To increase your arms' muscular strength and endurance, perform exercises that target different groups of arm muscles two to three times a week.
Hand Exercises
Hand exercises are not commonly included in a strength training routine. Usually they are left out because individuals either don't care about how big the muscles in their hands appear, or because hand muscles are used throughout the day for tasks such as typing that it does not seem necessary. However, if you do wish to target the muscles in your hands, you may do so several ways. One simple exercise would be to hold both hands flat on a table. Continuously spread out your fingers as far as possible and then bring them back together.
Another exercise would be to take a tennis ball or a rubber ball and squeeze it as hard as you can. Release your grip and repeat for 15 to 20 repetitions.
Lower Arm Exercises
Your lower arms contain your wrist extensors and flexor muscles. These muscles run from the bottom of your elbow to your wrist. The muscles move your wrist and hand. They are also important for weightlifters because they give you a stronger grip on weights. Two exercises to target these muscles are the wrist curl and the reverse wrist curl. You may perform both exercises with dumbbells or a barbell. To do the wrist curl exercise with a barbell, grip the barbell in an underhand grip with hands about shoulder width apart. Place your forearms on a bench and knee facing the bench. The barbell should hang off the bench. While keeping your forearms positioned on the bench, bend through your wrists to lower the barbell towards the floor. To perform one repetition, bend at your wrists to raise the barbell and your hands up a few inches. Lower and repeat the motion for your desired repetition goal. The reverse wrist curls involve the same motion. However, begin and complete the exercise with an overhand grip.
Biceps Exercises
The bicep muscles are the two muscle at the front of your upper arm. They run from your shoulders to your elbows. Every time you bend at your elbow, you use your biceps muscles to do the motion. Pay attention to form when doing biceps exercises. The dumbbell biceps curl, concentration curl, barbell biceps curl, machine arm curl and hammer curl all target your biceps muscles.
Triceps Exercises
The triceps muscles are located on the back of your upper arms. The triceps muscles straighten your elbow after the biceps have worked to bend it. Exercises that target the triceps muscles include triceps kickbacks, chair dips, triceps press-downs, chest presses and triceps extensions.
Warnings
Consult a doctor before beginning a new physical activity routine to ensure you are in good health. If you have not performed these exercises before, talk to a fitness trainer at a gym and have the trainer demonstrate proper form for the exercises to prevent any injuries.
References
- "Fitness for Dummies"; By Suzanne Schlosberg and Liz Neporent; 2000
- "Home Workout Bible"; By Lou Schuler and Michael Mejia; 2002
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