Many women are curious as to what exactly the best arm toning exercises are. If you ask five different coaches, you will probably get five different answers. First things first, we must be very clear about something.
Get toned
In order for you to tone your muscles, you need to lose fat. If you’ve spent a lot of time with the ladder master, you won’t see those toned arms you’ve been dreaming of. You have to include weight training. Weight training is a big part of muscle toning. Lifting weights will strengthen the muscles you want to show off and start the weight loss process. And that will allow you to tone up much faster.
Barbell bicep curl
This exercise should be the foundation of your arm toning exercise routine. It will not take long to understand the technique and you will be able to work with a weight reduction.
To perform this arm toning exercise, you need to grab a barbell with an underhand grip. Hands and feet should be shoulder-width apart. It is important that your back remains straight throughout the exercise, so use so much weight that you will have trouble maintaining good posture. Now let the bar hang with your arm extended in front of you. Make sure your shoulders, arms, and hands are aligned. Focus on keeping your upper arms still while lifting the weight with your biceps.
When you have reached the highest point where you can lift the weight, slowly lower the bar until your arms are straight and your hands are on your hips. To avoid injury, do not lean back or swing your weight when curling.
Triceps curl
Another great exercise to tone your arms is the triceps down. It is one of the best exercises for arm development. There are many variations for this exercise. You can modify your grip position or use a rope handle instead of a horizontal bar. But for this article, I am going to discuss the traditional method that is done with a horizontal or angled bar.
First, grab the bar with an overhand grip (palms down). As with barbell curls, make sure your hands are shoulder-width apart. Your back should be straight and your arms should be close to your body. Using your triceps (the muscles at the back of your upper arm), lower the bar so that it touches the front of your thighs. Your upper arms should be still and you should exhale as you lower the weight. Hold the position for a moment and slowly bring the bar back to its starting position.
Wrist curls
I believe that for many people their forearms are the most toned muscle in their body. Honestly, I have no idea why, but there seems to be less fat on the forearms. However, this does not mean that you should neglect them.
The third arm toning exercise I’m going to talk about is the wrist curl. There are several ways to perform the wrist curl. I’m going to talk about one-arm sitting wrist flexion. Just sit on a flat bench with a dumbbell in your right (or left) hand. The feet should be flat on the ground and, of course, shoulder width apart. Lean forward with your forearm resting on your thigh. With your hand hanging past your knee, lower the dumbbell as low as you can. Keep a firm grip on the dumbbell and inhale as you do this. Bend the dumbbell as high as you can while contracting your forearm. Exhale as you do this and hold the contraction before lowering the weight again.
These three arm toning exercises will help you feel confident not wearing sleeves. There are many exercises to choose from, but these provide a solid foundation to help you achieve your goal.