Do you want arms that are rippling with muscles? Perhaps, you just want to tone fat and make your arms a little less flabby. When you want to burn fat and gain muscle mass, you need specific exercises that can tone and burn simultaneously. Primarily, a proper diet will help to achieve this goal.
Proper Nutrition to Enhance Your Muscles
Before you even think about workouts with arm exercises, you need to change your eating habits. Building muscle is hard work, and you need to make sure you give your body the proper nutrition to accomplish this task.
Additionally, you want to burn fat too, so it can be hard to know what you need to eat. Here are the best foods for helping you get those arms in top shape.
- Salmon
- Beef and other Lean Meats
- Almonds
- Quinoa
- Milk
- Apples
- Flaxseeds
- Spinach
- Legumes
- Bananas
- Brown Rice
- Sweet Potatoes
- Chicken
- Coconut Oil
Each of these items has the necessary things your body needs to feed your muscles. Salmon is high in Omega-3s and fatty acids, and sweet potatoes have the fiber to sustain you so that you don’t binge eat. Additionally, legumes are loaded with powerful nutrients and can also help you from eating too much food.
No one has gained weight eating a diet of nutritious beans. Find some things that you like that will enhance the results you get from your workouts.
Self-Confidence Boosting Arm Exercises
Are you ready to conquer that unsightly arm fat and turn your biceps into sculptured works of art? Start by investing in a good pair of dumbbells for your arm exercises as it will make the difference. Weights add resistance and will help you to reach your goal faster. If you’re ready to boost your self-confidence, here are ten of the best exercises to help you.
1. Push Ups
Pushups are the quintessential exercise for building both the biceps and triceps. Start by lying on your stomach down on the floor. Get your arms in the push-up position. You can do this exercise in one of two ways. First, you can use your knees for support.
You are in on all fours, and you push up and down with your palms, but your knees never leave their position. The second way to do this exercise is to lay prostrate on the floor with the tips of your toes touching the ground. Move up and down, pushing your body weight with your arms.
Your chest should almost touch the floor each time you come down, and your arms should be extended. Try doing about 15-20 reps of either variation.
2. Triceps Back Kick
These back kicks begin by bending your knees and leaning your body forward till you reach a 45-degree angle. Using a dumbbell, bend the elbows and bring the weight to your side. Now, extend one arm backward and then bring it forward.
Make sure that you lightly squeeze your muscle as you do these exercises. Do one on the left side and one on the right, which is one rep. You should do about 20 reps in total.
3. Hammer Curl
If you are looking for arm exercises that boost your self-confidence in a tank top, try the hammer curl. Start by standing up straight with a weight in each hand. Make sure that your hands are down to your side and your palms are facing inward.
Keep your arms at your side, and gradually bring each weight up until it almost touches the opposite pectoral muscle. Once you get it to the proper position, hold the weight in place for a few seconds.
Now, repeat the maneuver with the next arm. You want to do one curl on each side, which counts as one rep. Do about ten of these repetitions.
4. Zottman Curl
The Zottman curl is one of the fierce arm exercises that will give you biceps as hard as baseballs, and your forearms will be impressive too. This maneuver was named after George Zottman, who was a legendary strongarm born in 1867. While you may not break any records with this move, you might turn a few heads.
Start by standing up straight and weight each hand. Your hands should be at your side with the dumbbell in each one. Use an underhanded grip for this curl. Gradually curl the weights towards your shoulders, but you must rotate your hands from underhand to overhand grips.
Make sure you keep your elbows tucked and locked as you do these curls. Reps are between 10-15 curls.
5. Medicine Ball Push Up
Start by using a medicine ball and placing one in each hand. Keep your knees on the ground while your arms are fully extended. Now, bend your elbows as you slowly lower your torso to the floor. The goal is to get your arms to a 90-degree angle and then go back to the starting position.
You should do hold the curl for about 30 seconds without stopping, then do a 15-second interval before resting. Now, switch to the other side and do the same thing.
6. Dumbbell Press
Start by spreading your feet shoulder-width apart and keep your knees bent ever so slightly. Put your hands in front of your chest and hold one dumbbell or kettlebell with your hands. Now, move your hands out away from your chest and up until you’re raising your arms.
When your arms are above your head, hold the position for about two seconds. Now, slowly return the dumbbell to the original position. If you’re using a weight under ten pounds, then you should do approximately 15-20 reps. If your dumbbell is larger than 20 pounds, then you should do about ten reps.
7. Bicep Curl
If you need to sit while doing part of your workout, this is a perfect arm exercise. Start in the seated position. Take a comfortably sized dumbbell in each hand. Your arms should be hanging at your side naturally.
You must keep your back straight and hold good posture. Now, curl each arm up and bring the weight almost to your shoulders. Always keep your palm facing inwards for proper form and hold the curl for a few seconds before lowering the weight. Try ten repetitions.
8. Around the World
You’ve probably heard of around the world exercise in basketball, but it can be used in arm exercises too. Start by standing with your feet about a shoulder’s width apart. Keep your knees slightly bent and hold one dumbbell in front of you.
Just like in basketball, the goal is to move the weight around to different positions. There should be a total of three sub-movements. Start by moving the dumbbell to one side, then to the back, and the side of your head.
It’s essential to keep the weight in a vertical or horizontal position to increase tension and outcome. You should do ten reps on each side, which is a total of 20 altogether.
9. Dumbbell Rear Delt Fly
If you want to tone your arms, back, and provides some stabilization to your spine, then the rear delt fly is what you need. Start by standing nice and tall and keeping your legs slightly spread apart. Now, using two dumbbells, keep one in each hand placed at your side.
Be careful in selecting your weight size as you want to do 12 repetitions. Slowly move your torso forward and bend your legs a bit. Your arms should extend below your body, and your hands should face each other as they hold the weight. Now, you must keep your back flat with no arches.
Raise your arms out to the side and exhale all the air in your lungs. Squeeze your shoulder blades tight while doing this movement. Keep your head and back straight as you do this rep.
Now, inhale as you bring your arms back to the starting position as you’ve completed one rep. You should do 2-3 sets of 12 reps.
10. Triceps Extensions
This curl is easy, but it’s amazingly effective. Start by standing up straight with your feet slightly bent. Now, use an average-sized dumbbell, preferably between 10-20 lbs. Using both hands, grasp the dumbbell, and bring it over your head.
Make sure you keep your shoulders and elbows still, but you want to slowly bend your elbows, allowing the weight to be lowered and raised behind your head about 90 degrees. Your elbows must always be facing forward and never go out to the side. Lifting the weight up and down once is a rep. You should do about 20 reps.
Final Thoughts on Eating Right, Working Out, and Feeling Great
When you are eating healthy and doing those arm exercises, you will feel great. Who doesn’t need a little boost of confidence these days? If you put in the time and effort it takes to have sculpted arms, then you will reap the rewards.