Arm Toning Workout

Getting muscular, toned arms is high on the priority list for many gym goers. However, many people go about doing this the wrong way. This ends up leading to stagnating progress and no visible results. There is more to consider than you may think when it comes to arm training. Check out this arm toning workout for tips, exercises and an arm toning workout at the end.

When you think arm workout, you probably think curls, curls and more curls. There’s a million arm training workouts out there to the effect of, “10 arm exercises nobodies ever heard of!”. Well nobodies ever heard of them because they are not that effective.

You don’t need to hang upside down and reach around your back while leaning over a bench just to get that perfect bicep isolation on your curls. Truth is, keeping it simple works the best. You don’t need to focus so much on better exercises, but rather doing the classic arm exercises better. Here are a few important tips for arm training.

Arm Workout Tips

I’ll add in another little piece of bad news here. Any program that says something along the lines of “lose arm fat with this workout”, is trying to sell you something. If you want to lose arm fat, you need to decrease your overall body fat. You cannot target specific regions to lose fat, everybody is different where they hold fat. What this workout and other arm programs will do is build leaner muscle in your arms so that if or when your body fat is low enough you can see tight, toned arms.

Before we start, if you are unfamiliar with the anatomy and muscle structure of the arms, check out this article. It can be beneficial to understand what you working during each lift.

1. Exercise Selection: I’m sure you’ve seen that person in the gym, it’s probably even you, who does a few set s of dumbbell curls, then a few sets of EZ bar curls, then a few sets of barbell curls. Well you just did a bunch of sets of the same exercise. Hand position makes all the difference in arm, especially bicep, workouts. Palms up, focuses more on growing the peak of the bicep. Palms, facing inwards focuses more on thickening the long part of the bicep and palms facing down puts more emphasis on the forearm. Also, the closer your hands are the more emphasis you put on the inner head of the bicep and vice versa. Choose exercises that hit the muscles in your arms at various angles and work it in different ways.
2. More Focus on Triceps: Everyone loves curls on arm day but your triceps make up two thirds of your upper arm. If you want muscular, toned arms, hit your triceps at least as much as your biceps on arm day. You should at a MINIMUM have a 1:1 bicep to triceps exercise ratio.
3. Don’t Neglect Form: Like I said previously, you may not be seeing the results you want, not because of the exercises you are doing but how you are doing them. Your arm muscles are a very small muscle group. This means that you train them differently. Unlike the larger muscles, trained with heavy compound movements, your arms are trained with isolation movements. When using isolation exercises, good form is essential. Perform slow reps, focusing on the contraction, or squeeze part of the exercise. Be sure to control the weight on the negative, or eccentric portion of the movement as well. Finally, take your momentum out of it. Try to only move the weight with the muscle being targeted, not by swinging your body.
4. Train To Failure: Unlike bench or squat, you aren’t going to be lifting really heavy weight for a few reps. The smaller the muscle, the more important the volume is. You will use more reps and train the muscles to fatigue. So simplify that, don’t just go through the motions. Focus on the form and be sure that you are exhausting your muscles during the workout. Don’t get lazy, push yourself.

Arm Exercises

There a TON of variations to bicep and triceps exercises but the function is pretty much the same. Below are exercise demonstrations for the movements used in my arm workout in this article.

Dips

Dips are a great triceps workout, and as close to a compound movement that you will get on arm day. They can be cone on a bench, like shown here or on an actual dip machine. Bench dips will but more emphasis on the triceps which is why I chose them for this workout. Traditional dips engage the front deltoids and lower chest to assist in pushing your body up.

Seated Hammer Curls

Hammer curls are usually seen being done with heavy dumbbells while standing up. I prefer the seated version because it eliminates the assistance from your bodies momentum and isolates the biceps better. In this variation, perform a half rep, hold for a second and then perform one full rep. You will need to use a lighter weight when performing these curls.

Triceps Extensions

These can be done with an EZ bar or dumbbells. Using dumbbells can put less strain on the elbows which is why I chose to use them in this workout. Be sure to keep the arms stationary and only bend at the elbows and control the weight the whole time.

Close Grip EZ Bar Curls

Bringing your hands closer together will put more emphasis on the inner biceps.

Triceps Pull Downs

There’s a few different bar options to use when performing these. While they vary slightly in the way they target your triceps, any bar will do for this workout. I chose the V-grip bar in this demonstration. Be sure to control the weight on the way up and go slowly.

Single Arm Dumbbell Curls

Another exercise with an excessive amount of variation. I chose to use the bench to better isolate the bicep. One thing to keep in mind is that your elbow should be flat against the bench and not flared out to the side to avoid elbow injury.

Triceps Rope Kickbacks

These can be done with a dumbbell or on the cable machine. I prefer the cable machine as it isolates the triceps more and allows for a better contraction. Use as long of a rope as you can find.

Bicep Straight Bar Curls

These will be used as a burn out at the end of the workout. Do seven half reps, only bending your arms to 90 degrees, seven half reps pausing at 90 degrees and as many full reps as you can after that.

Arm Toning Workout

Finally what you’ve all been waiting for, the workout. This workout will utilize all eight of the exercises shown above. It focuses on high rep volume, super sets and training to muscle fatigue.

Select weights that will allow you to perform the majority of sets and reps but will also cause you to struggle towards the end of the exercise. This may take some feeling out if you are new to lifting weights. Take your time and try out different weights until you find the right one.

• Bench Dips: 4 total sets. Sets 1-3 perform 12-15 reps, 45 seconds between sets. Set 4 go until failure.
  • Super Set with Single Arm Dumbbell Curls: 3 sets. 10 reps each arm per set focusing on contraction and controlling the weight.
• Close Grip Bicep Curls: 4 Sets. Sets 1 and 2 perform 10 reps. Sets 3 and 4 perform 10 reps with initial weight and then cut weight in half and perform 10 more reps.
  • Super Set with Triceps Extensions: 4 Sets with same structure as the close grip bicep curls.
• Seated Hammer Curls: 4 Sets 8-10 reps each set, 45 second rest between sets.
• Triceps Pull Downs: 4 Sets. Sets 1-3 perform 12 reps with the same weight. Set 4 Drop set. Do 8 reps and drop the weight one pin. 5 total sets in drop set.
• Triceps Rope Kickbacks: 4 Sets. Sets 1-3 perform 12 reps with the same weight. Set 4 Drop set. Do 8 reps and drop the weight one pin. 5 total sets in drop set.
• Straight Bar Curls Burn Out. 2 sets. 7 reps from full extension to 90 degrees. 7 reps from 90 degrees, as many full reps until failure. Rest 90 seconds and repeat one additional time.

Wrap Up

Give this arm workout a try if you aren’t seeing the progress you want in your current routine. Be sure to keep the above tips in mind when training and focus on training your muscles to fatigue. If you work hard and exhaust the muscles, one arm training day a week should be fine. If you really want to bulk up your arms, add a second training session in per week.

Thanks for reading and please comment and leave your feedback!