3 ways to tone your arms - Get active

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Here are some quick and easy tips to help tone and tighten up your arm muscles.

Biceps and Triceps 

Your bicep is a muscle made up of two 'heads', 'bi' meaning having two. This muscle is located at the front of the arm. Your tricep is made up of three 'heads', and you guessed it... 'tri' meaning three! This muscle is located at the back of the arm; together they help the arm bend and extend. 

The wall push-up

  • Stand facing the wall, with your face 20cms from the wall and your hands on the wall at shoulder height
  • Slowly walk your feet away from the wall until your feet are about a metre from the wall, and feet shoulder width apart.
  • Push your body away from the wall and straighten your arms, then slowly return to the original position.
  • Do this ten times, then rest and repeat the exercise.

 

The Deltoids (Shoulders) 

The deltoid muscles sit around the shoulder joint, in order to allow a full and healthy range of motion strong shoulder muscles are essential in the anterior (front), lateral (side) and posterior (back) portions of the shoulder. 

The swivel 

  • Stand up straight, feet shoulder width apart
  • With your shoulders down, slowly lift your arms out to your sides – they should be straight and at shoulder height
  • Move your hands in small circles (about the size of your hand) in a forward direction. Repeat 20 times.
  • Rest if required
  • Repeat, circling your hand backwards this time.

 

The Forearms 

The forearms muscles are along the front of your arm and connect to the wrist and upper arm muscles via tendons. These muscles are used for grip. In order to improve grip and full activation of the arm muscles, forearm contraction is essential. 

Towel twist

  • Twist a small towel and grab one end in each hand – ready to “wring it out” at waist height.
  • With the towel horizontal rotate your hand in opposite directions until you can feel your muscles working, then slowly return to the middle position
  • Rotate your hands the other way, and return to the middle.
  • Keep your shoulders down and relaxed. Repeat 10 times in each direction, then rest and repeat the exercise.

 

You can use these exercises as a start, if you are looking for more challenging ways to tone your arms try joining a gym, here you'll find specific equipment. Resistance breeds growth when it comes to training, push your arms to adapt and they will grow more muscle to do so, the more muscle the greater your body's ability to burn fat! 

Swimming is a great option too. This is more like a full body workout however the resistance of the water and conditioning movements will help tone your shoulders, arms and back too! 

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