What exercises do you do for your arms?

[JnEsWDWMom]

I've just been doing some simple weight training exercises I got from You: The Owners Manual, but I'd like to do some target exercises for my arms so I'll look cute in all the sleeveless shirts at WDW! Any suggestions? I don't belong to a gym. I have hand weights here at home.

~Lynn~

 

[nliedel]

Push ups. Girl style till you can do them on your own but they really work so many muscle groups at once they are wonderful.

 

[JnEsWDWMom]

Thanks! I would not have thought of pushups! I don't even know if I can do one! Guess I'll have to see.

~Lynn~

 

[ziggystardust]

Grab 1 free weight. You can buy them at target or anywhere really for cheap. Go with a weigt you can handle and work your way up.

Sit or stand with your back really straight, take the weight in your hands straight over your head, bend at the elbows and take the weight down behind your head. This will get you your great arms. Obviously do multiple reps.

 

[JnEsWDWMom]

Grab 1 free weight. You can buy them at target or anywhere really for cheap. Go with a weigt you can handle and work your way up.

Sit or stand with your back really straight, take the weight in your hands straight over your head, bend at the elbows and take the weight down behind your head. This will get you your great arms. Obviously do multiple reps.

Thanks! That is one of the ones the book recommended and I've been doing it. Good to know it's a good one!

~Lynn~

 

[KarenAylwood]

Pushups are great but I am/was what you'd call- devoid of all muscles required to do a pushup. I'm serious. I could physically do only about five and would give up.

I read about a better way to start- I started slow- I would do them against the wall first. Put your hands on the wall (like it's the floor) and stand as far away from the wall as you can do (you know, further away = harder to push). After doing reps of these I could do real pushups so much easier and didn't give up as fast.

 

[nliedel]

Thanks! I would not have thought of pushups! I don't even know if I can do one! Guess I'll have to see.

~Lynn~

Well you might not be able to. You are a woman and we just are pathetic at the whole upper body strength thing but if you keep at it you will. It also works the chest muscles and boosts the girls.

I started with like a half of one. Now I can do 50!!!!!

 

[JnEsWDWMom]

Well you might not be able to. You are a woman and we just are pathetic at the whole upper body strength thing but if you keep at it you will. It also works the chest muscles and boosts the girls.

I started with like a half of one. Now I can do 50!!!!!

Do you do regular ones or girl ones?

~Lynn~

 

[JnEsWDWMom]

Pushups are great but I am/was what you'd call- devoid of all muscles required to do a pushup. I'm serious. I could physically do only about five and would give up.

I read about a better way to start- I started slow- I would do them against the wall first. Put your hands on the wall (like it's the floor) and stand as far away from the wall as you can do (you know, further away = harder to push). After doing reps of these I could do real pushups so much easier and didn't give up as fast.

Thanks for the tip!

~Lynn~

 

[nliedel]

Do you do regular ones or girl ones?

~Lynn~

regular old push ups. No girlie stuff here. Again I did not start out that way.

 

[jillane88]

Pushups for sure. I do girlie ones and when I started I could barely even do 5 of them. Now I can easily do 25 without stopping to rest. I am working up to doing regular ones but they are tougher.

I also use 5 lb hand weights and do various exercises with those. I am finally seeing some nice definition in my arms!

 

[bubba73]

There are a lot of exercises for your arms to tone them up. I like all the ideas tha tthe others have suggested but please allow me to add a few.
1) Take your weights and do what is called "kickbacks". It is also called Tricep Extensions. Bend over to a 45 degree angle with your back straight. Keep your elbows in next to your side. Push your arm back so that your arm is straightand for a little more of a twist, turn your hand so that the back of your hand is facing the floor. Repeat.
2) Lay down on the floor with your weights in both hands. Extend your arms straight up above your chest. Bend at the elbows and let the weights come down to the top of your head. Then extend back up and repeat.
3) Don't forget about your biceps. Do curls from all angles. This will give you full arm definition.
4) Lastly, one more thing that will just add to the overall of anyone's physique. Work out your shoulders. If you are wearing a shirt without any sleeves, your shoulders will be in plain view. Do some side raises or laterals. Do some front raises. Also, lean over with the weights in front of you about waist high. From here you want to pull the weight out and back. You should feel like you are doing a chest flye backwards. This will hit your rear deltoids so you can hit your shoulders from all angles.

These are some of my favorite exercises that I do at the gym. They work for everyone. Just remember, if you are trying to tone try to keep your reps between 12-15. If you are trying to build muscle, try to do 6-10 reps. Oh and the most important thing to do is always stretch before and after exercising. This will prevent injury!

Hope that helps!

 

[JnEsWDWMom]

Pushups for sure. I do girlie ones and when I started I could barely even do 5 of them. Now I can easily do 25 without stopping to rest. I am working up to doing regular ones but they are tougher.

I also use 5 lb hand weights and do various exercises with those. I am finally seeing some nice definition in my arms!

Thanks! I'm definitely giving pushups a try!

~Lynn~

 

[JnEsWDWMom]

There are a lot of exercises for your arms to tone them up. I like all the ideas tha tthe others have suggested but please allow me to add a few.
1) Take your weights and do what is called "kickbacks". It is also called Tricep Extensions. Bend over to a 45 degree angle with your back straight. Keep your elbows in next to your side. Push your arm back so that your arm is straightand for a little more of a twist, turn your hand so that the back of your hand is facing the floor. Repeat.
2) Lay down on the floor with your weights in both hands. Extend your arms straight up above your chest. Bend at the elbows and let the weights come down to the top of your head. Then extend back up and repeat.
3) Don't forget about your biceps. Do curls from all angles. This will give you full arm definition.
4) Lastly, one more thing that will just add to the overall of anyone's physique. Work out your shoulders. If you are wearing a shirt without any sleeves, your shoulders will be in plain view. Do some side raises or laterals. Do some front raises. Also, lean over with the weights in front of you about waist high. From here you want to pull the weight out and back. You should feel like you are doing a chest flye backwards. This will hit your rear deltoids so you can hit your shoulders from all angles.

These are some of my favorite exercises that I do at the gym. They work for everyone. Just remember, if you are trying to tone try to keep your reps between 12-15. If you are trying to build muscle, try to do 6-10 reps. Oh and the most important thing to do is always stretch before and after exercising. This will prevent injury!

Hope that helps!

Thanks, I've printed these out to add to my list! It's getting to be quite a list! You did a great job describing them.

~Lynn~

 

[JnEsWDWMom]

Just wanted to give you all an update ( and a good laugh at my expense.) I tried the "wall" pushups and didn't have too much trouble doing them so I thought I would try the girlie pushups. SIX! I could only do six and my arms were shaking so badly. Guess I'll start with six and try to build from there. Maybe try to add one a week. Thanks everyone for the info. I've got quite a little routine now.

~Lynn~

 

[bubba73]

Another thought for your arms would be to do what is called "Diamond" push-ups or triangle push-ups. How you do this is you put your hands very close together so your hands can actually make a diamond or a triangle. Then you do your push-ups like you normally would. This is going to put more emphasis on your tricep area. When you are doing regular push-ups, you are hitting the triceps but as a secondary muscle group. You are using more of your chest muscles than your triceps. You can also just bring your hands in to shoulder width apart. This is a little easier than what I have described above. At the same time, this will also put a lot more emphasis on your triceps. As far as how many you do, that is not important when you are first starting out. When I started out about 6 years ago, I couldn't do more than 2 or 3 push-ups or sit-ups. Now, I can bench press my weight for reps, curl as much as a lot of guys twice my size, and do crunches forever. It takes time, dedication, and a lot of willpower. I hope you succeed and have a lot of fun doing so.

 

[JnEsWDWMom]

Another thought for your arms would be to do what is called "Diamond" push-ups or triangle push-ups. How you do this is you put your hands very close together so your hands can actually make a diamond or a triangle. Then you do your push-ups like you normally would. This is going to put more emphasis on your tricep area. When you are doing regular push-ups, you are hitting the triceps but as a secondary muscle group. You are using more of your chest muscles than your triceps. You can also just bring your hands in to shoulder width apart. This is a little easier than what I have described above. At the same time, this will also put a lot more emphasis on your triceps. As far as how many you do, that is not important when you are first starting out. When I started out about 6 years ago, I couldn't do more than 2 or 3 push-ups or sit-ups. Now, I can bench press my weight for reps, curl as much as a lot of guys twice my size, and do crunches forever. It takes time, dedication, and a lot of willpower. I hope you succeed and have a lot of fun doing so.

I tried these Diamond pushups today and they are tough! But they felt good if that makes any sense. I could feel the muscles in my arms working. Thanks again. Were you the one that wants to be a personal trainer? I think you'd be good. By the way I did 8 pushups today! I'm so proud. Now if I could just lose some weight...... I'm just keep gaining. I'm not giving up though.

~Lynn~

 

[bubba73]

I tried these Diamond pushups today and they are tough! But they felt good if that makes any sense. I could feel the muscles in my arms working. Thanks again. Were you the one that wants to be a personal trainer? I think you'd be good. By the way I did 8 pushups today! I'm so proud. Now if I could just lose some weight...... I'm just keep gaining. I'm not giving up though.

~Lynn~

Thank you very much for the kind thoughts about me becoming a trainer. I still have some self esteem issues before I can really pursue that. I have the knowledge but I just don't have the physique that people are going to look at and say that they want me to train them.

As far as you gaining weight, if you would I have an idea that might help. This will take a little effort though. For 2 or 3 days, keep a journal of what you eat and what kind of exercise you do. This includes every little thing. If you eat a snack, write it down. If you do any cardio, write it down. On what you eat, write down the time you eat as well. Just do it for a couple of days. After which, if you would, PM me with the details and I will try to critique for you. Also, tell me what your goals are and what kind of time frame are you looking at trying to achieve this. I will try to help, if I can.

Again, thanks for the kind words and I am glad the pushups helped.

 

[JnEsWDWMom]

Thank you very much for the kind thoughts about me becoming a trainer. I still have some self esteem issues before I can really pursue that. I have the knowledge but I just don't have the physique that people are going to look at and say that they want me to train them.

As far as you gaining weight, if you would I have an idea that might help. This will take a little effort though. For 2 or 3 days, keep a journal of what you eat and what kind of exercise you do. This includes every little thing. If you eat a snack, write it down. If you do any cardio, write it down. On what you eat, write down the time you eat as well. Just do it for a couple of days. After which, if you would, PM me with the details and I will try to critique for you. Also, tell me what your goals are and what kind of time frame are you looking at trying to achieve this. I will try to help, if I can.

Again, thanks for the kind words and I am glad the pushups helped.

Thank you so much for your kind offer. I think I know what I need to do. Eat more vegetables, no more eating at night. I've read alot of different opinions about how many calories I need to take in, but it comes down to this. When I stick to 1100 calories, I just feel sick all day. Shaky and nauseous. Then I eat stuff I shouldn't just to feel better. If you don't mind I will send you a PM each day for a few days and you can tell me what you think. I would welcome any suggestions or feedback. Thank you so much for offering.

~Lynn~

 

[StitchIsOurHero]

I'm so glad I found this thread! I am going to be in my brother's wedding this fall and I am trying to lose weight for that. Just found out that the bridesmaid dresses are STRAPLESS--so I must work on the old arms, or I will be "flying" with my "wings" down the aisle!

Thanks for the exercise tips! I can't wait to try them out!