Arm strength is definitely important for men. This indicator is relevant not only in the sports field, but also in everyday life, because often we men have to do hard work. And it’s good if a man has the opportunity to go to the gym, then he will certainly cope with all the tasks assigned, but what about those representatives of the stronger sex who lead a sofa lifestyle? For these guys, hard work will be a very difficult test. In order to cope with any strength task, it is not necessary to visit the gym. You can train on your own even at home. This article will talk about training to develop strength and will look at the best exercises for developing arm strength.
Common Newbie Mistakes
The first and main mistake is doing countless biceps curls and triceps extensions.
This approach works for advanced athletes, but not for beginners. Focus on compound exercises that help you gain muscle mass, then move on to isolation exercises. First draw the whole picture, then work out the details.
Avoid overtraining your arms. These are very small muscles that are used in many exercises. You can't train them five times a week; muscles grow when they rest.
Don't spend all your time training your arms; don't forget about other parts of your body. This approach may result in a disproportionate body for you. If your arms are too big compared to the rest of your body, you will look funny.
Don't underestimate the importance of nutrition. If you want to be proud of your arm strength, you must consume enough calories every day. You will never pump up 45 cm biceps in girth if you weigh 60 kg.
Warm-up
Why is it needed? Warm-up is performed to:
- increase training efficiency;
- prevent injuries;
- speed up metabolism;
- improve blood circulation and elasticity of joints and ligaments.
As a warm-up, perform rotations with your arms and elbows, do push-ups, or work out with a machine, but without weights. Choose on your own those exercises that you definitely do correctly, but do not expend too much energy.
How to gain arm strength without special equipment
It is important to understand that excellent results for working on your body cannot necessarily be obtained solely by visiting the gym. Some people don’t have time for this, some have money for a subscription to a fitness club, and others are simply embarrassed to come to the abode of jocks with nothing.
Therefore, the only way out of this situation is to start training at home, and after a month go to the gym. Dumbbells will help you with this. Check out an example of a basic arm workout with an emphasis on biceps.
This complex can be performed once a week during the preparatory period.
Causes of rapid aging of hand skin
One of the main reasons for early changes and premature aging of the skin of the hands is exposure to ultraviolet radiation, that is, sunlight (this is the so-called photoaging). It leads to the formation of wrinkles of varying depths. As a result:
- the dermis becomes very thin;
- skin volume is lost;
- Pigmentation appears on the hands.
The skin daily experiences the effects of negative factors from the outside: a person regularly wets his hands, immerses them in water, washes dishes without gloves, exposing his hands to the chemicals that make up the detergent compositions.
In winter and autumn, with a decrease in air temperature, so-called “pimples” and small cracks form on the skin, and in the summer, when it is hot, the dermis dries out, and pigment spots form on the surface.
The condition of the skin is influenced by:
- hormonal imbalance;
- problems of metabolic processes - disruptions in the functioning of the endocrine system, digestive disorders, intoxication of the body;
- untimely or improper care of the skin of the hands.
Cigarettes, regular lack of sleep, stressful situations, consumption of junk food, excessive alcohol consumption - all this provokes problems, entails hormonal imbalance, which, like a chain, leads to early age-related changes in the skin on the hands.
If a woman is young and takes good care of herself, but her hands are flabby and wrinkled, she should consult a specialist, since only a doctor can accurately diagnose the cause of aging, choose the right method of rejuvenation, and solve the problem as efficiently as possible.
Seven steps to increase strength
Let's look at the method of 7 simple steps, armed with which a novice athlete will quickly figure out how to strengthen his arms at home. All steps are intuitive and at the end of the method, options for training programs are offered.
Step 1 - Mandatory Warm-up
Start your workout with suitable warm-up exercises. Coordinating muscle and heart functions will help produce more muscle contractions. To stretch your muscles, perform swinging movements with your arms, imitate blows, and be sure to pay attention to your joints.
Low-tension exercises will help warm up and stretch the arm muscles and increase blood flow to the working muscle groups.
Step 2 - Bodyweight Exercises
Perform exercises with your own body weight: push-ups, pull-ups, chair push-ups (similar to dips). Perform each set to failure; the workout should include 3-4 sets of one exercise.
Use different hand positions throughout the movements to work different muscles. This is the only way to achieve greater arm strength.
Arm training should include not only training the biceps, but also the triceps. Increase your training load gradually.
Step 3 - Resistance Band Workouts
As you increase your body weight and arm strength, incorporate resistance band exercises into your workout. Use enough resistance so that you are using maximum effort to complete the movement.
With an expander, you can perform biceps curls, triceps extensions, back extensions, flyes, raises, and chest presses.
We recommend ready-made complexes with loops and expanders:
- What are rubber loops: exercises for all muscle groups and workouts
- Rubber expander and sports tourniquet - exercises and training
Step 4 - Isometric Exercises
Use all types of muscle contractions. When you tense your muscles, such as during curls, push-ups, or chairs, you can use concentric contractions.
When you lengthen a muscle, such as when you lower your arm during a biceps curl or lift your arm during a push-up, you are using eccentric muscle contraction.
Maintaining tension without lengthening or shortening the muscles is called isometric contraction. Explore suitable training options using isometric exercises to complement your strength program.
Step 5 - Slow Execution Speed
Perform exercises using contraction of working muscles, and not inertia or body weight.
For example, after you lift the weight during a biceps curl, don't just let it drop— lower it slowly with your arm muscles to take advantage of the eccentric contraction.
When working on the horizontal bar, when your chin reaches the bar during pull-ups, do not let your body simply fall; the strength of your arms should also help you return to the starting position with a delay.
We offer a complex for split training of strong arms in the gym. At the beginning of the week, focus on the biceps, and at the end of the week, focus on the triceps.
Stretching
Finish any workout with stretching to increase joint flexibility, improve blood flow, and prevent injury. So when trying to figure out how to increase arm strength, don't underestimate the importance of stretching:
- Stand straight with your feet shoulder-width apart. Clasp your hands behind your back with your palms facing down. Gently raise your straight arms up without tilting your body.
- Stand straight with your feet shoulder-width apart. Place one hand behind your head with your thumb pointing toward the floor. Place the second one behind your back. Grab the towel and pull it down.
- Take a comfortable position. Place one hand behind your head, and with the other grab your elbow and pull it down. Stay in this position for a few seconds.
Exercises with dumbbells for biceps
Standing dumbbell curl
- 4 sets of 15,12,10,8 repetitions
- Body part: Biceps Equipment: Dumbbells
Bicep curls with dumbbells while sitting on an incline bench
- 3 sets of 10 reps
- Body part: Biceps Equipment: Dumbbells
One-arm dumbbell biceps curl with emphasis on an incline bench
- 3 sets of 10 reps
- Body part: Biceps Equipment: Dumbbells
Alternating dumbbell curls while standing with a Hammer grip
- 3 sets of 10 reps
- Body part: Biceps Equipment: Dumbbells
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Perform each workout no more than once a week.
Triceps workout for beginners
Narrow push-ups
- 3 sets of 10-12 reps
- Body part: Triceps Equipment: Body weight
Dumbbell back extension
- 3 sets of 10-15 reps
- Body part: Triceps Equipment: Dumbbells
Triceps extension down on a block using a rope handle
- 3 sets of 15 reps
- Body Part: Triceps Equipment: Block
Seated French press
- 3 sets of 15 reps
- Body part: Triceps Equipment: Dumbbells
Push-ups on a bench
- 3 sets of 10-15 reps
- Body part: Triceps Equipment: Body weight
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Step 6 - Powerful Arms Need Rest
There must be rest days between workouts so that damaged muscles can recover and begin to grow.
There should be a minimum of 24 hours between workouts, or 48 hours for beginners. If you're also working your lower body and stabilizer, split the alternative workouts up on different days so the area you worked can rest.
In addition to training the large muscles in your arms, consider forearm assistance exercises in the gym and at home, which will help you further increase your endurance without becoming overtrained.
Step 7 - A good post-workout cool-down
After each workout, cool down and stretch. For these purposes, you can use warm-up exercises. Cooling down helps prevent blood from pooling in your joints and muscles, while stretching improves flexibility and reduces post-workout muscle soreness.
Adviсe
To avoid mistakes and quickly achieve the desired result, you need to correctly perform exercises to develop arm muscles and their strength. Therefore, you should listen to the following tips:
- Do arm workouts separately. If you work your abs first and then work on your arms, it won't do you much good. On the contrary, your body will be exhausted.
- Occasionally reduce the weight of the weights. Focus on technique, not how many weights you can lift.
- Don't try to do too many reps. It is best to train in several approaches, but do it well rather than overload the muscles.
- Vary your exercises. Try high intensity techniques. This will help you better work out certain muscles.
- Change the program. Your arms will get stronger and you will need to make changes to your training over time. Add new exercises, increase the duration of the approaches, in general, experiment!
Thus, if you want to gain a strong handshake or simply improve your physical characteristics, then you can do this with the help of exercises for the strength of the arm muscles (examples were given in our article). They can be done at home, the main thing is to do it correctly. And then you can achieve the desired results and avoid injuries.
