If you're lucky enough to be back at the gym, you'll know there have been some significant changes that can impact your training. From limiting the number of people in the gym to wiping down the equipment before and after use — it's certainly not the same gym we left at the end of March.
No one wants to be sitting around or faffing about trying to use every piece of equipment in sight. You need to plan ahead and know what you're going to train — after all, we all want our gains back.
This super-simple workout from Alex Beattie can be done in 30-minutes using only dumbbells, so it's great for bicep and tricep development.
Alex’s Arm Workout
1. Seated Bicep Curl
The bicep curl is a classic among the fitness community with good reason. It’s great for muscle growth and has a few variations. Like the seated curl — sitting down makes the exercise a bit hard and helps to focus on the contraction of the bicep. When standing there can be a tendency to swing the movement so sitting down eliminates this.
How to:
- Hold two dumbbells down at your sides with your palms facing forward.
- Slowly lift the dumbbells up just past your chest and toward your shoulders.
- At the top of the movement, pause for a second to squeeze your biceps.
- Slowly return to start.
- Do 10 reps on each arm for 5 sets
2. Dumbbell Overhead Extension
The triceps can get overlooked — they aren’t exactly the show muscles of the arm even though they account for the majority of your arm muscles. However, strengthening your triceps with a simple exercise like this is very important. The triceps are used in simple everyday tasks that involve any sort of pushing movement and when tensed they do look impressive.
How to:
- Sit on the bench with the back of the bench flat, hold a dumbbell with both hands
- Lift the dumbbell overhead so your arms are fully extended with palms pointing up to the ceiling and your elbows are facing forward
- Slowly lower the dumbbell behind your head by bending at the elbow.
- Using your triceps push back up slowly to the starting position.
- Repeat for 10 reps for 5 sets
3. Dumbbell Hammer Curls
Dumbbell hammer curls are slightly different from the standard bicep curl as they specifically target the long head of the bicep. Hammer curls are also good for stabilising smaller muscles because they require greater concentration when doing them.
How to:
- Stand upright whilst holding dumbbells alongside you. Your palms should be facing in towards your body.
- Lift until the dumbbells slowly towards your shoulders, without touching them.
- Squeeze the muscles at the top, then lower back to the starting position.
- Repeat for 10 reps on each arm for 5 sets.
Take-Home Message
With a workout this simple it is important to focus on the quality of the reps because this will help get you the best results. The arms can be a tricky area for muscle growth
Isaac is a brand communications apprentice with a passion for all things fitness. He has always had a passion for football, playing at a high youth level and enjoying 4 years of competitive kickboxing. Over recent years Isaac has dedicated himself to continually improving in the gym, enjoying both functional fitness and bodybuilding styles of workouts. He strongly believes that you should always have balance and likes to spend his time at the weekends socialising with his friends.
