BeWOW: Sculpt Your Arms With This Killer Workout

Shutterstock

If there’s one thing I can promise you about this week’s Be Well Workout, it’s this: Your arms will feel like Jell-O when you’re finished. Grab some light weights (between two and five pounds) and get ready for lots of reps.

You’re going to do five rounds of the following exercises, ending each round with a one-minute plank hold. Start with 50 reps of each exercise for the first round, then 40 reps for the second, then 30, then 20, and finally 10 reps to finish out the workout. Good luck!

BeWOW: Hot Arms Workout

Alternating front raise
Alternating bicep curl
Alternating overhead press
Alternating bent over tricep extension
Crunches
Alternating standing chest fly
Mountain climbers
Little arm circles forward
Little arm circles backwards
One-minute plank

Explanation of exercises
*Click the links below for video how-tos.

Alternating front raise: Stand with feet hip width apart, holding a dumbbell in each hand. Hands are resting on front of the quads with palms facing towards you. One at a time, raise the left arm to shoulder height and lower, then raise and lower the right arm.

Bicep curls: Hold dumbbells at your side with palms facing forward. Pretend your elbows are glued to your midsection and curl the weight toward your shoulders, keeping your upper arm still. Slowly return your weight to the starting position and repeat on the other side.

Alternating overhead press: Holding free weights in each hand, stand with the weights at your shoulders (elbows forming 90 degrees beside your head), hips tucked under, and abs very strong. Pressing your left hand to the ceiling, straightening your arm, and return to the starting position. Repeat the motion on the right.

Alternating bent over tricep extension: Hold a dumbbell in each and stand with feet hip-width apart, hinging forward at the waist. Bend arms so your biceps are in line with your torso and elbows are pulling in toward your sides. Hinging at the elbow only, extend your arm behind you until your arm is straight. Release to starting position and repeat.

Crunches: Get in sit-up position, with knees bent and hands behind the head. Without pulling the neck, squeeze your abs and sit halfway up. Hold for a beat, and return to starting position.

Alternating standing chest fly: Stand with feet hip-width apart, holding dumbbells in each hand. With an underhand grip (i.e. palms facing away from the body), raise the weights straight out in front of you until arms are a little lower than shoulder height; palms should be facing the ceiling. Don’t lock elbows. Rotating from the shoulder, swing your left arm out to the side and behind you as far as it will go, squeezing your shoulder blades, then return to the starting position, squeezing the chest. Repeat on the right side.

Mountain climbers: Get in plank position. Alternating legs, bring your knee into the chest, keeping your upper body strong. Extend leg and switch.

Little arm circles forward/backward: Standing with feet hip width apart and a dumbbell in each hand, raise arms to the side, straight out from your body, to shoulder height. Palms should be facing down, toward the floor. Rotating from the shoulder, do little arm circles, first forward then backward

Plank: Get in push-up position, resting on your elbows; keep back, hips, and legs in a straight line. Hold.

» Did you complete this week’s BeWOW? Tell us how you did in the comments! Or, feel free to tweet at us about it using the hashtag #BeWOW. Check out all the BeWOW workouts here.

…………

Audrey McKenna Hasse is the owner of A.M.Fit, a personal training and healthy consultation business on the Main Line. You’ll find her workouts every Monday right here on Be Well Philly.