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Women's Beginner Arm Toning Workout
Editor's Note: If you need some advice on toning your arms, head over to our Dedicated Women's Fitness Forum and ask one of our experienced moderator team!
Every woman who writes to me seems to want toned arms. In this post I will go through some of the basics of an arms toning workout and then put it all together in a routine that you can take to the gym.
The essentials of arm toning
If you have only just found this site then there are a few things we talk about over and over that you need to know when you are trying to tone your arms.
1 - To tone a muscle you need to lose fat
This is the big essential tip that you need to learn from this post. Arm toning is not possible without losing fat. And, sadly, it is not possible to lose fat off of only your arms. This means that if you want to tone your arms you need to start a weight loss program that will help you lose weight off of your whole body.
It is only when your body has a low body fat percentage that your muscles will start to shine through as defined and firm. So, weight loss is just as important as muscle gain when it comes to arm toning.
2 - You need to work with weights to build muscle
On the other side of the equation is it the muscle that you build that shows through whatever fat you have on your arm. The bigger the muscles the better they will show through.
Many women worry about getting bulky but this isn’t really a concern as women do not have the necessary testosterone to get big. However, if you WANT to get big there are many ways to do it but that is for another post.
3 - You need to work with heavy weights
If anyone at your gym tells you to use light weights with high reps to tone your arms then I want you to spit on their shoes! Just kidding. Working out with lighter weights and higher reps is a bad rumor that we should all ignore.
The reason is simple. When you weight train your break your muscles slightly and them rebuilding is muscle growth. Heavy weights obviously stresses them more and will amount to more muscles being torn and rebuilt. Heavy weights will also speed up your metabolism which in turn will burn more fat thus helping you tone your arms.
The exercises for the workout
The exercises you will be using for your arm toning workout are simple weight lifting exercises that are done with free weights (bar bells and dumb bells). They are:
Biceps
1 - Bar bell curl
Standing with your feet shoulder width apart grab a bar bell about shoulder width apart. With your elbows locked firmly to a position by your side, lift the weight up using your biceps to the top of your chest. Lower it slowly down without moving your elbows and repeat.
2 - Alternate dumb bell curl
Standing with feet shoulder width apart grab two dumb bells and let them rest at your side. Tensing your bicep curl one dumb bell up and twist it so that when the dumb bell reaches it’s top position near your shoulder your palm is facing your shoulder. As you lower this dumb bell down to it’s starting position repeat with the opposite arm.
Triceps
1 - Close grip bench press
Laying on a bench take a medium heavy bar bell a bit narrower than shoulder width grip and bring it down to your lower ribs. Push the weight up using your triceps and lower it to the same position. Just before it reaches your chest fire it up in the pushing direction again before it gets a chance to rest on your body. This prevents your chest from taking over with the weight lifting.
2 - Tricep kickbacks
Take a light dumb bell in your right hand. Place your left hand and left knee on a low flat bench. Keeping your back straight lift your elbow so that your upper arm is in line with your torso. Slowly tense your tricep and lift the dumb bell to a position where you arm is almost locked out straight. Lower and repeat.
The arm toning workout
These are the basic four exercises that you will use to build your foundation of strength and technique. Remember, without perfect technique you will not make any progress so exert yourself in making sure that your posture and lifting method is perfect.
- Warm up with some cardio, stretching and light weights.
- Bar bell curls - 4 sets of 10-15 reps
- Narrow grip bench press - 4 sets of 8-10 reps
- Alternate dumb bell curls - 4 sets of 8-10 reps
- Tricep kickbacks - 4 sets of 10-15 reps
Remember, when a rep number says 8-10 it means that you should pick a weight that causes you to ‘fail’ in that rep range. It does not mean that you pick a light weight and only do 8 reps. It means you should be struggling to get to 8.
Perform each exercise with care and slowly. Do not be tempted to pump out the reps quickly.
For more workout routines see Muscle&Strength.
Conclusion
Mixing this weights training workout with a good diet and some cardio will bring results in no time. Soon I will post an intermediate workout and then an expert workout that we can use to progress with our arms training.
Comments on this article:
| Fiance to Be said: | That pushing up quickly tip for the close grip bench press really works. Thanks for that! |
| RT said: | I love your name! Yeah the tip is a good one. I saw a guy doing it years ago and was surprised how much it helps isolate the triceps. |
| Michelle said: | Thanks for all of these exercises, but especially for the tip about how to determine the weight that should be used. No one has ever put it so clearly - the "fail" range. Looking forward to the intermediate and expert workout. |
| RT said: | No worries Michelle. It is a very important little tip - glad it helped. RT |
| jenny said: | I am in relatively good shape, But I feel I need to work the backs of my arms better. I don't want anymore muscle to my biceps, as they are big enough. What exercise can I do while I am on my step climber to work this area? I want to kill two birds with one stone!! |
| RWF said: | Hi Jenny, There's not a lot you can do while you're actually on a stepper...I'm thinking you might have trouble balancing doing most tricep exercises! I'd suggest you just spend 10mins or so after your step workout hitting them. |
| m said: | I'm not the type who can really bring herself to go to the gym so I do most of my exercising at home. I can see doing most of this at home with free weights easily, but is there an alternative to the bench press that I could more easily do at home alone that would still work the same muscles? |
| ruth said: | It states that to tone muscle I need to lose fat. I am 5 foot 1 inch and weigh about 100 pounds. I have no fat to lose; however, my arms are still very weak and flabby. I've been working on them for months, but my underarms (triceps), are still flabby. Is there anything I can do that will tone just that area of my body. This is my personal problem area I've been dealing with for some time. |
| emmajane said: | im 103kgs, and i badly need to loose some weight. Im concentrating on my arms 1st (as these are seen more often now that the summer is approaching).. Any other "At Home"instruments that i can use, as i dont have any dumbells or excersise equipment at home.. |
| Jessica said: | if you are looking to get rid of flabby underarms and tone up triceps you need to do the kickbacks, and do overhead tricep extensions which will definitely tone that area up. Stand and grab dumbell and raise so that your tricep is parallel to your head (almost as if you are looking at your armpit), make sure sure that your arm is straight and the dumbell should be behind you the bottom of it at the back of your shoulder. Then slowly raise it in the air until your arm extends straight up in the air above your head. But be careful that it is still somewhat bent so that if you drop the weight it lands on the ground. There should be demonstrations on the internet for this exercise if I you cannot visualize my poor instructions. This exercise is hard, but it is very good in defining your triceps, I started with 8 lb. weight and couldn't even make it to my 10th rep in my last 2 sets out of 3. You will see results!!! |
| florence said: | any idea how to loose weight & burn arm fats |
| Hana said: | How long does one need to do the tricep kick backs and over head extensions before we see results and how much time ought one to spend - say 20 minutes on these? or more? I do about 40 minutes on the cross trainer and 20 minutes running or cycling and 30 minutes swimming. |
| Kim said: | What are some simple excercises you can do at your home that will make your arms bigger that you dont need equipment for? |
| sami said: | you know wat i am a younge women and i am overweight but i am trying to get in shape becuase i am scared for my life but i have been doing this and i have seen major weight loss in my arms . its amazing . Thanks -sami |
| sana said: | I started lifting light weights ( 2kg) 3 weeks ago and I noticed my arms are no longer flabby; they are quite toned. I want to use 5kg weights so as to get them more toned but my dad says they are too heavy and my arms will grow bulky rather than looking toned. |
| Alexis said: | I am going to use the information in the article & in the comments (specifically the overhead tricep ext). Thanks everyone! |
| Mimi said: | i absolutely LOVE this website. love mimi |
| Sharon said: | If you dont have weights you can use tin cans or waterbottles (increase water/bottle size). I know someone who used to press their baby -they got stronger as their baby grew! |
| Sandra MG said: | I was just wondering how many times a week I should do this routine? I am 10lbs overweight and I do between 45 min and 1 hour of cardio (stairmaster, spinning, tae bo) 5 days a week. Gotta get rid of some fat in my arms for ever. Thanks so much for the routine and tips from everybody. ;o). |
| Evanjalina Marie said: | Wow. This really burns... haha. I'm learning how to do my back-handspring. I can practically do it by myself, the only problem is that I bend my arms when I flip soo... I need to strengthen my arms... badly haha |
| Liz said: | Evanjaline Marie: To help strengthen your arms for your backhandspring, try holding yourself in a handstand against the wall a couple times for 1-3 minutes. |
| jme said: | can sumone explain plz how to do the tricep kick backs i dont understand |
| Kassie said: | m said: I am not the type who can really bring herself to go to the gym so I do most of my exercising at home. I can see doing most of this at home with free weights easily, but is there an alternative to the bench press that I could more easily do at home alone that would still work the same muscles? I didnt have a bench press at home several years ago when I was training and used a big body ball instead...you actually end up using your core muscles also b/c you have to balance on the ball to do your upper body exercises!! Its a lot cheaper than buying a bench |
| sulaika said: | What is the weight of the dumb bell you can use and do you have a programe to read all these information in dutch? |
| rose said: | what is the best sized (how many kg) weights to use? |
| leighton said: | this is really good. this is a great arm workout for teens that are trying to lose weight, like myself! |
