Arm Exercises

Bicep curls

Using light dumbbells (3-5kg in each hand), stand straight, feet shoulder-width apart, using an underhand grip on the dumbbell, arms long, hands are by your sides shoulder-width apart and with palms facing forwards. Keeping your upper arms stationary, elbow tight against the body, exhale and curl the dumbbells towards your shoulders, hold briefly before slowly lowering the dumbbells back down until your arms are almost straight down by your sides again (don’t lock the elbows). Elbows stay close to your body at all times, keep your chest up, shoulders back and back straight. The movements are controlled up and down; don’t just let your arms drop back down under the weight of the dumbbell. Repeat ten times.

Hammer curls

Hammer curls are almost the same as bicep curls except that instead of the palm of your hands facing forwards through the movements, now you hold the dumbbells with the palms of your hands facing each other. Standing straight, arms by the side of your body, a dumbbell in each hand with your palms facing your body. Keeping the upper arm still, elbows tightly against your sides, raise the weights towards your shoulders and hold briefly before slowly lowering the dumbbells to their start position. Repeat ten times.

Shoulder press

Using light dumbbells (1kg in each hand is enough, 3kg is good, we can work our way up to 5kg in each hand). Stand straight, feet shoulder-width apart, holding a dumbbell in each hand, elbows are bent so the weights are at shoulder height. With your palms facing forwards, engage your core muscles (tighten the muscles across your back and the front of your body and slowly push the dumbbells upwards, extending your arms so that the weights are just above head-height. Hold the weights in this top position before very slowly lowering the dumbbells back to their start position, in-line with the tops of your shoulders. Note that the weights move straight up and straight down above your shoulders; at no point are they on-top of your head. Also - be careful not to lean back as you push upwards; the upper body stays still as the arms push upwards and are pulled downwards again. Repeat five times to begin with; increasing up to ten per set as your strength improves.

Half press-up

Move into a push-up (press-up) position, such that your knees are on the floor, feet are flexed with toes lightly touching the ground as well. Knees are further back than your hips such that you’ve got a straight line running from your shoulders, hips and through to your knees. The position of your hands on the ground depends on how difficult you want the exercise to be; if your hands are directly below your shoulders the movement is much more difficult than if you put your hands a few inches wider on either side (hands are still in a line with your shoulders but wider apart). Engage your core muscles (suck your tummy muscles in) and keeping the straight line of your body from shoulders to knees, slowly lower your chest towards the ground just as far as feels comfortable (which may only be a couple of centimeters to begin with). For the upwards movement, keeping the straight line from shoulders to knees, push your chest back away from the ground again. The trick is to keep the straight line and not leave your bum sticking up in the air as you lower your chest down (a sideways-on mirror is great for checking your hips are also moving in a straight line with your upper body). Repeat five times to begin with, increasing up to ten per set as your strength improves.