Most girls I know want toned arms and shoulders. Bingo wings, begone! Unfortunately, what I see most people doing in the gym is ineffective.
Endless sets of bicep curls and triceps kickbacks do, well, not much really. The problem is twofold.
Firstly, our arms can only lift so much weight in isolation — and using dinky little dumbbells will do little to improve our fitness or physique. Ladies, we need to embrace weight training and lifting heavier.
Secondly, the arms are connected to our shoulders and back, so from a purely proportional perspective, we want to have well-defined shoulders and back muscles to reveal a showstopping silhouette. Working our arms in isolation is usually counter to our goals.
So what's a girl to do? Work your back and shoulders. Get them strong and defined, and your arms will take care of themselves. As an added bonus, anytime you lift weights while standing, you train your core, too!
A final thought: women can be strong and feminine. The "bulking up" myth is almost always just that, a myth. All professional athletes weight train, and they have a physicality and fitness we can aspire to.
Plate Raise
This is a simple way to warm up and train the upper back and shoulders. I recommend you do this before any upper-body weight-training workout.
- Stand with your feet about shoulder width apart.
- Take a 10- to 22-pound plate, and hold it, arms extended, at chest level.
- Keep your abs tight and squeeze your glutes at all times.
- Your lower back remains in neutral position throughout this exercise.
- Breathe in, then exhale, and lift up until the bottom of the plate is eye level.
- Inhale, and return to the start position.
- Do one set of 10 to 12 reps.
Plate Halo
The shoulder joint is one of the most complex parts of the bodies. It moves in many directions, which means we should train it the same way. The plate halo is the perfect exercise for just that. Like the plate raise, this is a good way to warm up for any upper-body workout.
- Stand with your feet about shoulder width apart.
- Hold the same 10- to 22-pound plate at eye level with your arms bent. The plate should be about 12 inches away from your face.
- Keeping it the same distance at all times, bring the weight around your head as if drawing a halo, keeping your elbows in when the plate is behind you.
- Repeat for 10 halos one way before reversing direction.
Landmine Press
This is a great way to learn how to use your entire body when pressing a weight overhead. Some gyms have a specialized socket for attaching a barbell — otherwise you can simply place one end of a barbell in a corner and perform the exercise. Start off with barbell alone, concentrate on technique, not the number of reps. Add weight once 12 reps per set feels easy.
- Start with the barbell in your stronger hand.
- Exhale, and push the barbell upward and toward your center line.
- Once you reach the top, pause, inhale, and actively pull the barbell back toward the start position.
- This is one of our main exercises, so do three sets of eight to 12 reps.
- Once you've finished all the reps on one side, change hands, and perform on the other. This counts as one set.
Alternating Dumbbell Press
Work your shoulders and strengthen your core at the same time? Yep, the alternating dumbbell press can do all that!
- Stand with your feet shoulder width apart, knees slightly bent for stability, holding a dumbbell above each shoulder, thumbs pointing behind you.
- Keep your abs tight and lower back neutral.
- Exhale, and drive one dumbbell upward toward the ceiling. The other remains in position by your shoulder.
- Now press the lower dumbbell up as you bring the other one down. Pause briefly once the switch is done. That’s one rep.
- This is our other main exercise, so do three sets of eight to 12 reps.
Standing Single-Arm Row
Any form of rowing will define and tone your back and shoulders. One-armed rows will also work your core, too! Another two-in-one exercise. You can perform this with an exercise band or the cable machine.
- Set up the band or cable stack to sternum height.
- Take the band or stack handle with your right hand, and step away until there is a moderate amount of tension. You can take a parallel stance or stand with your left leg in front.
- Keep your core engaged, and stand tall.
- Exhale, and pull your hand back toward your armpit.
- Your shoulders stay down throughout the movement.
- Pause, then return to the start position with control.
- Repeat for eight to 12 reps before switching sides.
Face Pull
This is one of my favorite exercises for working your rear shoulders and upper back. If you’re stuck at a desk for long periods of time, this is an essential exercise to do regularly. It can be done with exercise bands or the cable stack machine at your gym.
- Hook the band to a secure post, or if you’re using a cable stack, adjust its height to the shoulder level.
- Stand tall with an engaged core, hold the band or the cable stack handles, and step back until you feel there is a moderate amount of resistance.
- Exhale, and pull back toward your face squeezing your shoulder blades. Focus on pinching them together and pulling them down.
- Hold briefly, inhale, and return to the start position with control.
- Perform three sets for eight to 12 reps.
Incline Bicep Curls
This is my other finisher exercise when working the back or shoulders. Your biceps actually start off from your shoulder blade and cross over your upper arm into your elbow joint. By changing the angle of your arms when you curl, you work the biceps across both your shoulder and elbow joint, making the exercise much more effective than traditional bicep curls. To perform incline curls, one option is to curl on an incline bench. However, I much prefer doing them standing as you get a nice core-stabilizing workout at the same time, and this is what I’ll demonstrate here.
- Set up the cable stack with the pulley at the bottom.
- Grab the handles, and take a few steps forward.
- Stand with one leg in front of the other, and take a solid stance, brace your core, and lean forwards.
- Your back and rear leg should form a straight line, and your arms should be extended behind you.
- Take a quick breath, then exhale, and curl.
- Inhale, and return to the start position.
- Perform three sets of eight to 12 reps.
Perform this workout once a week for six weeks in addition to your normal routine, and get ready to buy yourself a new strapless dress!