Having a strong upper body is the key to a well-rounded, trimmed physique as well as overall health. With better strength in your arms, back and chest you’ll benefit from a better posture and body balance[1].

All you need are a few sets of small dumbbells or resistance bands – you could even use your own bodyweight for some of these moves. Below, we’ve listed the seven best exercises to tone up your arms. For each exercise, we’ll include different options to suit your choice of resistance.

Warm-Up

Warming up before an arm workout will help reduce the risk of muscle soreness and injury. Try this sequence of dynamic warm-up exercises to prepare your body.

• Arm circles – 8 reps forward and backward
• Walk-outs – 8 reps
• Overhead shoulder stretches
• Jumping jacks – 10 reps
• Swinging toe touches – 8 on each side

To sum up

If you want to add some shape to your arms or build some upper body strength, these exercises will help to get you there and tone up your arms. To make even more of an impact, follow a calorie-restricted diet or complement these strength moves with a clever cardio routine.

Head to the gym and sprinkle some of these moves into your workout plan – you won’t regret it!

For many of us girls, toned arms are a major goal. Aside from lifting that booty and achieving shredded abs, tightening up triceps is a concern for a lot of women out there.

Aside from looking amazing and helping you achieve an all-round toned physique, firmer triceps can help you feel more confident.

Whether it’s just throwing on a t-shirt or rocking a strappy dress, being proud of the way you look and feel can be transformative.

On top of that, this quick and easy workout can be performed in around 10 minutes, so you won’t be spending hours crafting this part of your body. Simply add it to one of your workouts and you’ll soon start to feel the rewards.

10-minute triceps workout for women

If this is an area you’re concerned about, then a triceps workout for women can be a fantastic way to help you feel more confident.

Women in general don’t have great upper body strength, and many girls don’t want to add them to their routine for fear they’ll have massive arms. Sure, we can squat for days, but without working our upper body, we won’t achieve that well-rounded physique.

Don’t worry girl, this quick 10-minute workout won’t leave you with huge bro-like arms. Unless you’re pumping your bod full of steroids, you’ll still maintain a feminine physique. You’ll just be stronger and more toned than before.

The Workout

Perform three or four sets of each exercise, depending on how strong you’re feeling.

Pick a weight for each exercise that feels challenging. You should be struggling to lift the last two or three reps, especially in the final sets. But don’t go too heavy if you’re at risk of breaking your form.

Close grip bench press

To start with, a compound movement like a bench press is a fantastic way to get a range of muscles firing. By pressing with a closer grip you’ll also pull in your triceps to get those specific muscles working hard.

Close grip bench press:

1. Lie on a bench with the bar directly above your face
2. Grip the bar just a few hand widths apart
3. Take the bar out of the rack and hold it straight up, above your chest
4. Bring the bar down to touch just below your nipples
5. Press straight up

Perform 15 reps.

Cable press down

The cable is one of our favorite bits of gym kit. It provides constant resistance, for a more challenging lifting experience that gets your muscles working on overdrive. By using it in a triceps workout for women, it will provide a really focused, burning exercise that’ll reap some hella painful rewards.

Cable press down

1. Set your cable to just above your head and use either the straight bar or rope attachment
2. Stand in front of your cable and take the bar or rope in both hands
3. Keep your elbows tight and still at the side of your body and pull the cable down so you’re holding it in front of your chest
4. Keeping your upper arms completely still, press the cable down and around your hips until your arms are completely straight
5. At this point, squeeze your triceps before returning the cable to just in front of your chest

Perform 15 reps.

Skull crushers

This weighted exercise is a super effective way to really drill in to your triceps. Honestly girl, you’ll start to feel the burn almost immediately with this one. We recommend you start with a low weight and use a short bar that’s easy to control. You can also use dumbbells if you’d prefer to make it lighter. You’re literally lowering the bar to just above your forehead, so you’ll want to ensure you can handle the weight.

Skull crushers:

1. Take a short, light bar
2. Lie on the bench and press the bar out so you’re holding it above your chest with straight arms
3. Adjust your grip on the bar so you’re holding it at a medium width grip
4. Keeping your upper arms completely still, bend at the elbow so the bar and your hands move down towards your forehead. You should be moving in a smooth, arcing motion
5. When you’re a couple of inches from your forehead, press it back in a smooth action until your arms are straight again

Perform 12 reps.

Triceps extension

This is the perfect finisher for any triceps workout for women. You can choose smaller weight increments to make this as tough as possible to really get your body working on this final workout exercise. Again, start at a light weight and work you way up to your challenging option, as you’ll be holding this above your head to start with

Triceps extension:

1. Take a dumbbell and stand in a natural relaxed position
2. Lift the dumbbell up and hold it above your head. Grip on to one end of the weight and let the other end hang down
3. Keeping your upper arms still, hinge at the elbow and lower the dumbbell behind you head
4. Stop when the bottom of the dumbbell is at the base of your neck and press it up again in a smooth arc until your arms are straight again

Perform 15 reps.

You can complete this workout in around ten minutes and still get an amazing upper body burn. Do this workout once a week on top of your normal routine for three to four weeks and you’ll start to feel stronger and firmer.

This workout is super effective for toning that muscle. However, it’s not possible to lose fat in just one area in your body, by working it hard, so if that’s your goal, you’ll need to incorporate a few other changes.

If you’re looking to lose fat in your upper arms, then you’ll need a calorie-restricted diet, complemented with a smart cardio routine.

We recommend using a healthy IIFYM diet, along with some fat burning HIIT workouts to help you melt away those unwanted fat deposits.

Looking for more workouts? Head to these pages:

• Muscle Activation Exercises to Transform Your Workouts
• Chest and Shoulder Workouts for Women
• Barbell Legs Workouts for Women

For this reason, we’ve put together a routine that will help you; whether it’s to tone or build muscle. Check it out:

Female Bicep Workout

Higher Volume

Right, so it’s true that women shouldn’t train the same way as men. Don’t worry, it’s not because we’re weaker than men etc…

Here’s why; women can handle higher volume training better than men.

For example, we could squat for 4 weeks at 90% of our 1 rep max without injuring ourselves. However, the average man would be in trouble after 2-3 weeks.

Anyway, now you know that you can handle more reps – it’ll make more sense when we provide you with with a workout based around them.

Don’t Forget Your Brachialis

First of all, let’s start by explaining what this is (as we’re guessing you hadn’t heard of this before).

Look at the picture we’ve added above; it’s situated underneath the biceps and can really help make them ‘pop’ up.

Ultimately, working your brachialis will help your arms look more toned, or bigger (depending on your fitness goals).

Training Plan

Warm-Up

Before we throw you in the deep end, it’s important that you warm-up first.

This will ensure that you don’t pull any muscles or injure yourself – as well as helping to activate your muscles, so you can perform at your best.

If you already have a solid warm-up routine, then just follow that. If not, then we recommend a quick cycle or row on the rowing machine.

What to do: 

• 2-3 mins on the cycle or rowing machine

1. Alternate Dumbbell Curls

This is a classic exercise when training your biceps. And for good reason – it works.

It’s a great exercise to start your workout with. So what are you waiting for?!

What to do:

• 4 sets of 12 reps
• 1 minute rest between sets

2. Alternate Hammer Curls

We’ll give your biceps a rest for this exercise and focus on your brachialis (the muscle we talked about at the start of this article).

As we mentioned, working your brachialis will really help tone or build your arms. It’s completely dependent on your fitness goals and how you diet (so don’t worry if you don’t want to get ‘bulky’).

To really target your brachialis, you want to perform slow hammer curls

What to do: 

• 4 sets of 12 reps

3. EZ Barbell Curls

There’s a chance you might not have seen an ‘EZ’ bar before – so take a look at the picture above and you’ll know what we mean.

After working your brachialis, this will hit your biceps full on. In fact, many consider this to be the ‘best’ exercise to tone or grow your biceps.

Not only that, due to the slight angle of your wrists here, there’s less risk of injuries associated with normal barbell curls – safety first, then gains.

What to do: 

• 4 sets of 12 reps

4. Bicep Pulldowns

Also known as ‘Close-Grip Lat Pulldowns’; most people associate this more with back workouts – but it’s great for hitting your biceps during arm day.

What to do: 

• 4 sets of 12 reps

5. Barbell Curls

You’ll probably be glad to hear that this is the last exercise on our list. But finish strong, and you can go home and cry on the sofa…

One thing we will allow you to do is reduce the weight here; focus more on getting a good range of motion.

What to do: 

• 4 sets until failure

Summary: Bicep Workout For Females

If you’ve been following this workout in the gym – then congratulations on making it to the end.

It probably seems like we’ve thrown too many reps at you. But remember what we told you at the start; females can handle higher volume workouts much better than men.

In fact, this workout will help you achieve your fitness goals – whether it’s toning up or building muscle mass.

Well, you’ll be glad to know that you can tighten your arms up by lifting weights (at home, or in the gym). We’ve created a quick workout that will obliterate fat around your arms.

See what we’ve put together for you below, and say bye bye to those bat wings…

Arm Exercises For Flabby Arms

Warm-Up

Never forget the importance of warming up. If you skip this, you’ll find yourself cramping up or pulling a muscle (which will put you out of action, and stop your fat burning journey).

To warm up, you can perform a light jog on the treadmill, a set of pushups, or a few minutes on the rowing machine. The point is, you need to get your blood pumpin’ before the main course.

• Light jog on Treadmill
• or 1 set of 10 reps Pushups
• or few minutes on Rowing Machine

1. Tricep Dips

This first exercise doesn’t require any weights. This makes it easy to perform in the gym, or even while you’re catching up on TV – but trust us, you’ll be feeling the burn after it!

To do this, place your arms on a bench or chair, and stretch your legs out in-front (or elevate them with a stool). Then proceed to lower your body until your triceps are contracted, and then repeat.

What to do: 

• 4 sets of 15 reps

2. Arnold Press

You might be surprised to hear that the Arnold Press activates almost all your arm muscles. It’s known for being a ‘shoulder exercise’, but this has proven to reduce those flabby arms.

To perform the Arnold Press, sit on an exercise bench in an upright position, supporting your back against the bench. Then hold 2 dumbbells at the top of a bicep curl, then shoulder press with your hands facing forward in the finishing position. Then repeat.

You’ll be doing 15-20 reps here, so make sure you pick a light weight to complete this exercise.

What to do: 

• 4 sets of 15-20 reps

3. Tricep Extensions

There’s quite a few exercises that focus on your triceps in this list. Why? Because that’s mostly where we want to tighten – in order to shred away those bingo wings!

To perform Tricep Extensions, start with one dumbbell lifted above your head, with your arms fully extended. Then slowly lower the dumbbell behind your head, making sure to only move your forearms (keeping your elbow in a locked position). Then repeat.

Again, we’re going for a higher rep range (15-20 reps); this will help you burn more calories, and help tone up your triceps.

What to do: 

• 4 sets of 15-20 reps

4. Bent Over Rows

Bent Over Rows are great for working your your back and biceps – helping to tighten your arms!

You might have seen people use heavy weights and lean on a bench before. But as we’re going for high volume, you’ll be using lower weights – so there’s no need to lean against a bench.

Instead, you can simply bend your back, making sure to keep your back straight.

What to do: 

• 4 sets of 15-20 reps

5. Push-Ups

We’re finishing strong here with some push-ups. You’ve been killing the high reps with light-weights, so by now you’ll be feeling pretty burnt out.

But one last push…see what we did there…before you can go home and relax. As this will finish you off, without adding the stress of weights, it’ll also act as a nice warm-down too.

What to do:

• 1 set of push-ups until failure.

Don’t Forget: Diet

It’s true that diet is one of the most important things when you’re aiming to lost body fat – whether it’s on your arms, legs or stomach.

For this reason, you need to watch your calorie intake. You can follow this link to a calorie calculator we found on this link (scroll halfway down the page here).

To lose body fat, you’ll need to consume less than your maintenance calories – which you should’ve calculated by clicking on the link above. Along with your workout plan, this will ensure that those bingo wings disappear!

Summary:

• Consume less than your maintenance calories to eliminate bingo wings.

Supplements

We just mentioned that you need to count your calories. Well, consuming less calories can mean that you’ll be missing out on vitamins and key fat burning nutrients.

This is where a quality fat burning supplement and multivitamin can come in. These will add essential vitamins and nutrients to your diet – without adding extra calories.

For this reason, we’ve chosen the highest rated fat burner for you to try.

Fat Burner – Instant Knockout 

We’ve chosen Instant Knockout as the recommended fat burner here, as it’s used by female fitness icon & “Queen of Workouts” – Alexia Clark.

Not only that; this fat burner is the highest rated product this year. There’s some great transformations from women who’ve taken Instant Knockout. And after trying it for ourselves, we have no hesitation in recommending it either.

You can only buy Instant Knockout direct from their website, but it arrived within a week it wasn’t an issue.

Why you’ll like it:

• Eliminate flabby arms, belly & legs – lose unwanted fat and reach your fitness goals faster.
• Less snacking – suppressed appetite means less cravings for sugary treats!
• Never feel tired – increased energy levels results in more self-confidence & motivation to work hard in the gym.
• Used by professional fitness models – Alexia Clark, a leading female fitness model, is a known user of Instant Knockout.
• No side effects – There hasn’t been any reports of side effects in any reviews.

Drawbacks: 

• Premium price – the best products always cost more, and it’s no different with Instant Knockout.
• Not sold in retail stores – you can only buy this direct from their website: www.InstantKnockout.com

Best Instant Knockout Transformations 

We’ve put together some transformations from Instant Knockout customers below:

To Buy, Visit
www.InstantKnockout.com 

Lose Those Flabby Arms!

After reading this article, you now have everything you need to get started on your fat burning journey. So what are you waiting for?!

Put in the hard-work with this workout, make sure you’re diet is on-point, and you’ll definitely achieve your fitness goal.

You can even do this at home! 

In fact, for those that don’t have much time on their hands; you can pick up a cheap set of dumbbells and perform this workout in the comfort of your living room!

There shouldn’t be any excuse here. Lose those flabby arms and achieve a figure you’re proud of when looking in the mirror.