Building sculpted arms doesn’t always necessitate dumbbells or a fully equipped gym. Workouts focusing on body weight can be highly effective for achieving toned arms. These exercises not only challenge your muscles but also engage your core and shoulders while recruiting stabilizers. By incorporating bodyweight exercises, you can enhance your strength, boost endurance, and attain muscle definition that surpasses what dumbbell curls alone can provide.

While dumbbells have their benefits, bodyweight exercises require better form, control, and a wider range of motion. These exercises often target various muscle groups simultaneously, such as the triceps, biceps, shoulders, and chest, leading to increased calorie burn. Whether you lack equipment or simply seek a change, bodyweight exercises can be a valuable addition to your workout routine for enhancing arm strength and toning beyond conventional weight training.

Ready to feel the burn? Here are seven powerhouse bodyweight moves that will tone your arms and boost your upper-body strength.

Exercise: Diamond Push-Ups

Diamond push-ups, for example, involve positioning your hands in a triangle shape close to each other, effectively targeting the triceps compared to standard push-ups. In addition to working your chest and shoulders, the narrow hand placement focuses more on the back of your arms, an area where traditional dumbbell exercises may struggle to isolate effectively.

How to Do It:

1. Get into a push-up position with your hands directly under your chest, forming a diamond shape with your thumbs and index fingers touching.
2. Extend your legs behind you with your body in a straight line from head to heels.
3. Engage your core and lower your chest toward your hands, keeping your elbows close to your body.
4. Pause when your chest nearly touches the diamond, then push through your palms to return to the starting position.

Recommended Sets and Reps: Perform 3 sets of 8 to 12 reps.

Exercise: Incline Push-Ups

Incline push-ups shift some of the weight off your upper body, making them ideal for beginners or those who want to focus more on form. This variation still hammers the triceps and shoulders while activating the chest. It’s also a great burnout finisher for more advanced trainees.

How to Do It:

1. Place your hands on an elevated surface, such as a bench, box, or sturdy chair, with your hands shoulder-width apart.
2. Walk your feet back so that your body forms a straight line from your shoulders to your heels.
3. Lower your chest toward the surface, keeping your elbows angled slightly backward.
4. Press through your hands to return to the starting position.

Recommended Sets and Reps: Perform 3 to 4 sets of 10 to 15 reps.

Exercise: Pull-Ups

Pull-ups are the king of upper-body pulling exercises. They hit your biceps, forearms, shoulders, and lats all at once—no dumbbell curl can compete. The full-body tension also boosts your grip and core, helping define your arms from all angles.

How to Do It:

1. Grab a pull-up bar with your palms facing away from you and your hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart.
2. Hang with straight arms and engage your shoulders by slightly pulling them down and back.
3. Pull your chest toward the bar by driving your elbows down and back.
4. Pause at the top when your chin clears the bar, then lower yourself with control.

Recommended Sets and Reps: Perform 3 sets of 5 to 10 reps, or as many as you can with good form.

Exercise: Chin-Ups

Chin-ups bring the palms to face you, shifting more emphasis onto your biceps while still recruiting your back and shoulders. They’re a direct challenge to your arm strength and a superior alternative to dumbbell curls in terms of total muscle activation and strength gains.

How to Do It:

1. Grab a bar with your palms facing you and hands about shoulder-width apart.
2. Hang fully extended, keeping your core tight.
3. Pull your body up by driving your elbows toward your ribs and squeezing your biceps.
4. Pause at the top when your chin is over the bar, then lower yourself slowly.

Recommended Sets and Reps: Perform 3 sets of 6 to 10 reps, or go to failure for max challenge.

Exercise: Dips

Dips torch the triceps, and depending on the angle, can also target the chest and shoulders. Bodyweight dips offer more resistance than many dumbbell triceps exercises and require balance and stability, especially when done on parallel bars or a sturdy bench.

How to Do It:

1. Find parallel bars or place your hands on the edge of a bench or chair, fingers pointing forward.
2. Walk your feet out and straighten your legs, keeping your hips close to your hands.
3. Lower your body by bending your elbows to about 90 degrees.
4. Push back up by driving through your palms, straightening your arms.

Recommended Sets and Reps: Perform 3 to 4 sets of 10 to 12 reps.

Exercise: Plank Up-Downs

This move blends plank stability with dynamic movement, training your triceps and shoulders while engaging your core. It mimics a pressing motion without any weights, forcing your arms to stabilize and push through the floor for time under tension.

How to Do It:

1. Begin in a forearm plank position with your body in a straight line and your core engaged.
2. Press up onto your right hand, then your left, transitioning into a high plank.
3. Lower back down onto your right forearm, then your left.
4. Continue alternating sides, keeping hips stable and minimizing sway.

Recommended Sets and Reps: Perform 3 sets of 30 to 45 seconds or 10 reps per side.

Exercise: Plank + Shoulder Taps

This exercise enhances shoulder stability, builds arm strength, and challenges your core. Unlike dumbbell lateral raises or curls, plank shoulder taps add anti-rotation core work while toning the shoulders and triceps through sustained isometric tension.

How to Do It:

1. Start in a high plank position with your hands under your shoulders and your feet hip-width apart.
2. Brace your core and lift your right hand to tap your left shoulder.
3. Return to the plank, then tap your right shoulder with your left hand.
4. Keep your hips square and body stable throughout.

Recommended Sets and Reps: Perform 3 sets of 20 total taps (10 per side) or 30 to 60 seconds.

Jarrod Nobbe, MA, CSCS