Incorporate these standing exercises into your arm workout routine.
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Achieving toned upper arms hinges on enhancing muscle mass in the triceps and biceps. While many fitness enthusiasts gravitate toward machine-based exercises such as the shoulder press, lat pulldown, and tricep pushdown, there are compelling alternatives worth exploring. Innovative strategies can be implemented, even from the comfort of home, says Domenic Angelino, MS, MPH, CSCS, CPT, Chief Exercise Scientist at FitCraft. Angelino suggests that, with the right equipment and a set of free weights, anyone can enjoy effective arm workouts outside the gym. He outlines five standing exercises that could help sculpt your upper arms more efficiently than conventional gym machines for those over 60.
“Standing exercises are brilliant because they focus on building the intended muscles while simultaneously engaging other stabilizing muscles,” Angelino explains. He adds that these exercises mirror the functional movements we perform daily. Consider a scenario where you reach for an item from a high shelf. This action primarily involves the arm and shoulder muscles, yet it also requires the core muscles to maintain stability and balance.
However, this doesn’t imply that gym machines are obsolete. They remain invaluable tools in strengthening targeted muscles, particularly useful for correcting muscle imbalances or honing specific areas that need extra focus.
Meanwhile, these standing arm exercises are incredibly beneficial and serve as an excellent starting point for enhancing arm strength and definition.
Barbell Curl
“The bicep curl allows you to directly isolate your biceps in a way that places a lot of demand on stabilizer muscles in your body,” Angelino says. “Barbell curls also allow you to use heavier weights overall, since your arms can work together to lift more, as opposed to each arm acting independently to lift its own weight, as you’d do during a dumbbell curl.”
- Stand tall with your feet roughly hip-distance apart.
- Hold a barbell using an underhand grip, hands shoulder-width apart.
- Activate your core and maintain a tall chest.
- Bend your elbows to curl the barbell up toward your shoulders.
- Hold briefly at the top and squeeze your biceps.
- Use control to lower.
Hammer Curl
“In addition to training your biceps, the hammer curl helps you build the brachialis muscle, which is a deep muscle underneath your biceps. If it gets bigger, it pushes your biceps outwards, causing your arm size to increase,” Angelino says.
- Stand tall with your feet hip-width apart, holding a dumbbell or water bottle in each hand at your side with a neutral grip.
- Make sure your elbows stay locked to your ribs as you curl the weights up.
- Stop once your forearms are vertical or just past.
- Slowly lower.
Overhead Tricep Extensions
- Stand tall with your feet hip-width apart.
- Hold a dumbbell or water bottle with both hands.
- Lift the weight overhead.
- Keep your elbows close to your ears as you slowly lower the weight toward the back of your head, feeling the stretch in your triceps.
- Use control to press the weight back overhead.
Tricep Kickbacks
“If you keep your upper arms closer to your sides during a triceps exercise, you’ll prioritize the other two tricep heads instead. They may not be as effective at increasing how voluminous your upper arm looks, but they play a big role in giving the triceps its distinctive shape,” Angelino points out.
- Begin by standing tall, holding a dumbbell or water bottle in each hand.
- Hinge forward at the hips, keeping your back flat and your core engaged.
- Keep your upper arms parallel to the ground as you extend the weights behind you.
- Squeeze your triceps at the top of the movement.
- Use control as you return to the start position.