Bikini season, it’s the most dreaded time of the year for women. As the temperature increases, so does our stress about how we are going to make ourselves not look repulsive in that new itsy bitsy two-piece we just bought. While most of us women slave away at the gym running mile after mile or doing millions of crunches to try to tone our bellies, there is one region of the body we tend to neglect: our arms. Although many women use the excuse that they don’t want man arms? as their reasoning behind doing absolutely no arm workouts whatsoever, you would be surprised at the difference a little bit of definition in your arms makes in your quest to a hot summer bod. So without further ado, here are my top 5 picks for the best arm workouts for women.
1. Chair Dips
These dips are great because they are a workout you can do anywhere. All you need a chair, bench, couch, ottoman, bed, or anything of similar nature. Start by sitting on the very edge of the chair with your legs bent, feet flat on the floor, and hands on the chair. Next, lower yourself off of the chair towards the floor until your elbows create a 90 degree angle, and then return to the starting position. Do 3 sets of 10 reps. This works the entire back of your arms, especially targeting your triceps.
2. Bicep Curls
This is a great way to tone the front of the arms and to directly target the biceps! Grab a pair of 5 or 10-pound dumbbells (pick a weight that is challenging for you but not too difficult to get through all of the sets) and hold them at your sides with your palms facing forward. Then slowly lift both dumbbells towards your chest until your forearms are parallel with your upper arms. Then slowly lower your arms back to their starting position. Repeat this motion for 3 sets of 15 reps.
3. Elevated Push-ups
For this exercise all you will need is a bench/chair or whatever you used for the chair dips in exercise #1.These are just like good old-fashioned push-ups except that you put your feet up on the bench or chair. This elevation of your feet makes the exercise more difficult than normal push-ups by using gravity tor redistribute more weight to your shoulders. These push-ups not only strengthen your shoulders and arms, but your core too! Try 4 sets of 5 reps to start out.
4. Shoulder Press
Grab your dumbbells again for this exercise and stand with your feet shoulder width apart and your arms bent at a 90-degree angle with palms facing forward. Then lift your arms above your head until they are straight. Lower your arms back to the 90-degree angle, and this is one set. Do 3 sets of 10 reps to work your shoulders and triceps.
5. Reverse Fly
You’ll need to employ your dumbbells one last time for this exercise. Stand with your feet apart, bend at the hips and let your arms hang down with your palms facing each other. Then slowly raise your arms to the sides while squeezing your shoulder blades together. Return to your starting position, and repeat this motion for 3 sets of 10 reps. These target your upper back and shoulders giving you a sexy, sculpted back in your new bikini or tank-top.
