Five Exercises for Strong, Sculpted Arms
Your upper body tone and strength keep you living well and looking good doing it! Other benefits will include lifting luggage into the overhead compartment of a plane when you’re 80, carrying groceries up the driveway with ease, and starting your lawn mower without getting whiplash.
What you do in your strength training will impact how well you perform these simple tasks in your 70’s and beyond. The same exercises that keep you functioning well also tone your arms, shoulders, and back!
To ensure you’re covering everything in the gym, here are five categories of exercises to include in your training:
Horizontal Press
This category tones and strengthens the chest, triceps, and shoulders. Compared to vertical presses (next section) heavier weights can be used for more strength.
Vertical Press
The triceps and shoulders are the main muscles being targeted with these options. More emphasis on them means more muscle tone. Get rid of your bat wings, while getting strong to lift your fine china into the top cupboard.
Seated Single Arm Overhead Press
Horizontal Pull
One of the most important areas of your body to keep strong is your back. The back is involved in everything we do. From the larger muscles of the lats and traps, to the smaller erectors, having a strong back gives you better posture and makes backless outfits look awesome (or so I've heard).
Vertical Pull
This category places more stress on the lats. These are large muscles that begin at the shoulder and end in the lower back. The lats do everything from throwing and climbing, to pulling yourself up using the counter top.
Explosive
Maintaining the ability to move quickly is critical to aging well. Shoveling, starting your lawnmower, and grabbing the hand rail so you don’t fall down the stairs are examples that require explosive movement.
The key with these options is to aim for as much speed as possible with each rep. Avoid doing these for high reps (8-10+), or risk getting fatigued and slowing down. If you’re fatigued you won’t be able to move explosively. Perform these exercises in the 3-5 rep range.
Sample routine:
Day 1
Medicine ball chest pass 3x3
Assisted chin-up 3x8
Assisted push-up 3x5-10
Single Arm Row 3x8-10 per arm
Rest 1-2 days
Day 2
Push press 3x5
Dumbbell Single Arm Overhead Press 3x8-10 per arm
Seated cable row 3x10
Lat pulldowns 3x10
This selection of exercises will keep your body balanced and limit weak points. Do 1-2 from each category every week. With consistent training, things that used to feel heavy will start to feel lighter in your toned, granite arms!
Missed part one of this series? Check out Five Exercises for Strong, Sculpted Legs on our blog page!
If you’re new to training and need to ease into basic movements read The Most Accessible Exercises For Beginners parts one and two!
Get strong, live long.
-Coach Ren
