Tone up your arms! (shocker)
Your approach to this depends on
where you're starting from. Is the issue a simple lack of definition or
size? Or is it having to do with flab?
Anyone can quickly gain strength in the arms, but in order to look stronger, any unnecessary fat must go. I direct those that must first clear this issue to head to the leaning out page.
Now, any workout for arms centering on improving appearance MUST include shoulders! It is unbelievable how many long time gym rats have not yet learned this fact. The shoulder gives the upper arm its heroic size and shape, yet week after week they blast their biceps and cannot figure out why their upper body looks rounded and imbalanced.
This happens because training the biceps is easy: just curl. And after a very short while, you can curl ludicrous weight and impress the entire gym. But training the shoulders involves eight or nine different exercises, with free weights, cables, and resistance bands, further complicated by the fact that the shoulder is very susceptible to injury from bad workouts!
Repeat: Keep the possibility of injury first and foremost when training shoulders. Maintain proper form and never jerk or sling the weight or resistance. No pain no gain doesn't apply to shoulders. At the first sign of anything unusual, terminate the workout and rest the joint.
Now. Reread the above paragraph, keeping in mind most people don't, and then end up hurting their shoulder and learning it the hard way. Learn it now by taking the warning to heart, or learn it the hard way with weeks of shoulder rehab, it's your choice. When your shoulders are looking nice and feeling good, it is easy to forget how easy they are to injure. Tape that reminder to the inside of your glasses if you have to. But a proper shoulder workout will vastly increase your resistance to injury here.
So why concentrate on the deltoids? The biceps is used in just about everything already. For instance, your back workout also works out your biceps heavily, if you did arms the day before, your back workout is going to be inadequate. Chest workouts use a lot of triceps, you can't bench after an arm day. If you have a decent workout regime, your arms are already taken care of, in fact you are at risk of overtraining. So replace arm day with shoulder day.
Deltoid training is complicated due to the complex and delicate nature of the shoulder area. The major muscle has to be hit from three completely different angles - workouts usually refer to "front delts" "middle delts" and rear delts." Also, underlying the big muscle are a few tiny ones that work mainly to keep the shoulder in its joint. These are strengthened with the reverse move resistance band warmups.
SHOULDER WORKOUT
WEIGHTS 10 to 12 REPS, 3 SETS
SLOW REPS - NO SLINGING OR SUDDEN MOVES
RESISTANCE BAND
(WARM UP AND 20+ REPS PER SET)
DO NOT ALLOW BAND TO SNAP YOUR ARM BACK - USE THE NEGATIVE MOTION!
PRONATED STRETCH
INNER STRETCH
BENT ARM SHOULDER RAISE
LOOSE THROWING MOTION
MACHINE ROOM:
DELTOID MACHINE
BENT OVER REVERSE CABLE CROSSOVERS
FREE WEIGHT ROOM:
LATERAL ARM RAISES
FORWARD ARM RAISES
REVERSE ARM RAISES
[ADVANCED] - MILITARY PRESS
[
Anyone can quickly gain strength in the arms, but in order to look stronger, any unnecessary fat must go. I direct those that must first clear this issue to head to the leaning out page.
Now, any workout for arms centering on improving appearance MUST include shoulders! It is unbelievable how many long time gym rats have not yet learned this fact. The shoulder gives the upper arm its heroic size and shape, yet week after week they blast their biceps and cannot figure out why their upper body looks rounded and imbalanced.
This happens because training the biceps is easy: just curl. And after a very short while, you can curl ludicrous weight and impress the entire gym. But training the shoulders involves eight or nine different exercises, with free weights, cables, and resistance bands, further complicated by the fact that the shoulder is very susceptible to injury from bad workouts!
Repeat: Keep the possibility of injury first and foremost when training shoulders. Maintain proper form and never jerk or sling the weight or resistance. No pain no gain doesn't apply to shoulders. At the first sign of anything unusual, terminate the workout and rest the joint.
Now. Reread the above paragraph, keeping in mind most people don't, and then end up hurting their shoulder and learning it the hard way. Learn it now by taking the warning to heart, or learn it the hard way with weeks of shoulder rehab, it's your choice. When your shoulders are looking nice and feeling good, it is easy to forget how easy they are to injure. Tape that reminder to the inside of your glasses if you have to. But a proper shoulder workout will vastly increase your resistance to injury here.
So why concentrate on the deltoids? The biceps is used in just about everything already. For instance, your back workout also works out your biceps heavily, if you did arms the day before, your back workout is going to be inadequate. Chest workouts use a lot of triceps, you can't bench after an arm day. If you have a decent workout regime, your arms are already taken care of, in fact you are at risk of overtraining. So replace arm day with shoulder day.
Deltoid training is complicated due to the complex and delicate nature of the shoulder area. The major muscle has to be hit from three completely different angles - workouts usually refer to "front delts" "middle delts" and rear delts." Also, underlying the big muscle are a few tiny ones that work mainly to keep the shoulder in its joint. These are strengthened with the reverse move resistance band warmups.
SHOULDER WORKOUT
WEIGHTS 10 to 12 REPS, 3 SETS
SLOW REPS - NO SLINGING OR SUDDEN MOVES
RESISTANCE BAND
(WARM UP AND 20+ REPS PER SET)
DO NOT ALLOW BAND TO SNAP YOUR ARM BACK - USE THE NEGATIVE MOTION!
PRONATED STRETCH
INNER STRETCH
BENT ARM SHOULDER RAISE
LOOSE THROWING MOTION
MACHINE ROOM:
DELTOID MACHINE
BENT OVER REVERSE CABLE CROSSOVERS
FREE WEIGHT ROOM:
LATERAL ARM RAISES
FORWARD ARM RAISES
REVERSE ARM RAISES
[ADVANCED] - MILITARY PRESS
[