When we talk about small muscles groups arms and shoulders, such as arms and shoulders, less weight and more reps is the way to go. You will have better muscle activation. Bigger muscle groups like legs and back will have better responses to fewer reps and more weight. To make sure that the blood is pumped into these muscles, we will do one exercise for one muscle and move on to the other. And then circle back to the first.
In this blog, we will make sure that you know what are the best arms and shoulders exercise.
Anatomy of the muscles
For better results, let us look at some basic anatomy of these muscles.
Let’s start with arms.
The muscles in the arms that we will train are made of biceps, triceps, and forearms.
The name biceps is because biceps have two heads. The long and the short head. Biceps also cross with the shoulders muscle tissue and forearms. This is one of the reasons why we include shoulders exercises in our arm workout. The triceps, also triceps brachii (Latin for “three-headed muscle of the arm”) consists of 3 parts: the medial, lateral, and long head.
Shoulders are made of heads same as triceps. We have the anterior (front delt), lateral (middle delt), and posterior heads (rear delt). This is why we will have three exercises for the shoulders today.
Get ready for the best arms and shoulders exercises!
Exercise 1
Biceps Curls
Stand holding a dumbbell in each hand with your arms hanging by your sides. Ensure your elbows are close to your torso and your palms facing forward. Keeping your upper arms stationary, exhale as you curl the weights up to shoulder level while contracting your biceps.
While pulling the dumbbell up, try to use your pinky to do so. Try to turn your fist towards the outside to get a better muscle contraction.
Beginner:
- 2 sets
- 12 reps
Advanced:
- 4 sets
- 8 to 12 reps
Exercise 2
Triceps Extention
Grab a pair of dumbbells and sit on the end of a flat bench. If you don’t have a flat bench, you can lie down on the floor or perform the exercise standing up. Raise the dumbbells above your head using a neutral grip, palms facing each other. Bending at the elbows and keeping your upper arms set, lower the dumbbells until they are about level with your ears. Squeeze your triceps and raise the dumbbells back to the starting position.
Beginner:
- 2 sets
- 12 reps
Advanced:
- 4 sets
- 12 to 15 reps
Exercise 3
Lateral Shoulder flys
Grab a pair of dumbbells, stand straight with dumbbells on your side. This is a much harder exercise than the previous two. So, choose a lighter weight. Raise the dumbbells all the way up to your shoulder level. Lead with your elbows, concentrate on contracting your shoulders. When the dumbbell is at the highest point, pause for 2 seconds. Try to slow down the movement while lowering the dumbbells.
Beginner:
- 2 sets
- 12 to 15 reps
Advanced:
- 4 sets
- 12 to 15 reps
Exercise 4
Hammer Curls
We have circled back to biceps again. Hammer curls are performed similarly to biceps curls. Instead of opening the dumbbells while raising, now we will keep the fists in the same position as they are in the neutral position. This exercise targets the outside of your biceps.
Beginner:
- 2 sets
- 8 to 10 reps
Advanced:
- 4 sets
- 8 to 10 reps
Exercise 5
Narrow push-ups
With this push-up variation, we will place our arms aligning with shoulders. This exercise targets your triceps. Lie down on the floor. Raise your body all the way up and contract your triceps. Try to slow down while lowering your body.
Beginner:
- 2 sets
- To failure
Advanced:
- 4 sets
- To failure
Exercise 6
Overhead dumbbell press
This shoulder exercise can be performed while standing up or sitting down. The movement begins in the bottom position. Stand with your entire body tight and rigid. Hold the dumbbells just above your upper chest, hands slightly wider than shoulder-width. Press the dumbbells overhead until you extend your elbows all the way. Try to slow down while lowering the dumbbells.
Beginner:
- 2 sets
- 8 to 10 reps
Advanced:
- 2 sets
- 12 to 15 reps
These are our best arms and shoulder exercises. To make the best of it, we encourage you to perform the exercise in front of the mirror. That way you can spot any wrong movement.
Make sure you hydrate during the workout and feed the body after.
Follow these steps and we have no doubt results will follow.
