7 Best Arm Exercises for Beginners

Arm exercises are an important part of your workout routine. Exercising your arms is essential, as they're a crucial functional part of your body and used in almost all everyday tasks.

Arm muscles comprise biceps (muscles along the front of your upper arm), triceps (muscles along the back of your upper arm), deltoids (shoulders), brachioradialis (forearm muscles) and rotator cuff (small muscles in the back of your shoulder).

It's essential to develop the strength of these muscles for pushing and pulling, a key part of daily life.

Before beginning an arm workout, it's important to warm up your body, particularly your shoulder joints and shoulder blades.

Exercises such as the open-and-close book (lying on your side and extending your arm to the ceiling and then to the floor on the opposite side of your body) are excellent ways to do that. Check out some arm warm-up exercises here.

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Best Arm Exercises for Beginners

Check out these seven arm exercises for beginners that can help you build strong arms. Remember to start off with lower weights and slowly increase your strength and stamina.

1) Standing Cable Biceps Curl

Standing cable biceps curls are an excellent exercise for beginners that target your biceps.

Here's how you can do this arm exercise:

• Attach a straight cable curl bar to the cable machine, and place the pulley close to the ground.
• Stand in front of the machine.
• Take hold of the bar or handle, with your hands facing upward and your elbows close to your sides.
• Curl the cable while flexing your biceps.
• Reduce under control, and repeat.

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2) Hammer Curl

Hammer curls target the long head of the bicep, the brachialis and the brachioradialis.

Here's how you do this arm exercise:

• Holding a dumbbell in each hand, stand tall.
• Your arms should be completely extended, elbows tucked in and palms facing the sides of the body.
• Holding your upper arms still, curl the dumbbells up (only your forearms should move).
• Contract the biceps; pause; lower and repeat..

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3) Triceps Rope Pushdown

This excellent arm exercise for beginners targets the medial and lateral heads of the triceps. It tones the muscles on the back of your hands and stabilises the shoulder joints.

Here's how you perform this exercise:

• Attach a rope connection to the cable machine.
• Place the pulley at a height.
• Grab either end of the rope with a neutral grip so that your hands are facing each other.
• Confront the machine, and lean in slightly.
• Extend your elbows, forcing the rope away from your torso and downwards.
• Avoid moving your shoulders, as this exercise targets the triceps alone.

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4) Barbell Bicep Curl

Barbell bicep curl is one of the easiest yet most effective arm exercises for a beginner. Start off with a lower weight, and slowly increase.

Here's how you do this exercise:

• Palms pointing upward, maintain a shoulder-width grip on a barbell while standing tall.
• Maintain close elbow proximity as you curl the weight towards your body.

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5) Concentration Curl

Concentration curls target both the long and short heads of the biceps muscle. It's an isolation exercise that is great for developing your biceps.

Here's how you do this arm exercise:

• Sit down astride a flat bench.
• Spread your legs wide, and put your feet firmly on the ground.
• Take a dumbbell in your right hand, and position your right elbow in the upper right thigh crease.
• Your palm should be facing away from your body, facing outward.
• Rest your left arm in front of your left leg, not on top of it, so that your triceps are in contact with the inner thigh.
• Extend your working arm completely, and curl the weight up.
• Perform all the repetitions on one side, and switch.

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6) Skullcrushers

Skullcrushers are an excellent triceps exercise that help in tricep development. Lou Ferrigno included this arm exercise in his routine to build his famous arms.

Here's how you do this exercise:

• Lie on a flat bench with an overhand grip on an EZ bar.
• Straighten your arms above your head.
• Maintain straight elbows and upper arms, and slowly lower the bar to just above your forehead.
• Engage your triceps to return the weight to the starting position.
• Start with a low load, and avoid using your elbows to assist with the lift.

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7) Close Grip Bench Press

The close grip bench press activates the triceps and anterior deltoid muscles that are present on the front of your shoulders.

Here's how you do this exercise:

• Lying on a flat bench with your hands closer than shoulder-width apart, grab a barbell (but not so close that your hands are touching).
• Unrack and hold the bar above your chest.
• Keep your elbows tucked to activate your triceps while lowering the bar till it touches the middle of your chest.
• Pause, and raise the bar again.

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Takeaway

The aforementioned seven arm exercises should give you the burn you are looking for and help you build strength and muscle in your arms.