You might not know it, but your arms are essential for all sorts of activities. They help you carry things, hang on to things, and throw things. The stronger they are the better! You may have tried to work out before but were unsure how often you should work out your arms.
Incorporating compound targeted arm workouts is the answer to this question. However, professional fitness trainers recommend 2-6 times a week for excellent outcomes.
If you are a beginner, fewer workouts per day are ideal. For example, once you train your arms twice a week, you will need to do two to three exercises per session with three to four total sets.
What Is Arm Training?
Any training dedicated to enhancing the arm muscles’ performance, size, and strength is called arms training. In general, there are several muscles that your arms consist of.
In a workout setting, these muscles interact with different joints such as the elbow, wrist, and shoulder. A perfect arm workout targets the lower and upper portions of your arm, and arms training gives your arm the shape and definition you want.
What Muscle Makes Up the Arm?
There are many muscles that an arm consists of. These are classified into three major groups: biceps, triceps, and forearms.
Biceps
These muscles comprise several muscular heads targeted for different workouts and exercises. They are mainly made of short and long heads. The right biceps training program involves movements targeting these muscles’ short heads and long heads.
Triceps
Unlike the biceps, these muscles have three muscular heads, and they include long heads, lateral heads, and medial heads. Note that different movements usually target each muscle head. Hence, it is crucial to understand how arm workouts can emphasize a particular development ahead of the triceps.
Forearms
Typically, 20 muscles make up a forearm. Forearms are categorized by extensors compartments, flexors, with sub-divisions of deep and superficial compartments. This means you can train forearms using extensions, flexion and gripping movements, and holding loads.
How Often You Should Work Out Your Arms
Like any other body part, your arms need to be worked out with a specific frequency. This will help you maintain your arm strength and reduce the risk of injury. Arms can be an area of concern for people who do not exercise or work out regularly.
It is important to know that there is no such thing as too many arm workouts. Regular arm workouts can also help prevent muscle imbalances, common in those with desk jobs and those who spend most of their time sitting down.
Here are some guidelines on how often you should work out your arms, given the size and frequency of your workouts.
What Does The Frequency Of Arm Workouts Depend On?
The frequency of arm workouts depends on the intensity and duration of your workout. If you are working out at a moderate intensity for 45 minutes, then once a week would be sufficient to work out your arms.
Typically, people who work out intensely for shorter periods will exercise their arms more often because their workouts are shorter. If you perform arm workouts at a high intensity for under 20 minutes, then three times a week would be the ideal schedule to maintain muscle health and balance.
If you work out intensely for over an hour or do a combination of high-intensity and moderate-intensity workouts, four to five times a week may be necessary to maintain healthy arm muscles.
How Often You Should Work Out Your Arms If You Work Out Every Day
If you work out your arms every day, they should be worked out three times a week.
How Often You Should Work Out Your Arms If You Work Out Once a Week
If you work out only once a week, it is recommended that you do not focus on specific arm workouts. However, if you work out anywhere from two to three times per week, there are a variety of arm exercises you can do.
It is recommended that beginner exercisers should do about 30-50 repetitions of the exercises below for each arm. For example:
- Push-ups
- Inverted rows
- Chest presses on a ball
- Chin ups or pull-ups
- Triceps dips on a chair or bench
How Often You Should Work Out Your Arms If You Do Not Work Out At All
In case you do not work out often, it is important to remember that your arms can still experience muscle imbalances. As a result, your arms may feel tighter and sorer due to the lack of exercise.
If you do not work out at all, it is recommended to start off with a weekly arm routine. This will help keep the muscles from getting too tight or sore and help prevent future injury or discomfort.
Working out should be done on a rest day from weight training to avoid overstressing the muscles.
5 Best Exercises That Work out the Arms
If you desire to know the best arm exercises you need to consider for excellent results, compound workouts are the key. One of the major arm parts people trains is the biceps. As a result, you cannot overlook a bicep curl when you train your arms.
Typically, the triceps have more muscle mass than the biceps. However, you realize many people overlook the triceps workouts and concentrate more on the biceps workouts, which is wrong!
If you are looking forward to increasing your arms muscle strength, performance, and mass, do the following best five exercises for your arms.
Barbell Bicep Curl
If you have not involved barbell bicep curl in your arm workout, now is the right time to do that. Besides developing muscle mass, this exercise helps arms to work together.
Increasing volume through reps and total weight helps stimulate adaption in the muscle groups you target. This leads to muscular growth and development.
Watch how to do bicep curls in this YouTube video.
Cable Bicep Curl
This exercise mainly targets the biceps brachii, and its primary role is to increase your arm workouts’ training volume. Unlike the traditional arm workouts, this workout creates a constant tension surrounding the biceps.
Here is a YouTube video on how to do a cable bicep curl.
Dumbbell Preacher Curl
Mainly known as the EZ-bar preacher curl, it targets the biceps brachii and brachialis. This is the best exercise you need to consider to help isolate the biceps brachii.
It is advantageous to switch out the bar for dumbbells. Doing this allows for unilateral conditions that ensure your arms are both strong.
If your arm exercises target your biceps, you should use the preacher curl bench with dumbbells. They ensure constant muscle contractions throughout the movements.
While doing this exercise, rotate your grip for a preacher hammer curl. Besides, make sure to give a similar isolation amount while focusing more on the forearm.
Skull Crusher
Another name for this exercise is the lying triceps extension, and it is ideal for every workout enthusiast. Also, doing this allows the two triceps to work together. Mainly, this workout targets the three heads of the triceps brachii.
Before you extend your arms powerfully, consider focusing on the slow eccentric movements. This helps engage the triceps throughout the exercise. During this workout, do not drop the weight.
Here is a short video on how to do the lying triceps extension.
Cable Triceps Pushdown
The triceps brachii is the primary muscle this exercise targets. Besides bicep exercises, you can use a cable machine for triceps exercises. When you mount the attachment higher on the frame, it increases the performance of the cable triceps extension exercises.
Cable triceps pushdown helps isolate the triceps brachii by targeting the three heads of the triceps. It does this using the straight bar attachment.
For your triceps to be isolated effectively there is a strict posture you need to observe. It involves positioning yourself with a balanced stance, soft knees, and retracted shoulders.
Also, ensure your side pins your elbows throughout the movement.
Here is a video on how to do the cable triceps pushdown.
Benefits of Working Out the Arm
Arm Workouts Tone Body
Weight lifting is one of the major methods of toning your arms. Luckily, you can lift weights at home or the fitness center. If you do not have weight loads at home, no need to be worried. Using old plastic containers and big sustenance jars for home exercise programs can be helpful.
Running and swimming are added arm exercises to customary weight lifting. When swimming, you accomplish arm toning through steady arm developments needed. You can also tone your arms with a paddling machine.
Doing these workouts can upgrade your upper body quality alongside its usefulness.
What could be more beneficial when trying to build strength than the luxury to do a workout anywhere, any time without any inconvenience?
Perform arm-twisting for a few sets with the DEDAYL hydraulic power twister.
While many often go for push-ups for core strength, the DEDAYL hydraulic power twister is the best way to stabilize the upper body to achieve toned arms, chest, back, and shoulders.
“Do not miss your squats and push-ups,” they say. However, what about your upper body muscles that support your posture during long-working hours?
The upper body muscles do many activities, yet we do not constantly train and engage them enough. This power twister is a great place to start.
Arm Workouts Help With Good Looks
A person who trains their arms looks great on sleeveless summer wear. In half a month of exercise, a woman will begin wearing dresses that accentuate her arms.
Many people overlook all exercise schedules for the arms. However, note that when you deal with your upper body to help expand your slender bulk, you are also helping accelerate your metabolic rate.
This is because our bodies consume extra calories while on rest. Working out your arms also makes your posture stronger and in good shape.
Whether you are after an arm quality or less fatty bulk, you will enjoy more benefits by arm training. Happily, you do not have to break a bank to achieve this. You can accomplish these objectives at home provided you are serious with the workouts.
Reduces the Danger of Damage
Arm exercises help bring down the danger of musculoskeletal wounds. Besides, these workouts diminish their seriousness. However, one has to use a legitimate structure.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many weeks does it take to tone arms?
For your muscles to be ripped, consider training your arms between four to eight weeks. Nevertheless, this depends on how often you exercise and the intensity of your workouts.
How many times per week should I train my arms?
It is recommendable to train arms between 2-6 times a week. If you train frequently, you should do less in a day. For instance, when you train your arms twice a week, you should do 2-3 exercises per session with 3-4 total sets. If you do your arm workouts six days a week, you must do one exercise per muscle group daily with two sets per workout.
Can flabby arms be toned?
There is no harm in toning flabby arms. Nevertheless, you cannot rely on exercise alone. According to verywellfit, one cannot spot-reduce fat from a particular area of your body. Hence, you cannot burn arm fat with endless arm exercises.
Is it okay to work arms every day?
There is nobody part that grows every day. Resting is necessary to allow your arms to recover. After a workout, your muscles lose strength and power when healing, and also, the muscle gets stronger after 36-48 hours. Thus, giving yourself rest needs to be mandatory.
Final Thoughts
Hopeful, this article answered your question on how often you should work out your arms to tone. You have to ensure you involve all the muscles: the biceps, triceps, and forearms.
Luckily, arms training comes with several benefits besides mass muscle growth. For extra muscle tone, we recommend the top seven best workout benches for an apartment built for anyone who wants to incorporate stability, flexibility, and versatility into their workouts.
