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A 15-minute arm workout without weights. You can do these at-home, anytime with no equipment required. 7 exercises to tone and sculpt your arms and add amazing definition that are bodyweight only.
Arm Workout Without Weights
- Push Ups
- Bent-over Rows
- Chair Dips
- Up-Down Plank
- Arm Circles
- Triceps Push Up
- Rolling Side Plank
Keep reading below for a detailed description of these exercises and this workout.
Two of the most common misconceptions in the world of health and fitness is that 1) you have to belong to a gym in order to workout, and 2) there has to be some kind of equipment involved to get a good burn.
While I am a huge fan of resistance training, that doesn’t mean you have to have weights for an amazing workout.
You can tone and strengthen your arms without any equipment at all.
Today I wanted to share with you 7 of my favorite bodyweight arm exercises that will sculpt lean muscle in your arms and give you the definition you crave.
How to maximize your bodyweight workouts:
The key to any bodyweight exercise (well – any exercise for that matter) is in the quality of the contraction.
Have you ever started a workout, slipped into daydream town or autopilot and just ran through the motions, and then didn’t really feel anything the next day?
We’ve all been there before!
While it’s important that you’re exercising and going through the motions is better than nothing at all, but what if we could somehow maximize that time to get as much from our workouts as possible? Is that something you would be interested in? Me too!
You don’t need a ton of equipment or a lot of resistance as long as you stay focused and concentrate on good, quality reps.
That’s what I’m going to encourage you to do for the duration of this workout today.
Some other common questions you might find informative include…
How often should I workout my arms?
It is recommended that you workout your arms at least once a week for muscle tone and maintenance; twice a week if you’re trying to put on size and strength.
What muscles in my arms should I work out?
The most common muscles to exercise in your arms include your biceps, triceps, and deltoids. The deltoid has three different “heads” to it and training commonly occurs to activate the anterior, middle, and posterior deltoid.
Should I work my biceps and triceps together?
Your biceps and triceps are what we refer to as “antagonistic” muscles – they’re located on opposite sides of a joint a perform the opposite function of each other (biceps flexes the elbow, triceps extends it). I personally like to superset my biceps exercises with my triceps exercises; that means I’ll perform alternating sets of exercises for my bi’s and tri’s until I’ve done 3-4 sets before moving on to the next two exercises.
What does “push day” and “pull day” mean?
That means the body is broken down into a push day, where you train all the pushing muscles of the upper body (chest, shoulders and triceps); a pull day, where you train all the pulling muscles of the upper body (back, trap, biceps and forearms); and a leg day (legs and calves). This is a convenient and effective workout schedule if you have time for resisted training 3 days a week.
And now onto the workout!
This is going to be a 15-minute AMRAP workout,
You’ll start the first exercise and get through “As Many Reps As Possible” for 5o seconds, rest for 10 seconds, and then move on to the second exercise for 50 seconds, rest for 10, etc, until you’ve completed all 7 exercises listed below.
Then rest for 2 minutes and repeat the whole thing over again!
Push Ups – One of my all-time favorites for the chest, shoulders, and arms.
- Get down in a tall plank position on you hands and toes. Your back should be straight.
- Bend your elbows to slowly lower your chest down to the floor.
- Focus on squeezing through your chest to return back up to the starting position.
50 seconds on, 10 second rest
Bent Over Row – Usually performed with weight, but you can actually get a surprisingly good muscle contraction using no resistance!
- Bend your knees and hinge forward at your hips about 45 degrees.
- Start with your arms straight out in front of you.
- Really focus on flexing the biceps in your arms and rhomboids in your back as you pull your elbows back behind you.
- Flex your arms and back at the top of the contraction, and slowly return to the starting position.
50 seconds on, 10 second rest
Chair Dips – One of my favorite bodyweight exercises for the triceps
- Place behind you on a chair; your feet are out in front of you on the floor.
- Bend your elbows to lower your body until there’s a 90-degree bend in your elbows (upper arm parallel to the floor).
- Focus on squeezing your triceps to come back to the full extended position.
50 seconds on, 10 second rest
Up-Down Plank – Great for the shoulders, chest, and triceps, but with a great core component as well
- Get into a tall plank (push up) position on your hands and toes.
- Drop your left elbow down to the floor, followed by your right elbow.
- Now return to the starting position by putting your left hand back on the floor and extending through your arm to get your right hand back on the floor.
50 seconds on, 10 second rest
Arm Circles – great for the shoulders; a surprisingly good burn if done correctly.
- Hold both arms straight our to your sides
- Focus on slow, quality movement while activating your deltoid muscles and taking your arms through a circular motion.
30 seconds forward and 30 seconds backwards
Triceps Push Up – similar motion to a regular push-up, but with a whole different muscle emphasis
- Get down in a push up position on your hands and toes. Your back should be straight with your elbows extended.
- Keep your elbows tucked in close to your sides as you lower your chest down to the floor.
- Focus should be on isolating the triceps as you slowly lower yourself down and then extend back up to the starting position.
50 seconds on, 10 second rest
Rolling Side Plank – isolates the shoulders, chest, and arms with a strong balance component
- Start in a tall plank/push-up position on your hands and toes. Your back should be straight with your elbows extended.
- Roll onto your left hand and the outside of your left foot. Your right hand reaches up towards the ceiling.
- Return your right hand to the “down” position and repeat by weight-bearing through your right hand with your left hand extending up towards the ceiling.
50 seconds on, 10 second rest
Rest – 1- 2 minutes
After catching your breath repeat the whole series one more time!
There you have it! One sure-fire way to get toned arms at home with absolutely zero equipment required!
Looking for more great workouts you can do at home? I’ve got you covered!
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Jared
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