Tone your arms: 6 exercises your can try doing at home

April 04, 2024

Exercising at home is a practical way to keep fit when you don't have enough time to go to the gym regularly or when a limited budget requires you to cut your expenses.

Arm exercises in particular can be done very easily at home and will allow you to tone and strengthen your upper body, also helping you to burn fat and stay fit if combined with aerobic workouts.

2 or 3 sessions a week will be enough to see satisfactory results in a short time and we suggest below 3 weights-free exercises and 3 exercises using weights that you can get going with immediately at home.

1. Planks

Tutorial via LivestrongWoman/YouTube

The Plank is an all-body exercise that is particularly effective. Although it is designed for your core, it will tone all the muscles of your body and strengthen your arms. Furthermore, this exercise is useful for warming up for the rest of the exercises described here:

Position yourself face down on an exercise mat with your hands resting on the floor under your shoulders and with your arms bent;
Lift your body by pushing up on your arms and keeping your back straight;
Hold the position for as long as you can, lengthening the hold time as you become fitter.

If you are a complete beginner you can start in a simplified position, ie. resting on your elbows instead of your palms; Once you become fitter, you can add variations of the plank that will stimulate your muscles more. The Side Plank varient with arm raises, for example, is very useful for toning not only the core, but also arms, legs and shoulders.

2. Push ups

Tutorial via Kayla Itsines/YouTube

Push ups are perhaps the first exercise you think of when it comes to toning your arms and in fact, they are very effective. There are different variations of push ups you can do, but the classic variant is performed in following way:

Lie face down on the floor, with your hands resting shoulder-width apart and your feet aligned;
Raise yourself on your arms until they are completely straight, keeping your body in line;
Slowly lower yourself by bending your arms until your chest is just a few centimeters from the floor;
Slowly return to the raised position with arms straight;
Perform the desired number of repetitions ("reps").

If you are at beginner level, you can start with a simplified variant of the push up, which is performed as describe above, but keeping your knees on the ground; you can progressively increase the difficulty as you become fitter.

3. Dips with a chair

Tutorial via Đạt Đào Vũ/YouTube

Chair dips are the at-home version of bench or parallel dips/presses and are very useful for exercising the triceps. You can easily do these by using one or two chairs:

With one chair: position yourself in front of a chair with your back facing it, as if to sit down, then place both hands on the seat and move your body forward to give yourself enough space to bend your arms; lift yourself until your arms are at 90 degrees, then lower yourself. Repeat;
With two chairs: place the two chairs close together with the seats facing inward; place your hands on each chair and lift yourself until your arms are at 90 degrees. Lower, then repeat.

4. Lateral lifts

Tutorial via Erin Stern/YouTube

Lateral lifts can be performed using classic dumbbells or with DIY weights such as filled water bottles; again, start with lighter weights, increasing them little by little as you get fitter.

Standing, with your knees slightly bent, take the dumbbells or weights in your hands;
Raise your arms to the side, bringing your elbows up to the same height as your shoulders;
Keep your palms facing down and your arms outstretched;
Lower your arms again and repeat at least 10 times.

5. Kettlebell swinging

Tutorial via Caroline Girvan/YouTube

Versatile and convenient to use, the Kettlebell is a weighted ball with a handle and a flat bottom that you can use for many exercises; the kettleball swinging exercise, in particular, is very useful for toning arms:

Position yourself with your feet shoulder-width apart and hold the kettlebell with both hands, keeping it in front of you;
Move your hips forward by lifting the kettlebell and controlling the movement with your arms;
Let the kettleball swing down between your legs;
Continue the swinging, repeating at least 10-15 times.