How can you quickly build arm strength to conquer the simple things like moving furniture or opening a jar of olives? With four body weight exercises in less than one month, strong arms will be yours.
Strong arms make life easier. No matter your gender or age, being strong enough to open a pickle jar, build that table you ordered online, or carry more than one bag of groceries at a time is extremely advantageous. So how can we quickly build arm strength and maintain it? Without any equipment and in less than one month.
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Having arm strength has nothing to do with “looking” big and goes far beyond any one muscle. That’s why I recommend four body weight exercises. This means they require no equipment and can be done literally anywhere. Habits form after seven days, meaning you need to be able to keep up these exercises wherever you may choose to be. I’ve also added in one additional exercise you can work your way up to, as well as a workout challenge that’s perfect for building arm strength.
Exercises To Quickly Build Arm Strength
Mountain Climbers
This may be the ultimate combo exercise. Bicep curls and triceps extensions won’t build the arm strength you desire, mainly because they focus in closely on a single set of muscles. To quickly attain stronger arms, you must focus on exercises that work the entire core of your upper body. This includes your core, because it stabilizes and strengthens your torso, allowing you to fully utilize the strength in your arms. Enter mountain climbers, the ultimate exercise.
Mountain climbers are a deceiving exercise because on the surface it would appear you are focusing on cardio with them. The cardio element is an added bonus, but the movement of a mountain climber requires you to work your complete upper body, including your core. It is a moving plank, meaning you must engage your shoulders, biceps, triceps, chest, and core muscles to stabilize. Then you move your legs, creating a total body workout. I recommend three sets of ten mountain climbers to start with. See how you feel and then increase your numbers.
Push-ups
Sometimes the most obvious answer is the correct one. Push-ups are a tremendous and often challenging exercise. I recommend doing one long set of push-ups to failure. This means doing as many as possible until your body is literally done. Usually I can do 30 to 40 push-ups before I go down onto my knees for another 10 to 20 assisted push-ups. Do however many push-ups you can before going onto your knees. If that means only one regular push-up or beginning on your knees, then do it. The work and benefits are the same.
The reason that everyone, including myself, recommends push-ups is that this exercise works many hidden and surprising muscles, similar to mountain climbers. That is the theme of no-equipment body weight exercises, working overlapping muscle groups. A push-up begins in plank position, meaning you must engage your core and legs to stabilize your upper body. Lowering down and pushing up with proper form, assisted if necessary, works every muscle in your arms, as well as your chest, shoulders and upper back. You could literally do only push-ups every day for a month and get tremendous results.
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Full Body Plank
Now for a simple, yet challenging, baseline exercise. Plank is the core of both mountain climbers and push-ups, pun intended. As noted above, it works your full body from head to toe, but hones in on your arms, shoulders, chest and upper back. So, what makes plank so challenging? Let it burn baby.
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Holding plank is a mental struggle, no matter if its 30 seconds or 5 minutes. By not moving and holding your body in a rigid plank, you activate everything both physical and mental. Trust me that you are able to hold regular plank for 30 seconds. You don’t need to begin on your knees, but if the mental battle feels insurmountable, then do a longer plank on your knees to begin with. Once you master plank, then bring on the variations, and there are many.
Dips
Dips are hard because they work our triceps muscles, an often ignored area of the arm. Even though the three exercises above will touch on these muscles on the back side of your upper arms, they do not focus on them enough. In order to build arm strength completely, we must also build our triceps. Dips are great because you also work your shoulders and core while doing the exercise. I love to do dips on a chair, but any sturdy surface will work. If you want to purchase something, get a standing pull-up bar with side rails for dips.
Pull-ups
Now for something more difficult. When starting out with pull-ups, you may require an assist. Most people do and I can even recall when I was unable to do pull-ups on my own. First you must build up your arm and shoulder strength. Then you can do unassisted pull-ups with ease. But don’t misunderstand; doing assisted pull-ups is just as beneficial as without a spotter. You are pushing the very fabric of your abilities and using every upper body muscle, including your core, to lift yourself up and over the bar.
30 Day Arms Challenge
Doing a fitness challenge focused on your arms, like this 30 Day Strong Arms Challenge, is an incredibly motivating way to conquer the mountain that is building arm strength. It is also the best way to create a fitness habit that you will enjoy sticking with. Most fitness challenges like this one begin very simply and easy. They build up gradually every day to prepare you for the final challenges of the last week. Its like having a personal trainer without the bark or bite. Another great challenge is this 30 day Plank Challenge which builds you up from 30 seconds to 5 minutes of plank!
With a little focus and determination, you will build the arm strength you need. You’ll also feel great and begin to look muscular all over. That’s because these exercises work way more than just your arms. They all work your shoulders and core as well, giving you a sculpted physique along with the confidence and strength to be a bad ass warrior in life.
Meet our Writer:
Dan Salem is Lead Editor, Writer, and Co-owner of BuzzChomp. He’s a published author, as well as an award winning Actor, Director and Producer. Visit M Square Productions for his film work, or get lost in his old-school comedy on Pillow Talk TV. You can follow him on X and Instagram.
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