While many exercises involve equipment like dumbbells, kettlebells, and barbells, your arm can be challenged quite efficiently without any equipment at all. Unless you count your body as equipment (a deadly weapon) and in that case, then yes you will need equipment but only in the form of your own body. These exercises below require no lifting of heavy dumbbells and a gym membership is not required.
The exercises listed below are designed to target your shoulders (the deltoids) and your triceps. Plus, they are going to naturally work your core too, so a double whammy.
Combine all of these exercises together and perform them in a HIIT type style by doing 45 seconds of each move, with 15 seconds of rest in between, and then repeating all of the exercises again all the way through two more times to complete three sets of all the exercises.
Plank Shoulder Taps
- Start in a plank position on your hands with your shoulders stacked directly above your wrists, legs extended behind you in a solid stance, and your core and glutes engaged with each arm nice and straight.
- Begin by picking up your right hand, without shifting your weight into your right hip, and tap your left shoulder. If you are too wiggly, then try opening your feet apart more.
- Pur your hand back down into your starting plank position.
- Do the same thing with your left hand to your right shoulder.
- That’s 1 rep.
- Continue, alternating tapping each shoulder.
Saw
- This time start in a forearm plank with your forearms on the floor, elbows directly underneath your shoulders, hands facing forward so that your arms are parallel, and legs extended behind you just like your previous plank.
- To begin you are going to slightly rock your body back and forth so your shoulders come in front of your elbows slightly while your feet shift to the very tips of your toes.
- Focus on keeping a solid straight plank without your hips shifting up or getting loose in your core.
- After you have shifted forward you are going to then shift or rock back as far as possible allowing the shoulders to now come behind the elbows.
- That is 1 rep.
- Continue to rock forward and back.
Inch Worm
- Start in a standing position with your feet hip-width apart and arms at your sides.
- Place your hands on the floor by bending at the waist and trying to keep your legs straight if you can. If you can’t it’s no big deal, you just might not feel as much of a stretch in the back of your legs.
- Walk each hand/arm forward until you are in that high plank with your arms nice and straight, like your first exercise.
- Pause for a second.
- Finish by walking your hands back to your feet and stand to return to start.
- That’s 1 rep.
Forearm Plank to Dolphin
- Get back into that forearm plank position, like you did in saw.
- To begin, you are going to press through your forearms and lift your hips up and back, creating an upside-down V-shape with your body.
- Your goal is to press back as best as you can to try and get your head between your shoulders.
- Pause here for a second and then slowly lower back into a forearm plank.
- That’s 1 rep.
