As a college student I find it important to work out on a regular basis and build muscle. I have a decently toned body from doing some simple exercises at the gym and at home. This article will give you some simple exercises to build arm muscle and become beach ready, or date worthy. Consult a doctor before performing these exercises to make sure that you do not have any medical conditions that could cause injury. The following list is in order of how you should precede to do these workouts. Stick to this workout about 2-3 times per week to see results almost immediately (within a week). This is my current workout and I started noticing results when I first started.
1. Running
What running I thought we were talking about strength training? Believe it or not getting warmed up by running only a mile can drastically help you burn any body fat and it also gets your body warmed up to build muscle. If you have a leaner body build running is not nearly as important for someone with weight to lose; however it is good to get warmed up before weight training.
2. Dumbbell Curl
Remember that if you have fat you will not see the muscle build, so do not skip #1! The dumbbell curl is the most simple bicep exercise to do. First pick out a weight that you feel comfortable with, remember challenge yourself but do not pick anything too heavy. I usually lift around 35-40LBS free weights. Slowly lift the arms one at a time, palm up then bring the arm to your chest making sure you breathe. Alternate arms, doing about 10 reps about 3 times per arm; take breaks in-between sets for about 1 minute. You will see noticeable results within 1 week of these exercises.
3. Push Ups
Okay so we all know that push-ups can actually build muscle but they seem too hard? For any beginner push-ups may be challenging; however once you start building arm muscle you will be amazed with how many pushups you can do. For the beginner try 10 full push-ups with two sets. After you start to get muscle increase your set count by 1, which should take about 4-5 days for each increase. I currently do 10 push-ups with 10 sets with 30 second breaks in between. By the end of the workout you will feel your pectoral and bicep muscles hurt. If your muscles do not hurt you did not push yourself enough.
4. Bicep Barbell Curl
The barbell curl is my favorite exercise for building up the bicep muscles since it is simple and can easily be done at home. Take a barbell in which you feel comfortable with the weight and apply both your hands palm up to the device, and slowly bring the barbell up towards your chest. Do about 10 repetitions with about 3 sets when you first start, and slowly work your way up. The way to not get injured it to pick weights you feel comfortable with, if this exercise is too hard in the beginning then you have picked too high of a weight. This is one of the best exercises to do; the results can be noticed within one week.
5. Chin Ups
Chin ups are my least favorite exercise due to their hard nature and the amount of upper body strength associated with doing them; however they are incredibly effective. A chin up bar can be purchased at www.amazon.com for around $20 (http://www.amazon.com/GoFit-GF-CUB-Chin-Up-Bar/dp/B0007W2FLI). Chin ups will work the bicep muscles, try to do about 10 repetitions with 2-3 sets; however stop if you get uncomfortable. The way you grip the bar will make it harder or easier; front grip is harder and works the biceps better than a palm up grip.
Sources:
www.amazon.com
