- Personal Trainer Chrissy Signore ranked five arm exercises based on how effectively they build strength.
- She said some arm exercises are inefficient and prone to injury.
- The biceps curl is one of the least functional arm exercises as it only targets one muscle.
According to personal trainer Chrissy Signore, arm exercises are an essential part of any workout plan, but many people choose workouts that are inefficient and easy to make mistakes.
She says exercises that involve many different muscle groups, like push-ups, build functional arm strength and reduce injury more than exercises that target only a single muscle, like the biceps. said that it is actually good at preventing
Signore ranked bicep curls and double tricep extensions as the two worst.
5. Biceps curls are not functional and can be easily done wrong
According to Signore, founder of the fitness program Correlation, bicep curls aren’t a great arm exercise.
According to her, men often lift weights that are too heavy, throwing their trunks forward, rolling their shoulders inward, and swinging their arms to raise the weight to their shoulders. She said that poor form like this can hurt your core, tighten your shoulders and cause poor posture.
In contrast, Signore said she sees women not using enough weight. To get the most out of it, you should start feeling muscle fatigue by the eighth rep.
Biceps curls are also not very functional, she said, because you rarely use just your biceps when lifting or moving something in your daily life. The exercises you use are more functional, she said, and you save time by stimulating multiple muscles at once.
4. Double tricep extensions lead to injury
Single tricep extensions are a great exercise, says Signore, but doing the exercise with two dumbbells at once can lead to injury.
To perform a single tricep stretch, she told me to follow this guide:
- Place one hand on the bench for support
- With your other hand, hold a dumbbell with your palm facing inwards
- Lift the dumbbells so that your elbows are at your sides
- She said the arm should be at a 90-degree angle before reaching back.
- Return to 90 degrees and repeat
With a double triceps extension, she said, you lean with no support from a bench and do the extension with both arms at the same time. Instead of keeping their backs straight, people often hunched and strained their necks, Signore says, which can lead to neck and lower back pain.
Finally, she also told me to avoid swinging weights while exercising.
3. Dumbbell curls and presses are more functional than bicep curls.
Dumbbell curls and presses are modifications to make bicep curls more functional, says Signore.
In addition to bringing the dumbbells to your shoulders with your elbows at your sides as in a traditional biceps curl, press the weights over your head while rotating your hands so that your palms face forward.
Dumbbell curls and presses work more of your upper body, including your biceps, shoulders, and triceps. She said it’s much more common for all these muscles to work in unison when lifting or moving something in everyday life.
Signore was told to be careful not to press too hard and hurt her shoulders.
2. Push-ups are versatile
Push-ups work multiple muscles in addition to your arms, including your core, triceps, chest, and outer shoulders. They also come in many variations, making them harder or easier to target different muscles.
You can bring your elbows closer to your body to tighten your triceps more, or you can perform T pushups to target your biceps and shoulders.
For the T pushup, she said, extend one arm up and behind you as you rise from a pushup.
1. Wall balls are good for the whole body
Wall balls are Signore’s favorite arm exercise, she said, because the exercise engages almost the entire body.
Method is as follows.
- Stand about 2 feet away from a wall, hold a 10- to 20-pound medicine ball, and keep your back straight
- With your feet shoulder-width apart and tilted slightly outward, sink your heels into a squat and explode upward to throw the ball perpendicular to the wall.
- Gently catch the ball and return to the squat
Wall balls work your shoulders, biceps, triceps, chest, back, abs, glutes, quads and hamstrings, making them great for cardio and burning calories. She told me to aim for her 30 seconds at a time, or 10 to 15 repetitions for her.
