Hit 'Em With A Flex: 2 Week Arm Blasting Fitness Program

As a woman, our main fitness goals fluctuate as our bodies change. We want to be lean one moment and then another, our goal is to be thicker than a snicker. Whatever your goal is, we have to remember not to neglect certain exercises in our routines in order to be overall fit and toned. 

Cardio is the easiest way to lose weight to some of us but once we start getting into routine performing cardio 4-5 days a week, many of us neglect our upper bodies. We think that if we use moderate to heavy weights, then we are going to get ripped or look like a man. This statement is completely false! 

I have the body type where I can get lean pretty fast and muscle training used to be a challenge to me until one of my past trainers showed me how to work out and switch up my fitness programs. One area that's the easiest to tone in my opinion is the upper body. Our upper body is made up of smaller muscle groups and if we incorporate a variety of toning exercises, you can tone those flabby batwing and diminish bra fat in as little as two weeks. Below, you will find a two week program designed to get those guns firing!

ARM-BLASTING ROUTINE

BICEPS

EXERCISE/SETS/REPS

Chin-Ups 3 AMAP*

Barbell Curl/4/12

Superset with 

Incline Dumbbell Curl/3/12

Alternating Dumbbell Curl/3/12 per arm

Superset with 

Barbell Preacher Reverse Curl 3 8

Barbell Curl 21s 2/7-7-7**

Superset with 

Hammer Curl (for speed) 2 AMAP*

Super-Slow Machine Curl 1 6

TRICEPS

EXERCISE/SETS/REPS

Narrow Push-Up/3/AMAP*

Skullcrusher/3/12

Lying Dumbbell Alternating Extension/3/8 per arm

Cable Reverse-Grip Pushdown/4/12

Superset with

Cable Pushdown 21s/2***/7-7-7**

Overhead One-Arm Dumbbell Extension/4/10 per arm

Dips/3/12

Super-Slow Machine Pushdown/1/6

*As many reps as possible. On hammer curls, pick a moderate weight that allows you to get at least 15 reps.

**Do 7 reps in the first half of range of motion, 7 reps in the second half, and 7 full range of motion reps.

***Superset cable pushdown 21s after sets 2 and 4 of reverse-grip pushdowns only

CHIN-UPS

Grab a chin-up bar with an underhand (palms facing you) grip just inside shoulder-width. Start in a dead-hang position with your arms fully extended. Bend your elbows to pull yourself straight up. When your chin clears the bar, lower yourself back down under control to the dead-hang position.

BARBELL CURL

Stand holding a barbell in front of your thighs with your arms fully extended toward the floor.

Without letting your elbows flare out to the sides, curl the bar up as far as possible then lower it under control to the start position.

INCLINE DUMBBELL CURL

Lie back on an incline bench while holding a pair of dumbbells. Start with both arms

hanging straight down toward the floor and your palms facing in. Keeping your upper arm stationary, curl one dumbbell up, rotating your wrist so that by the top of movement your

palm faces your shoulder. Lower the dumbbell back down then repeat with the opposite arm. Alternate arms every other rep.

ALTERNATING DUMBBELL CURL

Stand holding a pair of dumbbells at your sides with your palms facing in. Curl one dumbbell up

while turning your wrist so that your palm faces your shoulder at the top. Lower the dumbbell

back down then repeat with the opposite arm. Alternate arms every other rep.

BARBELL PREACHER REVERSE CURL

Sit on the seat of a preacher bench, holding a barbell with a reverse (palms down) grip. Start with the backs of your upper arms flush with the pad and your elbows extended. Keeping your upper arms in contact with the pad throughout, curl the bar up as far as you can then lower it back down to the start position.

HAMMER CURL

Stand holding a pair of dumbbells at your sides with your palms facing in. Keeping your elbows in tight at your sides, curl the dumbbells up, maintaining the palms-in (hammer) wrist position. Then lower them back to the start position. In this workout, perform hammer curls for speed, doing as many fast reps as you can per set until reaching failure.

BARBELL CURL 21S

Stand holding a barbell in front of your thighs with your arms fully extended. Curl the bar halfway up (to where the forearms are parallel with the floor) and back down seven times. Then do seven reps from halfway to all the way up. Finish the set with seven reps of the full range of motion.

NARROW PUSH-UP

Assume a push-up position with your hands directly below your shoulders on the floor. Start with your arms extended and your body in a straight line from head to feet. Bend your arms, keeping your elbows pointed back (not flared out to the sides), to lower yourself toward the floor. When your chest reaches the floor, extend your elbows to press yourself back up.

SKULLCRUSHER

Lie back on a flat bench while holding a barbell over your face with your hands about shoulder-width apart and your arms extended. Bend your elbows to lower the bar down and slightly back to the crown of your head. (For safety, don’t lower the bar to your face.) Touch down lightly, and then extend your elbows to return to the arms-extended position.

LYING DUMBBELL ALTERNATING EXTENSION

Lie back on a flat bench holding a pair of dumbbells at arm’s length above you with your palms facing each other. Bend one elbow to lower the dumbbell to the side of your head, keeping the other arm straight. Extend your elbow to press the dumbbell back up, and then repeat with the opposite arm. Alternate arms every other rep.

CABLE REVERSE-GRIP PUSHDOWN

Stand facing a cable stack with an EZ-bar attachment coming from the highest pulley setting.  Hold the bar at around shoulder-width with your palms facing up (reverse-grip), and start with your elbows in tight at your sides and your forearms just above parallel with the floor. Contract your triceps to extend your arms until your elbows are locked out at the bottom then slowly return to the start position.

OVERHEAD ONE-ARM DUMBBELL EXTENSION

Stand holding a dumbbell straight overhead with your palm facing forward. Rest your non-working hand on your hip. Keeping your upper arm perpendicular with the floor, lower the dumbbell behind your head, then extend your elbow to press the weight back up to the overhead position. Complete all reps with that arm, then switch arms.

DIPS

Grab near the ends of two parallel dipping bars and start with your arms fully extended, your body suspended vertically, and knees slightly bent. Bend your arms to lower yourself, leaning slightly forward and not letting your elbows flare out to the sides. When your upper arms reach at least parallel with the floor, extend your elbows to press yourself back up to the start position.

CABLE PUSHDOWN 21S

Stand facing a cable stack with an EZ-bar attachment coming from the highest pulley setting. Hold the bar at around shoulder-width with your palms facing up (reverse-grip), and start with your elbows in tight at your sides and your forearms just above parallel with the floor. Contract your triceps to extend your arms until your elbows are locked out at the bottom then slowly return to the start position.

SLOW PLAY

Both portions of the arms workout finish with super-slow-rep sets—one set each of six 20-second reps that take a long and painful two minutes to complete. Using whichever types of seated curl and triceps extension machines your gym has available, perform each rep with a 10 seconds up and 10 seconds down pace. If at any point during the set your muscles begin to fail, quickly switch to a lighter weight and continue.

The benefits of super-slow reps are numerous; mostly notably, the technique is useful for increasing muscular endurance and size, in addition to minimizing injury risk and acting as a cool-down exercise 

A version of this routine  originally appeared in UFC 360.