It’s fair to say that men tend to put more emphasis on training their arms than women. For most women, training the abs and lower body gets more attention than the arms, except maybe there is a
need to burn excess arm fat.
However, an arm workout should be a vital part of any full body workout, and should not be ignored. Arm day should not just be a day that men look forward to in their weight training program, but also a day that all female bodybuilders should take seriously as well.
You should avoid undertraining the muscle groups of your arms, especially if you want to build your arm size, shape and strength.
In this post, you will get to learn a few arm workout exercises to develop both your bicep and tricep muscles.
Speaking of which, do you know that your biceps consist of two large muscles, namely; the brachialis and brachii which are located on the front side of your upper arm.
As a matter of fact, your “biceps brachii” is a Latin phrase that loosely translates in English as “two heads of the arm”. The two heads of the arm are the long head and short head, and they both provide a couple of functions that are to help with elbow flexibility and to promote forearm rotation.
On the other hand, your brachialis muscles are located deep within your biceps and triceps. Your brachialis muscles can be activated with standard curl exercises, such as reverse curls and hammer curls. These arm workouts will help improve the size of your arms.
For your triceps, you have three heads, namely; the medial or deep head, lateral head, and long head. Over time, females are more likely to store body fat in the triceps, so training this upper arm muscle group with tricep muscle exercises is important to ensure that you shed arm fat as well as sculpt a better shape for your triceps as you age.
You can train triceps particularly the long head muscles with tricep muscle workouts and shoulder extension exercises like triceps kick-back and single-arm cable pushdown tricep muscle exercises.
Is a Day Dedicated to Arm Workout Important?
Whenever you decide to start lifting weights as part of a well-coordinated strength training program, you will find that having a day or two dedicated to an arm workout routine would be a crucial part of your upper-body workouts.
Typically, you could engage in a classic workout pairing, such as; shoulders-and-triceps, chest-and-triceps, or back-and-biceps workout pairings to help build the size, shape, and strength of your upper body including your arms.
Arm Workout Exercises for Women
If you have never tried out any arm workout before now, you might want to start things off with this beginner arm workout program for women.
But before you begin, you should note that maintaining proper form is not just essential to avoiding injuries, but also crucial to gaining positive results from these arm workouts.
You can engage in these arm workout exercises soon after you have trained the muscle groups of your chest or back.
Beginners Arm Workout for Women
| S/N | ARM WORKOUT | SETS | REPS | FYI |
| 1 | EZ-BAR CURL | 4 | 12, 10, 8, 8 | After your first couple of sets, you should add weight to the EZ-Bar. Your repetitions (reps) should be 12 for the first set, 10 for the second set, and 8 each for your third and fourth set. Rest for 60 seconds between sets. |
| 2 | DUMBBELL PREACHER CURL | 4 | 12, 10, 8, 8 | Similar to the EZ-Bar-Curl, you should increase your dumbbell weights after your first two sets. You should rest for 60 seconds between sets and you taper down your reps with each set. |
| 3 | EZ-BAR SKULLCRUSHER | 4 | 15, 12, 10, 6 | With this arm workout, you will add weight after each set while tapering down your reps in the process. Rest for 60 seconds only between sets and don’t forget to maintain good form. |
| 4 | LOW CABLE OVERHEAD TRICEPS EXTENSION | 4 | 12, 10, 8, 8 | You should increase the weight by the third set while you reduce your reps with each set. Rest for 60 seconds between sets when engaging in these tricep workouts. |
| 5 | SINGLE-ARM ROPE KICK-BACK | 4 | 12, 12, 10, 10 | For this single-arm cable triceps kick-back workout, you should complete all your repetitions on one side before you switch sides. Rest for 60 seconds only after you have completed training one side. For this single-arm rope kickback tricep workout, you should taper-up the weight by your third set while you complete 12 reps in your first and second set, and 10 reps each for your third and fourth set. |
Intermediate Arm Workout Exercises for Women
Now that you have seen the beginner arm workout for female bodybuilders, you can step it up a notch with this high-interval intensity training (HIIT) dedicated to building your arm muscles.
This arm workout should last for just about 20 minutes if done right, and it is great for any woman with a time constraint.
However, note that you will need to maintain a fast-pace while you rest for just one minute between supersets or trisets.
| S/N | ARM WORKOUT | SETS | REPS | FYI |
| 1 | EZ-BAR SKULLCRUSHER | 3 | 15, 10, 8 | Rest for 60 seconds only between sets. |
| 2 | BAND OVERHEAD TRICEP PRESS | 3 | 12, 12, 10 | Rest for 60 seconds between sets. |
| 3 | EZ-BAR-CURL | 3 | 8, 9, 10 | You can rest for between 10 and 15 seconds after the third set before attempting to try out an extra 4 to 5 reps. |
| TRISET | ||||
| 1 | DUMBBELL PREACHER CURL | 3 | 12, 10, 8 | Rest for 60 seconds between sets. |
| 2 | CROSS BODY HAMMER CURL | 3 | 20 (10 per side) | You should complete 20 reps in total with 10 reps per side and no rest in between. |
| 3 | TRICEPS EXTENSION | 3 | 15, 12, 10 | Rest for 60 seconds between sets. After your third set, you should rest for between 10 to 15 seconds before attempting to complete an extra 4 to 5 reps. |
| SUPERSET | ||||
| 1 | OVERHEAD CABLE CURL | 3 | 12, 12, 10 | Rest for 60 seconds between sets. |
| 2 | DOUBLE-ARM TRICEPS KICK-BACK | 3 | 12, 10, 10 | Rest for 60 seconds between sets. |
Advanced Arm Workout Exercises for Women
If you are a female bodybuilder with some years of experience lifting weights at your local gym, then this advanced arm workout is for you.
Your primary focus here is volume, as you will spend more time lifting weights on extension and curling movements engaging in even more sets and reps, but with less or no rest time.
| S/N | ARM WORKOUT | SETS | REPS | FYI |
| CIRCUIT I | ||||
| 1 | SEATED BAND INCLINE BICEPS CURL | 4 | 15, 12, 10, 8 | Try not to rest between reps while doing this arm workout. |
| 2 | DRAG CURL | 4 | 15, 12, 10, 8 | Try not to rest between reps. |
| 3 | HAMMER CURL | 4 | 10, 10, 8, 8 | No rest time between reps. |
| 4 | SINGLE-ARM DUMBBELL PREACHER CURL (LEFT + RIGHT ARM) | 4 | 10, 8, 6, 6 (for each side) | You should rest for 60 seconds before switching to the other side. Avoid resting between reps. |
| CIRCUIT II | ||||
| 1 | STANDING BARBELL OVERHEAD TRICEPS EXTENSION | 4 | 15, 12, 10, 10 | Attempt this arm workout with an EZ-ba and avoid resting between reps. |
| 2 | EZ-BAR SKULLCRUSHER | 4 | 15, 12, 10, 10 | Don’t rest between reps. |
| 3 | TRICEPS DIP | 4 | 12 | You can either use a machine or band as the case may be. Run 12 reps for each of your sets and do not rest between reps. |
| 4 | DOUBLE-ARM TRICEPS KICK-BACK | 4 | 12 | Rest for 60 seconds between sets. |
| SUPERSET | ||||
| 1 | BARBELL CURL | 3 | 21 | You should perform a total of 21 reps split into 7 reps done in the lower half of the workout movement, 7 reps performed in the upper half of the exercise movement, and 7 reps done in full range of motion. |
| 2 | TRICEPS EXTENSION | 3 | 21 | Try to avoid resting on this one while you also split the 21 reps into 7 reps performed in the full range of motion, 7 reps done in the lower half of the workout movement, and 7 reps performed in the upper half of the exercise movement. |
Conclusion
Regardless of whether you are a novice, intermediate or advanced level female bodybuilder, you need to give as much attention to training your upper body and that includes your arms.
However, for newbies, it is essential to start-off on a firm footing by consulting with a more experienced bodybuilder to show you how to execute each of the arm workout exercises in this post.
Perfect form is absolutely essential to avoid injuries, and tendon-related injuries are particularly challenging, as they take a tremendous amount of time to heal which in itself can lead to frustration, as it disrupts your training program. You can get in touch with a coach here for free today, and be on your way to building the size, shape, and strength of your arms.
