You don’t need a ton of fancy gym equipment to reach your fitness goals. In fact, if you’re looking to build upper-body strength, dumbbell arm workouts might be the best way to go. With the right weight, a solid selection of dumbbell arm exercises, and a consistent routine (trainers recommend at least two strength training sessions per week), you’ll be able to build muscle in your shoulders, back, triceps, and biceps. So what are some effective weighted arm exercises you should consider adding to your next workout? We asked the experts (aka trainers), and they delivered, sharing nine of the best dumbbell exercises to strengthen your upper body.
As a note: we don’t recommend doing all of these moves at once (your arms will not thank you for that). Instead, sprinkle a few throughout your weekly strength-training routine to really work your upper body or spice up your next arm day. If you want to do a dedicated arm workout, start with an upper-body warmup, then pick four or five of these moves to do.
In terms of equipment, all you’ll need is two dumbbells. We recommend picking weights that feel appropriately challenging for you. If you’re a beginner, you may want to start with three- or five-pounders and work your way up. Once you have your equipment, keep reading for detailed instruction on how to do each trainer-approved dumbbell exercise. Your arms will be shaking in no time (don’t say we didn’t warn you).
Experts Featured in This Article:
Sherika Holmes is a NASM-certified personal trainer and the owner of Sherika Fitness.
Khaleah London is a choreographer, certified Pilates instructor, and the lead instructor at Equinox.
Caley Crawford is a NASM-certified personal trainer and the head of training and experience at Row House.
Tami Smith is an ACE-certified personal trainer and owner of Fit Healthy Momma.
Lacey Stone is an ACE-certified trainer and group fitness instructor.
Roger Montenegro, NSCA-CSCS, is a personal strength coach and a certified strength and conditioning specialist.
– Additional reporting by Chandler Plante
Related: The Undisputed Best Ab Moves, According to Pilates Instructors
