Finding exercises to strengthen your arms and shoulders is not just important for aesthetic reasons; it accelerates your metabolism and makes your muscles stronger and more resistant and increases the protection of your bones and joints .

The benefits of this type, especially relevant for the avoidance of injury in physical exercise and in occupational health such as the cases of tendonitis developed with the effort of repeating movements, apply regardless of the cause and exercise impacts quality of life on those that exercise.

There is yet another positive aspect of exercising to tone your arms and shoulders. It keeps your shoulders in their place and tends to hold you upright for more time. Did you know? That is helpful for avoiding the problems of muscle and pains .

In this post, we list some exercises to strengthen your arm muscles that can be performed in a crossfit workout , at the gym or even at home. Follow along!

How important is it to have strong arms when running?

You already understand that doing exercises to strengthen your arms and shoulders brings countless benefits, but you need to think about how important this is, especially for runners. The arms and shoulders drive the body forward and compensate for leg fatigue.

Therefore, it is necessary to strengthen muscles beyond the legs if you want to achieve better results. Also, consider that doing this reduces the wear and tear on the body in maintaining posture and the fatigue caused by exercise.

What are the best exercises to strengthen your arms and shoulders?

Below, check out some specific exercises for these areas and how to do them.

Stretch your arms

It is common to find people who do not stretch, even those who practice regular physical activities . Did you know that skipping this exercise can reduce the effects of strength training? This is because stretching helps with flexibility and agility of movements, so it can be more difficult to do other exercises without stretching first.

In addition, stretching is essential to relieve tension and prevent injuries . This recommendation is especially important for those who frequently perform repetitive movements with their arms and wrists.

To stretch your arms and shoulders, follow these steps:

• stand up;
• cross the fingers of the upper limbs;
• stretch your arms as far as possible, with your palms facing outwards.

In addition to this, there are other suggestions for arm stretches:

• use your left hand to pull your right hand (and vice versa) in front of your chest;
• Interlace your fingers and raise your arms to relieve stress.

Do push-ups

When talking about exercises to strengthen the upper limbs, especially for runners, those that work the body weight stand out. These exercises can strengthen the muscle in isolation and stimulate others, in the case of the abdomen and lower back, which help with the stability of the body.

In this sense, push-ups are one of the best-known exercises for strengthening arms and shoulders. There are different methods of putting them into practice. If you are still new to this topic, check out simplified versions!

With knees supported:

• lie face down on a mat;
• support your knees on the floor;
• leave your arms open wider than shoulder width;
• raise your torso to hip height;
• bend your knees;
• lean close to the ground;
• pause and repeat the movement.

At the bank:

• place your hands on a bench;
• stretch your legs back into a plank position;
• leave your arms open wider than shoulder width;
• Maintain a straight posture with your elbows near to your body.
• bend your arms until you complete the movement;
• pause and repeat the movement.

Train dumbbell bench press

The practice of bench presses with dumbbells is particularly beneficial for the chest. Among the advantages of this exercise are muscular balance, freedom of movement and safety in execution.

There are three ways to do it: straight, inclined and declined. Follow the step-by-step instructions for the dumbbell bench press below:

• lie on a straight bench;
• lift the weights while keeping your body lying on the bench;
• hold the dumbbells high, until they form a 90º angle;
• bend your elbows downwards until the weight reaches chest height;
• return to the starting position;
• pause and repeat the movement.

Practice the bent-over dumbbell row

The bent-over row works several muscles at once, such as the arm, forearm and back. Doing it helps with muscle hypertrophy, muscle strengthening, and improving posture and balance.

Discover below how to perform this exercise with dumbbells:

• place your feet shoulder-width apart;
• tilt your body with your hips thrown back;
• do not bend your knees and keep your head aligned with your spine;
• pull the weight towards the hip;
• flex your elbow and maintain your posture;
• pause and repeat the movement.

How to stay motivated in your exercise routine?

After learning some exercises to strengthen your arms and shoulders, you still have the challenge of staying motivated. Occasionally, you may feel a little lazy when it comes to working out. If you don’t break this bad habit, it can harm your performance in physical activities. Tips to avoid this Condition:

• don’t think of training as an exercise, but as your leisure time;
• focus on your incentives, such as improving racing performance;
• make exercise a priority and organize your schedule around it;
• be flexible, if you can’t make it at a certain time, consider changing it;
• have someone to encourage you to continue training with you;
• create an environment for success.

Have you figured out how to stay motivated to exercise to strengthen your arms and shoulders? You may have other favorites, such as running. Even so, it is essential to strengthen the muscles in your upper limbs to avoid various problems and improve your performance. So, create your training strategy and enjoy the benefits!