Why We Love Strengthening Our Arms & Our Favorite Ways to Do It
Arm strength might feel like one of the most obvious workouts. After all, when you think of the stereotypical displays of strength, flexing your arm muscles are probably one of the first things that come to mind. On the other hand, maybe you’re someone who doesn’t aspire to build up muscly arms and this has held you back from focusing on arm strength or you’ve just prefer workouts that aren’t too focused on your arms. No matter your workout goals, you should consider making arm strength part of your workout routine. Strengthening your arms doesn’t necessarily mean getting buff. Plus, there’s many reasons you may not have considered that strengthening your arms could improve your life.
What is Arm Strength?
When we talk about arm strength, the two main muscles that likely come to mind are probably your biceps and triceps. Both muscles are on your upper arms, with the biceps being the shorter muscles on the inner arm and the triceps being the longer muscles on your outer arm. In fact, there are also two more main muscles in your upper arms, the brachialis and the coracobrachialis, both of which are under your biceps.
You also have muscles in your lower arm of course, lots in fact. It’s easiest to discuss them by dividing them into anterior and posterior muscles. Anterior muscles are the ones that, as WebMD explains “help you turn your forearms and bend, or flex, your wrist and fingers”. So when you’re using your hands or moving your wrists, this is using your anterior muscles. But, like always, your muscles work together. These movements are also using your posterior muscles. Specifically, your posterior muscles help extend or straighten your wrist and fingers.
Why Do You Want Arm Strength?
Aside from the aesthetic of toned arms, what is arm strength good for? For one, as we just covered in our discussion of anterior and posterior muscles – having strength in our arms is responsible for a lot of our ability to move our wrists, hands, and fingers. Without this strength, accomplishing many of our day to day tasks would be made much harder. Our upper arm strength is also important for many day to day activities, like opening doors or carrying things.
Why Strength Training?
You may be wondering, if I’m using these muscles every day, why do I need to take the time to specifically focus on strengthening them? For one, our arm strength declines as we age. As explained by Harvard Health, “beginning at around age 35, strength and overall muscle mass start to decline by 1% each year”. While 1% may not sound huge, if you consider that between 35 and 65 you’d then be losing 30% of your strength, you can see how this starts to feel more important.
Moreover, the fact that you have some arm strength today doesn’t mean you might not want stronger arms. Strengthening your arms may contribute to your ability to participate in fun activities like rock climbing or improve your tennis game. It may make you more able to do heavy lifting or help you achieve other fitness goals like learning to do handstands.
Where to Start
If you’re looking to focus in on your arm strength, Hot Amazing Arms & Shoulders is a great place to start. The first half of the clos focuses on your shoulder strength, with the second half dedicated to arms. Hot Box Fusion would also be a great place to work your arm strength alongside your coordination and cardio. Or, slow it down and choose a Yoga class like Hot Yoga Freedom Flow where you can work through your arm muscles in each flow.
If you have any question about how to best target or utilize your arm strength, please don’t hesitate to ask your local instructor and we’ll look forward to seeing you in a class soon!