12 Arm Workouts With Resistance Bands
Resistance bands have become and go-to equipment when working out because they are easy to use and versatile. They offer the best way to work your little-used muscle groups such as the adductors, flexors, hip abductors, and obliques.
While they may look uninspiring at first glance, they offer the ability to work your muscles easily.
You can create a full-body workout with resistance bands. They create resistance so that you can get full muscle fiber recruitment. Hence, resistance bands allow you to work as many muscles as possible through good movement.
The resistance bands exercises for arms can be great for building strength and increasing mobility and flexibility in your upper body. This article looks at several arm workouts with resistance bands.
#1 Seated Resistance Band Biceps Curl
Bicep exercises with resistance bands provide the ideal workout to increase stamina and muscle size. The seated resistance band bicep curl suits people who need a bicep curl that allows for more physical accessibility. It is great at toning arms.
If you perform it a few times per week, you will build the arms of your dreams in little time.
How to perform
- Sit on a chair or bench with your feet shoulder-width apart.
- Place one end of the resistance band under your left foot and hold the other end in your right hand while resting your right elbow on your right thigh in a leaning position.
- Keep your core engaged and your back straight.
- Complete a bicep curl by pulling your right hand up to your shoulder
#2 Cuff Pivot
Performing this exercise helps your shoulder pivot. It can activate your rotator cuff muscles before an upper-body or chest workout. You can easily incorporate it into your fitness routine to help improve flexibility, boost function, and correct muscle imbalance.
The resistance bands are great to weights when performing the cuff pivot move. Learn how to use resistance bands to build stronger arms and shoulders.
How to perform
- Stand with your feet together and hold one end of the resistance band in each hand.
- Wrap the surrounding band on hand to create more tension and hold the band just below your chest
- With your elbows bent and pointing out, keep one hand still as you pull the other towards the left or right during the rotation from your shoulder
- Bring your arm out about 90° before returning to the starting position.
#3 Band Bicep Curl
The band bicep curl targets your biceps, as shown by its name. It provides the ideal workout to help increase your stamina, performance, and muscle size. When performing this resistance band exercise, you will have a wider range of motion than using a weight machine that limits your range.
The exercise keeps constant tension on the bicep muscles, meaning they don’t get a break between reps. This is important in strengthening the bicep muscles on the concentric portion of the rep and the eccentric portion.
How to perform
- Start by standing with your feet hip-width apart. Place the band under your feet and hold the handle in both hands
- Position your hands with your palms facing up in an underhand grip as you curl the band up to shoulder height
- Once you have the band to your shoulder, slowly lower the band back down until your arms are straight down by your side
#4 Resistance Band Back Pull
This move strengthens the back, shoulders, and core muscles, improving your posture and stability. It stabilizes the muscle groups and helps reduce the risk of injury. Using resistant bands for back press workouts can eliminate erratic or jolted movement frequently seen with using weights.
The constant tension from the band forces the muscle through increased eccentric. Suppose you suffer from back pain and want to challenge your core; the resistance bands for the back pull are for you. They can help you get toned while strengthening your back.
How to perform
- Sit with your feet together as you engage your core
- Hold each end of the resistance band in each hand as you loop the band across your feet
- Embrace your core and legs
- With your hands fully extended, pull the band toward you
#5 Overhead Resistance Band Stretch
The overhead resistance band stretch is a great way to help improve your flexibility and mobility. It can also build strength by exerting a particular amount of force on your muscles.
When performing the move, each band exerts a particular amount of force on your muscles when stretching. Therefore, the overhead resistance band stretch can improve your joint mobility and flexibility.
How to perform
- Start with your feet together with one end of the resistance band held in each hand.
- Keep your arms straight with your hands about 6 inches apart from one another.
- Bring your arms and the band over your hand.
- Once they are over your head, pull your arms apart and sweep them down each side so that they become even with your shoulders.
- Slowly bring your hands together again and repeat.
#6 Resistance Band Pull-Apart
The band pull-apart can enhance your shoulder health and stability. These are some of the simple exercises that can strengthen your arms.
When done properly, resistance band pull-apart activates the stabilizer muscle around your shoulder joint, such as the rotator cuff muscles.
It is also easy to practice at home as they take very little gear, and you can perform them anywhere. Therefore, it’s a great way to cover gaps in your upper body workout routine.
How to perform
- Start in a standing position with your feet hip-width apart and hold one end of the resistance band in each hand.
- Raise straight arms to chest height, keeping your palms facing down and maintaining about six inches of separation between arms
- Put the band apart, extending your arms as wide as possible while maintaining control.
- Bring your arms back to the center and repeat for more repetitions.
#7 Resistance Band Pushout
The resistance band pushout can provide body strength, flexibility, and mobility. Athletes use this move before or after exercise, especially long-duration dresses.
The push-ups with resistance bands allow you to increase the difficulty through added ascending resistance, which is important in building muscle. The more you understand how resistance bands work, the more you’ll appreciate their role in improving pushouts.
How to perform
- Start by standing with your feet together, your back straight, and your core engaged
- Place one end of the resistance band in each hand and stretch the band across your mid/upper back
- Bend your elbow at a 90-degree angle and squeeze your shoulder blade
- Push your arms away from your side and out in front of you until you completely extend them.
#8 Band Forward Raise
This is one exercise you can use to build the front portion of your upper body, including your chest, trapezius muscles, and anterior deltoids.
It is an isolation exercise for shoulder flexion and can help build strength and definition in the front and side of your shoulders.
The move works several muscle groups, including your shoulders, pectoral muscles, and core muscles. Performing the forward raise will also help the shoulder muscles and the upper chest.
How to perform the band forward raise
- Stand with one foot slightly staggered in front of the other.
- Place the resistance band under the foot you’ve chosen to be in the front.
- Hold a handle in each hand as your palms face towards your thighs in an overhand grip. Raise your arms straight out in front of you until you bring them shoulder height
- Slowly lower them back down to your side before starting another rep.
#9 Band Single-Arm Tricep Extension
If you want a bit more burn in your triceps, this is the perfect exercise for you. The tricep extension helps strengthen the muscles of the triceps brachii. As the name implies, the exercise targets the triceps muscles in the back of your upper arm.
Performing single-arm tricep extension with resistance bands helps build and shape the upper posterior arm muscles. You can also work your core muscles and improve your stability. Several exercises can help build muscles and gain strength within your arms.
How to perform
- Stand with your right foot on one end of the resistance band while holding the other in your right hand with your arm extended.
- Place the center of the band under the back foot
- Bring handles together straight up above the top of your head
- Bend at the elbow and lower the handled behind your head as you squeeze your triceps
- Extend your arms straight overhead
- Press hands back up overhead slowly
#10 Band Shoulder Press
Resistance band shoulder press is an exercise that strengthens the shoulder muscle and increases stability in the body. This exercise targets your shoulders, upper back, and triceps.
It can also improve the strength and size of the shoulder muscles, triceps, and trapezius muscles and improve your stability, mobility, and posture. The band will increase the more you stretch it, and that’s also the natural strength curve of the muscles.
How to perform
- Start with the band beneath your feet that should be closer than hip-width apart.
- Holding one handle in each hand with an overhand grip, press the band’s handles until your arms are completely extended, and the band is behind your arms.
- Once you fully extend your arms, bring them back down to your sides and begin again for another rep.
#11 Band Upright Row
The upright row is a movement that targets your shoulders, upper back, and biceps. It is a brilliant move to condition your upper body while building muscle mass and strength. Athletes and bodybuilders use the upright row to contribute to a powerful upper body.
To increase shoulder and upper back strength, look for the upright row with resistance bands.
The exercise targets many muscles, including the traps that span the upper and mid-back. It can also work the deltoids that wrap around your shoulder.
How to perform
- Start with your feet hip-width apart.
- Take the resistance band and place it under your feet and across the band in front of you. Hold on to one side with each hand.
- With your palms facing downward in an overhand grip, pull the handles up to chest hurt as you bend your elbows out to your sides.
- Complete this motion as controlled as you can
- The band’s crossing adds a little more resistance which may cause you to wavier a bit more than usual.
#12 Band Lateral Pulldown
The lateral pulldown is a fantastic exercise to strengthen the latissimus dorsi muscle. It, therefore, promotes good posture and spinal stability.
When compared to a traditional cable lat pulldown, the resistance band lateral pulldown targets your lats the most at the bottom of every repetition.
It forces you to work harder throughout the exercise motion, which maximizes the contraction of your lats and helps build a stronger back. This exercise strengthens your back and shoulders.
The resistance increases as you pull down when performing this move, resulting in stronger and bigger lats.
How to perform
- Start by standing with your feet hip-width apart as you hold one end of the resistance band in each hand
- With palms facing down, extend your arms out in front of you until they reach shoulder height
- Engage your core and squeeze your back muscles as you pull the band apart by extending your arms up to each side
- Engage your core and squeeze your back muscles as you pull the band Apart by extending your arms up to each side
- Once you’ve extended your arm until they are straight, bring them back in for more repetitions
Conclusion
Resistance bands can be a great tool if you want to squeeze in a workout while on the go.
They will easily fit into a suitcase and not add any extra weight to your carry-on. Resistance bands are also an inexpensive investment when looking to work out.
Use these creative exercises to work out your arms, shoulders, and back. They are easy to perform and an inexpensive way of working your arms.
Arm workouts with resistance bands can be great to build strength, increase mobility, and improve the flexibility in your upper body.
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