Fitness female woman with muscular body, do her workout with dumbbells, abs, abdominals (iStock)
Spring is officially here — and with it, panic over tank tops, spaghetti straps, and basically anything that shows off your arms.
Luckily, all you need to sculpt your arms and assuage your fears is (count ’em!) one set of dumbbells and a few square feet of space in your living room, personal trainer Hannah Davis, C.S.C.S., founder of Operation Bikini Body, told Fox News. Bonus: Training your upper body can help correct the poor posture created by desk jobs, and help prevent muscle imbalances, back pain, and shoulder injury.
5 MILITARY-INSPIRED MOVES FOR A FULL-BODY WORKOUT
Strengthen up by completing this workout, Courtesy of Davis, two to three times per week. Perform 10 to 15 reps of the first pair of exercises, repeat for a total of three rounds, and then move on to the second pair. Use dumbbells that allow you to just eek out your last rep with proper form.
1. Standing neutral-grip shoulder press
(Courtesy Hannah Davis)
Stand tall with your feet shoulder-width apart, and one dumbbell in each hand at your sides, palms facing each other. Curl the dumbbells up to your shoulders, with your elbows pointed straight down toward the floor. This is your starting position. From here, keeping your shoulders down and away from your ears, press the dumbbells straight up over your shoulders until your elbows are straight but not locked out. Pause, then slowly reverse the motion to return to start.reverse the motion to return to start.
2. Overhead triceps extension
(Courtesy Hannah Davis)
Stand tall with your feet hip-width apart and, grabbing one end of a dumbbell with both hands, hold it straight overhead. Press your shoulders down and away from your ears. This is your starting position. From here, keeping your upper arms close to the sides of your head and perpendicular with the floor, lower the dumbbell behind you as far as possible, pause, then slowly reverse the motion to return to start, making sure to keep your arms tucked toward your head as you do so.
3. Supine chest press
(Courtesy Hannah Davis)
Lie flat on your back on the floor, and bend your knees to plant your feet flat on the floor. Grab a pair of dumbbells and hold them out your sides at chest level, upper arms against the floor and palms facing your feet. This is your starting position. From here, press the dumbbells straight up and together until the two ends just barely touch, your elbows straight but not locked out. Pause, then slowly reverse the motion to return to start.
4. Modified plank row
(Courtesy Hannah Davis)
Grab one dumbbell with each hand and get in a modified plan position. Your feet, knees, and dumbbells should be pressed into the floor, your torso forming a straight line from head to knees. This is your starting position. From here, brace your core and then row one weight up to the side of your ribs, pause, then slowly reverse the motion to return to start. Try to eliminate dumping your body weight to one side. Repeat on the opposite side. That’s one rep.
5. Bent-over wide-grip row
(Courtesy Hannah Davis)
Stand tall with your feet shoulder-width apart, and one dumbbell in each hand in front of your thighs, palms facing your body. Hinge at the waist, send your butt back, and allow a slight bend in your knees so your torso is nearly parallel to the floor. The dumbbells should hang straight down in front of your knees. This is your starting position. From here, squeeze your shoulder blades together to row the dumbbells straight up to your sides, letting your elbows flare out slightly as you do so. Pause, then slowly reverse the motion to return to start. Make sure to keep your torso stable with every rep. Don’t use momentum.
6. Upright row
(Courtesy Hannah Davis)
Stand tall with your feet shoulder-width apart, and one dumbbell in each hand in front of your thighs, palms facing your body. This is your starting position. From here, keeping your shoulders down and away from your ears, bend your elbows and row the dumbbells up to your chest, your elbows pointing straight to the sides. When your upper arms are parallel to the floor, pause, then slowly reverse the motion to return to start.
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