If you want to grow your arms, but are struggling with getting to the gym and don’t own a pair of dumbbells, then you need to invest in some resistance bands. This versatile piece of equipment is ideal for building strength and muscle, and we’ve found a killer resistance band workout that will leave your arms with a serious pump. The best bit? You can do this workout anywhere and it only takes 20 minutes.
If you don’t have the space for various bits of gym equipment then resistance bands are well worth the investment. They’re affordable, easy to store and you can work all the muscle groups in your body with them. They’re often seen as ‘less superior’ to their rivals, dumbbells and barbells, but a 2019 study revealed that they actually provide similar strength gains to conventional resistant training.
This upper body workout from Darryl Williams targets your triceps and biceps and it will leave your arms burning. But if you’re serious about building muscle, you can’t cut corners. It will only take you 20 minutes and lots of the exercises consist of different variations of a bicep curl and tricep extension, so nothing too complicated. You’ll do each exercise for 30 seconds and you get a 30 seconds rest in between (most) of them too. It looks a lot, but it's just the fact you're doing a variety of exercises, so that you don't get bored. You've got this!
Here’s what you’ll be doing:
- Hammer curls (two rounds)
- Overhead tricep extensions (two rounds)
- Rest
- Single arm bicep curls (30 seconds each side)
- Rest
- Single arm overhead tricep extensions (30 seconds each side)
- Rest
- Alternating hammer curls
- Rest
- Forward punches
- Rest
- Reverse bicep curl
- Rest
- Single arm tricep extension (30 seconds on both sides)
- Rest
- Cross body hammer curl
- Rest
- Single arm tricep extensions (30 seconds both sides)
- Rest
- Reverse wrist curls
- Palms up wrist curls
- Rest
- Bicep curl with a hold
- Rest
- Overhead tricep extension pulses
- Rest
- Bent over cross body hammer curl with a bicep curl
- Bicep curls then straight into alternating overhead tricep extensions
If this is your first time using resistance bands, then I'd opt for a light, pull-up resistance band, like the one in this video. Although, if you're unsure, we have a guide on how to choose the best resistance bands. I definitely recommend doing this workout alongside the video as it has an onscreen timer, which is useful for your rest periods/counting you into your next exercise. If you want to take your resistance band workout to the next level, then check out our fast full body resistance band exercises.
