• Celebrity personal trainer Tiffiny Hall shares her favourite exercises for toning your arms and shoulders.

  • Adding upper-body exercises to your workout can help to contour and sculpt your shape.

  • Weight training, for your upper body can help burn kilojoules for up to 24 hours after your workout.  

It’s natural to lose muscle mass as you get older. But, for a muscle such as your deltoids (your shoulders) that you depend so heavily on for day-to-day functional movement, namely most arm movement and lifting, it’s important to combat this decline through exercise. As far as looks go, a defined upper frame also appears more confident and strong. Adding a little upper-body work to your exercise regimen that targets your deltoids won’t only make you feel more capable, but will contour and sculpt your shape, too.

These side dumbbell lateral raises are a personal fave of mine as they really target the middle portion of the deltoid muscle, making for a more structured shoulder line. This is also a great prehab exercise, building a strong framework for your chest, neck and back to help prevent common injuries and support everyday functional movement and exercise.

Worried you’ll get bulky? Don’t be. Weight training increases lean muscle mass, and the more lean muscle mass you have, the easier it is to burn energy. In fact, weight training, for your upper body or elsewhere, will help burn kilojoules for up to 24 hours after your workout. Shredded may not be the look you’re going after, but toned and trim? That’s exactly what lateral arm raises will get you.

Side Dumbbell Lateral Raises 

1. Hold a 1–2kg dumbbell in each hand and stand with your feet hip-width apart. Alternatively, you may want to stagger one leg back, resting on the ball of the back foot for added balance. Make sure your shoulder blades are pulled together and down, your back is straight and your core is engaged.

2. With your elbows slightly bent, lead with your pinky fingers, as if pouring a cup of tea, to slowly lift the dumbbells out to the side until your arms are parallel with the floor. Don’t let your arms go higher than your shoulders and also don’t let your shoulders raise up toward your ears.

3. Slowly lower your arms back down by your side and repeat. TIP: If your hands are higher than your arms when you lift, then your dumbbell weight is likely too heavy.

 

 

For more workouts, visit Tiff Hall’s online health and fitness program at TIFFXO.com

© Prevention Australia
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Tags:  workout