Strengthening exercises for arms and shoulders work on the muscle groups for your upper body area. These are movements that allow you to push or pull on muscles such as biceps, triceps and shoulders. The upper body has the second largest muscles to workout outside the leg muscles. The more muscles your work the more you improve your metabolism.

I will give you my top exercises to shape, tone and strengthen your arms and shoulders. First we need to examine the best exercises that will provide you fast and effective results for your upper body development. Multi-joint compound exercises are by far the most effective in terms of stimulating the muscle. Multi joint compound workouts improve lean muscle growth and speed up calories burn by taking a shorter amount of time than isolation exercises.

Advantages of compound exercises and tips for best efficiency

Compound exercises have other advantages over isolation muscle exercises, such as more functional movements, greater muscle stimulation, higher hormonal production and less stress to the joints. Examples of multi-compound movements include chin ups, push ups, dips and shoulder press. Your workout time should be short and intense. That’s because cortisol levels will increase after 40 minutes, which will inhibit muscle mass. The number of sets in a session should be 2-4, along with repetitions ranging between 8 and 12. Pick 4 or 5 exercises and only rest for 60-90 seconds after the last exercise of the circuit.

Choose the most complex exercises to start off your arms and shoulder workout. Then gradually work your way down to the least challenging ones as fatigue starts to kick. This will help to make your workout more efficient as well as keeping good form with the less challenging exercises at the end of each circuit.

Lastly to get the best results from any muscle, you must change your workouts every 4-6 weeks. Another great indicator is when your routine hits a plateau. An example is when you lift the same weights for the specific exercise after a few sessions and not improving. When this happens you choose another exercise for the same muscle group until you stop improving, then switch again.

My top 5 recommendations for shoulder and arm exercises are listed below.

Dumbbell press – I prefer dumbbells to barbells in this exercise as your less dominant side is worked evenly. On a swiss ball it’s a lot more difficult as you’re working your core strength.

Push ups – Diagram shows fingertip push for advance users, other more challenging push-ups are one arm push-up, using resistance bands or elevating your feet higher than your head. Beginners can start with normal push ups or knee push ups.

Seated Cable Row (elbows out) – The advanced version is standing up on one leg while pulling the cable from upright position or from the initial position bent over forward, with the cable at floor level and lifting to chest height.

Seated Shoulder Press – On a swiss ball or standing up on one leg are a lot more challenging versions for advance individuals.

Upright Barbell Rows – Otherwise known as the High Pull. Use a weight that’s comfortable for your level.

There is a large variety of exercise ball workout routines, ranging between the back, chest, shoulders and abs muscle groups. When using an exercise ball, the degree of difficulty of the exercise is magnified as your body and muscles work harder on the unstable surface. This in return gives you a higher quality workout in terms of recruiting muscle and losing those extra pounds. As some say, more bang for your buck!

Compound exercises are the most effective, so I have listed a few compound exercises per muscle group for variety purposes. Most of these exercises can be done with 2-4 sets of 8-12 repetitions.

Compound chest/shoulder workout for an exercise ball

Dumbbell press on a swiss ball – similar to a bench press, you do this exercise with dumbbells on a gym ball. As always with all these exercises, controlled and good technique is the key.

Shoulder/Seated military press – while sitting on a swiss ball, push your arms straight up and slowly return the weight towards your shoulders.

Compound Triceps exercise

Dumbbell triceps extension on an exercise ball – shoulders flat on the ball. Similar to a dumbbell press, hold the dumbbells above your head and extend your elbows backwards, then come back to the original position.

Abs

Forward ball roll – In a kneeling position, wrist on the ball, hands together. You start by rolling forward, extending yourself as much as possible, keeping the arms straight, then return back to the kneeling position.

Plank on a swiss ball – just like a normal plank exercise, but in this you rest your forearms on a swiss ball. Make sure your shoulders, back and legs are as straight as possible while holding those abs in. If you can hold this position for 1-2 minutes, you’re on your way to getting firm abs.

Swiss balls were first made in Europe for physiotherapy back in the mid 1960s. Over time its uses have ranged from physical therapy to fitness & health related activities, to name a few. The multi-purpose ball can be used by beginners up to the pro athletes. In this swiss ball introduction, as well as anywhere else, the term “swiss” is just one of the few names this type of ball is known by. Popular terms it also goes by are stability ball, yoga ball, exercise ball, gym ball, fitness ball and so on.

The advantages of exercising on a stability ball is that the muscles being used will work harder on the unstable surface than on a flat one. The unstable nature of the ball in return makes the muscles a lot more stronger and efficient. Very good for individuals who may have weak back muscles from hours sitting down or working out on exercise machines. It also aids in improving balance and agility.

The primary exercises that are used are mainly core strength routines involving abdominals and back muscles. There are also a lot more exercises you can incorporate with swiss balls such as free weights and other related core strength exercises from various training programs. Your exercise routine is limitless once you learn what you can do with this simple spherical object!

Important points when buying a swiss ball

When choosing a fitness ball there are a few things you need to know before buying. Make sure you know the ball size. When it’s fully inflated it should be below your knee so you can sit on it with your thighs parallel to the floor and with your feet comfortably planted down. Their are size charts to cater for different heights.

Choose a ball with a textured surface not too smooth or slick. If it’s too slippery, especially when you’re sweaty, you may slip and injure off!

For your own safety concerns, always choose a ball that has anti-burst feature/technology. If you’re sitting on the ball while working out and the ball deflates, you want it to puncture slowly so you have enough time to react. You don’t want the the ball to burst violently and injure yourself!

Tips on using the exercise ball:

• Verify your ball and workout area before each workout for any debris or objects that may puncture the ball.
• Inflate the ball so it’s full and stiff, not soft and mushy. That’s how it was designed to work.
• Take care so that the ball does not slide out from underneath you, especially when you’re sweating while working out.
• Use a non slip surface at all times. If you have a slippery surface put something over it so the ball stays in place.

Sizing guidelines for exercise: