5 moves to tone and tighten your arms for summer

By Stephanie Mansour

Stephanie Mansour is a private health coach for women and certified personal trainer. For the past decade, Stephanie has been helping people "Step It Up," every day in their lives with weight loss tips, lifestyle hacks and fitness secrets to up their game.

With the temps heating up, sleeveless tops and dresses are coming back to front of your closet. As a certified personal trainer and pilates instructor, many of my private clients come to me complaining of flabby arms.

The flab in the back of the arms can be reduced by full body workouts focused on fat loss, but the arms can also be tightened and toned with a custom arm workout.

I devised an every-other-day arm routine that requires 5-pound dumbbells to tone and tighten the arms efficiently and in the least amount of time possible. It took one of my clients only two weeks of following this routine to see results. She said that was the best her arms ever looked in her life.

Follow this routine every other day for two weeks to see maximum results.

1. Tricep Kickbacks

This is quintessential arm exercise. Instead of the traditional kickback, I like to focus on a bent over row first to help engage the triceps before the actual kickback.

To perform this exercise, stand with your feet as wide as your hips, knees slightly bent. Grab your 5-pound weights in each hand, and let your arms hang down towards your knees.

Starting position for tricep arm workout.

Lean forward at your waist so that your chest is tilted down towards the ground. Hug your elbows into your sides and bring the arms up and back to work the upper back and back of the arms.

Second position for tricep arm workout.

From here, keep the elbows stationary and then extend the forearms back into the tricep kickback. Come back to the row position and then release the arms down. Perform this 10 times.

Third position for tricep arm workout.

2. Scarecrow Extension

Standing upright and holding the weights in front of you, it's time to pull the weights up towards your chest as if you're doing a bent over row but standing straight up.

Starting position for scarecrow arm workout.

Once you bring the weights up to your chest with your elbows bent, extend the arms out to the sides straight so that you're engaging your triceps and upper arms.

Second position for scarecrow arm workout.

Come back through center with bent elbows, and then release down. Repeat this 10 times.

Third position for scarecrow arm workout.

3. Alligator Flies

Standing upright with your feet as wide as your hips, keep one dumbbell in each hand. Bend the knees slightly and hinge forward at the waist slightly. Pull your naval in towards your spine, and allow your arms to dangle down in front of you.

Starting position for the alligator arm workout.

Then, squeeze through your core and back as you reach the right arm up in front of you (keeping the arm in alignment with your right ear) and reach the left arm back behind you. Ideally you want a straight line from both dumbbells.

Demonstrating alligator arm workout.

This is the line of the alligator mouth. Then, return to your starting position, and repeat the same way for 10 times. Next, switch sides.

Demonstrating alligator arm workout.

4. Straight Arm Kickback & Pulse

Holding the weights down by your sides and standing upright, press the arms back towards the wall behind you, and then come back to center.

Starting position for kickback arm workout.

Repeat this 10 times, and then hold the weights behind you and pulse 10 times.

Kickback arm extension demonstration.

5. Serve the Platter

For this Pilates exercise, we're focusing on a well-rounded sculpting of the upper arms and shoulders.

Starting position for platter arm workout.

Hug the weights in towards your ribs, and then present the arms straight forward in front of you as if you're serving a platter.

Second position for platter arm workouts by extending arms with weights in hand in front.

Then, open the arms out to the sides with a slight bend in the elbows, and bring the arms back towards center. Finally, bend the elbows back in towards your ribs to the starting position. Repeat this 10 times.

Third position for platter arm workouts by spreading arms out with weights in hand.

This total arm routine specifically targets the backs of the arms but also provides a well-rounded arm and shoulder workout as well as an opportunity to strengthen the upper back. Enjoy!