You don't need a gym or lots of equipment to build a strong, shapely upper body, according to a personal trainer.
"Resistance bands are a great thing to incorporate because they're so lightweight, accessible, and affordable," Anna Victoria, NASM-certified personal trainer and creator of the Fit Body app, told Insider.
You can use bands to perform many of the same exercises you'd do with dumbbells or other weights, which can help you build strength and muscle in your arms.
Pick the right band for your needs
Resistance bands come with different amounts of tension based on how thick and wide the material is.
Victoria recommends buying a pack of several different bands, and experimenting to find the best option for each exercise.
Aim for a band light enough for you to do exercises with proper form, and heavy enough to offer some resistance, Victoria said.
If you're totally new, it's best to start with a good coach or program to teach you what the exercises should look and feel like.
"I wouldn't recommend anyone just wing it," she said.
Hit each muscle group, from the biceps to the deltoids
To get a full-arm workout with resistance bands, incorporate exercises that target each of the major muscle groups.
- Biceps: To work the muscles on the front of your arm, try banded curls, securing one end of the band under your foot and holding the other end as you slowly bend your elbow and stretch the band up towards the front of your chest.
- Shoulders (deltoids): Stand with both feet in the band, looping it up and around your body. Hold the other end of the band in both hands, shoulder width apart, above your chest. Bracing your core, use your arms to lift the band straight up to an overhead press, being careful not to arch your back.
- Triceps: Tap into the back of your arms with overhead extensions. Start at the top of an overhead press, with arms straight up. Bend your elbows to slowly lower the band down behind your neck, then straighten them to bring it back overhead. Keep your elbows tucked in close to your head, and don't let them flare or tilt outward during the movement.
Add bands to compound body-weight movements like push-ups to work multiple muscles at once
You can also use resistance bands to challenge yourself on bodyweight movements like push-ups. In the process, you can build strength and muscle in your shoulders, chest, and triceps all at once.
For a banded push-up, hold one end of the band in each hand, with both sides of the band behind your back. As you press up into a push-up, keep the band against your shoulder blades, allowing it to create more tension in the exercise.
Focus on adding reps over time
To keep building strength and muscle, it's important to continue challenging yourself by adding more intensity over time, whether that's more reps or more resistance.
Known as progressive overload, this principle is also the key to the athletic "toned" look many people strive for in the gym, which comes from a combination of overall low body fat and visible muscle mass.
You can't spot reduce fat, Victoria said, so workouts shouldn't be about chasing soreness or a full-body burn. Instead, think about improving your performance and other gains (including aesthetic ones) will likely follow.
"The ultimate marker of whether a workout was effective is if you're able to do that move with heavy weight or more reps and still maintain proper form," she said.
