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Arm Workout

Your Essential 10-Minute No-Equipment Arm Workout

Photographer: Kathryna HancockRestrictions: Editorial and internal use only. No advertising, no printImage Source: POPSUGAR Photography / Kathryna Hancock

Whether you're travelling or simply in a rush, sometimes there's just no time to make your way into a gym and tackle the weights. Frustrating? Sure, sometimes. But if you're willing to get inventive with your space and your body, then you can get in a stellar workout without all the extra bells and whistles. That's right: there are bodyweight exercises you can do to target all of the major muscle groups, no equipment required.

"I love lifting weights just as much as the next fit pro, but I'm also a huge fan of something using my own body weight. There's nothing more impressive than moving your own body and moving your own body well," says Alex Silver-Fagan, Nike master trainer.

Here, Silver-Fagan gives us a bodyweight workout aimed at giving you stellar arms. But it gets even better: you'll be done in 10 minutes!

The Workout

Do: Each exercise for 40 seconds, resting 20 seconds between each. Repeat the sequence once.

Yogi Push-Up

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Up-Down Plank

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  • Begin in a full plank.
  • Lower your right elbow to the mat and then your left, coming into an elbow plank.
  • Put your right hand on the mat, and straighten your right elbow. Do the same on the left to return to a full plank for one rep. Repeat.

Triceps Dip

Image Source: POPSUGAR Photography / Emily Abbate

  • Sit on the ground with your feet flat on the floor, hands on the ground next to your butt with fingertips facing toward your heels.
  • Straighten your arms, keeping a little bend in your elbows to keep tension on your triceps and off your elbow joints.
  • Slowly bend your elbows to lower your body toward the floor until your elbows are at about a 90-degree angle.
  • Once you reach the bottom of the movement, press down into the floor to straighten your elbows, returning to the starting position for one rep. Repeat.

Forearm Plank Weave

Image Source: POPSUGAR Photography / Emily Abbate

  • Start in side elbow plank on your right side with your feet stacked.
  • Place your left arm straight up and inhale to prepare. Exhale, engage the deep abs, and rotate your left rib cage toward the floor, bringing your left elbow to your right hand.
  • Place your left arm on the ground, shift your weight, and transfer into a left arm side plank. Once your right hand is in the air, you've completed one rep. Repeat, continuing to alternate sides.

Burpee With Strict Push-Up

Image Source: POPSUGAR Photography / Emily Abbate

  • Lower into a crouching squat with your hands on the floor.
  • Do a squat thrust by jumping your feet back into a plank position.
  • Do one basic push-up, bending the elbows and then straightening back to plank.
  • Jump the feet forward to the hands and come into a squat.
  • Do an explosive jump straight up, getting as much height as you can. That's one rep. Repeat.
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