I tried this ‘tiny weights big burn' 30-minute workout to sculpt strong arms — and I'm hooked

Tom's Guide

7 days ago

If you're hoping to sculpt strong, lean 'Pilates arms' in time for summer, this 30-minute workout is exactly what you're looking for.
You'll use a light set of dumbbells and perform multiple reps of each exercise to build endurance and promote muscle growth. This type of training is often considered good for beginners, as it can help you learn proper lifting technique before increasing the weight.
As a reminder, if you're returning to exercise following an injury, it's always a good idea to seek advice from a personal trainer to ensure you're moving with good form. Lifting weights with poor technique can put you at risk of injury.
The workout is designed by personal trainer Micayla Green, who specializes in programming low-impact strength workouts. You'll need a set of light dumbbells for this workout — Green is using a set of five-pound weights, but remember to always select the weights that are right for you and your body.
The goal here isn't to push your muscles to exhaustion, so select a weight that feels easy at first, as this will allow you to get through the entire workout.
If you're working out from home, a set of the best adjustable dumbbells can make all the difference to your workouts. Plus, they'll save you space, as you won't have multiple sets of dumbbells lying around.
Green does the entire workout on her knees. In the comments, she explains that this forces your core to work harder and isolates the arms. If you prefer to stand, you can do so, but try to keep your lower body still and remember to keep your core engaged throughout.
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Here's the exercises involved:
Keen to find out more, I grabbed a set of five-pound dumbbells and gave this workout a try. Here's what happened:
I'll admit, I'm used to lifting the heaviest weight I can in my normal strength training workouts, so this was a bit of a surprise. Yet similar to Pilates, where an exercise feels easy at first but builds over time, by the final few reps, I was feeling my upper body work hard.
The key here is to move slowly and with control — Green says the workout should take 30 minutes in total, so you're not rushing through your sets. By the time I reached the platter serves, I could feel the burn. Don't let your ego get the better of you here — light weights really are the key during this move.
One of the benefits of using lighter weights is that it allows you to focus on perfecting your movement pattern — a good idea if you're new to any of the exercises, or you're returning to upper body workouts following an injury.
I've been rebuilding my fitness following the birth of my son, so this suited me. It's been a while since I did the around-the-world exercise, so the lighter weight allowed me to think about engaging my back and shoulders as I lifted the weight.
While lighter weights with higher reps won't build muscle as quickly as fewer reps with a heavier dumbbell, research has shown that this method does increase muscle size over time.
Typically, with a lighter weight, you'll keep your muscles under tension for longer, and increase the metabolic stress on the muscle tissue, both of which can stimulate muscle growth.
This workout didn't leave me a sweaty mess like a typical HIIT workout would, but it did elevate my heart rate, and I felt that satisfying ache in my arms once I'd finished.
Of course, my arms looked exactly the same — sculpting strong muscles takes time, but when paired with a nutritious diet and a healthy lifestyle, you can get results with workouts like this. Either way, I'll be repeating it, as those platter serves left my biceps quivering!