Can You Get Stronger Arm with Light Weights?

One of the most common ways to build arm muscle is to lift weights, but you don’t have to bench press hundreds of pounds to build upper body strength. Light weights can also do the trick, especially if you use the right strategy and have realistic expectations. Here, we describe the specific benefits of using light weights for arm exercises and share some of the best exercises for strengthening your upper body with lighter weights.

Are Light Weights Effective for Building Arm Strength?

It may be hard to believe that you can get fit by lifting anything lighter than your go-to water bottle, but it’s true; however, simply lifting a light dumbbell into the air a few times won’t do much for your muscles. The key to using lighter weights effectively is repetitions (a lot of them). It’s also important to remember that what you consider light weights varies from person to person. Generally speaking, light weights are 67% of your one-rep max (the heaviest weight you can successfully lift in one repetition).

“When you subject your body to any kind of physical stress, it adapts and gets stronger,” says Peloton trainer Sam Yo. Of course, heavy weights put more stress on your muscles than light weights, but you can increase the stress of light weight workouts by engaging your muscles for longer. “When using light weights, you typically need to use higher reps to achieve a similar effect as lifting heavier weights but for fewer reps. Over time, this process leads to increased muscle growth and strength,” says Sam. A 2016 study found that participants who lifted lighter weights gained muscle and strength—as long as they lifted to failure.

Benefits of Using Light Weights for Arm Workouts

The decision to lift heavy or light weights goes beyond personal preference. Both methods build muscle, but each has unique benefits.

When we use heavier weights, our focus is more on building strength. On the other hand, lifting lighter weights can provide benefits that you may not see when lifting heavier weights. Here, an in-depth analysis of the benefits that come with lifting light weights:

Enables Correct Technique

“Performing more reps with lighter weights helps build and correct technique, form, and control, ensuring you’re hitting the right muscles,” says Sam.

Strike Smaller Stabilizing Muscles

When you lift lighter weights, you’re less likely to rely on momentum and inadvertently hit muscles you didn’t intend to hit. This helps ensure you’re hitting smaller stabilizing muscles that can be difficult to precisely target otherwise, says Sam.

Builds Muscular Endurance

According to Sam, working out with light weights helps build muscular endurance, or the ability of a muscle to sustain repeated contractions or hold force for longer periods of time. “[This] helps build resilience to prolonged physical activity, especially in sports,” he says.

Relieves Joint Stress

Lighter weights put less stress on joints than heavier loads. For this reason, says Sam, light weights are ideal for beginners, those recovering, or those with joint issues. That’s also why light weightlifting is recommended as a safe way to maintain strength as you age, says Sam.

Reduced risk of injury

Since light weight lifting improves form and control, and you’re less likely to lift more weight than your muscles can handle, choosing smaller dumbbells can also reduce your risk of injury, says Sam.

9 Light Weight Arm Exercises

There are many ways to incorporate light weights into your training regimen. You can use them in timed circuit training, combine them with other methods such as holding light weights while performing boxing combinations, or use progressive overload combinations to gradually increase the number of repetitions, sets, or frequency to continuously challenge your muscles.

A few of my favorite arm exercises using light weights that you can incorporate into your workout in the way that works best for you:

Triceps Kickbacks

This exercise focuses on the triceps, the muscle at the back of the arm. This muscle is responsible for extending the elbow and straightening the arm, and [this exercise allows] you to really stretch, squeeze, and feel the strength of the muscle. ”

• Hold a dumbbell in each hand with your palms facing inward and your arms close to your body.
• Bend your knees and lean forward at the waist until your chest is almost parallel to the ground, making sure your neck and spine remain in a straight line.
• Slowly straighten your elbows until your arms are straight behind you—only the bottom half of your arms should move, while the top half of your arms remain close to your body.
• Pause, then slowly lower back to the starting position and repeat for the desired number of reps.

[This triceps shoulder circuit] focuses on working all the heads of the deltoids—supersets of high-rep lateral raises to increase shoulder width, front raises to work the front deltoids for increased thrust, and reverse flyes to work the rear deltoids, which helps promote good posture.

Lateral Raise

• Stand up straight with your feet hip-width apart. Hold a dumbbell in each hand with your palms facing your body.
• Slowly raise your arms simultaneously to a “T” position – at the top, they should be in line with your shoulders.
• Slowly lower back to the starting position and repeat for the desired number of times.

Muscles worked: Lateral deltoids

Front Raise

• Stand up straight with your feet hip-width apart.
• Brace your core and lift the dumbbells up in a controlled manner with a slight bend in your elbows until the dumbbells are in line with your shoulders.
• Slowly lower back to the starting position and repeat for the desired number of times.

Muscles worked: Front deltoids

Reverse Fly

• Stand up straight with your feet hip-width apart. Hold a dumbbell in each hand with your palms facing your sides.
• Bend your knees and lean forward until your chest is almost parallel to the ground.
• Lift your arms out to the side, keeping your elbows slightly bent and squeezing your shoulder blades together.
• Slowly lower back to the starting position and repeat for the desired number of times.

Muscles worked: Rear deltoids

Wrist curls

Sam says wrist curls are ideal for improving forearm flexor strength. “Light weights put less pressure on your wrists than heavy weights, so this exercise is great for developing grip strength.”

• Kneel behind a bench or flat surface (like the seat of a chair) with a dumbbell in each hand.
• Bend forward at the hips and place your forearms on a flat surface, shoulder-width apart, in front of you. Palms facing up, wrists neutral.
• Slowly bend your wrists upward as you exhale, and extend them downward as you inhale. 4. Slowly return your wrists to the starting position and repeat for the desired number of times.

Muscles worked: Forearm flexors

Zottman Curl

This move combines a standard lying curl with a reverse curl. The rotation of the wrist and forearm targets the biceps and forearm muscles. “This move requires a lot of control, so it’s best to do it with a lighter weight to reduce the risk of injury.

• Stand up straight, holding a dumbbell in each hand, palms facing out, elbows tight to your sides.
• Bend both elbows at the same time and curl the dumbbells up to your shoulders.
• Pause and rotate your wrists so your palms are facing out.
• Slowly lower both dumbbells back to your sides and repeat for the desired number of reps.

Muscles worked: Biceps, forearms

Overhead Press

• Begin by holding the dumbbells above your shoulders, arms bent 90 degrees.
• Press both dumbbells up toward the ceiling, bringing your biceps toward your ears.
• With control, return to the starting position and repeat for the desired number of times.

Muscles worked: Deltoids

Bicep curl

• Begin holding the dumbbells with your palms facing forward.
• Keeping your elbows close to your rib cage, curl both dumbbells until they are in front of your shoulders.
• Slowly lower and return to the starting position.

Muscles worked: Biceps

High pull

• Start standing with your feet wider than hip-width apart and holding a dumbbell in one hand against your thigh with your palm facing toward your body.
• Shift your hips back and bend your knees while lowering the weight between your legs.
• In one explosive movement, straighten your legs and push the dumbbells toward your armpits, with your elbows above your shoulders and pointing toward the ceiling.
• Lower the dumbbells to the starting position.

Muscles worked: Deltoids, Latissimus dorsi, Trapezius, Gluteus maximus, Hamstrings

Conclusion

Whether you are afraid of lifting weights, have a specific arm goal, or just want to step up your fitness routine, light weights can play a considerable role in improving upper body fitness. However, it is important to understand that lifting light weights is more likely to stall your progress than lifting heavy weights. To keep your workouts effective, here are some recommendations:

• Practice progressive overload

In order to keep your body out of its comfort zone and continually challenge your muscles, it is recommended to aim to improve by about one percent with each exercise. This can include increasing the weight, reps, or sets.

• Vary your workouts

It is recommended to switch up your workouts regularly to target different muscle fibers and avoid your muscles getting used to one form of exercise.

• Prioritize rest and recovery

This is the most critical and crucial part of your workout. Remember, your body doesn’t get stronger during exercise, it gets stronger during recovery when your muscles are repaired. So remember to rest