Maybe you want to tone your arms but don’t feel like getting on the floor for push-ups and planks. And that’s totally fine, because this standing arm workout keeps you on your feet the whole time.
You’ll work your shoulders, biceps, and triceps in just 10 minutes with no repeated exercises, so every set feels fresh. All you need is one pair of dumbbells for this toned arm workout.
Just grab your weights and follow along with this standing arm workout with dumbbells!
Regular Shoulder Press
A shoulder press is about as straightforward as it gets, which makes it the perfect move to ease into this workout.
You’ll press both dumbbells overhead at the same time while keeping your whole upper body engaged.
How to perform:
- Hold a dumbbell in each hand with your palms facing forward.
- Position your elbows slightly in front of your body.
- Stack your ribs and pelvis to ensure a strong torso, keep your shoulders down, and stay grounded in your feet.
- Press the dumbbells up and down without locking your elbows out at the top.
- Maintain time under tension by avoiding long pauses at the bottom or the top.
Regular Curls
Nothing fancy with this one, just good, solid curls to get those biceps working.
The focus is on full range of motion, because extending all the way at the bottom is what really makes a difference.
How to perform:
- Hold the dumbbells with your palms facing forward.
- Keep your torso solid, your knees soft, and your chest open with your shoulder blades down your back.
- Tuck your elbows in.
- Curl the dumbbells up, then control them on the way down.
- Make sure you extend your arms all the way at the bottom of the rep.
Overhead Triceps Extension
Time to flip the focus to the back of your arms. You’ll lower the dumbbells behind your head, which gives your triceps a deep stretch at the bottom of each rep.
If two dumbbells feel awkward overhead, one works just as well.
How to perform:
- Ever notice how the back of your arms doesn’t get much love during basic dumbbell exercises? That’s exactly what this move is for.
- You’ll hold the weights above your head and lower them behind you. If holding two dumbbells overhead feels awkward, though, you can totally use just one.
- Either way, keep your elbows locked in place so your triceps do all the work.
Front to Side Lateral Raises
This one is a two-for-one shoulder move because you’ll alternate between lifting to the side and lifting to the front, hitting your shoulders from different angles.
Fair warning, though: if you find yourself swinging the weights up, that’s a sign to go a bit lighter.
How to perform:
- Ensure your weights aren’t too heavy so you don’t injure your shoulders.
- Lift the weights out to the side, keeping them slightly in front of you, and then back down.
- With your palms facing forward, lift the weights directly to the front.
- Ensure your hands do not come higher than shoulder height (they should be a tad bit lower) during both lifts.
- Lift strictly without momentum; do not throw your body to get your arms up (if you have to, lower the weight).
Half to Full Bicep Curls
Here’s where things get a little tricky. Instead of doing the same curl over and over, you’ll mix up the range of motion with halves and fulls.
The pattern can feel confusing at first, so don’t stress about memorizing it. Just follow along!
How to perform:
- Start with a 90° half curl, then lower the weights all the way down.
- Do a full curl all the way up, then lower all the way down.
- Curl the weights all the way up, then only lower them halfway down.
- Curl halfway up, then lower all the way down.
Bent Tricep Extensions
You’ll hinge forward at the hips for this one, which means your triceps are doing all the work against gravity.
It’s one of the best ways to isolate the back of your arms without needing a bench or cable machine.
How to perform:
- Hinge at your hips and keep your chin, neck, and torso in one straight line while looking toward the ground.
- Begin in a row position and hold this posture for the entire movement.
- Keep your elbows exactly where they are and extend only the lower half of your arms backwards.
- Bring your arms back in.
- If you don’t feel it in your triceps, try tilting the palms of your hands slightly toward the ceiling at the end of the extension.
Arm Shoulder Press
Now you’re dropping down to one dumbbell and pressing with one arm at a time. Your other arm holds straight out to the side, which adds an extra challenge on top of the shoulder press.
How to perform:
- Drop one dumbbell so you are only working with one.
- Extend your non-working arm directly out from your shoulder and hold it there the whole time.
- Hold the dumbbell in your working hand with your palm facing your head.
- Keep a nice strong torso and stay grounded in your feet; only your working arm should move.
- Press the dumbbell up without fully extending/locking the elbow, then bring it back down.
- Do not drop your elbow all the way down; let it hover to keep tension on the shoulder.
- Switch arms and repeat the exercise on the other side.
Hammer Curls
These are similar to the regular curls from earlier, but your palms face inward this time, which shifts the focus and hits your biceps in a slightly different way.
Since this is your last bicep exercise, try to make every rep count by going nice and slow.
How to perform:
- Hold the dumbbells with your palms facing inwards toward your body.
- Keep your elbows close to your body.
- Lift the dumbbells up with control.
- Lower them nice and slow on the way down, trying to hold the downward motion as long as you can.
- Make sure you are extending your arms all the way at the bottom of the rep.
Standing Skull Crushers
You’re closing things out with a killer tricep finisher. It’s similar to the overhead extension from earlier, except the grip is different, which changes how your triceps have to work.
If your arms are feeling spent by now, switching from two dumbbells to one is totally fine.
How to perform:
- Hold both dumbbells up above your head, keeping them parallel to each other with your hands slightly apart.
- Keep your elbows exactly where they are.
- Drop your arms down behind you, then bring them back up.
Article Medically reviewed by
I’m fitness coach Ashley Castleberry, an NASM-certified personal trainer and nutritionist, as well as a coach on an established YouTube Channel with over 1 million followers. With certifications from major fitness brands, I specialize in athletic, HIIT, and strength training. Leveraging my experience coaching clients on lifestyle changes, I provide customized exercise and nutrition guidance to help people reach their fitness goals, whether that be weight loss, muscle gain or overall health improvement.
