My problem area that I’ve always struggled with is my arms. I build muscle pretty easily, and because of that I can lean towards looking bulky. My arms have always been a part of my body that I’m self conscious about, until I found barre! With the barre method focusing on light weights and repetition, I have seen the definition of my arms totally change! I want to share with you my favorite barre arm moves so you can try them. They’re all easy, able to be modified by adding or subtracting weight, and can be done just about anywhere!

Bicep Kicks

Yikes! This move is one of my favorites, and it’s also one of the most difficult. Any small, isometric work is going to fire up your muscles quickly and pack a punch with results! For bicep kicks you want to start standing tall and extend your arms out in front with palms facing the ceiling. With a slight bend in your elbows think about extending the arms as straight as you can, and then returning to that slight bend. That’s your bicep kick!

Tricep Circles

Another small, isometric move that is focused on the backs of the arms that I love is tricep circles. Start by taking a slight hinge at your waist and move your gaze out a few inches in front of your toes. Tuck your elbows in tight at your sides, and extend your arms straight back behind you. Flip your palms to the ceiling, and with or without weights start to trace small circles. You will immediately feel the back of your arms turn on with the work! You can switch the direction of the circles to fire up the triceps in a different way.

The Slice

I want to call this the bicep slice, but that doesn’t do the move justice. With this move, not only are you working biceps, but we’re also focusing on shoulders and a little bit of chest. Extend your arms out in front with palms facing the ceiling. You can add or remove any weights you want, and start to slice the arms over one another changing which one is on top each time. I feel a lot of this work in my shoulders, and love that this small move focuses on multiple parts of my upper body.

Lateral Squeezes

I love to work my back and lats! This barre move targets those favorite areas of mine while also staying low impact with high results! Standing tall, tuck your elbows in at your side and place your arms in a check mark position. With palms facing forward, start to squeeze your elbows back one extra inch behind you. Your lats should immediately fire up, and the more weight and time you add to the exercise the deeper that burn will get!

Carving Circles

Last, but not least, this is another great arm move that targets multiple parts of the upper body. Working the biceps, chest, and shoulders this circular move is full range and awesome! Standing tall you will extend your arms out in front starting with the palms facing down. You then sweep your arms down in a half moon shape to touch with palms facing up, and then rotate back upwards for the palms to face down in the same starting position. A couple key things to focus on are keeping your chest lifted with a soft bend in the elbows, and keep the shoulders relaxed away from your ears.

Final Thoughts

I challenge you to perform each of these moves for 30 seconds without dropping the arms or stopping. You can add 1, 2, or 3 pound hand weights to build the burn even deeper into the muscles. Don’t say I didn’t warn you on the burn, and enjoy!

For more, check out my favorite barre ab moves in another post here!