Skip to content
Apply Now

Video7 minWith Nikkiey Stott

Dumbbell and Cable Arm Workout for Women Over 40

Chapters

This video is part ofStrength Training for Women266 lessons · where to start, common questions and more

In this video

If you want firmer arms and a bit more bicep, this is a short arm day you can take straight to the gym. It covers shoulders, biceps and triceps in five moves, mostly three sets of 10 reps, using dumbbells and a cable machine.

You'll start with a standing dumbbell shoulder press, then move through dumbbell hammer curls, a superset of cable high curls and triceps rope pushdowns, dumbbell overhead triceps extensions, and finish with triceps kickbacks. Along the way you get the form cues that matter: feet shoulder-width apart for balance, a tight core instead of leaning back, and a 45-degree lean for kickbacks.

The bigger message is simple. You can probably lift heavier than you are right now, and the exercises you dislike are often the ones you most need to practice. If you'd rather not write your own program, WarriorBabe coaching handles the training, nutrition and accountability for you.

Key takeaways

  • Do the dumbbell shoulder press for 3 sets of 10 with your feet shoulder-width apart for better balance.
  • Keep your core engaged and tight during the shoulder press rather than leaning or bending, so the right muscles do the work.
  • Hammer curls can be done with dumbbells, a rope or a band, but dumbbells give the muscle more resistance.
  • Challenge yourself to lift heavier weight, because most women can handle more than they are lifting now.
  • Superset cable high curls with triceps rope pushdowns for 3 sets of 10 each, and set both sides of the cable machine to the same weight.
  • Do dumbbell overhead triceps extensions for 3 sets of 10, and keep practicing the exercises you dislike because that is how you get better at them.
  • For triceps kickbacks, stand and lean over at about a 45-degree angle, or brace against a bench, seat or dumbbell rack, and do 3 sets of 10 on each arm.
  • Paying for coaching makes you more accountable and more likely to follow through and reach your results faster.

Questions answered

How many sets and reps should I do for an arm workout?

In this workout, each exercise is done for three sets of 10 reps, and the triceps kickbacks are done for 10 reps on each arm.

What is the correct form for a standing dumbbell shoulder press?

Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart for better balance and keep your core engaged and tight. Avoid leaning or bending over, which causes bad form and takes the focus off the muscles you are working.

What equipment is best for hammer curls?

You can do hammer curls with dumbbells, a rope or a band. The video favors dumbbells because they put more resistance on the muscle group.

How do you do triceps kickbacks?

Stand and lean over at about a 45-degree angle and extend the dumbbell back. You can also lean against the back of a seat, a bench or a dumbbell rack, or use a cable machine.

Should women lift heavier weights for their arms?

Yes. The video says many women think they can't push heavy weight, but you can challenge yourself more than you are lifting right now.

Ask Nikkiey

Questions this video helps answer, with what Nikkiey says across everything WarriorBabe teaches.

  • How to Get Toned

    Will lifting weights give me bulky arms?

    No. Nikkiey explains that women don't have the testosterone levels to accidentally build huge muscles, and after 40, declining testosterone makes building muscle harder, not easier. What lifting gives you is firm, defined arms. Muscle creates tone, not size, and arms that get no training tend to lose shape and look soft.

    Read the answer →

  • How to Get Toned

    How often should women over 40 train arms?

    Nikkiey recommends training arms two to three times a week as part of a full body or upper body split, with no separate arm day needed. Elsewhere she frames it as one to two focused arm sessions with real intensity. Either way, daily light arm work is out. Muscles grow when they recover.

    Read the answer →

Full transcript

Nikkiey: Do you want to tone up your arms? Do you want to build a little more bicep and get rid of a little of this flab? If so, this is a workout that you want to take and go implement in the gym.

What's going on, you guys? Welcome back to another YouTube workout video. Let's go. Super excited to be here with you. If you are new to the channel, do me a favor. We are on the road to hit 100,000 subscribers, so please smash that subscribe button. You're going to be kept in the know when we drop new videos like this, so you can take this workout and go implement it for yourself.

So today we are going to hit an easy arm day. Let's get to it.

All right, the first exercise today is going to be a dumbbell shoulder press. Three sets, 10 reps each. Let's go.

Feel the burn. Let's go. For this movement, it's good to have your legs shoulder-width apart so that you have better balance standing up and going into that shoulder press. The second thing that's important is to have your core engaged, not flopping or bending over like this. See how different that is? You want to make sure your core is engaged and tight so that you can keep the focus on the muscles, and the muscles are being activated in the appropriate way. If you're doing this, that's causing some really bad form there.

All right, now let's get to the next exercise. We've got hammer curls. You can do these with many different pieces of equipment. What I'm going to do is dumbbell hammer curls. You can do a rope hammer curl. You could even do a band hammer curl. But one of my favorites for this exercise is definitely the dumbbell. It's more resistance to the muscle group for this one.

Ladies, you think that you can't push heavy weight. Well, let me tell you that you can totally challenge yourself a little bit more than what you're lifting right now. That's a testament right there. I don't know the last time I've ever done 30s on a hammer curl. Challenge yourself to lift heavier weight.

All right, next up we've got cable high curls, supersetted with triceps rope pushdowns. We're going to do three sets, 10 reps of each exercise. Make sure both sides are weighted equally, or it'll look hilarious when you go to do your first set.

So good, this exercise. I highly encourage you to put it into your programming. Or check out WarriorBabe in the link below and you don't have to worry about figuring it out on your own. Go do that right now.

Next exercise, dumbbell overhead triceps extensions. If you guys watched a previous video where I said that I hate doing an incline press for chest, honestly, y'all, I'm not going to lie, I hate this exercise too. But the ones that you hate, you've got to do. I hate it because I'm not that great at it, so for that reason I've got to do more of it to get better at it. It's literally the exact same way that I feel about this exercise. I absolutely hate doing overhead triceps extensions with a dumbbell. I'm going to do three sets of 10 reps. I think it's because, personally, my shoulders are very, very tight. I'm working on that right now.

I am literally paying for stretching. You are held more accountable when you pay for something, and you're more likely to follow through with the service when you pay for something. The same thing goes with coaching, right? If you want to get your body to a different level, or you want to lose body fat, or you want to build more muscle, sure, you can have a workout program. You can follow a workout program online, or from people you follow on Instagram or Pinterest. But when you actually pay for the program, when you pay for a coach, your chances of following through drastically increase, and your chances of actually getting to the results that you want at a quicker pace drastically increase. Same way I feel about paying for somebody to do my stretching for me.

All right, last exercise on deck for this arm day today is triceps kickbacks. You can do these a multitude of different ways. What I'm going to do is just stand and lean over at about a 45-degree angle and kick back. You can do it leaning up against the back of a seat, a bench or a dumbbell rack, or on a cable machine with a cable. But for the purpose of this exercise, I'm going to show you with dumbbells. We're going through three sets, 10 reps on each arm here.

That concludes our arm day workout, you guys. If you enjoyed this, definitely make sure to take this workout and go try it for yourself in the gym. If you are somebody who does not want to think about how to write your programming or what workout you should be doing on a daily basis, check out WarriorBabe in the description below. We will take care of all of that for you, plus nutrition, plus accountability, plus coaching and so much more. Go to the description, click on Apply Now, and we will see if we are a good fit to be working together inside the WarriorBabe program. See you there. See you next time. Go do that right now. Peace.

Up next

Everything →

Best of Strength Training for Women

All 266 →

Free Body
Transformation Assessment

Apply now