Forget push-ups — this 7-minute arm workouts builds your triceps, biceps and shoulders in just 9 moves

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Strengthening your arms and upper body can make it easier to do everyday lifting tasks, but you don’t need to hit the gym for hours to reach your goals. Instead, you can grab a set of dumbbells and take on this personal trainer’s seven-minute arm workout.

If you are at the gym, pick a load that’ll challenge your muscles to get through a set but won’t affect your form. For home workouts, we recommend investing in a set of the best adjustable dumbbells as you can quickly change the weight between exercises.

Then you’ll be ready to take on this short routine developed by Ingrid Clay, a trainer for Chris Hemsworth’s workout app Centr. The session is part of the team’s 28 Days of Arms program, a month-long schedule designed to help you build upper body muscle.

Watch Ingrid Clay’s 7-minute dumbbell arm workout

As it’s just seven minutes, this workout is an ideal choice if you’re pushed for time, traveling, or only have access to limited equipment. However, if you have a bit longer to exercise, you can repeat the three-round circuit three times for an extended 20-minute arm workout.

While biceps-focused exercises like biceps curls remain some of the most popular arm workouts, strengthening your triceps is vital for everyday pushing movements, so stronger triceps muscles can lead to performance improvements in the gym and several sports too.

There are plenty of bodyweight triceps moves, including the classic triceps dips, but Clay’s routine increases the intensity to help challenge your muscles and you can gradually increase the load with progressive overload training to make sure you continue to see results.

And if you’re looking to build strength but avoid the superhero-style arms Hemsworth is famed for, this routine is still a great option. When we reviewed Centr, we rated it as one of the best workout apps as it has a great variety of workouts suitable for all experience levels.

Plus, to build the Thor-esque muscle he needs for the Marvel movies, Hemsworth takes on extreme routines like an 800-rep barbell workout and a 250-rep dumbbell workout, alongside eating more than 4,500 calories each day, as reported by Fit&Well.

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James is Tom's Guide's Buying Guide Editor, overseeing the site's buying advice. He was previously Fitness Editor, covering strength training workouts, cardio exercise, and accessible ways to improve your health and wellbeing.His first job at as a sales assistant in a department store, and this is where James learned how important it is to help people make purchasing decisions that are right for their needs, whether that's a fountain pen to give as a gift or a new fridge for their kitchen.

This skill stayed with him as he developed a career in journalism as a freelance technology writer and, later, as Buying Guide Editor for MakeUseOf, where his interest in fitness combined with his commitment to impartial buying advice.

This is how he came to join Fit&Well as Fitness Editor, covering beginner-friendly exercise routines, affordable ways to boost your wellbeing, and reviewed weights, rowing machines, and workout headphones.

James is an advocate for sustainability and reparability, and focuses his reviews and advice through that lens to offer objective insights as to whether a specific product or service will be right for your needs.