The Best Exercise Machines for Arms

These days there are too many gym machines to name, making getting a good arm workout even more confusing than before. Truth is, you need a fraction of the arm machines at the gym to build muscle and burn fat. Get to know the best ones, and you'll be ready to wear your tank tops with confidence.

In a study by researchers from the American Council on Exercise (ACE), overhead extensions were among the most effective for eliciting muscle activity in the triceps muscles on the backs of the upper arms. While the study used free weights, a similar movement can be done on a triceps extension machine, as explained by ACE. It's an easy exercise that an be added to any gym machine workout routine for beginners.

1. Adjust the seat height and the weight.
2. Sit in the machine, lay your arms on the pad and take hold of the handles.
3. Keep your back straight and your core muscles contracted.
4. Press the handles away from you and straighten your arms.
5. Slowly return to the starting position.

Dips were another highly rated exercise in the American Council on Exercise study. There are many ways to do dips with your own body weight, with an assisted dips machine or with a seated dip machine. A seated machine is the best for beginners because it offers the most support and stabilization.

1. Adjust the seat height and weight.
2. Straddle the seat facing out and grasp the handles.
3. Sit down on the seat, pushing the handles down with you. This is your starting position.
4. Keep your spine straight and abs contracted.
   
5. Slowly allow the resistance of the handles to raise your arms, bending at the elbow and pointing your elbows straight behind you.
6. When you get to the top of your range of motion, press the handles back down to the start with control.

Read more: The Ultimate Workout for Sexy, Sculpted Arms

Biceps machine exercises are more straightforward than triceps exercises. With triceps exercises, you may extend your arms forward, push down or press out; with biceps exercises you are typically just flexing at the elbow, raising a weight toward your upper arm. The seated biceps curl, as explained by ACE, is probably your best option.

1. Adjust the seat height and weight.
2. Sit in the machine, extend your arms on the pads and grasp the handles.
3. Keep your spine straight and abs contracted.
4. Curl the bar upward toward your face and squeeze your biceps muscles at the top.
5. Slowly lower the bar back down.

Perform 10 to 15 repetitions of each move and two to three sets. You can do one set of one exercise, rest for 30 seconds to one minute and do the next set; then move to the next exercise. Or you can do a circuit, where you do one set of each exercise then repeat, doing another set of each exercise.

A circuit can be a great gym machine workout routine for weight loss because you move from exercise to exercise with no rest in-between. This keeps your heart rate slightly elevated throughout the workout. While a traditional machine circuit won't burn as much as a more high-intensity body-weight and free-weight circuit, it is still effective for reducing body fat, according to a study published in the Journal of Biological Research in February 2017.

When it comes to burning fat, don't forget cardio. The elliptical machine is one of the best for toning your arms if you use the handles to push and pull along with the movement of your feet.

Read more: The Fastest Way to Tone Flabby Arms