You don’t have to spend hours at the gym pumping iron to get those lean, sculpted arms we all dream about. Many people are surprised to learn that yoga can be an excellent exercise to tone the arms and shoulders. Certain yoga poses require you to hold the burden of your own body weight, leaving you with some serious guns.

YouBeauty teamed up with Sarah Levey, co-founder of y7 Studio in NYC, to create a yoga workout that will give you a gorgeous, shapely upper body as quickly as possible. Soon, you’ll be wearing those strapless dresses and tank tops with tons of confidence!

Note: Stay in each pose for 5 – 10 breaths.

1Downward Dog

yoga for strong arms
Image courtesy of Alex Schaefer Photography.
Begin on your hands and knees with your fingers spread out wide. Press firmly through your palms and knuckles, tuck your toes under and lift your knees off the ground to straighten your legs. Press the floor away from you as you lift your hips upward while drawing your ribs in.

2Plank

Yoga for strong arms.
Image courtesy of Alex Schaefer Photography.
From downward dog, shift forward making sure your wrists are directly underneath your shoulders. Keep your gaze lifted about 6 inches in front of your fingertips, elongating the neck. Suck your belly button in toward your spine to activate your core.

3Chaturanga

yoga for strong arms
Image courtesy of Alex Schaefer Photography.
Keeping your elbows directly over wrists, slowly lower your body down to hover a few inches above the ground. Keep your back flat and don’t let your chest drop or sag. Your elbows should be hugged along your ribcage at a 90-degree angle.

4Upward Facing Dog

yoga for strong arms
Image courtesy of Alex Shaefer Photography.

From Chaturanga, keep your gaze forward and lift strongly from the core. Move your body forward while pressing into your hands to straighten your arms. Keep your chest lifted and thighs off the ground.

5Dolphin

yoga for sculpted arms
Image courtesy of Alex Shaefer Photography.
Come back into a plank pose, then lower down to your forearms, making sure they are parallel to one another and shoulder width apart. Slowly begin to step your feet in toward your face, continuing like you would to downward dog. Lengthen your tailbone away from your pelvis and continue to press your forearms actively into the ground.
All images courtesy of Alex Schaefer Photography.

 

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