Guide to Arm Stretches: How to Stretch Your Arms

Arm stretches are upper-body movements that expand and contract the muscles and joints of your arms, including your shoulders, biceps, triceps, wrists, and forearms. Stretching your arms activates your muscles, stimulates blood flow, and can increase your short-term range of motion and flexibility.

Arm stretches are one of many types of stretches for the upper body, alongside chest and biceps stretches. Many people perform arm stretches as a warm-up or cool down before or after an upper-body workout, yoga session, or standalone wellness activity.

When done properly, arm stretching can:

• Activate muscles and blood flow. Stretching your arms can stimulate your muscles and increase blood flow to the area. Performing arm stretches can make it easier to use the right muscles when lifting weights (like dumbbell curls or bench presses) or doing a strenuous exercise program like yoga, strength training, or a sports session.
• Increase your short-term range of motion. Arm stretches increase your range of motion, allowing you to perform deeper stretches or fully activate a particular muscle. If you feel a lot of stiffness or tightness in your arms or are about to do an upper-body workout and want to perform as much of the motion as possible, arm stretches can be a great option.
• Increase long-term flexibility. Over time, consistent, safe arm stretches can increase your long-term flexibility, allowing you to perform deeper stretches and hold them longer.
• Relieve muscle soreness. While athletes commonly stretch before or after a workout to relieve muscle soreness, some personal trainers argue that arm-stretching doesn’t significantly affect sore muscles or pain relief. However, researchers suggest that stretching your arms may offer relief in the form of a placebo effect since it activates your muscles and can help you believe that your soreness will subside.

There are many muscle groups that you can target with specific arm stretches:

• Biceps: Your biceps brachii are the forward-facing muscles of your upper arm, consisting of two different parts: the long head and the short head.
• Deltoids: Your deltoids are the large, triangular muscles that cover the sides of your shoulders.
  
• Forearm muscles: Your forearm muscles are made up of several small muscles, including the pronator teres and the palmaris longus.
• Joint muscles: Your arm comprises several major joints, each of which is supported and strengthened by a set of muscles. The brachialis muscle supports the elbow, the rotator cuff muscles (supraspinatus, infraspinatus, teres minor, and subscapularis) support the shoulder, and the two flexor carpi muscles (radialis and ulnaris) support wrist motion.
• Triceps: Your triceps are the back-facing muscles of your upper arm, consisting of three different parts: the long head, the lateral head, and the medial head.

Here’s a basic step-by-step guide with stretching exercises that target each of the major muscle groups in your arms. As you stretch, be gentle in your movements and stop immediately if you feel pain.

1. 1. Start with a warm-up. Avoid stretching “cold,” or from a completely sedentary or resting state, because it can shock your muscles and lead to undue strain or injury. Instead, warm up before you stretch by taking a quick walk, jogging in place, or performing another brief cardio workout to increase your heart rate and encourage blood flow to your muscles.
2. 2. Stretch your shoulders. Your shoulders support most of the other muscles in your arms, so stretching them first will serve as a good foundation for the rest of your stretches. The most common shoulder stretch is shoulder rolls. To perform shoulder rolls, stand straight with relaxed arms, inhale and lift your shoulders in a shrug, and exhale and roll your shoulders back as if you’re squeezing your shoulder blades together, ending in a relaxed position. Repeat with at least 10 deep breaths. You should feel shoulder rolls in your deltoids and the trapezius muscles of your neck and upper back. Other popular stretches include pendulum hangs and child’s pose.
3. 3. Move to your triceps. The overhead triceps extension is the most common triceps stretch. To perform this stretch, stand in a straight starting position with relaxed arms, and then raise your right arm over your head, bending it at the elbow so that your hand rests on your neck or upper back. Then, take your left hand and gently press your stretched arm downward, and repeat several times for each arm. You should feel this stretch in your tricep and shoulder. Common stretches include crossbody triceps extensions and leaning bench stretches.
4. 4. Add in biceps stretches. The seated biceps stretch is the most common biceps stretch. To perform this stretch, sit on the ground with your knees pointed upward and your feet flat on the ground. Place your hands behind you, palms on the floor, and fingers facing away from you. Then, slowly slide your body forward (keeping your back straight) while keeping your hands in place. You should feel this stretch in your biceps, as well as a gentle shoulder and chest stretch. Other common stretches include wall bicep rotations and interlaced hand stretches.
5. 5. Finish with wrist and forearm stretches. The most common wrist and forearm stretches are paired motions called extension stretches and flexion stretches. Stand straight with relaxed arms to perform these stretches, then hold your right arm straight out in front of you at shoulder height. Lift your right hand so that your palm is facing away from you (extension stretch), and gently use your opposite hand to deepen the stretch. Next, drop your hand so that your palm is facing toward you (flexion stretch), and once again, gently use your opposite-side hand to deepen the stretch. You should feel these stretches in your wrist and forearm.

If you want to target particular muscles or joints in your arms to increase flexibility, you may want to incorporate other targeted stretches into your routine. To increase the difficulty, consider adding in a resistance band or light dumbbell.

If you have a previous or pre-existing health condition, consult your physician before beginning an exercise program. Proper exercise technique is essential to ensure the safety and effectiveness of an exercise program, but you may need to modify each exercise to attain optimal results based on your individual needs. Always select a weight that allows you to have full control of your body throughout the movement. When performing any exercise, pay close attention to your body, and stop immediately if you note pain or discomfort.

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