5 Standing Exercises That Trim Upper Arms Faster Than Gym Machines After 60

By Alexa Mellardo

August 24, 2026

Firming your upper arms requires building lean muscle in your triceps and biceps. Many gym-goers turn to machines for their arm-day workouts, prioritizing exercises like the shoulder press, lat pulldown, and tricep pushdown. That’s a good plan, but we have an alternative to consider. We spoke with Domenic Angelino, MS, MPH, CSCS, CPT, Chief Exercise Scientist at FitCraft, who says you can get results with an at-home workout if you have the right tools and free weights on deck. Angelino shares five standing exercises to help trim your upper arms faster than gym machines after 60.

“The best thing about standing exercises is that they allow you to build whichever muscle you’re focusing on, while also incidentally training other muscles that help keep your body stable as you do. In real life, as you go about your day, you’ll encounter situations that place demands on your body in a similar way. When you go to pick something off of a high shelf and lower it down, you’re primarily using your arm and shoulder muscles, yes. But other muscles, like the ones in your core, help keep your torso stable and supported as you do those actions,” Angelino tells us.

That’s not to say gym machines aren’t a beneficial addition to a well-rounded routine. Machine-based workouts help strengthen the muscles you’re specifically targeting, which could be useful for those aiming to address a muscular imbalance or define a “problem area.”

In the meantime, these standing exercises come in clutch and are a great place to get started.

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Barbell Curl

“The bicep curl allows you to directly isolate your biceps in a way that places a lot of demand on stabilizer muscles in your body,” Angelino says. “Barbell curls also allow you to use heavier weights overall, since your arms can work together to lift more, as opposed to each arm acting independently to lift its own weight, as you’d do during a dumbbell curl.”

1. Stand tall with your feet roughly hip-distance apart.
2. Hold a barbell using an underhand grip, hands shoulder-width apart.
3. Activate your core and maintain a tall chest.
4. Bend your elbows to curl the barbell up toward your shoulders.
5. Hold briefly at the top and squeeze your biceps.
6. Use control to lower.

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Hammer Curl

“In addition to training your biceps, the hammer curl helps you build the brachialis muscle, which is a deep muscle underneath your biceps. If it gets bigger, it pushes your biceps outwards, causing your arm size to increase,” Angelino says.

1. Stand tall with your feet hip-width apart, holding a dumbbell or water bottle in each hand at your side with a neutral grip.
2. Make sure your elbows stay locked to your ribs as you curl the weights up.
3. Stop once your forearms are vertical or just past.
4. Slowly lower.

Overhead Tricep Extensions

1. Stand tall with your feet hip-width apart.
2. Hold a dumbbell or water bottle with both hands.
3. Lift the weight overhead.
4. Keep your elbows close to your ears as you slowly lower the weight toward the back of your head, feeling the stretch in your triceps.
5. Use control to press the weight back overhead.

Tricep Kickbacks

“If you keep your upper arms closer to your sides during a triceps exercise, you’ll prioritize the other two tricep heads instead. They may not be as effective at increasing how voluminous your upper arm looks, but they play a big role in giving the triceps its distinctive shape,” Angelino points out.

1. Begin by standing tall, holding a dumbbell or water bottle in each hand.
2. Hinge forward at the hips, keeping your back flat and your core engaged.
3. Keep your upper arms parallel to the ground as you extend the weights behind you.
4. Squeeze your triceps at the top of the movement.
5. Use control as you return to the start position.

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Narrow-Grip Curl-to-Press

“This movement lets you train your biceps and triceps back to back. The way this exercise is set up, you can train both major parts of your upper arm in a single repetition,” Angelino says.

1. Begin standing tall with your feet roughly hip-width apart.
2. Hold a dumbbell or water bottle in each hand, palms facing forward and arms close to your sides.
3. Curl the weights up toward your shoulders.
4. At the top of the curl, keep the weights close together in front of your shoulders.
5. Then, press the weights overhead, keeping them pretty close together.
6. Completely extend your arms.
7. Use control to lower the weights to your shoulders.
8. Lower them down through the curl to the starting position.