I know the girl in the video is using maybe 4 times as much weight as I use right now – maybe when I “grow up,” I’ll be more into lifting heavy! – but a 5lb (or even a 3lb) weight will suffice for a beginner, and for someone who’s simply trying to make use of what they have on hand? A water bottle works equally well. Give it a shot!

A simple exercise that can be done with any weight that can be gripped and held for an extended period of time, dumbbell kickbacks are an awesome way to add a little definition to your arms!

Need another exercise for those gallon jugs? Try the overhead dumbbbell press. I love the definition these helped me develop in my shoulders and chest as well as my arms – I’d never seen this on my body before, and I was excited to finally have it.

Again, if you can only do a couple of these without experiencing pain, that’s okay – the name of the game is to allow your body to build muscle to adapt to the exercise, thus making it easier, thus allowing you to add more to your routine!

If you take a look at this exercise, you’ll see just what parts of the arm it works. The tricep is, essentially, the “back” of the arm, for lack of a better phrase. If you do a few of these, it’ll help define that area that often tends to look like little more than a pound of flesh back there. Give ‘em a shot! If you can only do three at a time, that’s fine! Just pay attention to your body and how easy they become for you, and don’t be afraid to add extras to your routine for an additional challenge!

If you don’t have dumbbells, get innovative – grab a gallon jug, put a few cups of water in that bad boy and get to work!

Where do you begin? I started with three sets of ten, which means I would do ten of these moves at a time, three different times with maybe 30 seconds to a minute in-between. The better I got at the move, the more I added to my routine – going from 3 sets of ten to 3 sets of 15, for example – and I’d add more water to my jug. If you are determined to do it, you can!

(Truth be told, I even used my daughter as a weight a couple of times! Hey, you get it in where you can, right?)

If you’re looking to tone those sides up, give the side bend a shot:

I do 4 sets of 30 about 3 times a week. They help me keep my curves in check even though I’m losing weight at the same time.

Be happy, be healthy!