{"id":659969,"date":"2026-10-28T21:30:12","date_gmt":"2026-10-28T21:30:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/659969\/"},"modified":"2026-10-28T21:30:12","modified_gmt":"2026-10-28T21:30:12","slug":"how-gemma-atkinson-41-builds-her-strong-muscular-arms-4-exercises-and-how-to-do-them-properly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/659969\/","title":{"rendered":"How Gemma Atkinson, 41, builds her strong, muscular arms \u2013\u00a04 exercises and how to do them properly"},"content":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s no doubt that former Hollyoaks and Emmerdale actress Gemma Atkinson<\/a> knows her way around a gym floor. Frequently sharing workout posts and videos from her enviable home gym, she\u2019s one of the UK\u2019s most popular \u2018gymfluencers\u2019, with a cool 2.1 million followers on Instagram alone.
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Gemma is also a huge advocate for strength training<\/a> for women, particularly as we age. Sharing details of her latest book, Thrive at 40 & Beyond<\/a>, just this week, she rallied women to embrace the whole-body \u2013 and mind \u2013 benefits of strength training.<\/p>\n

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\u2018Ladies, it\u2019s time to age with power! It\u2019s time to support our hearts and brains. Protect our joints, increase bone density<\/a>, prevent injury, support our hormones, feel our best and look like a boss.\u2019<\/p>\n

Heading into her 40s, she\u2019s also vocal about functional strength being a huge motivator. Previously telling WH<\/a>: \u2018That\u2019s always my aim with training. It\u2019s never, \u201cI need to fit into a certain size,\u201d it\u2019s \u201cHow can I remain strong?\u201d Especially going into your forties; perimenopause will kick in\u2026 I want my body to be functional. I want to play with my kids and carry all the shopping bags of food out of the car.\u2019<\/p>\n

And the best way to carry kids and shopping<\/a>? With strong arms, of course.<\/p>\n

4 arm exercises Gemma Atkinson swears byStart by standing or sitting on a bench, with your back upright and your dumbbells by your sides.Keep your elbows close to your body and your shoulders pulled back.With your arms fully extended, curl the dumbbells towards your chest until your thumbs are near your shoulders.Hold the position for 1-2 seconds, then slowly lower the dumbbells back down.<\/p>\n

How it works your arms: This one puts your biceps to work, while the neutral grip also brings your forearms into the action. It\u2019s a simple move, but you\u2019ll definitely feel those arms working as the set goes on.<\/p>\n

\"ImageSit with your shoulders against the bench, chest proud and head facing forwards, holding a dumbbell in each hand.Bend your elbows to 90 degrees, with the dumbbells at ear level and your palms facing forwards.Straighten your arms and press the dumbbells towards the ceiling.Lower the dumbbells back to the starting position and repeat.<\/p>\n

How it works your arms: Your shoulders do most of the heavy lifting here, with your triceps helping to straighten your arms as you press the dumbbells overhead. It\u2019s a great one for building overall upper-body pushing strength.<\/p>\n

\"ImageStand facing a wall, holding a medicine ball at chest height.Lower into a squat while keeping your chest lifted.Drive upwards explosively and throw the ball towards the wall.Catch the ball and lower straight back into your next squat.<\/p>\n

How it works your arms: Wall balls are more than a leg exercise \u2013 your shoulders and arms have to repeatedly drive the ball upwards, while your core helps keep everything connected. The faster you work, the more your arms will feel it.<\/p>\n

\"ImageStand tall holding a kettlebell in each hand by your sides. (Or dumbbells work just as well.)Keep your shoulders back, chest lifted and core engaged.Walk forwards slowly, using small, controlled steps while maintaining good posture.<\/p>\n

How it works your arms: This is a brilliant one for your grip and forearms, while your shoulders and upper back work to keep the weights steady. It\u2019s also one of those exercises that translates directly into real life \u2013 think carrying shopping bags without having to put them down.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There\u2019s no doubt that former Hollyoaks and Emmerdale actress Gemma Atkinson knows her way around a gym floor.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":659970,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[139269,137329,182583,635,296983,637,589,1345,163,85,46,195853,636,296982,237453,139267],"class_list":["post-659969","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fitness","tag-collection-celebrity-workouts","tag-collection-fitness-app","tag-collection-upper-body-exercise-library","tag-content-type-news","tag-contentid-1c997245-349b-4a2f-b758-a4061e33cd6d","tag-displaytype-standard-article","tag-fitness","tag-hasproduct-true","tag-health","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-issyndicated-false","tag-locale-gb","tag-shorttitle-gemma-atkinsons-strong-arm-secrets","tag-sponsored-false","tag-subsection-strength-training"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/659969","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=659969"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/659969\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/659970"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=659969"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=659969"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=659969"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}