I tried supermodel Karlie Kloss’s upper-body workout with light weights and I was surprised by how effective it was

I’m always looking for ways to squeeze a quick workout into my day so when I saw that celebrity trainer Megan Roup had shared the four-move arms routine she performed with supermodel Karlie Kloss, I had to give it a try.

Roup is no stranger to training celebrities. As the founder of The Sculpt Society (TSS), her high-profile clients include Dakota Johnson and Sabrina Carpenter.

For this workout, Roup uses TSS’s hand weights to do triceps punches, overhead punches, diagonal punches and cross-center punches.

Roup recommends two to three rounds of 16 repetitions per exercise. For the alternating moves, I counted eight per arm, while for the cross-center punches, I completed 16 reps in total. If that feels like too many reps, you could reduce it to 8-10, or even do the moves without weights to start.

I used my usual hex 2kg (about 4.4lb) dumbbells for the exercises, and was pleasantly surprised at how much of a sweat I worked up. Here’s what else I discovered.

Light weights don’t equal easy

I don’t own the TSS hand weights Kloss and Roup were using in the Instagram reel, but in my opinion my 2kg dumbbells did the job just as well. I worked my way through three rounds of each of the four punching moves. The entire workout took me about 12 minutes, including a 60-second rest between rounds.

While it went fast, doing 16 reps of each move built up and my arms felt like they had been working hard. Dare I say it, the dumbbells almost felt too heavy by round three!

My triceps got more attention than I expected

Often the biceps—the muscles in the front of the upper arms—get more attention in strength training because people associate them with more visible arm size. But the triceps brachii are the largest muscle in the upper arm, so if you want bigger arms, training them can have more of an impact and in Roup’s workout, most of the moves are powered by the triceps.

Strengthening your triceps also helps you perform push movements with greater ease, for example, when you are pushing open a heavy door or are using the armrests to get up from a chair.

Strong triceps also play an important part in compound push exercises like the bench press, a move I am trying to improve, so I’ll be doing this workout again to support that goal.

I forgot what a stress buster boxing is—and how much I love it

This year, on a fitness retreat, I rediscovered my love of boxing. Roup’s arms workout reminded me yet again how much I love these kinds of controlled punching movements. I found them a great stress buster, plus, repeating the exercises with light weights can help build muscular endurance, especially in the shoulders and triceps when the light resistance quickly feels challenging.

The diagonal punches were my favorite—the combination of reaching, pivoting and rotating made the routine feel more engaging than a straightforward arms session. By the end, my arms felt thoroughly worked and I’d enjoyed a welcome break from my desk—good reasons to try it again.

• No dumbbells? Try this 20-minute shadowboxing routine for beginners