This five-move workout is all you need to build strong, muscular arms

Build muscle and boost your strength in less than 20 minutes with this quick five-move chest and arms workout

A woman performing a push-up on a pair of dumbbells at the gym
(Image credit: Getty)

A good strength workout doesn't need to involve set after set of complex exercises. This one uses just five moves and will work your chest and triceps in less than 20 minutes.

The workout comes courtesy of Sweat app trainer Britany Williams, who specialises in creating accessible, effective minimal-equipment sessions. All you need to try it for yourself is a pair of dumbbells.

We like using a set from our roundup of the best adjustable dumbbells, which allow you to change their weight to suit your strength level, but a fairly light fixed weight pair will work here too. 

William's workout takes time-efficiency to another level, using supersets to squeeze plenty of high-quality work into less than 20 minutes. After you've completed three rounds of the first pairing, rest for two minutes before launching into the second superset. 

To find out which five exercises await you, watch Williams' video below, and take note of her technique to help you learn how to perform each one correctly. 

Watch Britany Williams' chest and triceps workout

It might sound daunting, but a superset is simply two exercises paired together and performed back to back with no rest in between. By limiting the number of breaks between exercises, she quickly slices the length of the session down to size.  

For this workout, Williams challenges you to perform three rounds of each superset with minimal rest to really fatigue your muscles, so you'll only need a light pair of dumbbells to feel the effects. 

Finally, Williams concludes the workout out with a challenging finisher: two 30-second bursts of push-ups with just 15 seconds of rest in between them. This is no mean feat, so if you're still learning how to do a push-up try lowering your knees or placing your hands on an elevated surface to make the exercise slightly easier. 

Push-ups are a brilliant bodyweight compound exercise, meaning they work multiple muscle groups at once. Your chest, shoulders and triceps will all be put to work as you press the ground away, while the fact you're holding a plank position throughout means you'll enjoy a comprehensive core workout too. 

If you've completed this workout and want a complementary lower-body session for the following day, look no further than our selection of the best leg workouts. Or, you could work your back and biceps (the upper-body muscles missing from this session) with this back workout

Harry Bullmore
Fitness Writer

Harry Bullmore is a Fitness Writer for Fit&Well and its sister site Coach, covering accessible home workouts, strength training session, and yoga routines. He joined the team from Hearst, where he reviewed products for Men's Health, Women's Health, and Runner's World. He is passionate about the physical and mental benefits of exercise, and splits his time between weightlifting, CrossFit, and gymnastics, which he does to build strength, boost his wellbeing, and have fun.

Harry is a NCTJ-qualified journalist, and has written for Vice, Learning Disability Today, and The Argus, where he was a crime, politics, and sports reporter for several UK regional and national newspapers.