Do your arms resemble limp spaghetti noodles hanging from your shoulder sockets? Do passing strangers reach to brush the offending food particle from your clothing before gasping when they realize their terrible mistake?

“Pardon me, sir, you have some spaghetti-“

“Those are my arms.”

“Sorry.”

Maybe your situation isn’t this dire but you could use some ideas for a down-and-dirty quick arm workout to squeeze into your busy schedule on the way home from work. You need a few basic exercises to work both biceps and triceps and here we go.

Standing Barbell Curls: Using a barbell for an arm workout sometimes gets lost in the mad rush to the dumbbell rack. Start off with this one to really put a load on your biceps and forearms. Grab a barbell loaded with weights in an underhanded grip, feet shoulder width apart. Let the bar hang at arm’s length in front of you. Keep your elbows tucked in and use only biceps strength to curl the bar up to shoulder level, then return it to the start with a controlled motion.

Preacher Curls: This one isolates the biceps well and uses lighter weights. Sit on the preacher bench with your upper arms flat on the pad, palms up. Have someone hand you the barbell. From the start position in front of your chin, lower the bar until your elbows are almost straight and you feel a good biceps stretch. Curl it back up, hold for a second and repeat.

Close Grip Bench Press: This basic exercise works the inner and outer heads of the triceps and, to a lesser extent, the pecs and deltoids. Assume the bench press position but grab the bar with a slightly narrower than shoulder width grip. Hold the bar above your lower chest, then lower until it touches but don’t let it bounce. Keep your arms tucked close to your sides and return to starting position.

Click here to see picture demonstrations of these exercises. Yes, there are a million different ways to work your arms. These three are simple, basic movements that will lay a great foundation for toning, strength, size, or all three.

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