Written by Sam Coleman | Co-founder
Fact checked by Kirsten Yovino, CPT Brookbush Institute
FACT CHECKED
Looking for killer steel mace arm exercises and workouts?
Great. We have you covered!
Our goal is to make sure you are ARMed and ready at all times.
So, with that, here are a bunch of steel mace arm exercises (biceps, triceps, and forearms) that will turn your arms into lean, mean, vascular machines.
The Best Steel Mace Arm Exercises (Biceps, Triceps, Forearms)
After watching these steel mace arm exercises, read on to learn more about creating effective arm workouts using steel maces.
As you can see, if you know how to use a mace, you can blast your biceps and triceps and get a great pump.
That said, full disclaimer:
Steel maces are not really meant to be used like dumbbells or other classic bodybuilding equipment. They are designed to focus on movement patterns rather than isolation exercises.
The best steel mace workouts target multiple muscle groups, moving you through different movements and ranges of motion.
In fact, by nature of design, pretty much every steel mace exercise will work your core strength, core stability, stabilizer muscles, and grip strength due to the offset weight.
For example, a Steel Mace Offset Row will work your biceps and back, while also working your core and forearms due to the uneven weight distribution, and as you will be in a high-hinge position, the offset weight will force you to resist rotation.
With these kinds of exercises, you are killing multiple birds with one stone.
Regarding your arms, steel mace exercises treat the body as one complete functioning unit, therefore, your arms will naturally develop. After all, they are an extension of your body…
Plus, you are always going to be holding the mace no matter what movement you are doing. Because of this, your arms are put to work at all times, especially your shoulders and forearms.
Hypertrophy
Let’s just be clear, the steel mace isn’t the best tool for muscular hypertrophy, but it can be done. Certainly, your time might be better spent using dumbbells or barbells if you want to isolate your biceps or triceps.
Nevertheless, it is very much possible to do isolation-type steel mace exercises that mainly target your biceps and triceps. With these exercises, you can build muscle in your arms (think, Thor and Captain Marvel type arms rather than Hulk and Thanos). It’s just going to require a different approach in terms of sets and reps. All of which we will explain in just a moment.
Before we get into it, we just want to be clear, the steel mace is a great tool for specific areas of focus, such as:
- Transverse plane exercises
- Upper Body Rotational Power
- Core strength
- Grip Strength
- Shoulder Fluidity
- Shoulder Endurance
- Stabilizer Muscles
- Metabolic & HIIT Workouts
and so on…
Again, it’s not a tool we’d look to for isolation exercises if other equipment is available. As a matter of fact, for most training plans, we don’t even focus on isolation exercises.
But let’s just go on the premise that we are looking to specifically blast our arms with a steel mace because:
- We want bigger, stronger arms.
- Arm workouts are pretty fun.
- We are at home or outside and this is the tool we have available or we just simply want to try something new.
- We want to target specific muscles without stressing other muscle groups (because we’ve already taxed them with a previous workout during that day or the day before) - remember, by nature of design, your core will be working with pretty much all of these mace exercises.
- We have an injury that we want to avoid in other areas of your body but we still want to workout.
- We want to strengthen an area we feel is weaker and lacking compared with the rest of our body.
In any case, the arm exercises in the video above will do the job, you just need to put in more volume as the weight of the mace (with exception of the 20lb+ maces) isn’t going to be heavy enough for 6-10 reps to be effective (at least not for the vast majority of us). What we want is more time under tension.
So, here are two steel mace arm workouts using the exercises featured in the video above…
2 Steel Mace Arm Workouts (Traditional-style & Circuit)
Note: These two workouts are arm-centric, so you can use them as an arm workout just like you would with dumbbells and/or a barbell in the gym.
Workout Structure Based On - 10 or 15lb steel mace (men) AND 7 or 10lb steel mace (women). For heavier weights, simply adjust the rep count. Strive for maximum time under tension without sacrificing form.
Traditional-style Workout
- Choose 3-4 bicep exercises and 3-4 tricep exercises.
- Do 3-4 sets of each exercises, 15-20 reps (each side).
- Rest 1 minute in-between sets.
“Each side” refers to the side the mace head is on, which is your working side, as the hand/arm towards the end of the handle is doing more of the stabilizing.
PRO TIP: When the mace is horizontal, to get maximum tension, pull your hands away from each other (without actually moving them), as if you are trying to extend the handle with pure force. This will allow both of your arms to be fully engaged.
Circuit
Set 1:
- Choose 4 exercises (ideally 2 bicep and 2 tricep exercises).
- Do each exercises for 10-15 reps (each side) one after the other without resting.
- Once you complete all 4 exercises, rest for 2 minutes.
- Repeat for 3 Rounds.
Set 2:
- Choose another 3-4 exercises (mix of both tricep and bicep exercises)
- Do each exercises for 10-15 reps (each side) one after the other without resting.
- Once you complete all 4 exercises, rest for 2 minutes.
- Repeat for 3 Rounds.
So, there you have it. A killer arm workout with a training tool you wouldn’t necessarily first consider for an arm workout.
Tips for steel mace arm exercises:
1. Don’t lean and keep squared at all time. Due to the offset weight of the mace, you will need to always keep this in mind. Pack your lats down and align your spine so you are always standing straight and squared forward when performing steel mace exercises.
2. Pull at the mace head and lever (or push in), to create maximum tension.
3. Get creative. The steel mace is a training tool that lends itself to a lot of creativity. Have fun and be safe.
All of these tips are explained in the video.
More Steel Mace Workouts:
- How to strengthen wrists - 17 macebell exercises for iron-hard wrists
- Steel Mace Targeted Exercises (Chest, Back, Legs, Arms)
- Steel Mace Basics
- The Ultimate Steel Mace Metabolic Workout
- 4 Week Steel Mace & Bodyweight Workout Plan
Let us know how your arms feel after this workout in the comments below.
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Sam Coleman
Author