Tag Archives: arms

The 5 Best Moves Every Woman Needs for Strong, Toned Arms

Women often neglect strengthening their arms simply because they don’t know which exercises to do, but building arm strength is important for a number of reasons. A woman with strong arms can help…

1. Prevent osteoporosis

2. Strengthen the spine

3. Improve posture

5 More Reasons Women Should Lift Weights

Plus, who doesn’t love toned arms?! Allow me to take you through my five best arm exercises for women. All you need for this routine is a pair of dumbbells and a few short minutes in your living room, hotel room, or wherever you may have a few spare minutes!

dempsey triceps

OVERHEAD TRICEPS EXTENSION

— Begin standing with your feet shoulder distance apart.

— Hold a dumbbell with both hands in a heart-shaped grip (it should feel like you’re cradling the dumbbell).

— Bring the dumbbell behind your head, bending your elbows.

— Engage your core and extend your arms straight, reaching the dumbbell overhead.

— Slowly return to the starting position. This is one rep. Complete 8-12 reps. (more…)

Finish Summer Strong with a Beach Ball Workout by Patricia Friberg

Award winning fitness guru Patricia Friberg has shared a hot new beach workout for the home stretch of summer. The Beach Ball Workout strengthens the glutes, abs, thighs and arms, and all you need is a beach ball—a beach doesn’t hurt either.

You’ve gotta mix up your fitness regimen if you want to avoid the workout doldrums. So seek out a sunny spot and try this great new workout from Patricia.

Beach Ball Lateral Squat

Beach-Ball-Slide-1

Benefits: Tones the bottom, inner thigh, legs and waistline. This is a one stop shop for exercises.

Set up: Wide stance with legs, holding the ball in the hands. Draw the abdominals inward and upward.

Step 1: Hinge at the right hip and bend your right knee. Take the ball down to the ground by your right foot. Firm the right glute and keep your abdominals drawing in.

Step 2: With the strength of your right leg, push into the ground to straighten the leg and lift the ball up and side bend to the left. 12 reps each leg. (more…)

Saturday Morning Drill: Power-Packed Yoga Poses for a Summer-Ready Body

Blooming flowers, singing birds, and warmer days are welcome reminders that summer is right around the corner. But, if you have yet to shed your winter wardrobe for fear of exposing your non summer-ready body, thoughts of tank tops and bikini bottoms might have you wishing it were still November.

The following yoga poses will help tone your arms, core, hips and thighs so you can sport a fit summertime physique.

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Plank Pose

Better than doing a bench press, practicing plank pose tops the list as one of the best yoga poses to do for overall strength and tone. Practice at least one set of plank every day, and work up to holding your plank for up to one full minute. If you need to modify, practice plank pose on your knees until you can work up to practicing it on your toes. (more…)

Saturday Morning Drill: Weight-Free Arm Workout

Getting to the gym on the weekends doesn’t usually happen for me. It’s my time to relax and unwind and the last thing I want to do is get bundled up, make myself presentable and go get sweaty for an hour. But, that doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate a quick workout before my weekend officially kicks off. This 10-minute arm workout that can be done at home (or anywhere) is my solution for that.

From boxing to yoga to body weight moves, this quick arm toning workout hits almost your entire upper body, including triceps, chest, core, and even your legs. So get into something comfy and breathable, grab a bottle of water to stay hydrated, and let’s get started!

View Saturday Morning Drills: Weightless Arm Workout Slideshow

5 Ways to Get Michelle Obama’s Sexy Arms

During last week’s inauguration we got a glance at Michelle Obama‘s toned, fit arms in that gorgeous sleeveless gown she wore to the ball. The first lady has always had an admirable figure, but her arms truly speak to the dedication she has to her fitness regimen. They don’t come easy, but if you follow my guidance here, we can start working on a set of strong arms of your own.

We want to see the curves of the bicep and the nice little cap of the deltoids. We absolutely do not want to see the tricep waddle! A lot of curls and kickbacks may create some shape in your arms but they are not the most efficient way to build muscle and burn fat. So how does a girl build fabulous arms and shoulders?

First, I will tell you how it’s not accomplished.

Not with infomercial gadgets that promise you fantastic muscles in only 10 minutes a day.

Not with endless curls with soup cans or water bottles.

Not with starvation diets.

Here are my top five tips to get fantastic arms you want to show off in your tank tops and shoulder-baring dresses. (more…)

Bollywood Star’s Balanced Diet Philosophy Should be Emulated by Hollywood

After reading a recent interview from a rising Bollywood star, here’s to hoping our Western culture can start teaching our daughters to embrace the Indian culture of actress Bhavna Pani.

The Times of India headlined with Pani’s own words, “I never go on a diet.” The beautiful dancer and actress told the news source that she exercises faithfully, but she never diets, and stated that “shortcuts always prove to be disastrous.” These sage words are coming from a 22-year-old who has to be on screen in front of millions. It was really refreshing to hear that she’s embraced healthy living as a lifestyle and scoffed away quick, hard hitting diets that won’t last.

Pani said in her interview that all her exercise comes from dance and body weight training. She mentioned that she dances about 1-2 hours a day while adding in a toning activity like Pilates or yoga on alternating days. She says her routine is effective and does not demand too much time. (more…)

Saturday Morning Drill: 80s Fitness Revived

When it comes to health and fitness each decade has its own claim to fame. Crossfit, P90x, Zumba, spinning and yoga claimed the 2000s. The Atkins Diet, Soloflex, Tae bo and the release of fitness DVDs claimed the 90s (raise your hand if you still have one or two tapes in your arsenal). And when it comes to the 80s it was almost more about the style than the actual exercises.

Side ponies, bright pastel spandex and scrunchy socks reigned supreme. And so did trampoline workouts, Suzanne Somers and Jane Fonda, who released her first workout video in 1982 titled “Jane Fonda’s Workout.” The video was so well received it sold more than 1 million copies! That’s a lot of workout tapes and spandex, even for the 80s.

Though we have a few 90s-born babies in our office, the majority of our staff was born in the 1980s, meaning we have a personal fondness for fitness from that era (myself included). So this week’s Saturday Morning Drill channels that decade with workout moves that require no equipment and tone your whole body. The best part? It’s an absolute blast. So get on your tightest neon spandex, fashion your hair in a side pony and let’s get started!

Saturday Morning Drills: Workout to Tone Arms

Too often I think the arms get forgotten about when we’re working on our fitness. So today, I want to show you an arms workout you can do at home to tone the muscles without adding bulk. Just follow along on this video and then insert these exercises in to your routine.

Equipment needed: 3-5 pound weights

Perform the circuit once, then as you get stronger repeat it twice! (more…)

Saturday Morning Drills: Sexy Shoulder Workout

It’s that time of the year where you finally get to pack away all your bulky sweaters and pull out your sexy tank tops and sundresses. If the warm weather snuck up on you quicker than you expected and your shoulders aren’t quite as sleek and toned as you would prefer, don’t despair, we are here to help!

We have included six easy moves that will get your arms ready for their grand debut in no time. All it takes is 15 minutes 3-4 times a week, starting today!

View Saturday Morning Drills: Sexy Shoulders Slideshow

Madonna’s Famous Arms Beginning to Lose Their Bulk

Whether good or bad, Madonna always makes news. Her music and career tend to be her biggest attention grabbers, however, her arms seem to pull a close second when it comes to attention. Love them or hate them, Madonna’s arms have a career all their own.

In the last 10 years Madonna’s biceps started making an appearance. About five years ago, the artist’s arms were so cut and lean she began to face a lot of criticism. Whether her arms were the punchline of a joke, or a point of contention, they were always news worthy.

A few years ago when Madonna’s arms were notoriously veiny, sports nutritionist Leslie Bonci told ABC News, “When muscles look that way, it’s often the result of pretty restrictive eating and dehydration… With bodybuilders, the goal is to be sinewy, to make everything stand out. How do you get to that goal? You restrict your fluid intake. But then you might collapse on stage.”

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Get Sexy Arms By Christmas With this Weekly Yoga Routine

Christmas parties and other such holiday events bring our favorite dresses out of the deep corners of the closet and revive them back to life, but often these dresses are of the sleeveless variety. From the candy-devouring weeks before and after Halloween, to eating our way through November, our bodies can become puffed, plumped and primed for baggy sweatshirts, rather than our sleek holiday get-up.

If you work hard and follow this plan starting right now, you will be showing off your sexy guns by the time you grace your first Christmas party. The only downside is that you will make your friends envious as you parade around looking fabulous.

For the best results, couple this daily yoga routine with a low-fat diet.

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