bingo – toned arms for the summer

No, not what my nan loves on holiday! But the unflattering name we give those wobbly bits under our upper arms. With summer finally here, I wanted to share a couple of quick fixes for beautiful, toned arms and shoulders. I’m going to focus on 3 muscles: bicep, tricep and deltoids. Make sure you have plenty of space around you and if possible, do these in front of a mirror to check you’ve got your arms in the right places. Let’s get started!

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The dumb waiter combo – Follow the mini-images above to crack this one. Imagine you’re holding a tray in front of you: elbows drawn down by your waist and bent at 90 degrees and your forearms supporting the “tray”. Now rotate your hands out to your sides to “drop” the tray and continue to move your arms up in an arc so you look like a giant T shape (e.g. arms stretched out at shoulder height either side, 90 degrees under your armpits). Flex your elbows to 90 degrees to become a giant fork (your arms are two prongs and your head a pea on the middle prong!) and draw the forearms together in front of you, as if you wanted to squeeze a beach ball in front of your face. Phew – halfway! Bring the arms back to the fork position, straighten your arms to the T shape and then draw your elbows down to your waist and finally, back to the tray position. You’re back at the start! Now repeat the whole cycle again (6 times min.) and add more reps or small weights, as you get stronger (try small water bottles or cans of beans).

The arm circle/pulse combo – I described the first part of this in an earlier b-mail, so assuming you’ve been practicing regularly; I’m going to add the next level of challenge. Stand in the T shape position and get ready to increase the burn! Making sure you’ve plenty of space between your ears and your shoulders, draw small controlled circles, moving from the shoulder joint – small being the key word here. Six in one direction, six in the other. Palm facing forward, pulse the whole arm forward a small amount – yes, it’s that word again, small – six times, turn palms backwards, six pulses backwards. Palms down, six downwards pulses. Last, you guessed it – palms up, six upwards. Got it? Repeat the full set of circles and pulses at least twice. Again, build more sets and add weights.

Why not add these to your morning and evening routines, to achieve beautiful toned arms that you’ll want to show off? While you wait for the shower to heat up or the kettle to boil or during the commercial break of your evening viewing….I’m confident you can find a few minutes each day to invest in sculpting your arms!

Give it a go and if you like the results you see or you want help getting it right, why not come along and try one of my classes to get the same success for your whole body!

How do you fit exercise into your hectic day? Let me know how you combine it into your day to inspire others’ practice.