Eating Right Counts, Too
Photo on left: © iStockphoto.com/Justin Horrocks.
overall picture as we age, poor muscle tone and excess fat are age independent,” she writes in an e-mail. “Fat placement has a lot to do with genetics. But while genes load the gun, lifestyle pulls the trigger.” WHERE TO BEGIN If you want to wear strapless or sleeveless dresses and shirts when the weather gets warmer, the time to start is now. “To get the sleek, sexy arms, it takes religious weight lifting,” says Erin Constantino, exercise physiologist at Saratoga Health and Wellness. “Dedication is big. You have to be diligent. It won’t be easy. But you don’t want to push yourself so much that you injure yourself.” Triceps are the key muscles that need addressing for sleeker arms. You also need to burn fat overall with regular aerobics to uncover those muscles that are hiding, Constantino says. Women naturally store fat in their upper arms just as they do in their hips and thighs. It becomes a trouble spot if that part of the arm is not incorporated into a woman’s exercise plan, says Constantino. “Women think that if they use weights that they will bulk up like a man,” she says. “That’s just one of the biggest misnomers in strength training. Bulking up would require a lot more time and energy than what is recommended for toning. And the weights would be so much heavier and you’d have to do a lot of repetitions.” Virgin recommends skipping the little weights and long reps, and instead picking up the heaviest weights you can handle in good form. Focus on multiple sets of 10. “You can transform your arms. How long it takes depends on your starting point, but you can make major shift in 6 weeks,” she says. “Multi-joint exercise helps the best, such as push-ups, pull-ups, bent-over rows, and dips.” (See photos and video online for specific exercises.) Constantino warns clients that they won’t achieve their goals of beautiful arms if they only do the exercises once a week or every other week. “You have to have do strength training a minimum of two to three times a week, ideally 3-5 times a week for best results, and add in some cardiovascular exercising. Weight loss will come with the cardio workouts,” she says. In addition to the triceps, women need to focus their exercises on the upper back, shoulders and chest to help the arms become shapelier and contoured. “In your exercise routine, you should use all the chest, back and large muscle groups first. Then you can go to the smaller muscle groups
Experts say it’s not just the reps you do that will help create more toned arms. It’s also about what you put in your mouth. “You need to make sure you have fuel in your body before starting any exercise,” Constantino says. In her book Virgin advocates a no-fuss approach to eating that increases energy, helps build muscle and helps eliminate dieting for good. She not only believes in the right foods but the right timing of when you eat. Virgin’s Rules of Meal Timing include: * Eating a substantial breakfast within an hour of waking up. * Stopping eating three hours before bed * Eating every four to six hours She focuses her plan on lean protein, healthful fats, non-starchy vegetables with a rainbow of colors and high-fiber, low-glycemic-index carbohydrates. Getting the sugar out of your diet is important, too. “Before you pick up a fork, remember that even with healthy foods too much of a good thing turns it into a bad thing. If you consume too many calories, they have to go somewhere, and unfortunately, that usually means into those pesky fat cells in your gut, butt, thighs or arms,” she writes via e-mail.
(biceps and triceps). They will fatigue quicker, so save them for last,” Constantino says. She recommends doing two sets of each exercise with 1015 repetitions. The weight should be challenging. Don’t use 3 pound weights. Start out with 8-10 pound dumbbells. It all depends on the person and their starting fitness level. Free weights force the user focus on her body and posture more than sitting at a machine. However, dumbbells are easier to do incorrectly and injure yourself if you are a beginner. “Arm machines at a gym tend to be a little bit nicer and don’t require so many supporting muscles,” Constantino says. “If you travel, you can also use resistance bands in your hotel room. They work too.” Clermont advocates push-ups as the best way to get amazing arms. “You can start doing pushups on a wall, then go to the counter and then to the floor. You can keep progressing to your ability,” she says. “When you can rock out 25 push-ups, you will have defined arms as a female.” see exercises on page 40
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