I hope you all enjoyed The Butt Workout as much as I did. My rear is sore but tight and that, my friends, is worth all the burn! ;) I've decided I'm a pretty big fan of timed workouts like The Butt Workout. Sometimes when I'm working out on my own I'll throw a workout together with several exercises with multiple sets but I get to the last few sets and I just don't want to do them and quitting is SO easy - no one is there to make me do it! I've written The Arm Workout similarly in that there aren't really sets and reps (in the traditional sense) but it all flows together and can be done with very little rest in between making your workout more effective and will take less time to complete. So, that being said, throw on some fast paced music and use the music to help you keep the pace for this arm workout to make you feel more like you're in a group fitness toning class and less like you're on your own and ready to give up! ;)
Grab a pair of 5-8 lb. dumbbells (or any of your improvised home weights) for this workout and crank up that music (fast paced with a strong, easy to follow beat - I promise music will help you keep pace and will make this workout fly by)!
Begin by standing tall, arms at your sides. Following the beat of the music, begin doing arm curls. Count out 8 curls, followed by 12 half arm curls (starting from a 90 degree angle and going up toward your shoulders), immediately go back into 8 full arm curls. At the end of 8 arm curls, pause at 90 degrees and pulse for 10 beats. At last, do 8 more full arm curls.
Hands back down at your sides, do 12 lateral raises (you may keep your elbows slightly bent to take some pressure off the elbow joint) not going above shoulder height (you don't need to go any higher). After 12 lateral raises, bend forward slightly, keeping your back straight and tall, and do 12 tricep kickbacks. After the 12 kickbacks, pulse for 10 beats at the height of your last kickback. Go back to 12 lateral raises, followed by 12 tricep kickbacks and 10 pulses.
Set up to do a shoulder press, but instead of just a shoulder press we'll do a combination of two exercises. You'll do a full shoulder press, come back to starting position, and then push your hands outward as if bracing yourself in a doorway (a wide doorway where you can extend your arms fully). You'll do this combo for 12 reps. After 12 reps you'll come back down to do arm curls again, but this time you'll set your arms at a wide angle (elbows stay tucked at your sides). Do a set of 12 wide arm curls. Follow that with 12 more shoulder press combos and then 12 more wide arm curls.
The last exercise is tricky and you do not need weights for this move. You'll actually need to get down into push up position only angle your position so that your rear is up in the air and your body is in an upside down "v" position. (You can search "inverted shoulder press" for more clarification on this move.) Bend your arms to lower your head toward the floor and then press back up. You'll do this for 8 reps and then straighten your body out to hold a normal push up or plank position and hold steady for 30 seconds (or as long as you are able). Get back into your upside down "v" position for 8 more inverted should presses and then hold plank again for another 30 seconds.
Whew! Are you tired? You should be! With this workout you've worked several different angles of your biceps and triceps, multiple angles of your deltoids (shoulders), your trapezoid, your lats, your forearms, and your core. Along with those major muscles you've worked a miriad of smaller muscles in between to help give you a toned, defined look worthy of swim suit season and tank tops all summer long.
Just to recap (as I did with The Butt Workout) here's a condensed version without all the explinations that you can keep right in front of you as you work out so you don't have to stop and chekc your computer screen every 30 seconds. ;)
The Arm Workout:
8 arm curls
12 half arm curls (from 90 degrees and up)
8 arm curls
10 pulses at 90 degrees
8 arm curls
12 lateral raises
12 tricep kickbacks followed by 10 pulses
12 lateral raises
12 tricep kickbacks followed by 10 pulses
12 shoulder press combos
12 wide arm curls
12 shoulder press combos
12 wide arm curls
8 inverted shoulder presses
30 second plank
8 inverted shoulder presses
30 second plank
Don't forget to stretch! :)
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