Beautiful Biceps in Ten Minutes a Day

by Felicia Hodges

Remember the math teacher whose upper arms swung from side to side as she wrote word problems on the board? When you were younger, you may have wondered how something like that could happen to an upper arm. But now that you are older and busier, it’s become less of a mystery because your arms are starting to jiggle a bit, too.

Luckily, flabby upper arms don’t have to be a permanent condition. With regular exercise, you can tone your arms right back to the firmness you had back in the day.

If you’re like most busy women, there is hardly enough time in the day left over to eat a balanced meal, much less exercise. But you can tighten unruly upper arms in a few minutes a day.

Finding a Routine
According to Bernadette Montana, a National Academy of Sports Medicine-certified personal trainer from Cornwall who lost 60 lbs. 13 years ago, finding an exercise routine that works for you is one of the most important ways to help establish a routine.

“If you join a gym and can’t find time to get there, it doesn’t really do you much good,” she says. “The same is true if you develop a time-consuming routine if you don’t have a lot of time to spare. Regular exercise is important for health, but the most important thing is that it fit [your] lifestyle. Otherwise you run the risk of burning out.”

Montana adds that she often recommends exercises done with elastic resistance tubing as one of the best and most economical ways to tone trouble areas like the upper arms and shoulders. Looking like giant color-coded rubber jump ropes, the tubes have handles on the ends so you can grip them to do different exercises. “They also come in different resistances and offer no impact on the joints, so the risk of injury is very small,” she says.

Getting Started
Most personal trainers advise that you see your health care provider or get a physical exam before you begin any exercise program. Tell him or her that you are planning to start exercising a few days a week. You probably do more than enough running around in the course of a busy day, but a regular exercise routine is a little different in that it taxes muscles like your heart for longer, more intense periods. Once your health care provider gives the o.k., you are ready to begin. Montana suggests starting with a minimum of three times a week with a relatively light resistance for maximum results. As you get stronger and the bands become too easy for you to work out with, either move up to the next resistance, increase the number of repetitions in the set or add small hand-held weights to the mix.

Here are five different tubing exercises that she suggests for toning the front of the upper arm (biceps) the back of the arm (triceps), the shoulders (deltoids) and upper back (trapezeous muscles):

1. Bicep Curls - Begin by placing the tubing under the arch of your shoes. Hold one end of the tubing in each hand and stand with your hands at your sides (palms facing out). Slowly bring your hands to your chin, then back to where you started for one complete repetition. Exhale as you lift your hands and inhale as you bring them back to the start position. Begin with three sets of 15 reps.

2. Tricep Curls - Place the tubing under the arch of your shoes. Hold one end of the tubing in each hand and stand with your waist and elbows bent and so your hands can rest at your sides (palms facing in). Slowly unbend your elbows so your hands come up behind your back, then bring them back to the start position for one complete repetition. Exhale as you unbend your elbows and inhale as you bring them back to your sides. Begin with three sets of 15 reps.

3. Front Deltoid Raises - Place the tubing under the arch of your shoes. Hold one end of the tubing in each hand and stand with your hands at your sides (palms facing in). Slowly lift your arms straight out until your hands are at eye-level, then bring them back to the start position for one complete repetition. Exhale as you bring your arms out and inhale as you bring them back to your sides. Begin with three sets of 15 reps.

4. Medial or Side Deltoid Raises - Place the tubing under the arch of your shoes. Hold one end of the tubing in each hand and stand with your hands at your sides (palms facing in). Slowly lift your arms straight out to your sides until your hands are at shoulder-level, then bring them back to the start position for one complete repetition. Exhale as you bring your arms out and inhale as you bring them back to your sides. Begin with three sets of 15 reps.

5. Shoulder Shrugs - Place the tubing under the arch of your shoes. Hold one end of the tubing in each hand. Wrap the tube around your hands and wrists a few times to make it shorter. Slowly raise your shoulders to chin level, then bring them back down to the start position for one complete repetition. Exhale as you shrug your shoulders and inhale as you relax the muscles. Begin with three sets of 15 reps.

Don’t worry about looking too muscle-bound from doing these exercises. Even women who work to bulk up (bodybuilders, track and field athletes and swimmers) work out for hours a day for five to six days a week. With moderate exercises like the ones above, Montana says it is impossible to get too muscular.

“Genetics will only allow you to get so big,” she says. “Working out with the bands will not bulk you up.”

Of course, the tubing exercises will only help tone the superficial muscles (those close to the surface of the skin). If you want to get rid of the fat that often lies over the muscle, Montana suggests that you add a little bit of cardio-vascular exercise to the mix as well. Biking through the neighborhood with your kids or even a brisk walk around the block can get that heart moving and help you burn off more calories than you consume, which is the only way to loose excess pounds. “Resistance training alone is not going to do it,” she says.

“The bottom line is that you don’t have to spend a lot of time or money to get started. Just a few minutes a few times a week either before your kids are up or after they are in bed and you’ll start seeing results,” Montana adds. “The key is to do it regularly.”

Where to Find What You Need
* Many of the larger athletic stores carry resistance tubing. The come in different sizes, but usually only one size per package, so as you get stronger, you will have to buy new bands. Available in four different resistances, you can purchase them from Power Systems, Inc. by calling 1.800.321.6975. They retail for about $4.95 to $12.95 (plus shipping). Avoid the smaller bands that are designed only for leg exercises. The look like giant rubber-bands and are not long enough to stretch safely from your feet to your hands when standing.

* All of the exercises listed can also be done with small, hand-held weights as well. Although they are a bit more costly, soft, “D”-shaped weights that fit easily in a woman’s smaller palm are available at most athletic stores. Bally Total Fitness makes weights made of neoprene that come in 2 lbs., 3 lbs., 4 lbs., 8 lbs. and 10 lbs. resistances. They range from $3.50 to $15 each. Remember, you’ll need one for each hand.

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