Dynamic Solutions For Women

Something happens to many women’s arms once they reach their thirties. Suddenly, arms cease to be arms and start to become something rather more like bones to hang flab from. ‘Bingo wings’ are the bane of many women’s lives, but the good news is that there are exercises that can tone them up and make them an asset instead of an embarrassment. And as well as looking good, toning your arms will increase your strength and avoids posture-related strains and stresses on your back and neck muscles.

If your overall fitness and fat levels are not up to scratch, then working just on your arms would be a bit pointless (like rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic…), and all your lovely new muscles will be hidden under a load of fat, so make sure your overall diet and exercise levels are in line with current recommendations for your height and weight.

Key to moulding arms into things of beauty is adding resistance to your exercise (not along the lines of ‘but I don’t want to…’ – physical resistance, of course). Use weights, tins of beans, cartons of milk, special weight-bands, shopping bags, or choose exercises that use your own body weight to add resistance to your muscles. Don’t be afraid that you’re going to turn into one of those muscle-women who go orange and shiny and enter competitions: you need a lot more than a tin of beans for that.

Here are some examples of exercises that really work those arms:

1. Hold weights (like 2 or 4-litre milk cartons filled with water, or heavy tins), in both hands, with hands by your side. Pull your hands up and then push them up above your head. Do as many repetitions as you can. Aim to do a few more each time.
2. Do some push ups, but start in the ‘up’ position and allow yourself to dip down a little, bending your elbows.
3. Sit on the edge of a chair (be careful!), with your hands gripping the seat at either side of you at the front of the seat. Push your bottom off the seat and lower yourself down until your elbows are bent as far as you can, and back up. Repeat as often as you can.

These are all exercises you can do at home, and they only take a few minutes. Fit them in around your other work and you’ll soon notice a difference in your stamina, meaning that your arms are well on the way to becoming things of beauty.