How to tone your arms

After the age of 40 women can experience muscle loss in their upper arms. Chris has several exercises for toning up flabby arms.

Exercise 1

1. Take an 8” diameter ball, get on the floor and down on your knees into a plank position, keeping abdominals tight.
2. Press and lean down into the ball, and then push back up, inhaling on the way down and exhaling on the way up. Repeat 15 times.

Exercise 2

1. Take one hand weight in your right hand; get on the floor on all fours. Make sure your shoulders are over your wrists.
2. Now hinge from the elbow and extend your arm back, squeeze your triceps muscle. Hinge arm back down toward your chest and repeat 12-15 times.
3. Switch to the other arm and reverse legs; repeat steps above.

Exercise 3

1. Sit on a stable chair, with your bottom on the edge of the seat. Place your palms on the front of the seat, with fingertips facing toward the heels.
2. Lift your bottom off of the chair and dip down, keeping your shoulders away from your ears.
3. Slide down an imaginary wall and bend at the elbows, then slide back up. Repeat 12-15 times.

8” Diameter Exercise Ball

Arm Weight

Chair

5-Pound Neoprene Hand Weights

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Pilates Mini Ball

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Hi I'm Chris Freytag from Prevention magazine. Age related muscle loss takes a toll on women especially after the age of forty. Women start to feel that their arms are flabby. But let me tell you it is easy to fix. I've got three simple moves for you. You will see results in a month and you'll be able to go sleeveless with confidence.

Let's begin with the ball push-up. I'm just going to take an average size eight inch diameter ball, and get on my knees pulling my hips into a plank position You want to keep those abdominals tight. This is going to work your arms, your chest, your shoulders. Press down into the ball and then push back up. Good. Breathe. Inhale and exhale. Keep your abs tight; you're using your core body here too. And down, and up. Try to get about fifteen of these in. Breathe. Let's do one more together here. And release. Good.

With the next exercise we're going to use one hand weight. So go ahead, come on to all fours. You'll need one hand weight. Shoulders over the wrists. Get those abs tight and nice long spine, and place the hand weight in your right hand. Take your left leg and extend it our for a little balance challenge. Keep your abs tight. Lift that arm up and we'll extend through our tricep. Hinge from the elbow and squeeze that triceps muscle (the back of your arm). Hinge back down and back up. Keep your shoulders steady. And press through that tricep. Beautiful. And press. You want to do about twelve to fifteen on each arm. Breathe. Squeeze that tricep. Let's do one more together. Right there. And then of course you'd switch to the other arm to get the other tricep.

Okay our last move involves a chair, any chair in your house that is stable. Go ahead sit on the edge and place your palms facing this way, fingertips toward the heels. Go ahead and lift your buns off of the chair, keep your shoulders away from your ears. Don't sink into your shoulders, and slide down an imaginary wall bending at the elbows. Slide down and back up. And you're going to feel this in the back of your arms, your triceps. The bonus is you're working your shoulders and your abs. Keep your abdominals tight. Lower all the way down and back up, full range of motion, and do about twelve or fifteen of these. All the way down, all the way up. I'll do one more for you right here. And there you go. Excellent.

Now do these three easy exercises several times a week and stay consistent for a month and you will see results. You'll catch a glimpse of yourself in the mirror and you'll be happy with what you see.