So the weather has improved and we are all happy to try get rid of our lovely farmers tan. The shorts and vests are out of the wardrobe and some of us will be turning that lovely shade of pink about now! As quite a self conscious nation more skin on show means me have more to worry about. With men worrying about the belly and women worrying about their arms, the annual shame of our winter hibernation comes back to haunt us.
Many women I chat to come into me lifting up their arms, grab the skin and shake it around saying “I want to get rid of THIS!”
Regardless of shape, age or size, nearly every woman has complained about the infamous “bingo wings”
It wouldn’t be a consult without a woman giving out about her arms!
So rest assured your not the only one who feels like this.
The bad news?
Well you cant really spot reduced fat, you can’t just pick one area you want to lose fat from and train it hard and lose fat from just there.
There is a school of thought that links fat storage in different areas to hormones, so addressing hormones can help lose fat from certain areas. But we’ll leave that for another day.
The good news though is if you focus on dropping overall bodyfat levels and toning up the muscle you can make huge improvements.
Now toning doesn’t mean picking up little pink weights and doing 100s of reps. Women can really benefit from weight training and using heavier weight selection to help tone up.
One concern women often express is that if they pick up something too heavy that they will get too big and bulky. Trust me this wont be an issue. Dedicated male trainers find it quite difficult to add muscle and we have much more testosterone in our bodies to help build muscle tissue.
It takes years of hard training, an extremely strict diet and possible steroid use to get as big as those women bodybuilders you are afraid of looking like.
So what to do?
Firstly get protein into your diet.
Protein helps build more muscle tissue and will help you achieve that toned look you are going for.
Most of us dont get adequate levels in our diet. Strive for a palm sized portion (of meat) at each meal as a rough guideline.
Secondly, do weights or bodyweight exercises in the 8 to 12 rep range.
To tone up your arms use exercises like:
- Barbell press
- Push ups
- Dips
- Dumbbell press
- Dumbbell curl and press
- TRX rows
Hitting exercises like these for 8 to 12 reasonably challenging reps, along with a good diet, will help you along to toning up your arms and helping you feel a lot more comfortable in your vests.
Now get out, enjoy the sun, and as Baz Luhrmann advised us years ago – wear sunscreen!
P.S.
I hadn't listened to that song in years! Here's the link if you want to remember the olden days 🙂