*| My top 7 tips for getting rid of tuck-shop lady arms! |* Its the one thing that all women dread....flabby tuck-shop lady or bingo arms! (Apart from saggy girls and a flat booty that is)! Now that summer is just around the corner, (and were no longer going to be covering up every inch of our bodies in layers of clothing...eeek!), now is the time to start getting yourself feeling toned & terrific. After all, we want to feel comfortable and confident wearing strapless tops and dresses! I know I do!! Before I share my tips, I want to give you some background about tuck-shop arms and why some women have them, and some dont. I also want to share with you my own personal story because I used to have tuck-shop lady arms too! (Below is a little video that a friend of mine took earlier this year of me doing elevated dips...its in slow motion which makes it rather amusing)!!! So here are some of the reasons.... 1. Genetics. Just like some women are pre-disposed to having naturally gifted booty, or are apple shaped or pear shaped, tuck-shop wings can also have some genetic factors (and yes it is possible to have tuck-shop arms even if youre slim). However, this is more so as women get older. But dont let this discourage you, there are steps that you can put into place to minimise this as Ill discuss more below. 2. Weight gain. Any excess body fat caused by weight gain will also contribute to tuck-shop lady arms (as well as other areas of the body). Rapid weight gain in particular can be very problematic. This is because if we gain large amounts of weight quickly, the elastin in our skin doesnt have time to keep up and stretch marks may appear, making the skin softer, less taught and more vulnerable to sagging as we get older. This was definitely the problem in my case. During my 20s I yo-yo dieted for years. I gained rapid amounts of weight and to this day I still have stretch marks on my triceps & biceps. Theyre less noticeable now though which is great! 3. Rapid weight loss. If you have rapidly lost weight then this can also be one of the reasons for developing tuck-shop lady arms. Particularly if a large amount of weight has been lost with little or no exercise to help firm up the skin and build muscle during the weight loss process. Because I yo-yo dieted for so long without doing any form of muscle building exercise, my skin just got looser & looser. It got to the stage where I would only wear shirts with sleeves because I felt so self conscious! So, here are my tips... 1. Build muscle. You probably knew I was going to say this, but it really is true and there is no getting around it. If you want to have fabulous arms, shoulders, triceps, biceps, you have to build muscle. Building muscle will also help to reduce body fat and over time give you a more toned physique. This is even more important as you get older because our skin naturally starts to lose its elasticity. 2. Drink lots of water. This really is important. Our skin needs water to stay nourished and hydrated. Drinking lots of water will also improve elasticity. 3. Clean up your diet. Unfortunately there is no diet to reduce body fat in our arms. Eating unprocessed, natural and healthy foods combined with regular exercise will help improve muscle growth in every part of your body, which is ultimately what we want right!?! Remember the 80/20 principle! 4. Lift heavy and be consistent! This is something that I see far too often at the gym and Ill admit I get a bit frustrated when I see it. Too many women grabbing tiny, feather weight dumbells and either pumping out 30 bicep curls as fast as possible, or doing a 2-3 sets with different reps each set with the same weight (in other words, very random with no structure or plan for their training). Its crucial that you have a structured plan to follow and lift heavy. Most women do not lift anywhere near the amount of weight they actually could. 5. Make sure you keep progressing with your training program! I remember talking to a guy I know at the gym a while ago. He admitted to having the same training plan for the last 2 years. He would come to the gym 4-5 times a week and do the same routine over and over again, doing the same amount of sets, reps with the same weight every time! If we are to gain muscle, tone our tuck-shop arms and the rest of our bodies, we cannot do the same routine over and over again. Our bodies constantly need to be challenged to grow and progress. Most gyms or PTs would suggest changing programs every 6, 8 or 12 weeks. You dont need to change your program too frequently (although youd want to change it more often than every 2 years)! What is more important than changing your program frequently is making progress. For example, if its tricep day and your program says 3 sets of tricep rope extensions for 10 reps, if youre successfully doing 3 sets of 10 each time them you need to increase your weight because youre not making progress and youre not challenging yourself. To give you an example, your training might look like this... Set 1 - 10 reps at 30kg Set 2 - 8 reps at 30kg Set 3 - 6 reps at 30kg Now because you didnt reach 10 reps on sets 2 & 3, your goal next week when you train triceps again would be to increase your reps for those sets until you reached 10 for each. Once you reached 10 reps for all 3 sets, then you increase the weight (say to 35kg) and start again. Once you can do all sets & reps successfully, increase the weight again, and so on. You want to follow this methodology for every exercise you do, every day you train. That way you are challenging your body, and building muscle! The best way is to record it in a journal so that you can refer to it each week & record your progress. 6. Incorporate a combination of body weight and Dumbell/machine, exercises into your training using the principles in No. 5 above. My favourites are elevated tricep dips (feet on a bench), tricep dips the old fashioned way (with added weight if required), Dumbell kickbacks, rope extensions, close grip push-ups and close grip bench presses. 7. Keep consistent! Like any part of our bodies, spot reducing does not work. Keep consistent with your training and diet, give it time and you will definitely see results. Soon enough youll have awesome guns to show of in your gorgeous strappy tops and dresses, just in time for summer!!! I hope this helps! Please like or comment if you have any other tips youd like to share.
Posted on: Sat, 23 Aug 2014 07:38:04 +0000