Get Sexy, Sculpted Arms in Time for The Holidays

By Sloane Davis

Editor’s note: as always, check with your doctor before beginning any exercise program.

We all want to look our best regardless of what time of the year it is, and it’s true that there is no “season” for getting into shape. But holiday time is important, when we want to show off our sexy, toned arms in our fabulous dresses and tops.

With that being said, we have a little over three months to get those arms looking great – and that’s more than enough time. If you follow these exercises for 30 minutes a day, you’re sure to go into the holiday season with a bang!

And the good part about sculpting sexy shoulders is that you don’t need heavy weight, a gym or any fancy equipment. If you have dumbbells in the house or go to a gym, fantastic! But if you don’t, grab filled water bottles, or anything with a bit of weight, that you can hold in your hands.

Some of my favorite shoulder exercises are:

• Side Lateral Raises – start with weights in front of your thighs and lift out to the side. Do not lift the weights past your shoulders. The weights should be in your peripheral vision, a V shape, not hyper-extended out to the side.
• Front Raises – take the weights and extend them out to the front. Again, don’t lift higher than shoulder height. Elbows should not be locked, but keep arms straight. Legs should be a few inches apart for stability.
• Seated Shoulder Presses – sit on a back-supported chair and press the weights above your head. Palms should be facing out.

Training triceps is also a great idea. Triceps are those “bat wings” that most women love to hate. While many people focus on the biceps, the triceps are a much larger muscle.

Tricep exercises include:

• Overhead Extension – place one weight directly over your head, holding with both hands. Bend just the top portion of your arm (elbow to wrist) back. This is a very isolated move so your back should not move in any way.
• Tricep Kickbacks – get into a lunge position and lean forward, holding on to something if you need to. Your chest should be leaning forward, and you will start with holding your arm straight with pmeweight in hand. Bend the top part of your arm (elbow to wrist) in and squeeze the tricep when extending out.

Your back is always important to train and build muscle on. The goal is to widen your back so that you create the illusion of a smaller waist. While we don’t get to see our own backs very often, it is extremely flattering to have a sculpted, toned back. All sorts of rowing exercises are excellent for building muscle in your back.

Back exercises include:

• Arm Row 1 – place a leg up, knee on bench (or ottoman or chair at home), leaning forward; row with the weight in the opposite hand. You never want to be leaning over – chest should be pointed out and butt should be out. Good form is very important!
• Arm Row 2 – Bend your knees, push chest out and butt back, and row both arms simultaneously. Arms should come down all the way, and back up to a rowing motion. Do not round back or bend over.

Overall, do three to five sets of 10-15 repetitions each for all of these exercises. It’s important to always add progression to your workouts. So if you can only do three sets of 10 reps the first time, aim for 11 reps the second time.

And keep your goal in mind!