Sleek arms in no time!

Well how do you work those arms so you don't have the saggy waving action that everyone dreads.  Well below is a great workout to get your arms in tip-top shape!  Since the triceps make up 70% of your upper arm that is why I have quite a few triceps moves. Watch my youtube channel at Andrea Eilertson for the workout video coming soon.

Perform below exercises 2 times a week.  3 sets and 10-12 reps of each.

Equipment Needed
-Stability Ball
-Light & heavy dumbbells

1. Dips- shown in the picture above.  (Leg raise is optional)

2.  Triceps Kickbacks- Bend at the waist slightly, kick arms straight out behind you hold for a second and bring back into sides keep repeating this motion for allotted reps.

3. Bicep Curls to shoulder press (wrists facing inwards)- Perform a bicep curl at the top of the curl push arms upwards towards the sky.  Keep wrists facing your face the entire time and bring down to finish bicep curls.

4. 3 way delt-raises- Raise arms straight forwards than to lateral raise and bend slightly at the waist to finish with a rear delt raise.

5. Diagonal Triceps extension on stability ball- Rest shoulders and head on stability ball, hips high in the air.  Take one arm above head and lower at angle close to ear and pull up over head.  Repeat.

6. Triceps Push-ups- You will perform push-ups with elbows tucked in close to sides rubbing the ribs with your arms.  Can perform on knees this is quite a difficult move and hurts the front of the shoulder.

7. Concentration Curls- Sit on stability ball with back of the arm on the inside of the leg.  Curl arm up towards your face and lower.  The entire time keeping your elbow on the leg.

8. Chest Press to triceps extension- Resting your head and shoulder on the stability ball lower and raise arms out to side to push-up and hold weights above the chest and than lower weights to the sides of the ears and pull back up using the triceps (back of your arm) than perform another chest press to triceps extensions.

Check out www.safiretraining.com for more fitness videos!

Fit Gadgets are they worth it?

After coming across a video by Anderson Cooper in which they had wonderful fitness gadgets throughout Americas history I was encouraged to write a blog about some of those products and there benefits (or lack there of).  

Below is the video from Anderson Cooper:

Anderson Cooper-Fitness Gadgets

Some of the products in the video was the lovely face yoga.  I recently saw this being done on a Rosie Pope show well does it work?  I have my doubts, I do remember my mother doing these moves from the lady in Anderson's video.  I would say it is more for sure than actually working it might add a few wrinkles when you have to stretch your tongue out so far, but no data supporting the benefits.  

Riding a horse back and forth side to side well you truly are not doing much of the work you just need to stay on the saddle.  Well you will get a little burn in the inner thighs and core work not enough to benefit you at all.  

Shake weight- Well what does this actually do for you besides make your arm fat jiggle, not much.  Your muscles are not contracting enough or at all to give you muscle growth or even to tone your arms with this weight.  Plus you are burning minimal calories since your heart rate is not going up and you can do this sitting down and you will burn even fewer calories that way.  

So if these quick fixes don't work what does?  Well good old fashion diet and exercise does.  If you need a place to start try hiring a trainer who can set you up with a good plan.  Unfortunately there are no quick fixes and you do need to put in a little effort and sweat to make your goals a reality.  Nothing replaces hard work.   

Ladies workout like a guy

A lot of women when we work out are afraid to lift heavy weights because we are going to get bulky.  Well that cannot happen and I'm here to let you in on a secret the guys have the weight room area figured out for the most part.  Ladies we can take a page from their book.  Below I will tell you what we can learn from how a man trains.

1. Women you will NOT get bulky.  

That is the number one fear of my female clients who were never taught how to lift weights or what lifting weights can do for your body.  

Ladies you will NOT look like the above picture contrary to what you believe.  This particular female worked hard for this body and trained to get herself this way it does not come from just lifting 3 times a week for 20-30 minutes.  You have to eat extremely healthy to get this lean and be lifting weights almost daily.  So in a nutshell this is an extremely hard physique for women to get to kudos to those who take the time and dedication to get there, as most will not even come close to that.

2. Lift your upper body ladies.  

Quite a few males lift what we call the beach muscles.  If they take their shirts off they look impressive, the biceps, the chest, abs.  Sometimes they forget the rear muscles groups but we as women will not.  Make sure when you are lifting you don't just lift lower body and work your butt.  Don't forget about the arms.  When women get older they complain about the chicken arms, or waving skin underneath their arms.  Working those triceps helps tone up the backside.  Fun fact the Triceps makes up 70% of the upper arm so work the back of the arm to tone up your arm in general. 

3. Play Games

You will always see some pick up basketball games, football games, soccer or even hockey games in the early mornings or on weekends.  Most of these leagues are adult males.  I know it gets harder for women to be involved in these leagues after kids but tell your hubby to watch the kids for an evening because its your volleyball night.  You get a workout in plus you get to mingle with friends at the same time.  It's a great stress release as well.

4. Be more focused on building muscle than in losing fat

Far to often we are concerned with how much fat am I burning when I'm lifting weights?  I should be doing cardio right now I would be burning so many more calories.  Well actually the more muscle you have the more calories you burn at rest.  So pumping iron and getting stronger will lead to more overall calorie burn in the long run.  So don't be afraid to get in that weight room with the big boys and show them what you can do!

5. I don't know what to do at the gym besides cardio

Honestly this is not just a women's issue but a men's issue as well.  I just had a conversation today with a guy who is doing the same routine he learned in high school because he doesn't know what else to do.  So if your walking into the gym without a plan you probably will throw around a few weights and call it good.  Ask a trainer for help or even hire a trainer if your completely clueless.  You will just get frustrated if you don't know what your doing and want to quit going to the gym.  The trainers are there to help you tell them what your goals are and ask what are some exercises I should be doing to help me reach those goals.  A good trainer will be able to help you out. 

     

Rag Workout

I love this workout and hate it at the same time.  It is intense but the rewards are wonderful!  You want to do this for timed intervals.  Repeat 2-3 times pending fitness level.  Try and preform the exercise for 30 consecutive seconds or 45 seconds if your more advanced.  If you have lower back issues be very careful if you attempt this workout.

1. Plank- Knee Pull-Ins

A. Put rags on feet and hands on floor in high plank position (as pictured above).  B. Pull knees into chest and than push straight back out behind you.  C. Keep repeating as many times as you can until your time is up.

2. Plank- Mountain Climbers 

A. Put rags on feet again. (Notice this picture does not show the rags) B. Drive knees towards chest alternating legs.  C. Repeat rapidly and as many times as you can in the allotted time. 

3. Plank- In/out leg exercises

A. In high plank position with rags on feet.  B. Take legs straight out to sides and than back into middle.  C. Repeat this motion for the allotted time.

4.  Plank- Obliques 

A. In high plank position with rags on feet.  B. Draw knees into chest and kick back out. C. Kick out legs diagonally to one side. D. Draw legs back into chest and kick out diagonally to opposite side. E. Repeat as many times as you can in the allotted time.