The Summer Dress Workout Series: The Obama Effect- Get Arms Like Michelle Obama

When talking about toned arms there are two individuals that come to my mind that have arms that I would die for(and this is a guy that is writing this article!)

At 44 years old, and with two young children, Mrs. Obama, the First Lady, has shown the world that you are never too busy to take care of yourself and look good doing it too. The Obama Effect, as it is now being referenced, shows that you can still be the First Lady and have guns too.

Likewise, Madonna, at age 50, is another person who has arms to die for! In recent photos and videos, her arms are chiseled and toned as the statue David. Its as if Michelangelo sculpted them out of stone himself.

Last week in our series we addressed one of the biggest areas that I hear many women clients complain about and want transformation-the legs and lower body. In the second installment of the Summer Dress Series we will focus in on the other area that comes in a close second-the arms and how to tone them.

The first part of this article we will establish a foundation of basics that one needs to know when starting out on the arm toning path. It is important that you take note of these basics and make sure they are etched into your mind. The basics form the core of your training path.

CAUTION:This is not a smorgasbord of advice; muck them up and the rest will be mucked up too!

#1 Diet is still Queen for toning the arms

Just like in previous posts, I talk about how individuals want abs of steel the same applies to other areas that you would want to tone and enhance. If you really want a set of toned and firm arms you need to appreciate the fact that your eating is Queen.

If you get your eating on track the rest of your arm toning progress will come so much easier. The way you eat influences how you train and more importantly affects the effectiveness of your workout. One can of soda (rather diet or regular) with lunch will take you about 30 minutes on the treadmill to burn off. Imagine if you replaced that soda with a bottle of water - it would mean your gym time would bring much faster progress.

Nutrition is also Queen because your body needs a certain type of fuel to function properly. Muscles only grow when there are good amounts of protein floating around so you should make sure you are getting enough every day. Similarly, if you aren’t eating enough quality energy foods you will find your gym workouts are slow and sluggish.

It is most important, however, to realize that it is nutrition that controls how much weight you lose. And this is an important arm toning point as you’ll now see in point number two.

#2 To tone your arms you must lose fat

Point one showed us that nutrition is queen but the reason why it is queen is because you need to burn fat if you want to have toned arms.

When one builds more muscle, that muscle needs fuel to continue to work throughout the day. As a result, this means that you will burn more calories because the needs of the muscle formed.

Many women have the misconception that toned arms are something you get by doing a certain style of weight training or exercise. They think the muscles are becoming tighter and firmer and it is this that makes them toned.

Wrong.

Toned arms come about when you burn the fat that is covering the muscle. The muscles are always toned; they are just hidden at the moment. Now I am not saying weight training and exercise are not important, they are. But it is a healthy eating that will allow you to burn fat the fastest and thus tone your arms like you want.

#3 The right exercise is crucial

When toning your arms you need to make sure you are getting a good amount of the right kind of exercise. For example, you need to have a good fat burning cardio workout and you need to have resistance training that will allow you to develop your muscles. Without a combination of both your arms will not be toned for a long time.


THE OBAMA EFFECT: TOP 10 BICEP AND TRICEPS EXERCISES

Here are my favorite exercises for working the arms and getting them nice and toned. Some are body weight exercises (meaning that the only equipment required is your body) and some you can need some light dumbbells or bar bell weights. I would start out with lighter weights and do more repetitions to be safe. Then increase the weights when you become more comfortable with the exercise and the exercise becomes easier.

1 - Bar Bell Bicep Curls
This should be the core bicep exercise in your bicep routine. It allows you to go heavy and is one of the easiest to do in terms of getting the technique correct.
How to - Stand with feet shoulder width apart and lift up the bar bell. Lift up your chest so that your shoulders are lower than your chest but your back is still straight. Curl the bar bell up to just above your pectoral muscles and slowly lower back down.

It is of paramount importance that your elbows do not move during this exercise. Make sure they stay solid next to your side.

2 - Skull Crushers
This is a tricep exercise that will pack on the progress if you do it correctly. If you don’t, it might pack on the injuries!
How to - Lie on a flat bench and take light bar bell. Lift the weight over your head with your palms facing the roof. Now shift the weight backwards so if you were to drop it it would land on the floor behind your head and so that your triceps are pointing behind you instead of straight up. In this fixed position, lift the weight up until you have a straight arm and then lower it slowly until you get a deep stretch.

3 - Alternate Dumb Bell Curl
The alternate dumb bell curl is a great biceps exercise as it allows you to focus on one arm at a time and gives the other arm a rest. For this reason you can handle more weight and perfect your technique at the same time.
How to - Take two dumb bells and stand with your back straight. Assuming the same position as in the bar bell curl, curl one dumb bell up to your shoulder as if you were trying to curl it PAST your shoulder. This gives a tighter contraction. Slowly lower the dumb bell and rotating it until it is in the resting position by your side; lift the other weight at the same time.

Tip - Make sure this exercise is down slowly and with extra control.

4 - Close Grip Bench Press
This exercise allows you to use a heavy weight in a safe way. However, it is slightly trickier to perform than it looks.
How to - Take a medium bar bell and lie on a flat bench. Push the bar bell up until you arms are locked and then lower it down slowly. Just before it hits your chest push it up quickly with a little bouncing motion for about two inches. This short stops and bounce stops your chest muscles coming into play here and keeps the weight on your triceps. It’s a great secret.

5 - Cable Curls
As you know I’m not a big fan of exercise equipment but the cables allowed me to build my biceps so fast I got stretch marks at one point! This exercise has been core in my biceps routine for a long time.
How to - It is exactly the same as the bar bell curl but there is a constant tension on your muscles because the cable is always trying to pull the weight back down. For this reason you will find it much harder to handle a lot of weight. Remember to keep your elbows still and your chest up.

6- Triceps Dips
Begin sitting on a step or chair with hands next to thighs. Balance on your arms, moving backside in front of the step with legs straight (harder) or bent (easier). Bend the elbows and lower body a few inches, keeping the shoulders down and the elbows parallel to one another and at 90 degrees. Push back up to starting position.

7- Static Arm Curl
Pick a weight that is a bit less than you would normally use for a bicep curl and hold one arm in the "halfway" position while doing 4 reps with the other arm. After 4 reps, hold that arm in the halfway position and do 4 reps on the other side. Repeat until you get to 16 reps total (8 each arm).

8-Side Tri-Rise
While lying on your side, place the bottom arm touching the shoulder and the top arm pressing against the floor. Try to push yourself all the way up until your arm is totally extended, thus giving yourself the maximum range of motion, and getting the most out of the movement. Go to muscle failure on one side, then switch to the other.

This is one of my all time favorite triceps exercises and has allowed me to make some significant growth.

9-One-arm Corkscrew Curl
One-arm Corkscrew Curl takes you through a huge range of movement on the biceps. With a dumbbell in each hand, start with your palms facing backwards, and twist your palms up as you do a bicep curl with both arms at the same time.

10-Overhead Triceps Extension
Hold both dumbbells overhead with your arms completely straight, then unhinge your elbows, bringing both dumbbells down behind your head. Lift them both back up to full overhead extension and repeat. If you have dumbbells that have flat surfaces, you can keep the dumbbells touching during the entire exercise.

Next week we will continue our series for the summer dress by addressing the shoulders. Do these exercises and you will have shoulder's like Halle Berry.

Until then It's A Process!

Charlotte Personal Trainer and Boot Camp

Alpha II Omega Explains How to Turn Your New Years Resolutions Into Results

Over the last several years, I have helped countless people maximize their overall health, performance, and body composition faster than ever before. Put bluntly, I know how to help people lose ugly, unwanted body fat faster than most people can fathom. Now, make no mistake about it, a big reason for this is because our integrated rapid fat loss training and nutrition system is second to none. I have done the countless hours of research and trial and error and I have had hundreds of people as real world case studies to prove that our system flat out works. A sidebar to this is that I am not only the trainer but I too have used the same techniques and strategies on myself as well to lose the weight and keep it off!

But, today I am going to share something more powerful; something that must be set in place before you can even start to think about following a fitness program.


So, let’s just get right to it. What do you think is the real secret behind my client success?

Well, if your answer was my aforementioned training and nutrition system, then your answer is wrong. Yep, it’s an incredible program, but unfortunately it’s useless if someone is unwilling to start it AND stick to it, right? So, it appears that the most important component of changing your body is finding the motivation to achieve your goals, and that’s the main focus of this article today. I am going to literally walk you through the initial consult and three step goal setting process that each one of my clients undergoes before they start working with us. This is so important to weight loss success that I now require it for any new client to be considered for joining our program.

Before I get into this goal setting process, I just need to get something off of my chest. I know a lot of people think goal setting is just a cheesy, useless thing. Unfortunately, these people just don’t get it and frankly if you are one of those people, please do us both a favor and stop reading this article and go buy another useless weight loss book or pill because I simply cannot do anything for you. I can only help people who want to learn. I simply cannot help people who already think they know it all and think they are too good to take some time to figure out what the hell it is that they actually want to accomplish. The bottom line is that the most successful people out there, and I mean not just weight loss success, I am talking business, lifestyle, etc., are shamelessly goal driven. They know exactly why they want to do something and harness that super motivation to figure out what and by when they want to go about accomplishing that. Furthermore, they plan and prepare for every possible roadblock they will encounter in their path to success. This is what I want to teach you how to do today, so let’s get to it!

Step One- The Why: Why do you want to do this?

This is where it’s time to get real. In almost every initial consult I do, when I ask why they have contacted me today, here is the typical blanket response that I first hear:

“Well, I just want to get healthy and lose weight I guess.”

Nope, I don’t buy it. Sure, I know they want to lose weight and be healthy, I mean who doesn’t, but really WHY do they want to do this? I mean, what is it that’s going to get them up at 5 am to get their morning workouts in or take a couple of hours on Sunday to plan and prepare their meals for the upcoming week? It sure isn’t “being healthy” because for some reason this just isn’t a very powerful motivator for most people (though it should be).

Let’s face it: everybody, including YOU, wants to look better naked. Stop giggling, you know it’s true and frankly that’s okay because the desire to improve one’s appearance is the most powerful motivator there is. This shouldn’t be such a big surprise since the main life mission of humans, or any species for that matter, is to procreate. This is instinctual. And obviously, looking better makes this more of a reality.

So, after a little digging, I find out the real reason why they want to do this; I find their past or pain and then establish their current and future ambitions. Some people want to be able to mow the lawn in the summer with their shirt off and not feel self-conscious. Others want to get back into their favorite pair of pants that they haven’t been able to get one leg into for the last five years. Then there are those who want to look and feel more attractive to ignite some passion back into their relationships and/or put for their best image at work. And of course, my personal favorite is preparing for big events that have built in deadlines. Wanting to get as lean and tight as possible to rock that dream bathing suit in Argentina, or get off the plane in Texas when visiting family you haven’t seen in two years to blow them away with your new body, or being a classic beauty in your wedding dress on the big day, it all works! This is the stuff that gets people jacked up and ready to commit to making some real changes. How do I know? Well, I just shared with you verbatim the exact “WHY’S” of some of my own clients.

So, the first thing you have to figure out is your personal WHY. To make this even simpler for you, just answer this question: what are your physical dreams? Once you establish this, everything else is easy baby.

Step Two- The What and When: What do you want to accomplish and when do you want to accomplish it by?

So we already figured out the obvious: you want to look better and maximize your sexy! So, now we need to establish what objective goal(s) need to be accomplished in order to realize this subjective dream.

Well, from a logistics standpoint and keeping things as cost effective as possible, there are three major ways I track “look better” progress with my clients, in order of importance from least to most important:

1.)Scale Weight: This is by far the least important goal, but it gives a number that’s worth tracking. Though body fat percentage would be a much better method of tracking progress, it is simply too inaccurate on a small scale and too costly on a large scale. The key is to taking your initial weight before you start and then not weighing more than every 2 weeks. I have found most people to do better with tracking their weight every month. There are simply too many variables for controlling your body weight and the natural fluctuations based on diet (and for women, their menstrual cycle), means the less frequently you do this the better. If the scale is just too de-motivating for you in general, then just skip this one altogether if you must, because the next two markers are far more important.

2.)Dress/Pant Size: This is probably the most simple and effective unused method of tracking whether or not you look better. I think it’s safe to say that if you are dropping dress and/or pant sizes that you will be looking better, right? Your best bet is to also select one dress or one pair of pants that you really want to get into since that is the true end goal in mind. I tell my clients to assess how they are fitting in their preferred dress/pant size tracker on a weekly or bi-weekly basis since our clients that follow our program exactly as outlined typically lose a dress and/or pant size every month (until they get to their ideal dimensions). For those of you would want to argue that every outfitter has different sizes, well that’s a mute point if you use the same pant or dress size to track. There’s nothing more powerful than being to literally being able to feel yourself comfortably get into clothes that use almost rip when you put on.

3.)Digital Pictures: Pictures don’t lie, that’s the bottom line. If you want to look better, what better way is there to assess this than pictures? I cannot begin to tell you how important this is. Taking a before picture is essentially you telling the whole world that you are ready to change and that you are ready to do whatever it takes to make those changes. They key is take pictures wearing exactly what you want to look your best in. Now, don’t be sending me nude pictures of yourself, ha (though you can keep these for yourself to track if you’d like). Maybe it’s taking pictures of you in the dress or pair of pants that you are using to track your dress or pant size. Or maybe it’s a sleeveless shirt and tank top that you want to wear during the summer. And if you want to see your abs, then you best believe that you need to take pictures of your abs to track how much more definition you get. Take a front, side, and rear view picture and be sure to note the exact conditions in which the picture was taken (lighting, distance from camera, time of day/week, etc.) to be as accurate as possible in your assessment. The clients whom failed to take before pictures in the past have nothing but regret about it. Your before pictures will become your trophy and they are an absolute must if you really are serious about getting results that count. We tell our clients to take new pictures either bi-weekly or monthly until they reach their goal(s).

Step Three- Planning and Preparing for Roadblocks: What are the big obstacles that will prevent you from having the success you desire? What’s contributed most to past failures?

Now that we know what you want to accomplish, it’s time to plan and prepare for any obstacles that might get in your way of getting the job done based on your own personal schedule.

In general, the number one thing I hear is that people are too busy and tired and don’t have enough time to get their workouts in or make their meals. Well, I don’t care how busy you think you are, there is always hidden time throughout the day and week that can be freed up if your re-prioritize. Again, think back to why you wanted to do this in the first place and then examine what’s most important to you. Make your workouts and your meal times just like work appointments. Either you make the appointment or you don’t. And if you want to keep your job (or get your dream body) then you better make that appointment.

Another big obstacle is alcohol. People like to drink and unfortunately alcohol is about as detrimental to burning fat as it gets. Again, what’s more important to you, looking sexy or getting hammered. The choice is yours. Remember, once you achieve your goal(s), alcohol can be added back in with moderation. But know this, lean people just don’t get wasted unless they are genetic freaks. Low to zero alcohol consumption is needed if you want to look your best year round and that’s a fact.

Lastly, many people deal with boredom eating or emotional eating. Boredom eating means just that, eating to fill up dead time when you have nothing better to do. The best way to deal with this is, you guessed it, to do something! Find an active hobby to keep your mind off of eating when boredom strikes and you can beat this trend. Emotional eating describes the use of food to cope with stress or to reward for accomplishment. Food is not unlike drugs or alcohol in this regard, it can be very addictive. There is no quick fix for emotional eating other than avoiding trigger situations (bars, parties, etc.) and trigger foods (starches, sugars, fast food, etc.) in the short term to break bad habits.

At the end of the day, whether your roadblocks are very individual or if they fall in line with the general roadblocks our clients encounter on a regular basis, the key is to be honest about them and to plan and prepare for them. And that’s where social support and accountability come into play. The clients who have had the most success with us have undergone their transformation with the support of other friends or family members. This is so critical, especially since most of the poor food and drinking choices that sabotage one’s progress occur on the weekend, when most people hang out with their friend and family. If they are committed with you and your goal to get fit and look better, you can put yourself in a much better position to realize the success your desire and deserve. The last thing anybody needs is sabotage or peer pressure from those closest to you, so get them on board and get them on board early.

Personal Trainer and Boot Camps in Charlotte, NC

Salt Lake City Is Best City For Women, Madison Is Best City For Men - USA

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The editors of Men's Health and Women's Health magazines reveal the first-ever ranking of America's Best & Worst Cities for Women and the eighth annual ranking of America's Best & Worst Cities for Men. The lists appear in the January/February editions of both magazines, hitting newsstands on Tuesday, December 23.

Topping the healthiest cities list for women is Salt Lake City, Utah while Madison, Wisconsin took the top spot for the men's list. The worst cities for women and men are Bakersfield, California and Charleston, West Virginia, respectively.

The magazines' editors tallied 38 different factors to determine the rankings, including cancer rates, air quality and number of gym memberships. The analysis took into consideration 100 of America's largest cities (from all 50 states) and focused on the overall health, fitness and quality of life for their residents. The comprehensive report focuses specifically on major cities, not their suburbs, and utilizes data from sources such as the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the Census Bureau, the FBI and the U.S. Department of Labor.

Seven cities overlap with high rankings on healthy living for both men and women (in the top ten spots): Aurora, Colorado; Madison, Wisconsin; Minneapolis, Minnesota; San Francisco and San Jose, California; Salt Lake City, Utah and Seattle, Washington. The bottom ten spots on both lists include Bakersfield, California; Birmingham, Alabama; Charleston, West Virginia; Detroit, Michigan; Memphis, Tennessee; St. Louis, Missouri and St. Petersburg, Florida.

The top ten best and worst cities for each gender are featured in the print editions of Men's Health and Women's Health magazines. A complete ranking of all 100 cities can be found on WomensHealthmag.com and MensHealth.com.

Featured in the January/February edition of Men's Health Magazine:

Ten Best Cities For Men

1. Madison, WI
2. St. Paul, MN
3. Salt Lake City, UT
4. Seattle, WA
5. Aurora, CO
6. San Jose, CA
7. Lincoln, NE
8. San Francisco, CA
9. Boston, MA
10. Minneapolis, MN

The 10 Worst Cities For Men

91. Detroit, MI
92. Jacksonville, FL
93. Riverside, CA
94. Bakersfield, CA
95. Memphis, TN
96. Birmingham, AL
97. St. Petersburg, FL
98. Las Vegas, NV
99. St. Louis, MO
100. Charleston, WV

Featured in the January/February edition of Women's Health Magazine:

The 10 Best Cities For Women

1. Salt Lake City, UT
2. San Francisco, CA
3. Seattle, WA
4. San Jose, CA
5. Denver, CO
6. Minneapolis, MN
7. Fargo, ND
8. Madison, WI
9. Manchester, NH
10. Aurora, CO

The 10 Worst Cities For Women

91. St. Petersburg, FL
92. Birmingham, AL
93. Modesto, CA
94. Cleveland, OH
95. Detroit, MI
96. Charleston, WV
97. Toledo, OH
98. Memphis, TN
99. St. Louis, MO
100. Bakersfield, CA

Women's Health Magazine
Men's Health Magazine
Personal Trainer in Charlotte, NC

Spot Reduction

When I sit with a potential female client, I ask them what their goals are. The responses majority of the time are always the same, they want to either lose their stomach, get rid of the fat that is surrounding their back, or they want to make their butt tighter. I have to remind them of the phenomena of spot reduction and how it effects the body.

Besides launching millions of sit-ups, leg lifts and torso twists, the desire for a toned and taut physique has sold a long line of exercise devices of dubious worth. Countless inventions, such as vibrating belts and ”gut-busting” contraptions, have claimed to miraculously tighten and tone our trouble spots.

But the miracles we were expecting never materialized, and our ‘’spots” remained ”unreduced.”

What’s wrong with spot reduction?

Where did we go wrong? In our efforts to tone our bodies we neglected the most important factor: fat. Exercises such as crunches or leg lifts improve the tone and endurance of the muscles, but they don’t burn fat. When we do exercises that elevate the heart rate, such as bicycling, walking or aerobic dance, the body will draw upon its fat stores for energy.

Alternative solutions

Eating a low-fat diet and following an exercise program that combines aerobic activity and strength training is the key to changing the shape of your body.

In addition to burning calories through aerobic activity, strength training will increase the amount of muscle, which burns even more calories. But many people shun the idea of intensive exercise, scared off by the idea of five-mile runs, barbells or aerobic classes.

Thankfully, any aerobic activity that elevates your heart rate can help you burn fat and take off unwanted pounds. Many experts recommend doing at least three sessions of 20 minutes of aerobic activity per week. Ideally, for long-term weight control, you should engage in at least four sessions per week, for 45 minutes each time.

For instance, these enjoyable alternatives to traditional aerobic exercise are effective fat burners:

Mountain Biking

In-line Skating

Walking

Country Line Dancing

Hiking

Martial Arts

Boxing

Cross-country Skiing

Downhill Skiing

Water Sports

In addition to these activities, which can be done solo or with friends and family, take advantage of the wide variety of fitness tapes currently on the market, or hire an fitness professional expert to instruct you without having to come up with the routine yourself. You can learn everything from martial arts to swing dancing. Choose an activity because it interests you, not because it is touted as a great workout.

A few things to keep in mind when starting any new activity:

1. Don’t start out too hard or too fast or you may injure yourself or quit before enjoying any benefit.

2. Always concentrate on enjoying yourself, rather than on what a particular exercise might do for you.

3. Keep your exercise comfortable and only increase intensity after your body becomes accustomed to new activity levels.

And always check with your doctor before beginning any exercise program, especially if you’re over 40, or have cardiovascular risk factors, such as smoking, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes or a family history of heart disease.

A final word about toning exercises

Just because exercises like leg lifts and crunches won’t budge the fat does not mean they are not beneficial. Unlike some aerobic activities, these exercises can strengthen and tone specific muscles of the body.

The best way to shape up is to incorporate strength and toning exercises with aerobic exercises. Before you know it, you’ll be on your way to looking and feeling better.

Personal Trainer in Charlotte, NC