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Super Sis
Dear Super Sis!
I am a 15-year-old teenager and want your opinion about my fitness. I have a normal height and weight but want to look fit and muscular by joining a gym. The problem is that it is difficult for me to find courage and ask my parents about joining a gym. I am afraid that my siblings would make fun of me. I found your article about ABS very useful but only if you could provide me some instructions about shaping my arms, I would be very grateful to you. Should I ask my parents about joining a gym or do some exercises hiding in a room? Help me!
Anonymous
Finally. Some one who actually confesses to have benefited from that long lecture on abs! :-) Well, Anon, if you’ve actually improved upon your abs — which, by the way, happens to be the toughest body part to shape up — shaping your arms is just a piece of cake.
Although I don’t see what’s so embarrassing about joining a gym, you can just as easily work on toning your arms at home. And I wouldn’t label it as ‘hiding in a room’; I would label it as ‘deserving some personal space’. It’s completely okay to work out in your room alone, okay? So don’t feel ashamed or uncomfortable about it.
Now, getting down to the exercises, remember that you upper arms comprise a set of muscles: biceps (inners) and triceps (outers). You need to work both these muscles to tone and shape your arms and do away with the flab. For starters, get your hands on a pair of 2 kg dumbbells. They’re easily available at any sports goods store. I’m guiding you through a set of routines that you should incorporate within your daily work out regime. For your biceps, here’s what to do.
Grasp one dumbbell in each hand. Stand comfortably straight, arms hanging by your side, back straight, feet slightly apart. (See image A) Now, bending your elbows, slowly bring your hands up to shoulder level, exhaling as you go. Then return your arms to their original positions, unbending your elbows, exhaling as you go. Repeat this routine until your biceps get tired. Initially, you should be able to manage between 10 and 20 repetitions. After one set, give it a break and shift to some other routine. Perform three such sets. Eventually, as the days go by and your muscles strengthen, you should be able to perform more repetitions within each set.
For the triceps, stand in the original relaxed position, arms by your sides. Move your arm, raising your elbow forward and above, bringing your hand (with the dumbbell) behind your shoulder. This will be your starting position for the triceps workout routine. (Refer to image B). Now, exhaling, slowly unbend your arm and lift the dumbbell straight up, above your head. Inhaling, bring it back to the starting position. Repeat the routine. Initially, you will find this rather difficult as our triceps are weak and your arms will quiver a lot. Don’t worry. Just manage as many repetitions as you can. You might even get tired after 3 repetitions initially. You’ll improve with practise. After one set, give it a break and shift to some other routine. Perform three such sets. Eventually, as the days go by and your muscles strengthen, you should be able to perform more repetitions within each set.
Alternately, you can exercise your triceps like this. Get down on all fours. Grasp one dumbbell. Now, slowly lift your arm backward, unbending your elbow and raising the dumbbell as far back as possible (Refer to image C). Exhale while at it. Inhaling, return your arm to the initial position. Repeat until you get tired, and then switch to the other arm.
If you haven’t been able to get your hands on a set of dumbbells, here’s what to do in the meanwhile. Sit on a chair and place your palms on the seat, curling your fingers around the edge. Place both your feet on the floor with your knees bent at a 90 degree (or greater) angle (Refer to image D). Slide your upper body off the bench with your elbows nearly, but not completely, locked. This will be your initial position. Now, lower your upper body slowly toward the floor until your elbows are bent slightly more than 90 degrees. Contracting your triceps muscles, unbend your elbows, returning to the starting position, stopping just short of the elbows fully extending. Repeat until you get tired and switch to some other routine. Perform three sets of this during your work out regime. As you progress with this routine, you may move your feet out further until your legs are straight with a slight bend in the knees. Finally, you may use another chair to place your legs on (Image E), and perform this exercise with your body in mid-air for maximum resistance.
Remember never to overdo any routine and always stretch after your workout. Also, always remember: whenever you are straining your muscle, you must EXHALE. When you are returning your muscle to a relaxed position, you must INHALE.
To stretch your biceps, stand with your side facing a fall. Raise your arm to shoulder level, elbow unbent, and place your palm flat against the wall (Refer to image F). Now, locking your elbow, strain forward until your feel the pain in your bicep muscle. Hold for at least 30 seconds, and then switch to the other arm. Repeat at least twice for each arm. To stretch your triceps, stand in the position as illustrated in image G. Using one hand, push the elbow of the other arm inward and backward until you feel the strain in the tricep. Hold for around 30 seconds, and then switch arms. Repeat at least twice for each arm.
I will again stress that with a regular workout routine, you MUST take in at least two glasses of milk every day, along with a healthy diet, vitamins and loads of water. Results should start appearing after four weeks. Tell me when that happens. Until then, cheers!
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