I have 45 days to put a little oomf in my arms, shoulders, and upper back. What to do?

[Anonymous]

I'm in reasonably good shape, and I do some strength work (incorporated in classes like bare, Bodypump, etc). What exercises would you suggest I focus on in the next 45 days to really get my upper body in "wow, she looks great!" status?

I'm not necessarily interested in losing weight/fat. I *may* try and drop 5lbs or so to help show off the muscle that is already there, but I'd like to focus more on the fitness side. Any recommendations?

[Anonymous]

push ups - lots of them

[Anonymous]

I bet you know the answer to your question but are hoping there's another way. There's not. Assuming you are in relatively good shape, 45 days of push ups and [shudder] pull ups will make difference.

For push ups, make sure your hands are at shoulder width or slightly wider, roughly underneath your shoulders. Pull your shoulder blades down and back before you start the push up (ie, don't have your shoulders hunched forward - that's a one-way ticket to injury-ville). If you have to, do them on your knees, but if they aren't hard that way, either your form is wrong or you need to be on your feet. If you can only do a few on your feet, start there and move to your knees (when you HAVE to, not when you WANT to) but make sure you are gradually increasing the number on your feet. Do them everyday. Yes, everyday. Increase the number you do at a time every week.

For pull us, if you can't do full ones, work the negative (watch youtube videos to start). When you can get in a couple of full ones, do them and then throw in more negatives. Everyday.

[Anonymous]

Yes to pushups. And pull-ups if you can do them (or have access to an assist machine).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes to pushups. And pull-ups if you can do them (or have access to an assist machine).

16:29 here - I do not recommend an assist machine. Working the negative for pull ups is a much more effective way to build the strength and muscle tone. If you are going to use an assist machine, you might as well use the lat pull down machine instead of doing pulls ups.

[Anonymous]

Include bent over rows

[Anonymous]

The two things that made my arms and back more ripped than anything else: boxing class and running with the jogging stroller. I got seriously ripped when I ran with my 50-lb 5-year-old in the stroller for 5-6 miles at a time.

[Anonymous]

21 day fix

[Anonymous]

How to avoid big lats though?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes to pushups. And pull-ups if you can do them (or have access to an assist machine).

16:29 here - I do not recommend an assist machine. Working the negative for pull ups is a much more effective way to build the strength and muscle tone. If you are going to use an assist machine, you might as well use the lat pull down machine instead of doing pulls ups.

NP: I disagree with the bolded. Especially if you don't weight the assist heavily, assisted pull-ups work your core much more effectively than lat pulls. I've had to switch to the latter from the former thanks to pregnancy complications, and it's a completely different experience. I used to be able to do unassisted pull ups back in my rowing days, and the assisted machine is much closer to that.

[Anonymous]

plank pose

[Anonymous]

Ballet Beautiful, Tracy Anderson arm routine

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How to avoid big lats though?

Assuming that you are biologically female, you are not at a risk of developing noticeably large lats from 45 days of targeted weight training (particularly if you just avoid exercises that isolate and target lats). If you want to see a change and more muscle definition, lift heavier weights. It's the only way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ballet Beautiful, Tracy Anderson arm routine

[Anonymous]

Buy 8 pound weights (2)

Hold one in each hand, arms down at side. Lift up and down. Up to shoulder level only. It's the quickest trick for making your arms look good. I see good results in 2 weeks.