Six Weeks to Sexier Arms

Good Morning Monday! I think starting a workout regimen on Monday is always a good plan in theory. You are refreshed from the weekend and ready to kick butt during the week. The reality of it is though, you might still be slightly hung over (or in my case pregnant-so tired and really missing alcohol) and think "you'll start tomorrow".

In the immortal words of Jillian Michaels "DON'T DO IT". That's right, when ever I hear a voice in my head saying something's a bad idea, it sounds like her from the video 30 Day Shred.For those of you who do not know the pain and agony that is that workout it's a doozy. On the very first day of that workout I thought "Hey, I got this. This is easy". 22 minutes later as I am almost done, sweat running down my face, redder than a strawberry and I think "Sabrina, you did good for the first day. Just turn it off and start again tomorrow". Let me tell you something. Jillian Michaels is in your head. She knows you. She is Chuck Norris if Chuck Norris was a girl. No sooner did I think that and Jillian called me out on it. The phrase is something along the lines of this:

I know your thinking about giving up. Your tired. DON'T DO IT.

I might have looked around to see if she was in my house, hiding in the shadows. And then she makes some promise about how it gets easier. Whatever, I didn't believe her. On a side note, it did. Seven days in and I was ready for the next level. If you think level one is tough, wait till level two. I made it three more days (so ten in total- not horrible but not quite the plan). I never saw level three. If you feel like you are a tough mudder I urge you to try that dvd. Or any of her programs if you are strong enough. You can find them on Amazon (a personal love of mine. I will push it down your throat. Especially if you live in a rural area. Everything is at your finger tips.) I believe in workouts in moderation. Mainly because I am a softy and don't like people telling me what to do.

With this all being said, I decided that Monday would be the day that I start a new workout. Since I am pregnant, I knew it needed to be something a little bit 'easier' and figured it might be a good way to get toned before the baby gets here and I have to bust a** to get back in shape. I saw the 6 weeks to sexier arms pin and decided to give it a try. It is essentially 4 arm exercises, doing two set of 8-12 reps with the heaviest weight you can. Because I know I won't get up in the mornings to do this, I decided it was something I could do on my lunch break. Let's get started.

1. Bent Over Row:

Grab the dumbbells and stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, knees slightly bent. With your arms at your sides, bend over from the hips until your back is almost parallel to the floor. Pull the dumbbells up, squeezing your shoulder blades together. Pause, then lower the weights.

2. Upright Row:

Grasp dumbbells and stand with palms facing front of thighs. Pull dumbbells to front of shoulder with elbows leading out to sides. Allow wrists to flex as dumbbells rises upward. Lower and repeat.

3. Chest Press on Ball:

Grab a pair of dumbbells and position your upper back on a stability ball, knees bent 90 degrees, feet flat on the floor; hold the weights by your chest, elbows bent and palms facing forward. Press them toward the ceiling until your arms are straight, then lower back to start.

4. Overhead Press on Ball:

Sit on the ball. Grasp the dumbbells and bend your elbows so that your hands are in front of your shoulders with your palms facing forward. Grasping the dumbbells, raise your hands above your head. Remember to keep your shoulders relaxed and down. Inhale and lower back to start and repeat for all reps.

I plan on posting back every two weeks with my results to let you know how it works. In the mean time, feel free to view the original pinner. All of the above pictures come from her site- she did a great job with them. Don't know if its her or not. She got this workout from glamour, and it seems as if they have gotten rid of their slides for it.

UPDATE: 8/14/13- So I have hit the two week mark (and a few days) and I thought I would post on how it's going. I started doing 2 sets of 12 reps with 10 lb weights. I will say this does bring me a little challenge and fatigue at the end of the reps. My first two weeks I didn't do very well with exercising everyday. The next two weeks I will work diligently on doing these exercises every day. I have noticed a little toning- but nothing to extravagant. My plan is that my last two weeks I will either up my weights or I will up the number of sets to 3. I'll try to post a picture of what my arms look like now, and then hopefully one at the end of six weeks so we can see if there is a difference.

UPDATE: 9/2/13- Wow. I used to be one motivated mamma. Pretty sure I gave up on this after week four. Maybe it has something to do with dragging the exercise ball out every morning just for a lousy five minutes of exercise. I'm not sure. I can definitely see it how it can tone, but I think I am going to try something with a bit more umpf so that I feel like I am really working it.