Sculpted Arms Make a Statement

The buzz is about arms: Women's arms that ripple.

Maybe your goal isn't to look like Madonna, with her protruding muscles and veins. But then you may not be into two-hour, six-day-a-week workouts with a personal trainer.

Maybe you want the kind of arms that First Lady Michelle Obama has displayed in the sleeveless clothing she's worn on magazine covers and around Washington.

Is it time for some dips, pull-ups and heavy dumbbells?

For decades, women who enjoyed sweat-drenching gym workouts avoided strength training for fear they would morph into a muscle-bound Arnold Schwarzenegger-like figure as seen in the 1977 documentary "Pumping Iron."

"Twenty years ago my clients told me they didn't want to get too `muscle-y,"' said JJ Virgin, a Southern California-based health and fitness expert.

"Now, it is just the opposite," she said. "They want to look strong and toned. Michelle Obama's powerful presence in sleeveless sheaths is definitely having an impact.

"Strong, sleek and toned arms are not just the ultimate accessory, they also communicate confidence; just look at Michelle Obama's commanding presence for proof," said Virgin, who wrote "Six Weeks to Sleeveless and Sexy" (Gallery, $14.)

"Women don't get too muscular," she said. "Biologically, they aren't made to put on large muscles," said Virgin, who also was the nutrition expert for two seasons on "Dr. Phil."

Much of her book is devoted to diet recommendations.

The focus on arms isn't new, although the ultimate goal is.

"Arms have always been an issue," said Arlene Alpuerto, owner of Women's World Fitness Center in San Marino.

Sagging skin under the arms, and fat around the midsection have plagued women for many decades, Alpuerto said. Excessive fat under the arms can be a problem for girls as young as 7, she added.

Change involves nothing short of a lifestyle change with diet and exercise. Unfortunately, Alpuerto said, many women are still afraid using weights will create too much muscle.

"They want the flab to go away, but don't want the biceps to grow," she said.

Janet Bannowsky, owner of Anytime Fitness in Rancho Cucamonga, said cardio exercise and diet alone are not the final answers for women who want to look fit.

Without resistance training, which should include weights, all you will achieve "is a smaller version of what you had."

When adding weights to a routine, don't start too aggressively, with either the weight used or the frequency.

Don't hit the weights if you are still sore from the first workout. Weight-lifting makes little tears in the muscle, which need time to heal and put on new growth, said Bannowsky, who is a National Physique Committee figure competitor.

For shaping work, Bannowsky prefers 12 to 15 repetitions in four sets. If you can't lift for that count, reduce the weight you're working with, she said.

There are good exercises for arms that don't require weights.

Bannowsky likes bar dips, which work the triceps, located on the back of the arms.

"That's the part women complain about the most as they age," she said.

Pull-ups work the biceps, or front of the arm.

Both bar dips and pull-ups work the shoulders as well.

Reprinted from: Inland Valley Bulletin Healthbeat, Thursday July 29, 2010