Cameron Diaz Arms #Goals
I have always been a bit embarrassed about my little chicken arms - no guys its bad - like I can usually do about 5 push ups, and yes, I'm referring to lady push ups.
Although I am not every planning to be at a "sun's out guns out" kind of level, I have wanted to strengthen my arms and shoulders. This got me thinking about arms, an often uninvested in part of the body for women, and how we can all work at strengthening our arms on the daily.
My daily arm routine has always been reduced to driving out my parking lot with my non-power-steering car. "Cameron Diaz arms!" I would enthusiastically yell as I lurched forward into my day. Yet, there are better ways to turn flab to fab. A recent visit to a friend, and a discovery of her trusty pink dumbbells in the kitchen - of all places, revealed a nifty trick. When cooking we often waste a lot of time waiting around. Even just boiling the kettle means two to three minutes of mindless waiting, or if you are like me, unnecessary Instagram scrolling that does nothing but eat data. I have thus started a new, super small, but genuinely do-able habit: every time I boil the kettle I do 20 reps of some or other exercise. The trick is to keep those dumbbells right by the kettle and never, ever let yourself skip, or you will soon be slipping into your all too comfortable ways.
Here are my go-to tricks that you can do standing in an evening dress. No need to get all committed in gym-wear, these babies work perfectly in any outfit and so can fit into your daily routine. Do them in your PJ's while making your morning coffee, or while waiting for that microwave popcorn to finish.
1. Bent-Over Row (triceps and upper back)
Lean forward and flatten back by bending both knees. Extend your arms to straiten and the lift dumbbells straight up to chest level, squeezing your shoulder blades together as you do. Be sure to keep your elbows in and pointed upward.
2. Upright Row
Stand with your feet hip distance apart, with closed palms facing your body and knees slightly bent. Keeping the dumbbells close to your body, raise them to your shoulders, bending your elbows out to the sides.
3. Pilates Boxer
Stand with your feet hip distance apart and bend your elbows behind you, keeping your upper arms even with your back.Bend your knees to come into a half squat. As you exhale,extend your right arm straight out in front of you and the left arm straight behind you. Rotate both wrists so your front palm is down and your back palm is up.
4. Bent-Over Reverse Fly
This one if for all the backless dresses. Holding a dumbbell in each hand, stand with the knees slightly bent. Keeping your back flat, bend forward at the hip joint. Exhale and lift both arms to the side, maintaining a slight bend in the elbows and squeezing your shoulder blades together.
Share this post with friends and get those summer bodies ready!
bye for now
xx