How To Sculpt Strong Sexy Arms Targeting Trouble Spots
Strong sexy arms may not be something you think about all year, but they are certainly something that enter your mind each and every summer. I mean, who doesn’t want some great looking, tight and toned arms to show off in a tank top? As a personal trainer working in the trenches in the gym each and every day, the question…
“What can I do to tone my arms?”
… is one I hear almost daily. Especially during summer time.
A great place to start your quest is the triceps. Nothing looks sexier than a nice tight tricep in my opinion, and the tricep push up is one of the easiest to tighten these up. Watch the video above to see how I do it, and then read the remainder of this article directly below for precise instructions, as well as instructions on how to access the other videos in this series.
How To Perform the Push-up
For the pushup, your hands should be directly under your shoulders or closer, so that when you lower your chest to the ground your elbows graze past your ribcage. To target your triceps, keep those elbows close to the body to ensure they aren’t flaring out.
What about using a bench or step, like I do in the video? Why would you do that?
The height of the bench (or step) can be raised to accommodate your strength level. The higher the bench or step, the easier it is since you won’t be fighting gravity as much. And performing the exercise on your knees will make the exercise easier (but by no means “easy”) because there’s less weight being supported by the working muscle groups of the arms and chest.
On the flip side, you can make this exercise harder by performing it without a bench or step and on your toes. For advanced trainees, you can load the working muscles by propping your feet up on a step or bench. This elevates your feet so you’re now performing a “decline tricep pushup.”
To bring out definition and muscle tone, I recommend performing a range of 8 to 12 repetitions for this exercise and for 3 working sets. In between sets, rest (drink water, stretch, look at your stopwatch!) and let the muscle recover for about 45 to 60 seconds. Don’t race through the exercise either. Take a few seconds to lower your torso to the bench or floor as shown in the video, pause at the bottom of the movement, and rise powerfully.
Over time, the basic tricep pushup does become easier, so know that you can always make it harder. And enjoy flaunting those strong, sexy looking arms!
