Ladies! Tone Your Upper Arms on Your Coffee Break

Ladies! Do you have flabby upper arms? Most of us do. Some of us are pre-disposed to them genetically even if we are in fairly good shape. No matter the reason, it's possible to tighten them and see a general improvement in tone without buying a home gym. In fact, you can shed some of the flab if you spend five minutes of your coffee break, once a day on workdays, doing these three simple exercises.

This regimen is not going to turn you into Charley Atlas. It's focused on the one muscle, the triceps brachii. Any full exercise program should include the two opposing muscle group. The biceps brachii, the bulging muscle in the upper arm, is paired with the triceps. But the truth is that most people give their biceps much more exercise, so concentrating on the triceps for a few minutes a day would be a good thing.

These exercises aren't very active, so they probably won't cause any perspiration. You can probably do them easily in any but the most restrictive business clothing. There are other exercises you can do which require you to lie on the floor, but these three can be done standing or sitting. If you are wearing high heels, you should remove them, just for stability.

The only equipment you will need is a set of dumbbells in a comfortable weight, probably three or five pounds, and a chair or bench that isn't on wheels. You will need to accept that you can't do these without someone noticing. If you are too self-conscious, you can do them at home, of course. But a coffee or lunch break provides a structured time that will remind you to get busy and shape those triceps!

For each of these exercises, you should do a number of reps that is comfortable for you (try to start with 10 reps, but don't feel bad if you need to start lower) and gradually increase that number over time to a maximum of 20. If you reach the maximum and want to increase the difficulty, there are notations under each of the particular exercises.

Dips
Sit on the edge of a chair and place your hands on the chair beside your hips, gripping the front edge of the seat. Put your weight on your arms. Move your hips forward until they are in front of the chair and lower your body by bending your elbows (no more than 90 degrees). Keep your hips close to the chair. Push back up, but don't lock your elbows. Repeat.

To increase the difficulty: walk your feet out away from the chair before doing the dips

Extensions
Hold one dumbbell in each hand and raise your arms over your head, in a "touchdown" pose. Keeping your hands close together, bend your elbows to about 90 degrees, so that the dumbbells are lowered behind your head. Return your arms to the upright position. Repeat

To increase the difficulty: add more sets, or increase the weight.

Kickbacks
Hold one dumbbell in each hand and bend forward at the waist 45 degrees. Bend your knees slightly, and tighten your abs (yet another benefit), to stabilize the lower back. Let your arms hang at your sides. Bend your elbows to raise the weights up to your torso. Tighten the triceps, and extend your arms back till the weights are just above your buttocks. Try not to swing your arms in order to complete the motion. Allow your arms to return to the position hanging at your sides. Repeat.

To increase the difficulty, bend forward more, to a maximum of 90 degrees, or increase the weight.

For those who wish to embark on a complete workout regimen, these are only three of the exercises which will tone the triceps, but these alone can go a long way toward shaping up the troublesome upper arms.