Though toned arms à la J.Lo, Michelle Obama, Pippa Middleton, Adriana Lima, and Jennifer Aniston may seem like they need a fully equipped gym and a personal trainer (or two) to achieve, they can be attained from the comfort of your own home in under 20 minutes a day.
To help you achieve the sculpted arms of your dreams, we turned to the experts at boutique fitness studios Peaches Pilates for help. Bec Chidaic, co-owner of Peaches Pilates shares her ultimate upper body workout; designed to strengthen your chest, shoulders, biceps, and triceps, resulting in taught, toned arms. The only equipment required is a resistance band, though Bec suggests using a pair of old nylon tights in a pinch!
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Exercise 1: Overhead shoulder openers
- Start in a plank position with a band in between your hands, core engaged, feet and shoulders hip-width apart.
- Slowly lower your arms, keeping your elbows close to your waist until your body has reached the mat.
- Now reach your arms straight out in front of you and start slowly moving them away from each other as far as you can, slowly return your arms back.
- Once you have done this 10 times hold your arms out as wide as you can and hold for 5 seconds and then release.
- Now back to plank position and repeat, completing 3 sets.
Exercise 2: Flight
- Start with your arms and palms facing up and hands like they are holding tennis balls, slide shoulder blades back and lift your chest and head off the ground, gaze to the floor.
- Inhale and lift your arms towards the ceiling hold and exhale and lower your body and arms back to the mat.
- After completing 30 repetitions of step 2 rotate your palms to face the floor and then rotate back towards the ceiling, still holding your ‘tennis balls’.
- After 10 repetitions of step 3, face the palms up and pulse for 10 counts.
- Release and stretch into child’s pose.
Exercise 3: Serving forward
- Stand up, feet hip-width apart and place the band around your waist, wrapping your hands around the ends of the band, create a small bend through your knees and slight tuck of your tailbone to protect your spine, palms are facing up.
- Exhale and stretch your arms out in front of you, holding the band closer to your waist to harden the exercise or closer to the end of the band to make it easier. Inhale to return your hands to your waist.
- After you have repeated this 20 times start to circle your arms in one direction, change direction after 10 circles and repeat.
Exercise 4: Standing flies with band
- Keeping the band around your waist, bring your arms out in front of you, exhale, squeeze your shoulder blades and widen your arms as far as you can, inhale to bring them together.
- After 20 reps, hold your arms out to the side and start circling one direction, switch directions after 10 circles and repeat.
- Remember to keep a slight bend in your elbows to avoid overextending.
- Now rest, shake out your arms and relax.
Exercise 5: Bicep curls with band
- Place your right foot into the middle of your resistance band and hold the ends of the band, place your left foot slightly back for balance and create a small bend in the right knee, toes facing forward, tailbone slightly tucked, shoulders down and back.
- Exhale and bicep curl up, hold, inhale and lower to arms down only ¾ of the way, keeping the resistance on the band
- After repeating 15 times, start performing ½ bicep curls by only returning the arms back to 90 degrees and curling back up again, repeat this 15 times.
- Before you rest, on your last rep hold for 5 seconds and release.
Exercise 6: Pilates push up and triceps kickbacks
- Get down onto the mat and leave your band lying across the top of the mat, get yourself into a kneeling push up position and place your hands flat across the band.
- Start lowering yourself down like you would with a pushup, holding when you get ⅓ of the way, then down to ⅔ of the way and hold and finally all the way down and pushing back up all the way to the top.
- After 10 pushups, bring your knees back under your hips and wrap your band around your left hand, push your right hand over the top of the band and into the mat. Bring your left hand to your waist, exhale and push your arm back behind you, inhale to bring your arm back to your waist.
- After repeating this 10 times, hold your arm back behind you and start to pulse for 5 counts.
- Release and repeat on the other side, after you have repeated on the other side, go back to push up position and complete another 8 Pilates pushups.
- Take a rest.
Exercise 7: Plank Challenge
- Set up in a high plank position, core tight, drop your right arm and place your right arm onto the mat, transfer all your weight to the right arm and bring your left arm down to join the right arm on the mat so you are now in a low plank position.
- Now bring your right arm up and then bring your left arm to join you so you are now in a high plank position.
- Repeat this on both sides 5 times
- Shake it out and rest.
For more home workouts, healthy recipes, and lifestyle advice, check out Peach Pilates online.
In collaboration with Peaches Pilates
Feature image courtesy of Deborah Turbeville
