Summer. Here in Milwaukee, that means the Fahrenheit cracking a balmy 40 degrees. People inexplicably wear shorts, flip-flops and beach gear the moment the snow melts. It’s a sign of flimsier things to come in a month or so. It doesn’t fail. Every year when citizens start shedding their clothes, inhibitions, and dignity, we are inadvertently forced to see and learn a lot more than we ever wanted to about the bodies of our neighbors and total strangers alike. Don’t get me wrong; I’m not knocking bodies of all shapes and sizes. I’m just saying that being aware of how your body is presented in the fashions that come down the pike this summer should be of some importance. Taking summer stock of ourselves if you will.
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| Trina Turk, Summer 2011. |
No matter what your body type you can take inspiration from many stylish sources this summer and find the type of clothing that is suitable to maximize your assets and play down the “problem areas” that we all have. For instance, designer Trina Turk shows us the right way to do uncovered with class and sass. I find her mix of prints, solids and tropical colors with crisp black and white irresistible. The prints are sophisticated and the color palette brilliant without being garish. The garments also show a tasteful amount of skin to keep it sexy but not sleazy. Most anyone of any size can find something in this outstanding collection that would work for him or her. With my suggestions on what to wear out of the way, let’s focus on what you may need to do to maintain your clothes-hanging vehicle.
As a fashion stylist, a frequent question people ask is what they can do to tone and sculpt their arms so that they can wear some of the hottest summer fashions. It makes sense given that the arms and the upper body are what are on display when wearing halters, tanks and any flesh-baring top. I thought it might be a little off topic, but fun to ask my buddy, sometime model and full-time personal trainer, Matt Barber, how to take care of the guns and other fashion weapons in your god-given arsenal. He tells us how to keep them smokin’ hot, like the weather will soon be. I hope!
Why are arms so often a problem, especially the back of the arm?
Arms tend to be a problem for two main reasons. First, unless you do resistance training or manual labor, you simply won’t have much muscle in your arms. Second, people in the U.S. tend to be overweight. It doesn’t take a lot of excess fat in an area with little muscle mass to make it look flabby.
Let’s say you don’t want to look too pumped up; is there such a thing as toning without making the arms look too big? Many women seem to have that idea, that working the arms will produce “manly” muscle. Is that true?
If a woman is naturally muscular (e.g. Mary Lou Retton or Jillian Michaels), then yes, lifting weights or doing other resistance training can make them look “pumped.” These rare women generally don’t have flabby arms even if they don’t workout. But the vast majority of women do not have that body type and won’t have enough of the hormones (esp. testosterone) to create big, “pumped,” manly muscles. It just won’t happen unless they take steroids. I always tell my female clients that if they think they’re getting too muscular they should just stop training. In over 10 years, it’s never happened.
What three exercises can anyone do to help fight flabby arms this summer?
1. Push-ups, 2. Pull-ups (or pull downs), and 3. Squats (or lunges). Unfortunately, too many women do triceps extensions to target just the back of their arms in hopes their flabby arms will disappear. Two things are wrong with that: 1. You can’t spot reduce, which means you can’t burn fat in an area simply from working that area and 2. Triceps are a small muscle so you get very little increase in metabolism by simply building just the triceps. The three exercises I picked hit all of the major muscle groups. Building a little muscle over many muscle groups leads to the greatest metabolic increase, which means more fat burning and thus a more “toned” look everywhere, including the arms.
In your professional opinion, how often should these exercises be done?
A lot depends on the level of the person doing the exercises. For someone relatively new to exercising doing a circuit of three sets of push-ups then pull-ups then lunges is a good start. It could be done every other day with weekends off. Generally as someone becomes more advanced and is able to work more intensely we add more exercises and take bigger breaks between hitting the same muscle groups.
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If there is something you don’t like about your own body, you have the power to change it, either with careful choices in what to wear, or hitting the gym a little harder. It’s that simple. You only have one body, so get to know it, keep it strong and dress it well this summer, Milwaukee; you’ve definitely earned the right to bare arms.
Go to trinaturk.com/stores.aspx to find local boutiques that carry her line.
For more tips on transforming your fashion figure, go to: mattbarberfitness.blogspot.com.
