Do your arms keep waving long after you do?

I hear women refer to this as "triceps flap".

And yes, you CAN do something about it!  In time for summer shirts no less.

All it takes is some hard, focused work on the triceps area AND reduction of bodyfat stores.

A Triceps Tale of Woe

"What's THAT?"

During a teacher wellness program that I was teaching, Joanna, one of the participants, a second-grade teacher, ruefully relayed to us the story.

Apparently, while writing on the front board in her classroom, her loose triceps muscles set to flapping, catching a student's curiosity to such an extent that he asked her, pointing to her triceps area, "What's THAT?

Oof.

Have you ever felt like this? Like the back side of your arm was carrying on long after you'd quit waving?

Why The Triceps Lose Shape

Part of it really isn't your fault.

The triceps muscle, unless we purposely challenge it, really does not get a lot of work in modern life.

Unless you are kneading bread regularly, or involved in some other activity that requires you to push against resistance, the triceps can pretty much check out of the action.

At least the level of action required to give it good shape. To take the flap out of the sail.

This of course is complicated by body fat stores that, for many of us, seem to like to settle in this spot. Dietary planning will of course make a big difference.

But if you want to restore actual shape to the muscle and reduce the "flab" factor, or lack of muscle, then targeting this muscle with isolation and overload is a must.

There's a reason it's called "TRIceps"

The triceps muscle is named so due to its quality of having 3 different heads.

The long, the medial, and the lateral heads.

All 3 have their origin at different points in the arm or scapula, and join together to insert.

Together, these 3 play different and supporting roles in:

    * extending the elbow
    * extending the upper arm in a posterior direction
    * pulling the arm in toward the side of the body.

To most effectively condition and shape the triceps, all 3 of these actions need to be addressed.

The need for targeted conditioning of this area is so strong that I have it early in the Fit Quickies  lineup.  Fit Quickie #3, Triceps Triple Play, is designed with these 3 heads of the triceps fully considered.

Other powerful exercises for the triceps are pushups, reverse pushups, and triceps overhead presses.  The Fit Quickie #3 style is easiest on the joints and very targeted. 

 

Take charge of those triceps and train them.  Your hard work will pay off in arms that feel strong and flap-free!

 

Read this article online HERE

 

 

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Next session:  August - October 2010

 

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Lani Muelrath, M.A., specializes in helping women succeed in their w*eight and body shaping dreams by transforming their relationship with their body, eating, and exercise. Rewriting behaviors and patterns into those that are consistent with the fitness, health, mental outlook and positive energy we desire is her forte!

With over 30 years of experience as a teacher, coach, and trainer, Lani is a Guest Lecturer in Kinesiology at San Francisco State University, and is recipient of the Golden Apple Award for Excellence in Instruction. She created and starred in her own CBS TV show, and is the Healthy Living Examiner at examiner. com.She is also the Fitness Expert at the McDougall Health and Medical Center.

 

If you want to move forward your  fitness - and life - Lani's compassionate and knowledgeable approach and tools for mastery make it possible.

Lani overcame her own lifetime struggle with w*eight over 10 years ago when she lost 50 lbs, which she has maintained easily with the tools that she now teaches in her signature program, Woman's Fitness BluePrint: An Action Plan for Success.