PLEASE help me tone my arms up for my wedding in 10 days!

[WhatsGoingOnEh]

I realise I've left this a bit late... To say the least...

My dress is so beautiful that I had to have it, but it's sleeveless. I'm 5'6", weigh 10st 4 and I'm a size 10. But my arms! I have dinner-lady arms!

I'm low-carbing and eating sensibly, loads of water, etc. please tell me what I can do to even improve my arms a FRACTION in the next 10 days. I will do ANYTHING.

Thanks! Love, Wobbly

I'll say it: IT'S TOO LATE

Get a bolero.

The max weight reps will break and grow the muscle, the high rep low weight reps will tone them.

"Toned" is just muscle you can see because there is less fat and/or bigger muscle.

Call your photographer now and ask about digitally editing your formal pics ?

Try press up / tricep dip / all the other exercises already listed above in a pyramid fashion.

Do 5, break for 30 seconds, do 10, break for 30 second, do 15, break, do 10, do 5. Collapse.

Now do at least one of these at least once an hour for 12 hours a day for 10 days. Your work colleagues will think you are mad but you don't need to cart weights to work at least.

If it starts to feel easy, then do 10:15:20:15:10 or make the breaks shorter

Disclaimer - I am not a fitness professional but this was a very effective regime I was on the receiving end of at a bootcamp. IF you are carrying a lot of fat on your arms though, you risk making them look larger by building up muscle underneath it so lots of reps rather than heavy weights is my understanding? Using your own body weight should be enough to make it burn.

IF you are carrying a lot of fat on your arms though, you risk making them look larger by building up muscle underneath it so lots of reps rather than heavy weights is my understanding? Using your own body weight should be enough to make it burn.

So what does your programme actually aim to do, if not muscle growth?

(The chances of anyone building noticeably bigger muscles in 10 days, never mind without the excess fat being there, is 0).

yeah also what is point of training one muscle every day, it won't grow if it doesn't rest for 24-48 hours

just stop being silly

Focus on the marriage rather than the wedding and focus on a day of celebration rather than your arms. You will look stunningly beautiful bolero or no bolero

I lost 2cms off each arm "girth" in a week. Didn't eat much and exercised for 10 hrs a day but they were the most toned they have ever been.

Forget my crap about fat on top of muscle.
www.sparkpeople.com/resource/fitness_articles.asp?id=1662

I do Tracy Anderson 8 min arms on youtube it has really toned my arms and you don't need weights, not sure if it will do much in 10 days but it's worth a try!

Those of you who've managed to tone their arms - what were your arms like before? I've been studying mine. Imagine the arm is sticking straight out to the side; the top is REALLY strong - I have great biceps! It's just the bottom hangs down, in a loose flabby landslide (arm-slide). THAT'S the issue. So from the front they look normal, from the side they look a bit chubby and untoned but not awful. But when I raise my arms at a right angle, they look SHIT.

So it's loose skin. I know you can get an operation for that, but not by next weekend! Is there any quick cure for that??

I have a rowing machine gathering dust... If I hammer away on that for an hour a day, I might build up my shoulders enough to give more definition at the top, to distract from the ARM SLURRY underneath.

I'm 10st 3 today.

Have you tried Callanetics arm exercises? They're very fast acting. Just google Callanetics evolution and there's a Youtube video for the whole DVD - just over an hour long - the arm exercises are right at the begining

Ooh I'll do that now! THANK YOU.

Everyone on this thread isadorable.

A friend sells skinny wraps, her facebook page is skinnycotswolds. Might be worth a look as well?

You need my new invention-arm spanx!

Made of nude tights material, they are barely visible, comfy, cool, but still hold your wobbly arms firmly.

Arm Spanx sound great. Maybe I could spray my arms with super-hold hairspray to tame the wobble?

I just did a 5-min Callenetics workout, an 8-min Tracy Anderson arm workout (does anyone else struggle to understand WTF you're meant to be doing?), an arm workout i got from Glamour magazine, and 20 (pretty rubbish) press-ups.

Even if all this stuff just makes me feel as if my arms might look better maybe, it's worth it.

I asked my son's opinion of my arms earlier - it wasn't good. But as long as I don't reach out to lift something up, or stand with arms outstretched, I might get away with it.

I wish I'd started this earlier! I've been engaged to DP for nearly 3 years! I had warning!

Oh, and 10 reverse dip things off the chair. This isn't nearly enough, is it? At this Kate stage I should be doing about 5 hours a day.

I DO have Jillian Michaels' Seven Day Shred dvd. I could definitely do that every day. It's 45 mins cardio in the morning and 45 mins weights/strength in the evening. Apparently it's HORRENDOUSLY HARD but v effective.

Just the fact that a 7 Day Shred dvd exists reassures me that I'm not the only lastminute panicker in the world.

It's not too late to firm them up a bit.
Google P90X eccentric upper. Ok, it's hardcore but it's only 30 mins a day sand you will be amazed at the results.
I lost all my baby weight (after 6 pregnancies!) this way and have the hint of a 6 pack and my arms and legs are pretty toned and defined.
You'll also have to reign in the junk and the booze.

Seriously, I've done lots of types of exercise over the years, step class, Zumba, and I trail run. But THIS, this, is the one.

Have a great day :)

I gave up booze a month ago. And I only eat chicken, eggs, fish, fruit and veg at the moment, plus water and black coffee.

I will definitely do that P90x thing -- thank you!!! Thank you! I just know I can do something, even if it just makes me FEEL a bit less paranoid.

Jillian and P90X start tomorrow. Thanks, you have fired me up. :) :)

Have you got to some weights or bands? Or a chin up bar?
All pretty inexpensive.
If you got some bands you can attach it to a door frame instaed of chin up bar.
Honestly, p90x is so effective.
My husband was doing it and I refused to do it for ages because of all the ludicrous high high fiving and positivity!
But, it is amazing. The guy is 55 years old!
You could even do two back to back. P90X3 is the program I follow now, (they're 30mins) wasn't keen on the first ones he did, too much martial arts.
Prepare for you arms and your sides to KILL the day after

AB, I have only weights. :-S

This morning I did the morning workout of the One Week Shred. 30 mins of swearing strength training. Tonight is 30 mins cardio. Every day for 8 days. BRING IT!!!

Vivacia that's not necessarily true. Think of world strongest men power lifters. They focus on lifting one or two reps of the highest weight possible, they look huge because their muscles bulge outwards but if you tone the muscles after then you can mould their shape. Obviously you need to lose fat, that goes without saying! But without doing low weight/high rep the muscles will just look like solid mass

If all else fails could you get some flesh coloured tubigrip?

Right, rolls up sleeves for straight talking action (but only to the elbows, obvs, because I am a fellow fat-armer!) I'm going to suggest a different tack. You are not going to make much difference really (sorry!) in a week, although I get that "doing something" will make you feel better, so keep going there - and who doesn't love being shouted at by Jillian.

I think the key is to make your ams the best texture and appearance possible, and I think you can to a lot with that in a week/few days.

Every day - exfoliate. Scrubby gloves, grainy wash and scour away. They need to be smooth, without a bump in sight. Then you need a firming cream and a fake tan. There is actually a St Tropez one that is a firming gradual tan daily moisturiser - spenny, but these are desparate times (not just the daily gradual tan one, the big guns (ha!) one of gradual tan plus firming plus something else). Whack that on every day for a week. Then on the day I think you need an oil with a very slight shimmer - look for the Nuxe one with a tiny gold sheen to it.

Good luck!

Try and stop worrying about it - it sounds like you're doing all the right things to tone your arms. I bet no one will be looking at your arms anyway, just you in your beautiful dress. Good luck and have a great day.