Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive videos, sweepstakes, and more!
Get Pippa Middleton Arms With These Four Tricep-Toning Moves
Pushups and hammer curls, here we come.
Poor Giles Deacon. The designer made an incredible custom bridal gown for the world’s most famous sister, Pippa Middleton, and the major focus of conversation wasn’t necessarily the gown’s gorgeous lace. It was Pippa’s toned arms. Vogue even called Pippa’s triceps her “best bridal accessory.”
Pippa's always been a fitness buff, but before her wedding, she reportedly went low-cal. As part of the Sirtfood diet, she supposedly stuck to only 20 foods including kale, coffee, cocoa, and wine. If wine's on the list, it can't have been all bad.
Inspired by Pippa, we asked four amazingly fit yoga instructors, Pilates teachers, and personal trainers to name their favorite arm-toning moves. You're definitely going to feel these tricep dips, pushups, and curls the next day.
The Trainer: Karly Treacy, LA-based yoga instructor and Yoga Journal cover model whose client list has included Kate Beckinsale and Lauren Bowles.
The Exercise: 3-in-1 arm workout. "Feel the burn in the biceps, shoulders and triceps for enviable 'fit girl' arms!" says Karly.
Equipment: 2 lb or 3 lb free weights or water bottles
The technique:
Stand with the feet hip distance apart slight bend in the knees. Extend your arms straight out front so that they are parallel to the ground and the wrists are in line with the shoulders.
Turn your palms to face up. Bicep curl 20 times.
Turn the palms to face one another. Hammer curl 20 times.
Alternate bicep curl and hammer curl for 20 of each.
The Trainer: Andrea Speir, star Pilates teacher and founder of Speir Pilates, a Santa Monica studio offering Classic Pilates reformer classes fused with modern exercises techniques like barre and cardio.
The Exercise: Dancing tricep dips to tighten and chisel the back of the arm. "This will help with that jiggly action we try to avoid in your arm!" Andrea says.
Equipment: None needed
The technique:
Sit with knees bent and feet hip distance apart
Place hands behind your body with fingertips facing toward you.
Lift hips up toward sky and extend right leg up toward sky.
Bend elbows and lower body down toward mat.
Straighten elbows and lift body back toward sky.
Imagine hugging a beach ball between elbows. This will help activate the back of the arm, the tricep and not overly work into the shoulders. Keep abdominals deeply engaged to help maintain the lift with the hips.
Repeat 20 times with your right leg extended, then 20 times with you left leg extended. Repeat the whole series three times.
The Trainer: Lauren Kleban, founder of LA's LEKfit, a dance-inspired workout beloved by cool girls like Busy Philipps.
The Exercise: Bicep move
Equipment: 3lb or 5 lb free weights or water bottles
The technique:
Stand with feet hip width apart, shoulders down, core engaged, knees soft, elbows at waist, parallel and bent at a 90 degree angle with palms facing in while holding weights.
Lift arms up and lower turned out to the side, extending arms down with palms now facing up, curl and return to the starting position.
Try this move 10 ten times.
The Trainer: Chelsey Wilkens, personal trainer at model haunt Soho Strength Lab in NYC. She's also a yoga teacher and former gymnast.
The Exercise: Tricep and shoulder-toning seal pushups. "What's great about this pushup variation is that since your hands are turned out, it helps protect the shoulders from impingement, while strengthening the back of the shoulder," Chelsey says.
Equipment: None needed
The technique:
Begin in a plank position but kneel with knees wide and soles of the feet together, your hands will turn out so fingers facing away from the body.
As you lower down, begin to lean forward having your hands by your ribs in the bottom position.
Elbows are squeezed in right by the ribs.
Pause at the bottom, squeezing shoulders back together and pushup rounding through the upper back.
Take your time with these – four sets of eight will do the trick!
Pro tip: To make this move more challenging, you can start in a full plank position on your feet. To regress this move, allow your hips to stay high from your kneeling plank position and just focus on the depth of bent arms.
