To Sara of Fit by Sara: “I’m 50 years old, I workout regularly but I can’t seem to get good definition and muscle tone on my upper arms.  What do you suggest I do to tone up the back of my arms?”

From Sara of Fit by Sara: “Take 3 things into account. 1. Your age 2. Your nutrition 3. Exercise.  As we age it’s more challenging to obtain muscle tone and a “cut look”.  So be sure to be the best you versus an image in a magazine.  Depending on how often and what you eat can determine how much body fat you have, and the more body fat we have the less you’ll be able to see muscle definition/tone.  So be sure to eat plenty of veggies, fruit and water, and consume “back of your fist size” portions of low-fat meats.  For exercise you want to do exercise that will target the back of your arms or “triceps”.  Yoga is excellent for targeting the upper arms and shoulders as well as toning the entire body.  You may also like to add tricep extensions with light weights (3-5 lbs) or use a tricep extension machine at the gym.  Work up to 3 sets of 10-15 reps 3 x per week.” -Sara Holliday

***Got a question for me?  I’d love to answer it! Email me at info@fitbysara.com or leave a comment.

Warning: this style of workout is WAY different than anything you've ever tried before and may result in a dramatically leaner, stronger body so that your friends no longer recognize you in a matter of weeks!

Alright, I exaggerated about your friends recognizing you, but this workout is still great for busy people that always use the excuse that they don't have time to go to the gym, or even for the normal gym rat to try out for a few weeks to break out of a plateau.

Please keep an open-mind and don't worry so much about what other people think, because this is quite different and you may get some funny looks, but you'll get the last laugh with your new rock hard body! To be honest, most people are too self conscious to try something like this. If that's the case for you, then that's your loss.

Here's how it works:

Instead of doing your traditional workouts of going to the gym 3-4 times a week and doing your normal weight training and cardio routines for an hour at a shot, with this program, you will be working out for just a couple minutes at a time, several times throughout each day, 5 days/week.

The program will consist of only bodyweight exercises done for about 2-3 minutes, 6-8 times per day, throughout each day. Now obviously if you work a normal office job, you are going to have to not be shy about doing a few exercises in your office and having your cube-mates watch you. Actually, I've found that some people that have tried this have actually gotten their co-workers to join them! If you have a private office, then you don't have to worry about anybody watching you. If you work from home, or are a stay at home mom, there's no reason you can't fit these in throughout the day while at home. If you end up having a busy day with meetings and so forth, and can only fit a couple of these 2-minute workouts in, then so be it, but try to get as many done each day as you can.

If you're on a normal 9-5 office schedule, I recommend doing your 2-minute workouts every hour, on the hour, with the exception of lunch. For example, you could try 9 am, 10 am, 11 am, 1 pm, 2 pm, 3 pm, and 4 pm.

Some of the exercises that are the best to focus on are:

-bodyweight squats (and variations)

-pushups (and variations)

-forward, reverse, or walking lunges

-up and down a staircase if one is available

-floor planks (holding plank position from forearms and feet)

-floor abs exercises such as lying leg thrusts, ab bicycles, etc.

-one-legged bodyweight Romanian deadlifts

This list is not fully comprehensive, but I wanted to keep it relatively simple. If you know other good bodyweight exercises, you can add those to your routine also. If you want to keep it real simple and don't want to get down on the floor for anything, you can stick to squats, lunges, and pushups and still get great results.

The good thing about these workouts is that you do enough in 2-3 minutes to get your blood pumping, heart rate up a bit, a large portion of your body's muscles worked, and your body temperature raised. However, it's usually not enough to break a sweat in only 2 or 3 minutes, so you don't have to worry about sweating or getting smelly in the office or where ever you may be. At most, you might just get a little moist on the skin.

Here's an example routine (adjust the reps up or down based on your capabilities):

Mon/Wed/Fri
9 am - 10 pushups/15 bodyweight squats, repeat 1X for 2 sets
10 am - plank holds (hold the planks as long as you can taking short rest breaks for a total of 3 minutes)
11 am - 5 pushups/10 bodyweight squats, repeat for 4 sets
1 pm - plank holds (hold as long as possible in 3 minutes)
2 pm - 8 pushups/12 bodyweight squats, repeat for 3 sets
3 pm - plank holds (hold as long as possible in 3 minutes)
4 pm - max pushups/max bodyweight squats in one set (no repeat)

Tues/Thurs
9 am - 6 fwd lunges each leg/6 rev lunges, repeat 1X for 2 sets
10 am - one legged bw Romanian deadlifts (RDL) 6 each leg/floor abs for 20 sec, repeat 1X for 2 sets
11 am - 3 fwd lunges each leg/3 rev lunges, repeat for 4 sets
1 pm - one legged bw RDL 3 each leg/floor abs for 20 sec, repeat for 4 sets
2 pm - 5 fwd lunges each leg/5 rev lunges, repeat for 3 sets
3 pm - one legged bw RDL 10 each leg/floor abs for 30 sec (no repeat)
4 pm - max fwd lunges each leg/max rev lunges in one set (no repeat)

In order to progress on these workouts, you could either add 1 or 2 reps to each set per week, or you could progress to more difficult versions of each exercise each week (for example, close grip pushups, one leg raised pushups, squats with arms raised straight over head, etc.).

The above routines are just a couple examples of how you can use this very unique style of training. Use your creativity and come up with your own. Think about what you've accomplished with these "mini" workouts completed throughout each day... You've increased your heart rate and pumped up your muscles 6-8 different times throughout each day, burning a lot of extra calories and stimulating your metabolism. Even though each "mini" workout was a very short duration, you've accumulated lots of repetitions for almost every muscle throughout your entire body, and you didn't even have to break a sweat during any of the "mini" workouts. And there's hardly any excuse for not being able to take a 2-minute break once per hour and do a couple of exercises. Another benefit of this style of training is that now you don't have to devote any time before or after work to going to the gym because you already got your workout done little by little throughout the day. You've now got some extra free time on your hands!

Try this type of routine out for 3-4 weeks and then go back to your normal gym routines. I think you'll find that it was a great way to break out of a plateau and stimulate new results in your body. You can try mixing in a cycle of these "mini" workouts every couple of months to keep things fresh.

Keep in mind that this is only one method of training and doesn't mean that you should only stick to this method for eternity. You will hit a plateau on any given training method, so I'd recommend just rotating it into your arsenal of various training methods. And by all means, don't worry about what other people think so much...have the courage to try something a little different. In the end, you'll be the one laughing back at all of the "blubber-bellies" that are giving you funny looks while they eat their donuts!

All those who have ever attempted a weight loss diet plan know just how frustrating it can be sometimes. Moreover, while trying to lose weight, you are constantly bombarded by so much information and misinformation about the latest diet craze, fad or plan for instant weight loss. For most dieters, there may come a time when you feel like throwing in the towel and packing away your scale. However, the best solution to all this confusion is to stick to simplicity as your measure for the most effective weight loss plan.

There are three points to remember in order to avoid feeling frustrated as you try to lose weight. First, do not believe all the hype. Secondly, you do not need any special foods to lose weight. And lastly, remember that the most expensive diet solutions aren't necessarily the best.

If anything, intermittent fasting may be the best way to go in your weight loss efforts. What is intermittent fasting, you may ask? Intermittent fasting is the practice of going on short fasting periods of up to 24 hours, once or twice a week. This is a simple and quick way to decrease your intake of calories, which will enable you to meet all your goals for losing weight, without having to starve yourself. Another benefit of intermittent fasting is that it also helps to detox your system to some extent. But in order for intermittent fasting to be effective you will require discipline. As such, you should not fast today then binge for the remainder of the week. Maintain healthy eating habits during your intermittent fasting and you will notice the lost pounds in no time.

If you have ever been on a diet plan, you know that it is not something easy to stick to. The idea of having to give up your favorite comfort foods, not to mention the amount of time you will have to sweat out in the gym is enough to make you cry. But it doesn't all have to be blood, sweat and tears. By following some simple rules, you can enhance your metabolism which will then enable you to shed those extra pounds.

The first step is to free your mind from all that weight loss jargon that flies around from every direction. Forget low fat, no fat and no carbs. As for starvation, you can forget that too, because starving yourself will ruin your weight loss efforts instead of helping them.

Instead, all you need to do is get onto a reliable diet plan, follow the rules and see it to the end. This is because if you have the habit of beginning a new diet plan each week, you will end up getting frustrated as you will not be able to see the results of each. However, be sure to steer clear of all diet plans which promise you that you will be able to eat anything you want, whenever you want. Even a 5 year old can tell you that that is a lie. Most importantly, remember that losing weight in moderation will lead to longer lasting results than losing too much weight all of a sudden.

To Sara of Fit by Sara: What exercises do you suggest to tone my flabby arms?

From Sara of Fit by Sara: Exercises that work your biceps, triceps, and shoulders will give a nice look to your arms.  A common yoga pose that really works your shoulders and triceps is called “chutarunga”.  This posture goes from a push-up position (plank) to hugging your elbows back and into your sides and balancing an inch above the floor if possible (you can also rest on your knees). Yoga is also an excellent form of exercise that will tone your entire body and leave you feeling more balanced and at peace. As far as weight training goes start incorporating these machines at the gym- tricep extensions, bicep curls, and shoulder press.  Work up to 3 sets of 10-15 reps.  Ask a personal trainer for assistance for proper seat adjustments and to check your alignment.”-Sara Holliday

***Have a question for me?  Email me at info@fitbysara.com or leave a comment here.