Have you ever wished that you had better shaped arms? I certainly have and I've heard many speak about it in casual conversation over the years. Resistance training is a great way to improve our shape and pilates reformer is most certainly one of best ways to do this and it's fun because you get to do it together! Here I've put together some of my favourite exercises that include working the tricep muscle. If you don't know, the triceps are located at the back of our arms. Sometimes we get a little out of shape and we get a build up of fat at the back of the arm. As we know resistance training helps us burn fat & build muscle which is why we tend to shape up nicely after we exercise.
The job of our triceps is to extend (straighten) the arm so you will see the arm bending and straightening in these 4 (progressively more challenging) arm sculpters.
1. Prone Tricep Press
This is a very effective entry level tricep exercise. Start on a medium or heavy spring and keep your hands close together. Press the public bone into the box. Notice the position of the wrists. Keeping them neutral will put less unwanted pressure on the wrist. Straighten the arms pushing the carriage out. Then with control, bend the arms drawing the carriage back in as far as you can. This may be one of the more basic ones but it can be made more challenging by increasing your spring. This is the first step to sculpt those arms.
2. Tricep Extension
The Tricep extension with hands in straps can be done seated on a box as well as kneeling. Elevate the arms so your elbows are slightly forward of your shoulders. Clasp your hands together. Your torso might have a slight lean forward. Extend the forearms until the arms are completely straight. Try separating the arms (so they are working more indepedantly) or increase your spring load.
3. Tricep Dips - Level 1 & 2
Tricep dips are not specific to pilates but doing them on the reformer like this opens up possibilites for more advanced repertoire so they certainly have a place. For Level 1, place the heel of your hands on the footbar facing the pulleys with your feet on the carriage. Start off with your feet roughly under your knees. Bend and straighten at the elbow. Progress to Level 2 by putting the feet on the shoulder blocks keeping them straight. Lengthening the legs adds more challenge to this exercise. Once you've mastered these try the Long Back Stretch.
4. Long Back Stretch
From the starting position, lower your hips down as you tuck the pelvis (posterior tilt) under. Squeeze your glutes and extend the hips as high as you can until you come into a plank. Return to the start position maintaining that tucked pelvis for as long as you can. Repeat and feel the burn. This is a very advanced exercise. I'm still mastering this one. Finding the right spring tension is important. A little more spring will make it more challenging on the shoulders and a lighter spring more challenge your core and glutes.
So there you have it. 4 tricep exercises to get your arms strong and sculpted for spring. If you've never done pilates and have thought about trying I urge you to take the plunge. You will be so glad you did. Pilates is a great way of getting into shape, building body awareness and learning about your incredible strengths and areas of weakness that you can develop. Like anything it is a skill that requires dedication and time to master but there's a whole lot of fun and value in that pathway.
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