From princess to pumped: The curl & press

By Hayley Woodin [Contributor]

While my Olympic break may not have been so productive homework-wise, it was definitely productive ambassador-wise and at least somewhat productive workout-wise.

I am quite proud to say that I have perfected the half chin-up, and for someone who couldn’t even hang with arms fully extended for more than two seconds, this is considerable progress. (I would also like to add that if I jump, I can execute what would be a full chin-up if you took out the jumping…)

But time is not on my side, and it is time to kick it into high gear.

I have begun a self-prescribed weightlifting regimen that has worked miracles on my arm and upper back muscles.

At the beginning of our fabulous two-week break, I found that I had considerable difficulty holding the bar by itself minus any weights.

So I took my time and slowly but surely, I progressively added the one-and-a-half-pound weight to the bar, and then the two-and-a-quarter-pound weight and finally the five-pound weight.
I call my program the Curl & Press.

I may not have invented it, but I most certainly have mastered it.

The workout includes an arm curl proceeded by a vertical arm extension. After holding the weight in the air for several seconds, you bring your arm back down to the curl position before bringing it back down to your side.
That’s one. Then you repeat with your other arm. That’s two.

Aim for 100 “curl and presses,”  although your arms may give way long before that.

Once you can fairly easily complete 50 of these with each arm, you’re ready to move up weight-wise.

My little routine takes going through a couple of songs on my iPod or an episode of Friends to complete, a mere 20 minutes at the most, breaks included.

Next stop, 10 pounds (ambitious, I know) and a little cardio, because the less you weigh, the less your arms have to pull up.