The shape of things

One of my friends got engaged last Friday, and during a chat yesterday she mentioned how she wanted to have "toned arms" for her wedding. Of course the workout-fiend inside of me just went to town thinking of all the great exercises and moves she could do to target the upper body.

I told her we'd need to focus on several body parts - the biceps, triceps, shoulders, upper back, chest and abs.

I found some great workouts on Shape.com targeting each of these spots. If you're interested in toning up your upper body, read more...

Triceps -

• three great and simple moves to tone - Notice how you use one arm at a time on these moves, this is great because i've noticed that a lot of times my stronger arm will take over
• the moves in this set are a little less coventional - but still effective!
  

Biceps -  we all know the biceps curl - but unfortunately a lot of us do it incorrectly. While you're doing the curl your upper arm has to stay completely still or you aren't effectively using your bicep muscles.

• This set of biceps moves tries to elimnate that upper arm movement  (3 moves)
  

Shoulders -

• Great moves to get those nice curved shoulders(3 moves)
  
• One move that's great for shoulders (1 move)
• Another good one for those shoulders (1 move)

Upper Back -

• This workout really uses both the shoulders and the back
  
• Can't go without a lat exercise (1 move)
• Great for back and shoulders (1 move)
  

Chest -

• Push ups (they hurt, but they work!)
  
• Chest press (1 move)
  

An allover move -

• Bench press! (don't be scared, you can do it)
  

Ultimately - the most effective way to tone up is to keep your muscles guessing. That means never doing the same workout over and over and over. You need to constantly alternate between several workouts so that your muscles have to work hard doing something they're not familiar doing.

If you seriously want to tone you're going to need to strength train at least three times a week. And if it's for your upper body you'll want to focus on it the majority of the time, but don't neglect other parts either. 

Got some great upper body moves? Post them in the comments 

I love new workouts. Especially ones that have new ways to target the muscles I'm working. But sometimes, I want to go to the gym and hit up the main body parts quickly and effectively instead of hanging around trying to figure out a new move. If you've ever felt that way, then this workout is just for you:

Women's Health put together a list of the best exercises for each body part most women target. Perhaps not so surprisingly the moves that target and work your body the most effectively are also some of the most basic and simple moves. (Like the triceps dip, chest press, and chin up).

Here's an overview of the no-nonsense workout:

1. Triceps - the dip

2. Biceps - The Chin Up (this one is tough - especially for us girls - they suggest having a friend help with this one, I suggest using that maching in the gym that you load an amount of "help weight" stand on a platform, and do the chinup with some assistance. (so instead of doing a chin up lifting your 130 pounds, you do one lifting 80 pounds, or whatever your body can handle). Just try to keep making the help weight ligther and lighter.  

3. Shoulders - Military Press 

4. Upper Back - Dumbbell Row

5. Abs - Reverse crunch 

6. Low Back - Alternating Superwoman (sounds more complicated than it actually is)

7. Chest - Chest Press 

8. Calves - Toe Raise

9. Quads - Squat

10. Butt - Romanian Deadlift

If you do all these moves at the gym one day you will target all areas of the body and get a great all-over workout. Have fun. Print out the workout here.