A Call to Arms

With each passing day in the South, the temperature rises and the urge to wear sleeveless shirts becomes an increasing temptation...and with this temptation comes an increased probability that I will be seeing my fears come into view.

Arms.

I have an arms phobia. Not guns, not weapons, especially not WMDs, but arms, the connective bit between the shoulder and hands. More specifically, FAT, FLABBY ARMS. Nothing frightens me more. It's a fear because I'm constantly afraid that I have them.

I've done less than natural poses in order to avoid having the appearance of flabby arms. If you're in a sorority, I'm sure you're familiar with the hip-pop, hand-on-hip pose that is common in photos where there are two or more people. Sometimes this preventative measure can look a little unnatural or somehow displaced in an effort to prevent arm flab from showing. Regardless, it's worth doing, for this way, no one can know how big your arm might actually be. Sometimes I find myself staring at peoples' arms in horror. I'm not sure what the proper proportions are supposed to be, like.. in relation to head size, arm size, torso size, but I just go by what I like to call the Renaissance Fair Test. If your arm looks like it's larger than the X-X-L turkey legs that you can buy at the Renaissance Fair, also known as the alien legs that you can buy at Disney World... then your arm is undesirable to me.

Once I saw a woman whose arm was so big that it was all but consuming her elbow. All that was left was a little space, like her arm's last ditch efforts to gasp for air. This image still sends shivers down my spine.

In honor of this irrational fear that I have, I've posted some exercises from FitSugar.com that can help those of you that might possess arms that you wish to tone in honor of summer.



Feel free to click to enlarge.