Score the First Lady's First-Class Arms

What's the secret to Michelle Obama's toned arms that have left us trying endless pull-ups, push-ups and shoulder presses in the weight room? Not much anymore thanks to the Today Show and Women's Health magazine. They spilled the beans to reveal the First Lady's workout straight from her long-time trainer Cornell McClellan. And if you're determined to sport similar guns, you can work your way through the 9-Minute Arm Workout, a two-move super set that works the biceps and triceps hardcore.

Fact: Mrs. Obama has been working with McClellan since 1997. Since that time he's put her through 1,872 workouts.

Fact: McClellan runs Naturally Fit, a fitness studio in Chicago's West Loop neighborhood, that Mrs. Obama started frequenting more than 12 years ago.

Fact: Her workouts took place as early as 5:30 a.m.

Fact: McClellan puts Mrs. Obama through a full-body workout complete with lunges, bench presses and more to work multiple muscle groups. Thanks to McClellan her training "includes strength, cardiovascular and flexibility training."

Read the full story from the Today Show here. Or check out this Michelle Obama Arm Workout courtesy of Fitness magazine that offers a few different moves. Photo grabbed from AlexJohnson at flickr. Posted by Kate

Fit Funday

Maybe I'm missing something by not being heavily entralled by events in our nation's capital or politics in general. But today I noticed something on people.com that normally wouldn't have caught my eye--and if not for the Fergie connection, probably wouldn't have appeared in my guilty-pleasure reading. Thanks to Fergie belting out the national anthem to kick off some Easter festivities at the White House, I was left to read about activities that had nothing to do with chocolate bunnies, egg hunts, bonnets and baskets, and Peter Cottontails.

Have you ever heard of the Easter Egg Roll? To be honest, I had forgotten about it, until the Obamas and Fergie kicked off the 2009 event this morning. This year's Easter Egg Roll featured an all-day concert as well as plenty of fitness-y activities to follow the theme, "Let's Go Play." Granted I really don't know much about past events or what activities typically occur throughout the day--I only remember history books showing kids rolling eggs on the grass--but hooray for whomever created this year's healthy influence. The day included yoga, soccer, break-dancing, jump rope and health-conscious cooking in addition to the usual Easter Egg Roll event. Reminds me a little of the Self Workout in the Park or Chicago's Mayor Daley's Holiday Sports Festival held between Christmas and New Year's. And it looks like the First Lady may have had some influence in coming up with the theme and its activities. In the people.com slideshow, she was quoted as saying, "'We want everybody to think about moving their bodies,' she said. 'The goal is to have fun and to get out and play.'" As for the healthy menu? Among the goodies, chefs served up turkey burgers and guacamole plus mango smoothies. Yum.

Sorry for the randomness, but I'm all eyes and ears when it comes to fitness. Photo grabbed from razzlefrazzle at flickr. Posted by Kate

Obama works it out

The final flutterings of confetti had long-since fallen to the floor at each of the Inaugural Balls when I watched the Today Show early yesterday morning while slogging through a treadie hill workout. Meredith and Matt began speculating about what the Obama family was up to that morning. "I wonder if he's gotten that first intelligence report?" they wondered. "Hopefully sleeping in..." they suggested. And finally, "No, he's probably already gotten in a workout."

So true! Obama is well known for his religious morning sweat sessions and I'm willing to bet money that no matter how late he stayed up dancing at those Balls throughout D.C, or how he zonked he was from the exhausting day of Inauguration hooplah, there's no way he pressed snooze and skipped his first workout as President of the United States of America. As anyone who works out regularly knows, the days you are most tired, most nervous, most excited, most anxious, most sad, most....whatever....those are the days that exercise is elevated from "this makes me feel good inside and outside" to "my mind, body and heart might all explode if I don't exercise today." The days I skip a workout I feel fuzzy, fatigued and sorta bummed out. When I get in my gym session, I'm noticeably more clear-headed, energized and happy (really, just ask my husband if you don't believe me!). 

I'm psyched our new Prez is on our team of OCD worker-outers: There's something strangely comforting about his exercise habit. Posted by Liz

Photo grabbed from swamppolitics.com.