Workin' it out with Nike Training Club: Week #3 (Sweepstakes Included!)

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I got a glance of myself in the mirror the other day, and guess what I saw? Muscle! I have to admit that I am slightly obsessed with having strong looking arms. I believe that if you have strong, defined arms you can fool anyone into thinking you’re fit. Back when I was in college I did 100 push-ups everyday to develop arm and chest strength so I could be a fast runner. It did just that. As a result from all the body weight work on my upper body I developed strong looking arms, but unfortunately, I also developed a shoulder problem that made putting on shirts and sleeping on my left side painful. Since the first flare up I have wanted so badly to be able to get my arms back to what they were, but every time I tried to do get back into a routine of push-ups like I once had I ended up in the same pain.  I no longer had defined arms and therefore, I wasn’t foolin’ anyone!

It has been a cycle of trying to do push-ups, then having to stop, then trying again, and so forth for the past year. I decided that I would try to do the “Get Toned” 15 minute arm workout the other day, just to see if Nike could come up with some other arm workouts that didn’t aggravate my shoulder.  I started the workout and one of the first exercises I had to do was the push-up! Egh! I thought this would be the end of all arm exercises for good (I put a lot of faith in Nike), but then the intense woman who speaks to me during my sessions said “Keep your elbows in.” Again, my lack of exercise knowledge, outside of running, came shining through. I wanted to exactly see what she ment so I turned on the short tutorial video on how to do these things, and sure enough, I wasn't doing what she was doing. I had my arms way out on the sides whereas the Nike Training model had them right under her. I corrected my form, modified the push-up, because of my lack of arm strength, and all went well. No pain!

Not only did it show me how to do the push-up properly but it showed me two other types of non-pushup-like exercises, like the sumo squat with press and the plank row. Those used different parts of the arms and gave my mind a break from the monotony of the push-up. Although the push-ups caused no pain during, and the other arm exercises seemed to bypass my tender shoulder area, the true test was what I would feel like the following days. Yes, I felt sore, but the bone on the top of my shoulder where I feel all my pain felt normal. No aggrivation, just happy triceps and biceps!

Since the great news that I can now do arm work, I have started to incorporate these exercises and haven’t been afraid to try the Shoulder Ripper, or Back Definer routines. Soon, I’ll be able to bench press you. Watch out.

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Since I got some good arm and shoulder fortune, Nike has decided to give you a chance to get some fortune too. Enter for a chance to win an iPad2 complete with the Nike Training Club app and COOL Nike gear including the Legend Pant, Victory Bra, and Free XT Motion Fit+! Good luck!

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**The Nike Training Club App is a full-body functional training app designed for you to make yourself whatever you want to be. Whether you’re looking to get lean, toned, or strong, NTC takes every workout to the next level. Download it here.**

“Disclosure: Compensation was provided by Nike Womens via Glam Media. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of Nike Womens”

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