Toning and shaping - every woman's dream

This is an article I had written some time back and thought of sharing it with you.  While training with Indian Airlines for the air hostess job in 1971 we were given plenty of isometric and isotherm exercise routines to follow regularly.  The article is based on one of them.  You might find it useful.

Arm exercise singularly for women

While you are young your figure is probably perfect, or near about; fat accumulates with age and inactivity most of the time.  One day you look into the mirror and you are horrified – your arms look like those of a wrestler!  It happened gradually and you did not notice earlier just as your tummy and sides have become flabby and unbecoming.  Before you reach for the weight-reducing pills, pause because there are other methods of bringing back the tone and shape.  Great isometric exercises for women are here.  

Isometric has a Greek origin, meaning ‘having equal measurement’. I am sure that makes a lot of sense about these exercises – the intention is to put a balance in your body.  The tips below will not take more than thirty minutes of your everyday life; but will give back your thirty years of life, honest.  Let us start on the road to health, happiness and confidence.

Beginning with:

1. Rear arm contraction: Stand in your hall or bedroom doorway, put your feet slightly apart and relax your body.  Raise your hands, clench your fists and put them away from your body against the door jamb above you.  Now take a deep breath and press hard against that wooden frame. Press and press outwards, this is the contraction period of your exercise.  This exertion tenses your upper arm muscles and also prevents and controls the extra flab.  Relax and do it again; practice whenever you have the time.  You can even do this exercise at office!
2. Stand erect, feet together and raise your hands to shoulder level.  Fold your raised hands, interlace your fingers and palms with your thumbs pointed upwards joined together.  Now take a deep breath and pull outwards as hard as possible without breaking open your interlaced fingers.  Go back to your original position.  Now join your hands in the raised position, join your palms together.  Now press hard against each other palm, put all your force into it.  Relax and repeat the whole process.  It is not just your arms which benefit from this exercise; your entire upper body enjoys the benefits, too.
3. Leg and arm contraction: Sit on the floor, yes on the floor, fold your legs together up.  Now put a towel round your feet and hold it from both ends with your hands, bent at the elbow.  Relax, take a deep breath and pull the towel with both hands and at the same time push your feet outwards.  It should be such that you are doing your best to pull the towel towards you and your feet are pushing it away from you.  This conflicting exercise tones up the muscles of your arms, legs and back marvelously.  
4. Finally an isotonic exercise for women: Isotonic means the tension remains the same and the muscles change in length.  Stand erect, hands stiff and fingers clenched at shoulder height.  Breathe in deep and then extend your hands over head and open your fists, fingers pointed upwards with full strength, as if your fingers are being pulled away from you.  Now pull you hands down to shoulder height abruptly with clenched fists, breathe count two and stretch your arms sideways and open the fist, as if being pulled from both sides.   Bring you hands back to original position with clenched fists.  Now count three and push your hands forward in your front, open your fists and feel as if they are being pulled forward and you are standing your ground.  Now bring back your fists in clenched position to your shoulder height side.  Relax and put your hands down on your sides.  Exhausting?  Well that is the point.  This exercise strengthens and increases the endurance of your shoulders, arms and hands.  It helps to tone up the arm muscles and enhances their appearance.