Tips for toned triceps

Women hate "the jiggle." You know. That hanging arm flab that swings like a turkey's wattle. Hate it!

With work, visibly firmer triceps can be yours. If you don't belong to a gym or have access to fancy machines, don't fret. You can work on your arms right in your home. Here are your strategies:

Push ups (on the floor or against a wall) build chest and shoulder strength. Firmer arms are the added benefit.

Dumbbells are a great way to get those arms in shape. Pin your elbows by your side, bend arms at 90 degrees. Lower the dumbbells to a count of 4. Bring them back up to a count of 8. Simple. Repeat to the point of fatigue.

Try using elastic bands. Tracy Anderson, who trains Madonna and Gwyneth Paltrow, uses a system of elastic bands to work clients' arms so muscles firm. Pull a band taut and smoothly resist its return to normal. That's called eccentric conditioning and, boy, does it tone.

Use free weights. In strength classes I teach in Minneapolis, we use free weights a lot. We'll stand with a 10- or 15-pound dumbbell in each hand. Bend forward at the waist. Keep elbows by our sides. Then bend and straighten the elbows. The dumbbells extend back behind us. (Think back to grade-school relay races when you had to pass a baton to the runner behind you.) Pass that baton until you feel the triceps sing. Do 20 to 30 reps.

Don't own dumbbells? Try a soup can or brick in each hand. If free weights are mere child's play, visit a gym.

Lat pull/row machines also tone triceps. Confession: I've always had defined biceps. But my triceps have at times been, well, swingers. A few years ago, that changed. I started using a lat pull/row machine to strengthen upper back muscles. I did 20 reps with 30 pounds three times a week and fell in love. Turns out, those weighted pulleys toned up my problem area in about six weeks.

Stretch those arms after workouts. And don't do the same exercise every day. Rest a day. Work a day.

Last week, I visited the new L.A. Fitness in St. Paul and instantly got a dose of equipment envy. They had not one, but four types of triceps machines.

"There are a lot of women who come here at 5 to 7 in the morning" to work on these machines, said Fitness Consultant Kweli Askari. The Nautilus Over Press, Hammer Strength Shoulder Press, Freemotion and Nautilus Nitro Seated Dip machines had me drooling. But this time, there was no turkey in sight.