September 8, 2009 12:15 AM

How to Get Arms Like Michelle Obama's

(AP)  At last, the secret to first lady Michelle Obama's sculpted arms? Tricep pushdowns and hammer curls.

So says Cornell McClellan, Mrs. Obama's longtime personal trainer, who described the workout routine of his famous client in the October issue of Women's Health magazine. She began working with McClellan in 1997 at his Chicago fitness studio.

"She's truly committed herself to the importance of health and fitness," he says.

McClellan said that at the end of an intense routine of cardio workouts and weight training, Mrs. Obama finishes with the "arm-shaping superset" of tricep pushdowns and hammer curls to tone one of the most commented-upon pair of arms in the world. Mrs. Obama often wears sleeveless outfits.

How to get arms like Mrs. Obama's?

Perform one set of tricep pushdowns using a straight bar attached to the high pulley of a cable station and then, without resting, follow with a set of hammer curls using dumbbells. Immediately repeat the entire process until two or three sets of both exercises have been completed.

The details of Mrs. Obama's fitness routine came as part of a series of interviews by President Barack Obama and Mrs. Obama on health care and their personal fitness and nutrition habits.

Obama was interviewed by Men's Health; he also was featured in the magazine last November. Mrs. Obama gave her first interviews to Women's Health and Children's Health, a new magazine by Rodale Inc., publisher of the men's and women's health magazines.

Obama is again on the cover of Men's Health, while his wife graces the cover of Children's Health. She is joined by some of the Bancroft Elementary School pupils who have been involved with the White House garden.

Obama said he works out six days a week: two cardio days and four weightlifting days split between the upper and lower body. He also discussed his effort to overhaul the U.S. health care system and his late mother's bout with cancer.

"My blood pressure is pretty low, and I tend to be a healthy eater," he said in the interview. "So I probably could get away with cutting (my workouts) back a little bit. The main reason I do it is just to clear my head and relieve me of stress."

Mrs. Obama cited small changes to her family's diet that she says have made a difference. They include eliminating processed foods, cutting back on sugary drinks, eating more fresh fruits and vegetables, eating together more as a family and teaching her daughters how to read food labels.

She said she tries to be conscientious about health and fitness because her family is like many others — too busy to think about it every day.

"But health and fitness and how we eat and thinking about it has become part of our lives, because of our kids," she told Children's Health. "We are their primary role models. And if they see me exercising and thinking about what I'm eating, if they see their father, as busy as he is, getting to the gym and playing sports, when they grow up they'll understand that this is a natural part of being an adult."

All three magazines will hit newsstands on Sept. 15.

© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Add a Comment See all 37 Comments
by pw08-2009 September 8, 2009 7:08 PM EDT
Most Important American Issues to Women:

1. Michelle's fashion choices and body
2. Texting and talking on Cell phones
3. People magazine
4. Coffee
5. Putting make-up on in the car
6. Cats
7. Cutting your hair short
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99. Being a good wife and good mother
100. Being independant
101. Being self-sufficient
102. Following rules (traffic and otherwise)
103. Reading and understanding the real news events that shape the country
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by rckmom47 October 27, 2009 3:27 PM EDT
If this is how you feel women rate in this country maybe you should live elsewhere...like in a muslim country!!!
by pw08-2009 September 8, 2009 5:28 PM EDT
YAAAAAAAAYYYYYeeeeee,

I'll bet this was the first and maybe the only story that the majority of American women flocked to and probably only by accident because they meant to go to TMZ.com. Then, I'll bet they got on their cell phones and talked for hours about it with friends, then I'll bet they went shopping, while talking on their phones...bought a People magazine then texted their friend that they just called.

I'm sorry but, most women are becoming boring hollow shells.
Reply to this comment
by spiritwalk September 8, 2009 2:06 PM EDT
Any story that will help distract the public from the real problems that the country faces is OK with me.

Much better to have everyone talking about her arms than the slight of hand being played with health care.

As long as we get to look at a hot babe we can forget that American babies suffer one of the worst prenatal death rates in the industrialized world.

Much better to have the public fed this pablum than actually have to address the real issue of hunger.

Say God bless Michelle 10 times, wave the flag and it will all go away.
Reply to this comment
by rckmom47 October 27, 2009 3:29 PM EDT
You describe her as a 'hot babe'...are you kidding me??? No one I know wants to look like this horse face!!!
by pickaguitar1 September 8, 2009 11:06 AM EDT
Michelle's looking good!
Reply to this comment
by mrcranky September 8, 2009 9:11 AM EDT
It boggles the mind that CBS News thinks this is actually news. Please, please PLEASE stop passing this crap onto us in the news section. What would the likes of Mr. Murrow, Mr. Severeid, Mr. Cronkite and all the others think?
Reply to this comment
by bigmo47 September 8, 2009 10:34 AM EDT
It's not in the news section, It's in the HEALTH Section.
by spiritwalk September 8, 2009 1:57 PM EDT
Actually they do not have a NEWS SECTION. It is the health section of the CBS News.

Stop trying to be an Obama sycophant for a moment and try to grasp the concept of what a NEWS OUTLET is.
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by mrcranky September 8, 2009 8:58 AM EDT
Please, please, PLEASE stop pushing this crap onto us as news.
Reply to this comment
by bigmo47 September 8, 2009 10:27 AM EDT
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE read the title before clicking the link.
by tenbobnote September 8, 2009 10:45 AM EDT
The only reason I clicked the title was to comment on the ridiculous title.
by AOCGUY September 8, 2009 8:38 AM EDT
Apparently many of you cared enough about this article to open it up and I assume read it. The title alone should have alerted you that this was a puff piece yet you still opened it up and chose to comment.
Reply to this comment
by spiritwalk September 8, 2009 7:36 AM EDT
Mrs. Obama, please tell your husband that I would like to have arms like your, but my personal trainer will not take food stamps.

Please ask him to get us jobs and health care so we can all look as buffed as you do.
Reply to this comment
by bigmo47 September 8, 2009 10:26 AM EDT
Well maybe you should have gone to law school like she did and then you could have gotten one in 1997, LIKE SHE DID!!!

Since you don't have a job, you should have plenty of time to work out. People who need personal trainers generally need specifically tailored regimens due to their hectic schedules. Since you don't work, you have all day to do push-ups, sit-ups, crunches, etc... and time to go running 2-3 times a day. You should be in excellent health.
by spiritwalk September 8, 2009 1:51 PM EDT
I would have gone to law school, but I decided I would like to be an honest person.

As for going out to run 2-3 times a day I cannot do that. I broke my ankle two years ago and my insurance did not cover rehabilitational therapy, so I do not have the ability to run any longer.

But I have not lost my sense of humor or my ability to recognize irony, so I am at least a lot more healthy mentally and emotionally than you are.

But I am garteful that I was able to give you the chance to exercise your sens of superiority and help you release all that hidden aggression. You must feel so much better now that you got a chance to run your bigmo.
by hower4 September 8, 2009 5:54 AM EDT
I wonder what Michelle Obama's arms would look like if she had the misfortune to pick up an unexploded American cluster bomb? Thousands of people, usually children, in Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine and elsewhere know only too well.

This article says everything we need to know about how shallow Americans are.
Reply to this comment
by AOCGUY September 8, 2009 8:44 AM EDT
This article does nothing of the sort. Too bad Americans don't take better care of themselves. I gather that as long as their are people suffering in the world you won't do anything to improve your self.
by hower4 September 8, 2009 9:52 AM EDT
I'm not in a position of power, but I certainly think the president's wife should care more about helping suffering people around the world than improving the appearance of her arms!
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by nextgenman09 September 8, 2009 4:24 AM EDT
Michelle is certainly a lot hotter than Sarah Palin could ever be.....
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