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When Mrs Obama first stepped on to the international stage, her arms made almost as many headlines as her husband's policies.
How does a woman of 45, an age at which most ladies banish sleeveless items to the furthest recesses of the wardrobe, maintain triceps that would not look out of place on an Olympic athlete?
The beans were spilt by Cornell McClellan, Mrs Obama's long-time personal trainer. She began exercising at his Chicago fitness studio in 1997 and he estimates that she has notched up 1,872 workouts since then. Most of these sessions were conducted at 5.30am, as the exercise-loving Obamas are famously early risers.
"She's truly committed herself to the importance of health and fitness," Mr McClellan said.
The "utimate arm-shaping superset" is a mix of tricep pushdowns, using a pulley as resistance, and hammer curls done while holding a pair of dumbbells. Two or three sets of 15 repetitions are enough to banish 'bingo wings' and give the arms definition, according to Mr McClellan. Do them and you too could be carrying off a sleeveless shift and pearls, as Mrs Obama did in her official White House portrait.
The arm exercises come at the end of a punishing workout routine for Mrs Obama which also involves weight training, rope-jumping and kickboxing.
Details of her fitness plan were featured in the October issue of US magazine Women's Health, accompanying an interview in which Mrs Obama discussed her attitude to food and fitness.
"I do love a good burger and fries. French fries are my favourite food in the whole world. If I could, I'd eat them at every meal - but I can't," she said. "My whole thing is moderation. If I make good, healthy choices most of the time, then having what I love every once in a while won't hurt. I have to exercise and eat in a balanced way. If I start ignoring both, I will put on weight.
"For me, getting enough sleep, eating right and exercising reduce my stress levels. And a really good workout is a great stress buster."
Mrs Obama said her toned figure did not come naturally. "I am fortunate in that I'm 5' 11', so it takes a while for the weight to be seen, but it'll come. If I didn't exercise and eat right I would be heavier, and I have been."
The Obamas have instilled the healthy living ethos in their daughters Malia, 11, and Sasha, eight. Mrs Obama explained: "I'm the mom, so I monitor - I am with the kids every single meal. But Dad is no slouch either. He doesn't believe that the kids should have dessert every single night; that should be a weekend treat."
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(Agencies)
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當(dāng)奧巴馬夫人首次亮相世界舞臺時，媒體對其臂膀的關(guān)注絲毫不亞于她丈夫的執(zhí)政政策。
到了45歲這個年齡，大多數(shù)女性會把無袖衣服“打入冷宮”，但奧巴馬夫人是如何練就她那能與奧運會運動員相媲美的三頭肌的呢？
奧巴馬夫人的長期私人教練康奈爾?麥克萊倫日前透露了這一秘密。米歇爾自1997年開始就在他位于芝加哥的健身房進(jìn)行鍛煉，據(jù)他估計，米歇爾健身的次數(shù)至今已有1872次。她通常在清晨5點半開始鍛煉，熱衷于健身的奧巴馬夫婦愛起早是出了名的。
麥克萊倫說：“她真正領(lǐng)悟到了健康和鍛煉的重要性。”
米歇爾的這套“終極塑臂訓(xùn)練法”包括拉滑輪三頭肌下壓練習(xí)，以及啞鈴“錘式彎舉”練習(xí)。麥克萊倫稱，每次做兩到三組，每組重復(fù)做15次，就足以減掉臂膀上的贅肉，并能塑造雙臂曲線。如果經(jīng)常這樣訓(xùn)練，你也能像米歇爾一樣穿無袖上衣，帶珍珠項鏈。米歇爾在白宮官方肖像照中就是這樣的裝扮。
米歇爾通常在完成很費體力的舉重、跳繩和跆拳道等例行練習(xí)后，進(jìn)行這套臂膀練習(xí)。
有關(guān)她健身計劃的細(xì)節(jié)內(nèi)容將在美國《女性健康》雜志十月號上刊載。一同刊發(fā)的還將有一篇對奧巴馬夫人的專訪文章，她在其中談?wù)摿俗约簩︼嬍澈徒∩淼目捶ā?/font>
她說：“我很喜歡吃漢堡和炸薯條。炸薯條是我最愛吃的食物。如果可能的話，我可以每頓都吃，但我不能這樣做。我得把握好度。如果我大多數(shù)時候都選擇合理、健康的飲食，那偶爾吃一頓我愛吃的食物也沒關(guān)系。我必須保持鍛煉和飲食的平衡。如果我開始忽略這兩者，我就要長胖了。”
“對于我來說，充足的睡眠，健康的飲食以及鍛煉身體可以幫助我減壓。有效的鍛煉是一種很好的減壓方式。”
奧巴馬夫人稱，她的健美身材并不是天生的。她說：“我很幸運，我身高有1米8，所以即便長胖也不會馬上看出來，但終歸還是會顯。如果我不鍛煉，吃的也不合理，我就會長胖，之前我有過這樣的經(jīng)歷。”
奧巴馬夫婦還將健康生活的理念灌輸給了兩個女兒，11歲的瑪麗亞和8歲的薩沙。米歇爾說：“我是媽媽，所以我要監(jiān)督她們。每頓飯我都和她們一起吃。但爸爸也沒懈怠。他覺得孩子們不應(yīng)該每天晚上都吃甜點，周末吃一下就可以了。”
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（英語點津許雅寧 姍姍編輯）
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