米歇尔·奥巴马如何练就健美双臂？

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."

当奥巴马夫人首次亮相世界舞台时，媒体对其臂膀的关注丝毫不亚于她丈夫的执政政策。

到了45岁这个年龄，大多数女性会把无袖衣服“打入冷宫”，但奥巴马夫人是如何练就她那能与奥运会运动员相媲美的三头肌的呢？

奥巴马夫人的长期私人教练康奈尔．麦克莱伦日前透露了这一秘密。米歇尔自1997年开始就在他位于芝加哥的健身房进行锻炼，据他估计，米歇尔健身的次数至今已有1872次。她通常在清晨5点半开始锻炼，热衷于健身的奥巴马夫妇爱起早是出了名的。

麦克莱伦说：“她真正领悟到了健康和锻炼的重要性。”

米歇尔的这套“终极塑臂训练法”包括拉滑轮三头肌下压练习，以及哑铃“锤式弯举”练习。麦克莱伦称，每次做两到三组，每组重复做15次，就足以减掉臂膀上的赘肉，并能塑造双臂曲线。如果经常这样训练，你也能像米歇尔一样穿无袖上衣，带珍珠项链。米歇尔在白宫官方肖像照中就是这样的装扮。

米歇尔通常在完成很费体力的举重、跳绳和跆拳道等例行练习后，进行这套臂膀练习。

有关她健身计划的细节内容将在美国《女性健康》杂志十月号上刊载。一同刊发的还将有一篇对奥巴马夫人的专访文章，她在其中谈论了自己对饮食和健身的看法。

她说：“我很喜欢吃汉堡和炸薯条。炸薯条是我最爱吃的食物。如果可能的话，我可以每顿都吃，但我不能这样做。我得把握好度。如果我大多数时候都选择合理、健康的饮食，那偶尔吃一顿我爱吃的食物也没关系。我必须保持锻炼和饮食的平衡。如果我开始忽略这两者，我就要长胖了。”

“对于我来说，充足的睡眠，健康的饮食以及锻炼身体可以帮助我减压。有效的锻炼是一种很好的减压方式。”

奥巴马夫人称，她的健美身材并不是天生的。她说：“我很幸运，我身高有1米8，所以即便长胖也不会马上看出来，但终归还是会显。如果我不锻炼，吃的也不合理，我就会长胖，之前我有过这样的经历。”

奥巴马夫妇还将健康生活的理念灌输给了两个女儿，11岁的玛丽亚和8岁的萨沙。米歇尔说：“我是妈妈，所以我要监督她们。每顿饭我都和她们一起吃。但爸爸也没懈怠。他觉得孩子们不应该每天晚上都吃甜点，周末吃一下就可以了。”

Vocabulary:

out of place：unsuitable to the circumstances or surroundings; inappropriate（不合适）

spill the beans:give away a secret（透露…秘密；说出…实情）

notch up：完成，达到

early riser：早起的人

bingo wings：fat on upper arms, especially common in older women（上臂的赘肉，也称为bingo arms）

punishing: 累人的

tone: to make your muscles, skin, etc. firmer and stronger（使更健壮；使更结实；使更有力）

ethos: the set of ideas and attitudes that is associated with a particular group of people or a particular type of activity（观念，习性）

slouch：an awkward, clumsy, or slovenly person（懒惰的人）