Trainer Cindy Jones helps Melissa Baca with a dumbbell press at The Sports Clubs in Rio Rancho. (Journal photo by Morgan Petroski)

First lady Michelle Obama has been attending functions and gracing everything from official White House photos to magazine covers in sleeveless dresses that showcase her terrifically toned arms.

According to People magazine, Obama, 45, hits the gym nearly every day, and she’s happy to bare her biceps to show off the fruit of her exercise endeavors.

Some local exercise experts are hearing women express admiration of Obama’s arms, along with the rest of her fit physique.

“I don’t know that they’ve specifically said, ‘Hey, I want arms like that,’ but I’ve heard women in all my classes say they think she’s a gorgeous and wonderful human being,” says Sharon Luten, group fitness coordinator at Del Norte Sports & Wellness. “It’s also nice to know she doesn’t have to look anorexic. She does wear a lot of sleeveless outfits and she looks marvelous, so she’s doing something right.”

“It’s been a long time since we’ve had a first lady go sleeveless, from what I understand,” says Cindy Jones, a personal trainer and aerobics instructor at The Sports Clubs in Rio Rancho. “Her arms are nice and toned. You’re able to see some muscle, but they’re not big and bulky.

“But she’s not waving the flag, either,” she adds, referring to those lovely “bat wings” of tricep flab that wiggle in untoned arms.

Luten and Jones offer tips and exercises to help women get strong shoulders, buff biceps and tight triceps for strong sleeveless style.

Diet and training

First, Luten and Jones both say you should realize that fit physiques are the result of a lot of cardio work, a clean diet and strength training.

“If you’ve got fat covering that muscle, you’re not going to be able to see it,” Jones says. Women generally don’t need to worry about becoming bulky, she adds.

“Resistance is the key to make those arms look good,” says Luten, who teaches 12 classes a week to everyone from kids to seniors. She uses a multitude of props, from medicine balls and kettle bells to stability balls and free weights. But you also can accomplish the look using nothing but exercises that require you to lift your own body weight, such as push-ups, planks, triceps dips and core stablilizers.

For instance, Luten says even seniors can tackle modified versions of the plank, in which you start at the top of a push-up position. Bend your elbows and lower yourself until you can shift your weight from your hands to your forearms. Keep your body in a straight line. Contract your abs and try to hold for 60 seconds. If you can’t make it that long, hold for five to 10 seconds and rest for five seconds, continuing for a minute.

You also can try push-ups using a Bosu or stability ball to build strength in your shoulders and core, she says. (For more specifics about push-ups, see this month’s Cover Story on Page 6.)

Bicep curls, triceps extensions and triceps dips also are all important exercises for building arm muscles.

Tighten and tone

Jones worked with client Melissa Baca, 43, to demonstrate some of the moves that result in sculpted arms.

For the deltoid lateral raise, Baca stood and used free weights to raise her arms, keeping a slightly rounded elbow, to her shoulders, “arcing like a bird,” Jones explains.

Aim for two or three sets of 12 to 20 reps at a weight that’s comfortable for you. You should be able to create a little burn in that deltoid, the muscle forming the shoulder’s rounded contour.

Next, they moved to bicep curls, using a curl bench to help support Baca’s upper arms and isolate the biceps. Using smooth, controlled movements, do two or three sets of 12 to 20, again at a comfortable weight.

Triceps — that tricky back-of-the-upper-arm area that tends to wiggle — can be tightened and toned with a triceps push-down cable. Jones had Baca grab the handle bar attachment, her hands about shoulder width apart, and pin her elbows to her sides. Baca pushed the bar down until her elbows were fully extended, keeping her wrists straight and not letting her upper arms move. She let the bar come back up, just until her arms were perpendicular to her body, then pushed down again.

Again, two or three sets of 12 to 20 is good, using the weight that allows you to feel a burn without forcing you to lean forward to push the bar down.

Triceps dips are another way to work that muscle, Luten says, and you can modify them as you get stronger.

Start by using a bench or stable chair. Stand in front of it, with your back to it. Place your hands on the bench or chair, palms down and knuckles facing forward, slightly closer than shoulder width apart. Lower your body straight down by bending at the elbow, exhaling as you go. Lower for a count of two, keeping your knees bent if you’re a beginner, or straighten your legs if you’re more advanced. Don’t let your elbows point out away from the body as you lower.

Straighten your arms to push your body back up, inhaling as you straighten. Do two to three sets of 10 to 12 reps.

Jones also had Baca use the assisted triceps dip machine that uses weights in addition to body weight to work the muscle.

Yoga and Pilates

After working the triceps, Jones and Baca did seated shoulder dumbbell presses. Sitting at a bench with back support, Baca held the weights, palms facing forward, at shoulder level, and pressed them slowly overhead to make an A shape. She lowered them to shoulder level again and repeated. Don’t crack the weights together, and don’t lock your elbows.

Yoga and Pilates classes are great ways to improve your postural muscles, all of which contribute to the lean, sculpted look, says Luten.

“Your shoulders are your stabilizers, and you want to build them up slowly.”

There are exercises to suit every fitness level, but “you’re not going to get stronger by doing nothing,” she adds. “You’re going to have to start moving, and these little progressions are the way to go.”

So, whether it’s Obama’s arms you covet, or, like Baca, Kelly Ripa’s, you’ve got a head start on your right to bare arms.