BY REON CARTER
The Cincinnati Enquirer
The muscular Angela Bassett most recently stars in "How Stella Got Her Groove Back."
(File photo)
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Talk show queen Oprah Winfrey might have made the connection with her impressive weight loss, but she still pokes fun at her jiggly upper arms and admits to considering plastic surgery.
She's not alone.
The look women most covet for summer isn't sun-kissed hair, silky legs or a great tan. It's buffed arms or "great guns," according to the slew of fitness and fashion magazines that provide detailed instructions on how women can acquire more flex appeal.
Blame it on Hollywood, says the August issue of Shape.
"It seems that every new starlet who grabs the spotlight is more terrifically taut and toned than the last," the magazine points out. "Great guns aren't just an entrance ticket into the wonderful world of tank tops -- they're practically a status symbol, a testament to just how dedicated you are to your workout."
In the September issue of Muscle & Fitness magazine, which boasts a 26-page feature and a pull-out poster on arm training, fitness trainer Michelle Basta Boubion writes: "On more than one occasion I've found myself prejudging the physical condition of a person based on the shape, size and definition of his or her arms."
Popularity shift
Hot body parts cycle like fashion, says Kurt Brungardt, co-author of The Complete Book of Shoulders and Arms (HarperPerennial; $20), The Complete Book of Butt and Legs (Villard; $20) and The Complete Book of Abs (Random House; $20). Washboard abs and buns of steel never will go out of style, he says, but toned arms seem to be the body part du jour.
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Celebrity 'guns'
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The August issue of Shape magazine announced its picks for "the best arms in Hollywood." They are:
Vanessa Williams, singer, actress (Soul Food, Dance With Me).
Minnie Driver, actress (Good Will Hunting).
Brooke Shields, actress (Suddenly Susan).
Jennifer Aniston, actress (Friends).
Sara McLachlan, singer, songwriter.
Peta Wilson, actress (La Femme Nikita).
Angela Bassett, actress (How Stella Got Her Groove Back).
Courtney Thorne-Smith, actress (Ally McBeal).
Jada Pinkett Smith, actress (Woo, Set it Off).
Michelle Yeoh, actress (Tomorrow Never Dies)
Madonna, actress, singer, songwriter.
 My votes also would go to:
Linda Hamilton, actress (The Terminator).
Naomi Campbell, supermodel.
Lynn Herring, actress (General Hospital).
Lisa Rinna, actress (Melrose Place).
Kiana Tom, ESPN2 fitness guru (Kiana's Flex Appeal).
Tsianina Joelson, Miss Fitness America.
Goldie Hawn, actress (First Wives Club).
Demi Moore, actress (GI Jane).
Toni Braxton, singer.
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Fitness superstar Karen Voight has made several top-selling exercise videos, including Karen Voight's Firm Arms and Abs ($14.95), so her stellar arms are an occupational perk.
"The fashionable look right now is lean, defined, sleek," Ms. Voight says. "Really good arms have definition. You can see a nicely capped shoulder which leads into shapely biceps and triceps." Jeanne Middleton, a Madisonville personal trainer, agrees. "A skinny or bird-like arm is not attractive. And a lot of people don't like that flag (that sagging flap at the rear) or arms that wave. Good arms are tight and show nice musculature."
Mr. Brungardt says women who have been reluctant to build muscle for fear of bulking up needn't worry.
"There's little chance that a woman can build the kind of muscle that's frightening by accident," he says. "Most women don't have the hormones to build muscle like a man, and they're usually not following the regimen of a female bodybuilder."
The biceps, the two muscles at the front of the upper arm, are typically the first showcased when people are asked to make a muscle. "They also get more work in everyday tasks that require lifting," Ms. Voight says.
Triceps the trouble
Particularly troublesome for women are the triceps, the three muscles in the rear that comprise about 70 percent of the mass in the upper arms.
Because their main function is to extend the elbows, triceps aren't involved in much day-to-day activity. It's also an area where females are genetically prone to accumulate fat, and one of the first to show signs of aging.
"The skin sags and loses elasticity, typically around menopause, and it's most noticeable right above the elbow," Ms. Middleton says. "Keeping a good muscular base can be helpful because you've got something filling out the skin, so it doesn't appear to hang as much."
Fortunately, arm muscles are among the first areas to show improvement when they're properly trained. But most fitness experts discourage spot training.
Instead, they recommend incorporating weight-training exercises that isolate the biceps and triceps into an exercise program that entails total body strength, flexibility and cardiovascular training.
Triceps exercises
Popular exercises that isolate the triceps include kickbacks, lying french press and triceps extensions using dumbbells, elastic bands or barbells.
For the biceps, there are various curls that hit both muscle heads at different angles.
For shapely shoulders, include presses and lateral raises. For forearms, add wrist curls.
The number of repetitions, sets performed and poundage used will vary according to a person's goals and present conditioning. "There's no one program that's going to work for everybody," Ms. Middleton says. "It's always a good idea to get guidance from someone with a fitness background before you get started."
If you are working your arms but not getting desired results, there are several areas to consider, Ms. Middleton says. Are you:
Challenging yourself?
Changing your routine often enough?
Incorporating adequate cardiovascular exercise and following a healthy low-fat diet?
Plastic surgery
You can have the best muscle tone obscured beneath a layer of fat.
When it's not the muscle but fat and skin that sag significantly due to aging or weight loss, exercise alone will not be enough. Options include outpatient plastic surgery procedures.
For a slight sagging, there's liposuction, in which fatty tissue is removed with a suction-pump device.
"The type of result depends on the age of the patient," says Dr. Jose Berger, a board-certified plastic surgeon at Surgery as An Art Inc. in Sharonville.
"Older skin that's less elastic would have less retraction than younger skin, but I've done liposuction on a patient who was 50 years old with good results. But it varies from person to person."
Liposuction would leave a couple of scars 1 - 6th of an inch long. Initial healing phase is two to three days, after which time a patient can return to daily activities that don't require a lot of lifting. Price varies, but total cost averages $2,500.
If there is extreme sagging, liposuction is unlikely to provide much improvement. An arm lift, in which incisions are made on the underside of the arm from the elbow to the arm pit to trim excess skin and fat may be required. Patients may resume daily activities that don't involve lifting in about five days. Price varies and will depend on the time involved and how much skin is removed. The range: $2,900-$3,900.
"To me, this is drastic," Dr. Berger says. "And though the incision is made in a place that's somewhat inconspicuous, the inner arm, it's still a long scar. It may fade with time, but I have dissuaded patients, particularly if they're young. And as with most surgeries, there may side effects. Nerves in the skin responsible for sensation may become numb. This can last a few months or forever." So far, it's the scars and squeamishness about going under the knife that Ms. Winfrey says are keeping her from getting rid of her dreaded "flags."
