976 | Better This Week: Your Arms

Summary

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Podcast Summary: The Rachel Hollis Podcast – "Better This Week: Your Arms"

Host: Rachel Hollis
Episode: 976 | July 1, 2026

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Episode Overview

In this episode of her “Better This Week” series, Rachel Hollis dives into the topic of arms—not from a place of diet culture or aesthetic idealism, but through the lens of strength, capability, and self-acceptance. Drawing from personal experience and practical wisdom, Rachel explores how to embrace, improve, and celebrate your arms as they are, while offering actionable advice to help listeners feel more empowered, strong, and confident—this week and beyond.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Arm Insecurity: A Relatable Struggle

• Rachel opens up about her own long-standing insecurity with her arms:

  “I spent most of my early adult life 52 pounds heavier than I am today. ... My arms were this source of real shame for me.” (01:00)

• The episode is dedicated to anyone who has ever avoided sleeveless outfits or felt discomfort showing their arms.

  “For whoever out there has some arm stuff like me, today’s episode is for you.” (03:23)

2. Knowledge Gaps and Changing Your Body

• Rachel debunks a common trap: If you don’t have the results you want, it’s because you don’t have the right knowledge yet:

  “If you want something in your body and you don't currently have the results ... it means there’s knowledge you don’t have.” (04:45)

• She encourages listeners to stay open to learning new things regardless of past experiences with diets or workouts.

3. Strength vs. Thinness

• This episode is not about dieting or shrinking but about gaining strength.

  “There is a big difference between being thin and being strong. ... Even if you're not my age, which is 43, you are an adult ... it is important to understand how essential muscle is, especially as a woman.” (06:01)

• Building muscle brings a host of benefits, such as faster metabolism, improved bone density, confidence, posture, and better fitting clothes.

4. Aging and Muscle Loss

• At around age 35, women start losing 3–5% of muscle mass per decade, a process that accelerates after 40.

  “It is significantly reversible with resistance training.” (11:12)

• Rachel shares anecdotes about older generations, falls, and the importance of planning for strength now—not later.

Notable Quote

“I am making choices right now for the life that I want to have. If I’m lucky enough to still be rocking and rolling in my 80s, that’s what I’m doing now.” (13:22)

5. The Motivation of Visible Progress

• Arms show visual gains faster than most body parts—sometimes in just weeks:

  “You will see the definition in your arms faster than almost any other part of your body.” (15:39)

• Small progress—like being able to flex a bit more—can be hugely motivating.

6. Rachel’s Go-To Arm Workout Structure

• Have a Plan: Rachel stresses the advice she received from Arnold Schwarzenegger:

  “If you go to the gym and you don’t know what you’re going to do—you’re going to have a bad workout. ... You need to have a plan.” (18:43)

• Rachel’s own structure:
  • 3 segments per workout, each with 5–6 exercises (bicep curls, tricep kickbacks, bent-over rows, etc.), each done for three sets of 10 reps with ~10 lb weights. (20:20)

7. Actionable Workout Tips for Stronger Arms

• Bring a Plan: Use Pinterest, YouTube, fitness apps, or barter for training if needed.
• Two Minute Rule:

  “Pick one exercise ... and do it for two minutes every single morning. ... The goal is to build a habit.” (23:43)

• Slow Down Your Reps:
  • Focus on eccentric movement (“stop lowering so fast”), which builds more muscle.
  • Go for “mind to muscle” focus:

    “Your results are way better [when you’re focused on the muscle you’re working].” (25:49)

• Pushups: Versatile and require no equipment—start with the wall or inclined if you’re a beginner and progress to full pushups.

  “You don’t need a gym membership. You can do those wall pushups. ... Pushups are a great way to start your arms in some kind of motion.” (27:25)

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Lifestyle "Hacks" to Feel Better About Your Arms

• Get a Tan:

  “You need a tan. ... The simplest hack in the entire world—get a little tan, your arms instantly look better.” (29:48)

  • Rachel mentions spray tans, self-tanners (Jergens, San Tropez), or safe sun exposure.

• Wear Clothes That Fit and Flatter Now:

  • Find tops or dresses that suit and flatter your unique body shape.
  • Rachel shares her personal favorite:

    “The smocked scoop neck tank ... from Madewell. ... So flattering and it covers up the third boob!” (33:17)

  • Emphasizes the power in embracing your body as it is—don’t wait for a future version to dress well.

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Memorable Quotes and Motivational Moments

• “If naturally my body is going to try and lose 3 to 5% of muscle mass with every decade, I’m going to make choices that counterbalance that. ... If I’m going to devote this much time to my health, can I have some banging arms at the same time?” (12:20)
• “Your arms are a blessing. ... Wanting to have better arms is about wanting to take better care of the blessings you’ve got. It’s not about hating what’s there.” (35:10)
• “Your arms are capable of more than you have been asking them for, and so are you. Strength is available to you right now.” (36:44)

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Action Steps & Challenges for Listeners

1. Slow down your arm workouts to maximize muscle engagement.
2. Try the two-minute rule: habit stack a mini-arm workout each morning.
3. Test and progress your pushups (wall, knees, incline, or full).
4. Dress with confidence now: find a cut, style, or brand that makes you feel amazing.
5. Celebrate and acknowledge the strengths and service of your arms—regardless of current appearance.

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Key Timestamps

• 01:00 – Rachel’s personal story of arm insecurity
• 04:45 – Why lack of results comes from lack of knowledge
• 06:01 – Discussion on strength vs. thinness
• 11:12 – Muscle loss with age (and how to reverse it)
• 13:22 – Proactive choices for aging with strength
• 15:39 – Fastest visible progress: why arms?
• 18:43 – Arnold Schwarzenegger’s workout advice
• 20:20 – Rachel’s workout structure explained
• 23:43 – The two-minute rule for habit-building
• 25:49 – Slowing reps and mind-muscle connection
• 27:25 – Making pushups accessible for every level
• 29:48 – The tan “hack” and body confidence
• 33:17 – Rachel’s favorite confidence-boosting tank top

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Final Takeaway

Celebrate your arms—not for what you wish they’d be, but for all they already do. Start building strength now, embrace what you’ve got, and wear what makes you feel good today. As Rachel puts it:

“Strength is available to you right now. ... While you are building this better, stronger, beautiful body, let’s celebrate the body that we have, babe. Let’s wear the dress. Let’s wear the tank top. Let’s wear the thing that makes us feel amazing, whatever that is for you this week.” (36:44)

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Ideal for: Anyone seeking motivation to embrace and strengthen their arms, listeners who value body positivity, women interested in practical wellness, and those wanting tangible weekly growth challenges.

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Transcript

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I want to know how many of you have ever not done something you wanted to do because of your arms. I'm serious. How many sleeveless dresses are sitting in your closet unworn? Maybe some of them still have their tags right? How many times have you worn a shirt or a cardigan or something when it was way too hot to be wearing that because you didn't like the way that your arms looked in a tank top? How many pool parties or beach parties have you worn a cover up or not actually worn a bathing suit at all because you were afraid of how your body looked? I am not trying to guilt you about that. I know about that because I have lived that. I spent most of my early adult life 52 pounds heavier than I am today. And so much of that weight was distributed all over my body. But in particular my arms were this source of real shame for me. It is the one part of my body more than any other. If you were like you could magic wand, you can change anything, I would always have told you my arms. I probably have talked to you guys about my arms before. It's something that I have spent the last five, 10 years really trying to learn about because unfortunately you can't like spot lose fat. That's a hard lesson to learn that you can't only lose weight in the areas that you wish you could lose weight. You kind of lose it everywhere. And then if you don't have muscle to replace that fat then you get a whole other issue. But my arms are a big thing for me. And you can call me vain and you can roll your eyes and Think this is a ridiculous topic of conversation for an entire podcast episode. But then I'm gonna guess maybe you have really good arms or you were raised in a family that gave you incredible self esteem. We love that for you. But that's not for most of us. So for whoever out there has some arm stuff like me, today's episode is for you. In my new series, Better this week, I pick a single topic of my life and your life, and we talk about how we can improve that one area this week. Today we're talking about arms. I'm gonna go ahead and say that obviously I'm choosing all the topics for the show here, and this one is inspiring to me right now because I'm really liking how the arms look. But I will tell you something that I did not know and would have actually helped me a long time ago is to understand that changing any part of your body does require knowledge because that you don't currently have. That is where we have to start with today. We are talking about stuff that you can do this week, but this is a big unlock that really helped me. If you think of any area of your life. But let's, for today's purposes, let's just talk about the structure of your body and some part of your body that maybe you wish was stronger or you wish had more flexibility, you wish it could move better. Whatever your version of the arms is, if you want something in your body and you don't currently have the results that you want, it means that there's knowledge that you don't have. And I like to mention this whenever we do episodes about physicality here, because women who have been dieting since they were 11 years old, yes, it's screwed up, but yes, that's the culture that most of us grew up inside of. I'm a baby of the 80s. I knew about diets before I knew about boys. All of that to say for those of us who have been on and off diet since we were little kids, there is a really easy trap to fall into that absolutely screws us over. And that is the belief that since we've, quote, tried everything, we know everything. But if you knew the answers to unlock those physical things in your own body, you would already have those results. It's not just about a certain nutritional plan, okay? It's not just about a certain way of exercise. It's not about any one thing. It's what are the constants that work for everybody and then what are the variables that apply to you? I'm mentioning that right at the top, because it's really easy to think that you've heard everything there is to hear and kind of shut your ears to. To the possibility of something different. And I think there's some pretty good ideas in today's episode. So let's listen with an open heart and an open mind, and let's see if you take anything out of our conversation about the arms. My favorite body part to work. First things first. This episode is not about diet. It is not about losing weight. It is not about getting smaller. It is not about the before and after, like, summer photo thing that people do. Come on. We don't have time for that. That's not who we are. This episode is about strength. And there is a big difference between being thin and being strong. And we need to talk about it, because even if you're not my age, which is 43, you are an adult. I assume that most teenagers do not listen to this show. And if you're an adult, then it is important to understand how essential muscle is, especially as a woman. And that is not often what we are taught. When you build muscle, like real, actual muscle, a lot of really cool and important things happen in your body. Let me go through a quick list. Number one, when you have more muscle, your metabolism speeds up. We've heard this since middle school. Muscle burns more calories at rest than fat does. So it's just a really sneaky hack to get more bang for your buck. When you got more muscle going on, you are burning more calories even though you're not doing anything. It's often why, when you start working out with a trainer, they'll have you work back. They'll have you work legs, they'll have you work glutes, they'll have you work your biggest muscle groups because those are the easiest places to make gain gains, and those gains can burn more calories. There's a method to that madness. When you have more muscle, your bone density improves. And that is huge for those of us who are over 40, because as women, that is when we start to lose it. Okay? When you have more muscle, your posture changes. You hold yourself differently. When you have more muscle, your energy changes. The way your clothes fit is a huge part of having more muscle. Sometimes people hear that and they get freaked out. They're like, well, I don't want to. I don't want to gain muscle because I don't want to get big and bulky. Babe, you are so far away from big and bulky muscles, you have no idea. Respectfully, if you think that you can start lifting muscle and anytime in the next literally year that you will have big and bulky muscles. You don't understand how muscles work or how long that actually takes. The bodybuilders that you see have been working on those bodies for years. That is not a muscle mass that you can acquire in the next six months. Not without some really severe roid rage. Okay, so you don't have to worry about bulky. We're worrying about things that make us strong and that strength can carry us into our older age. When you have more muscle, I think it changes your confidence in yourself and what you're capable of. It changes the way you walk into a room. It also changes how I feel about an entire day. I did a really hard workout this morning and I don't know about you guys, but I wear an apple watch. And when I'm done with workouts, it makes me rate myself. It's like, was this a 2, is this a 7? Was this a whatever. Whenever I'm like 7, 8, 9, 10, whenever I'm those higher numbers, especially when I'm like 8 or 9, I'm not sure I've ever selected a 10. But whenever I'm a really high number on my workout, I'm like, you can't tell me nothing today. You can't say anything today. I feel, I feel like I'm all that. Okay, let's go back to the 90s. I feel like I'm all that and a bag of Doritos. I'm feeling fantastic. You can't tell me anything when I have accomplished a really hard workout. Now I don't do them that hard every single day. I'm really good about listening to my body and what it needs. Yesterday I did a three and a half mile run. The day before I did a really slow two mile walk. It's not always the same on the same day, so I don't want you to hear me say that. But I am huge on doing things that make our body feel stronger. So having muscles is a big deal. And if you're going to have them, let's get some cute arms. I want to include a little moment here too, just specifically aimed at those of you who, like me, are over 40, or maybe you're in your 30s and you're already gearing up for this information that you're going to need. Here's the deal. Specifically when it comes to our age and our arms, and I want to give you a little science around this because you need to understand what you're actually Working with. So when we are about 35, and this can vary obviously, but just go with me. When we're about 35, we begin to lose muscle mass at a rate of 3 to 5% per decade. Okay? After 40, that rate accelerates. This is muscle loss associated with aging, and it's fairly normal. It's not your fault. It's something that happens. But it is significantly reversible with resistance training. Significantly reversible. Now, I want you to think for a minute. No disrespect to your grandma, but I want you to think for a minute about your grandma, your meemaw, your nana, your gram gram, your nonna. I want you to think of an older woman that you know that the older she got, the more frail she got. When you are 70, 80, 90, if you're lucky enough. God bless. Like, the more frail you are, the more vulnerable you are. And you're like, Rachel, I'm 40. I don't want to think about life when I'm 80. If you start thinking about what your life's going to be like in your 80s when you're 75, Mary, I promise you, it's too late, okay? I am making choices right now for the life that I want to have. If I'm lucky enough to still be rocking and rolling in my 80s, that's what I'm doing now. If naturally my body is going to try and lose 3 to 5% of muscle mass with every decade, I'm going to make choices that counterbalance that. I'm going to make choices that counteract that. I want to build more muscle. So if I do have anything that's decreasing, I have increased my rate to such a degree that the decrease isn't going to hurt me as much. Have you ever had a family member that they were like, you know, mentally, emotionally, they were still crushing it. Everyone's like, wow, I can't believe grandma. She's, you know, whip smart. She's still doing all the things. She's still driving. And then grandma falls and breaks a hip and it's like a countdown clock. I don't mean to say that disrespectfully, but I have had so many women in my family that mentally, emotionally, still pillars of the family, still, you know, hosting Christmas and Thanksgiving, very much a vibrant matriarch in a family, and then fell and never recovered. And not only never recovered, but they didn't have. Their body was so weak that when that happened, there was no coming back from it. And then you get depressed because your body's not working like it. I just don't want it. I have learned again and again that life will kick the crap out of you in ways you are least expecting. I'm sorry, I meant to be more motivational than this today, but let's just be real talking, okay? Real talk is life is going to kick the crap out of us sometimes, but it will be in ways we don't see coming. I literally wrote a book called Didn't See that Coming about this exact topic because I believe the hardest things we ever lived through are the stuff we didn't anticipate. So if there's something that everyone's telling me is going to happen to my body and I have witnessed it in the women in my family since I was a little girl, you better believe I'm going to make different choices as I get older. I have four kids. They are counting on me. I'm not gonna screw around with this. And if I'm gonna devote this much time to my health, can I have some banging arms at the same time? That's all I'm saying. Let's you and I just have, you know, let's. Let's wear some tank tops. That's all I'm saying. Let's take care of our health. Let's wear some tank tops.

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Visit Capella Edu to learn more. Here's the super cool thing about the arms. In particular, you will see the definition in your arms faster than almost any other part of your body. I'm also I. I should have started with this. I am assuming that if you're listening to this that you have a body that is like mine. You're full figured you're. You're curvy and delicious. If you're a yoga girly and you're listening to this. I'm assuming none of this. I. I don't know. Maybe if your arms are already strong, then this doesn't track for you. So if right now you're like, rach, I'm a size zero. I'm a ballerina, none of this is. I already am doing all that. Well, great. Chloe, go back to the studio. You're. You don't need my conversation. But for those of us who do, working out your arms is going to show up faster than almost any other part of your body in three or four weeks. If you didn't change one thing about your nutrition, but you started working out your arms, you'd be able to tell a difference. You'd flex. You do your bicep curls, and you'd flex, and you'd be like, okay, little Popeye moment. You'd feel a little something under there. All right? If you keep going six to eight weeks from now, you start to see some real definition. You start to see a little divot. If you incorporate nutrition, which we're not even talking about in this episode, but if you did, girl, you would be banging. You wouldn't even. You wouldn't even know what you were dealing. It would be amazing. I'm just saying I picked arms because it's my favorite. But if you feel a little lost in your workouts, one of my favorite things to do is just to devote the next couple of months specifically trying to work on a certain body type, because the gains that you're going to get in that one area, to me at least, are really motivating. All right, let's talk about some actual workouts, because this is about this week, things you can do this week that will send you on a journey and start to make a big difference. Okay, so my first piece of advice when it comes to any workout, but I'm going to say with arms, because that's what we're talking about. You have to have a plan for your workout. This is not something I understood when I was younger. And, in fact, I was interviewing Arnold Schwarzenegger a couple of years ago, and he said this and something I do love about interviewing, like, an old man who has all the fu money and can just. He's just like Arnold Schwarzenegger. I don't care if I hurt your feelings. He was talking about working out, and he said, I will never understand people who go to the gym and have no idea what they're going to do when they get there. He was like, if you go to the gym and you don't know what you're going to do. You're going to have a bad workout. He's like, you need to have a plan. Which is really good advice that I did not understand when I was younger. If you don't know how to build your own arm workout, oh, buddy. There are so many people on Pinterest and on YouTube who have already built them for you and can at least just give you some framework. If you have the money to do a fitness app, that's a great way. You just like, you open up your phone and you follow someone else's workout. I really love Form Form Fitness. The two gals over there, the sammies. If you know, you know the founders are both named Sammy, but I love what they do. They have a bunch of different types of workouts. I think it's like 25amonth. I use it. This is not an ad, but if you're looking for a great varied options for working out. So you can do strength training, you can do pilates with them, you can do. They have like a billion instructor. It's great, all of that to say, if you don't know how to build your own, follow someone else's plan. Eventually you will be able to build your own. But I want you to know what you're planning to do before you get in that gym. So at the very least, I'm going to do every single time, three sets of. I'm not going to use the right words for this. I do three segments that each have probably five, maybe six workouts. Three sets of each of those. So let me, let me talk this through. I. I'm not sure if this makes any sense. I did this this morning. Okay, so I did arms. So my first segment was bicep curls. Then I do tricep kickbacks. Then I do this thing that I don't actually know the term for, but imagine that you're an extended tricep kickback. I'm doing this while I'm talking to you and my arms are shaking so bad. Cause this morning's workout, arms are in extended behind you, tricep kickbacks. And then I squeeze my arms together, kind of like squeezing them over. Oh, it hurts so bad. Slash hurts so good. That is a really good one for your triceps. Okay, so we did our bicep curls. We did our tricep kicks. Kickbacks. We did our tricep squeezes. Let's call those then. Since I'm already bent over, I'm going to do a bent over row I'm going to do 10 of those and then I'm going to do a bent over fly. Okay. All of these are with 10 pound weights. That is one segment each workout. I just said at least 10 times with a 10 pound weight. And I'm going to do it for three sets. So that's segment one. Then segment two, I went over to the bench, I did some skull crushers, I did some bench press, I did some reverse fly. So I did a bunch of stuff laying on my back on the bench. Then. Then I did things with bands, I did abs, I had a whole thing. But there are three segments to my workout every single time, depending on arms or legs. Maybe that was more info than you wanted, but what I want you to get out of that is I had the plan for that. I had the plan because that's a workout I've done before. I find sort of the construction of a workout that I really like. And then I will do that one over and over. Having a plan before you get there is huge. Some people have a journal that they bring to do their workout. Some people keep it in their phone or like I said, some people use a fitness app or if you have the money, get a trainer. If you don't feel comfortable using equipment, if you don't know workouts and you can afford it, get a trainer. Maybe you can't afford a trainer, but you have a skill set that the trainer wants. Like, let's say you're a masseuse and you really want a trainer. Like find a trainer who will trade you. Let's say you're a hairstylist and you want to train. Trade. They want their hair done. You want for training sessions like trade so that you can get that thing that you need. Don't make the excuse that you don't know how. This is 2026, babe. If you don't know how, I promise you the Internet does. Don't just accept that this is as good as it gets. Let's make some choices that give us more opportunity so that we can live life the way we want to live it. All right? So having a plan before you work out is huge.

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[C]

Number two. There's something called a two minute rule, which is really good for anybody who feels like a newbie. Like, you're like, girl, I am nowhere near the whole build your own training. Who's he whatsy thing? Pick one. Exercise a bicep curl, a modified push up. Do it for two minutes every single morning. I want you to habit stack an arm workout for two minutes. Brush your teeth and then you go right into, you know, tricep dips on the edge of the bathtub. Like whatever makes sense to you. Two minutes without stopping. And the goal in this is not to overwhelm yourself. It's not to exhaust yourself. The goal is to start to build a habit of even remembering that your arms are there and that they would like a little workout. Yeah. So once the habit is there, then it's easier to expand upon that time. It's easier to turn that time into two workouts or to actually take that time to the gym. But if you feel like you're starting from scratch, just give it two minutes. Next piece of advice, when it comes to your arms, stop lowering so fast. Stop lowering so fast. So this is actually called eccentric. When we lower the weight. That's eccentric. It is when your muscle is actually lengthening while it's under tension. Muscles built with time under tension so that timing really matters. Most people kind of like let their arms fall when they're in the downward swing, which is the worst. You want to slow that down. So try and actually even count it if you can. I would say that the essential centric part of your workout is almost as important as squeezing back up. So see if you can kind of count it. Like 1, 2, 3, 4. 1, 2, 3, 4. You slowing down your reps is going to be huge. Another thing on form that Sammy. I think it's Sammy Clark that I think that's the one I'm thinking of. She always talks about this as mind to muscle. It has been proven time and again that when you are actually focused on the muscle you're trying to strengthen while you were doing the workout, it is way more effective and your results are way better. But you can't be focused on that muscle if you're going super fast. You're just trying to get it over with. If you feel like you are struggling so hard, if your form sucks, you're just trying to get through it, you. Your weight's probably too heavy. It is better, in my opinion, that you go down in weight, but keep that form solid and be able to go really slow and steady and focus mind to muscle than that, you rush through it. All right, my next piece of advice is the pushup. I love a pushup for the arms because you can do it anywhere and you need no equipment. And there are so many ways to modify a pushup because based on where you are in your workout career, you could literally do a pushup against the wall. Very little incline. You just, you know, put your feet back a little bit from the wall and you're just. If it in the most basic level, you haven't worked out in years. You're just like pushing your arms back and forth 10 times against the wall. Three sets of 10. Then obviously there's like, we're going to get down on the floor. You can do a modified pushup, which is where you're on your knees or. When I was first starting out, I would do even more mod. Do it kind of like on a bench or on a box. Like the kinds that you do box jumps. I would do it on the edge of that. So that incline made it not so hard to do. It was easier on my body. And then I slowly built up to the place where I was doing a real push up. And even then I might do 5 of a real push up and 25 of a modified pushup. I'm always doing 3 sets of 10. That's typically where I start. But I love a push up because you can do them anywhere. Several years ago, my son Sawyer and I would challenge each other to pushups, especially during the summer. My kids and I are big on, like, we do a lot of physical challenges during the summer. So we would say, like, okay, you know, you gotta do 50 pushups a day. And that would mean throughout the day it would be like, drop and give me 10. And we're both doing modified pushups. Cause this was years ago. But it was just a way to get things moving and flowing. Don't make excuses. You don't need a gym membership. You don't need to be in high peak physical form. Like I said, you can do those wall push ups. But push ups are a great way to start your arms in some kind of motion. Also really good for your chest. It's gonna make your boobies look better. Like just all the Things. All right, so those are some of my favorite physical strength training exercises. Obviously, there's so much you can do at the gym, but those are basic ideas if you're just getting started or if you need a little boost to get your booty back. Gym and get those arms going. Now, let's talk about things that don't involve working out, because we all love a little hack, right? And this is the life we're living in, and we're talking about things that you can do. This week, I'm going to give you a couple really basic ones that maybe you are not thinking about. Number one, you need a tan. You need a tan. My oldest sister, Christina, and I have joked about this for years that, like, we would see each other and be like, oh, my God, you look amazing. What are you doing? What is this? Where? And she would be like, I got a spray tan. I'm like, no, no, no, no, no. Like, you look. She like, girl, I got a spray tan. And then I would, like, be in Hawaii for the summer. Whatever. She's like, oh, my gosh. Body beautiful. It's really hitting. And I'm like, it is. But also, I'm just tan. You need a tan. And everybody has opinions on the sun. I'm not telling you to get in the sun. You know, we talked about Jurgens lotion. Remember that? Jergens lotion from the 90s, early 2000s still totally works. You use it every day, and it gets subtly darker and darker. You could use San Tropez. An oldie, but a goodie. That's like a rub on self tanner. And if I can use San Tropez without completely giving myself streaks, then anybody can do it. If you can afford the spray tan, get the spray tan. If you're like me and you love being outside and you love some sun and your skin can handle that. You can get a little real summer glow and get some vitamin D. But it's the simplest hack in the entire world. Get a little tan. Your arms instantly look better. Better this week. Little tan all around. Just getting a tan. My second piece of advice is find tops, dresses, different things that make you feel good in the body that you have right right now. You know, y' all send me so many notes and so many questions and so many voicemails about confidence. That's a big topic within our community. I think oftentimes people perceive confidence as something that someone else has, and we want her version of it. You don't need her version of confidence, and you don't need my Version of confidence. You need your version of confidence. I love baggy clothes. I tend to wear baggy clothes a lot. I don't know. I think it's the 90s. Like, grew up with skaters. There's something in that look that I just really like. I think that other people would hate the baggy clothes because people would think that they looked heavier than they actually are. Actually kind of think it's funny if you think that underneath those skater clothes that this isn't a banging body. I don't know. I. I feel great about that, but other people would feel very insecure in my baggy clothes. That's my version of confidence. What's your version of confidence? And if we're specifically talking about your arms, what are cuts of shirts that you feel good in? Maybe it's a cap sleeve. Maybe like a three quarter sleeve. Maybe it's not gonna be a tank top. Maybe it is gonna be a. I got a tank top recently from madewell. And can I just say, it's gotta be the most flattering tank top I've ever seen in my life because someone over there realized that for some of us, you know. Let me, let me describe this. Close your arms down at your side, like you're a chicken. And you're holding your wings in really tight. And then in between your boob and your arm, even if you're. You're crushing it, you're working it out, you're doing the thing. There's like this little pocket of fat again. Chloe the ballerina, this does not apply to you. But for the rest of us, there's like this tiny third boob that happens in between your boob and your arm. Madewell made a tank top that cuts the tank top so perfectly that it covers up the third boob. Some of these tank tops coming in so much, it's like they were trying. It's like a keyhole. Like they're trying to, like highlight the third boob. But this tank top, absolutely phenomenal. You know, let me look up the name because I know you guys are going to be like, what's it called? Hold on. I just got it too. I actually got it for Europe and I might get it in other colors. Let me see if I can find it.

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Hold.

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Okay. If you hear this and you want to check this out, it is the smocked scoop neck tank. It is $58 on Madewell. I got it in navy and I love it. I'm actually thinking about getting it in other colors because it just so flattering and it's scooped, which is great, but it's also kind of like ruched. Check it out. You'll see if you're a madewell person. Go check it out. I think you'll really like it. Anyway, you gotta find something that works with the body that you have. Some people like an off the shoulder number, but it covers up their arm. Some people like a peasant blouse. Some people like a ruffle sleeve. If you love a sleeveless top and you want like a little extra something, you know, get a great thing to go over the top of it, whether that's a button down shirt or kimono. Like, choose some styling that you feel really great in but still feels like style. What happens is that people go, I'm gonna go get this spaghetti strap dress for my cousin's wedding. And they love the dress, but they don't think of that one extra thing. And then they get to the day of and they're like, well, I guess I'll take my winter cardigan because that's the only thing I have to cover my arms or I'm going to feel uncomfortable. Let's like think through the process in a way that allows you to wear something you feel really great in with the body you currently have. Confidence in the body you currently have, not in the body you want to have, not in the body your sister has. Not with changing one single thing. I love the idea of working toward a goal. I love the idea of working toward like the body that you want to have if it's a different body than you've got today. But just because you are in pursuit of something better doesn't mean that you ignore the blessings you currently have. The arms that you currently have have done so much for you. Those arms have done the work. They have held your babies. They have taken care of mom and daddy. Those arms wrote the essays. Those arms helped you be strong. Those arms carried you through the run. Those arms carried you through the walk. Those arms hugged people. Those arms hugged you. They, you know, cleaned the house, they washed your body, they like, loved your dog. Like, your arms are a blessing. They are a blessing. Wanting to have better arms is about wanting to take better care of the blessings that you've got. It's not about hating what's there. It's about how do we celebrate this in a way that we're taking better care of it. So just to recap things that you can do to make those arms better, this week we're going to slow down those workouts. We're going to see if we can get that eccentric slowing down, see if we can feel it a bit more. You'll feel it immediately. By the way, if you're listening to this inside of the premium community, I would love it if you try this and then come back and comment and just let us know. Be like, girl, I did six of them and it felt so different to do a slow bicep curl than it has to do a really fast one. So we're gonna slow down those movements. We're gonna work on some push ups. We're gonna see if we are we doing modified, are we doing against the wall? Are we doing like the real deal? Like, we're actually doing push ups. We're gonna see where we are with our push up number. We're going to make sure that we're choosing tops that make us feel great for the arms that we currently have. And we're going to celebrate the fact that our body is awesome and beautiful and strong as it is. And we're going to celebrate the body that we have and that it is becoming. Here's the thing that I hope you walk away with in today's episode. Your arms are capable of more than you have been asking them for, and so are you. Strength is available to you right now. Not when you lose weight, not when you're more consistent, not when you're more like your sister. Not when you start going to Soul Cycle regularly. Right now, we can all work on things that will make us stronger. You can start to build something real. And while you are building this better, stronger, beautiful body, let's celebrate the body that we have, babe. Let's wear the dress. Let's wear the tank top. Let's wear the thing that makes us feel amazing, whatever that is for you this week, it looks like making choices that celebrate who you are and where you're going. I hope y' all are digging these new episodes of Better. This week we are releasing one every single Wednesday. And if you like it, I hope you'll share it with a friend. We will be back soon with more conversation. Until then, as always, I love you and I'm rooting for you. The rachel hollis podcast is produced by me, rachel hollis. It's edited by andrew weller and jack noble. Hi, I'm Angie Hicks, co founder of Angie. One thing I've learned is that you buy a house, but you make it a home. For decades, Angie's helped millions of homeowners hire skilled pros for the projects that matter. Angie, the one you trust to find the ones you trust, find a pro

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