Hi all! Big newbie with yet another question.

I'm taking a yoga/pilates class, which I love. Unfortunately, I'm not able to do part of the sun salutation even with modifications because of my lack of arm strength. I've been doing a variety of arm exercises with dumbbells and machines with help from a trainer, but have never targeted a specific part of my arms.

I really want to be able to do the Crocodile (body straight, weight resting on toes and arms, which are held tight to sides and folded, arms bent so body is halfway from floor) and Plank (body flat and straight, weight resting on toes and arms, which are bent but hold body far from floor) positions in the sun salutation, but my arms are too weak. Anyone have a reference to a good book or website with some exercises that will help me strengthen my arms? Anything that helps with push-ups would be beneficial, I would think. These positions would be like doing push ups with your arms held tight to your sides (if that makes sense).

Thank you in advance...I'm ashamed of my weakling arms and really want to get them in shape!

Oh, man, I can't do the plank for more than a few seconds either. Are you sure that it's your arms that are the weak link, so to speak? I always feel like it's my abs and back and glutes that give out first. If you do feel like it's your arms, I would say that pushups (from the knee or foot) would be a good place to start. Also good would be some kind of bench press, perhaps also an overhead press, and some flyes or something that would get the chest muscle.

Hopefully a person who's more expert than me can jump in here.