London - Madonna's arms have hit the headlines.

A photo of the Material Girl was published in the British newspapers Daily Mail and Telegraph on Tuesday, showing her arms with dangerously bulging veins and muscles like those of an arm-wrestling champion.

The singer's arms appeared to have lost every trace of fat. In a wickedly inspired piece of hyperbole, Daily Mail said: 'They even invite comparison with the preserved bodies exhibited by the controversial German anatomist Gunther von Hagens.'

Von Hagens' shows of human cadavers, Body Worlds, have travelled around the world.

According to the newspaper, the picture by MatrixPhotos agency was taken as Madonna left a restaurant in London last week.

But her spokesman has said she was the victim of some strong-armed photo altering.

'Madonna's arms do not look like the photo that has been shown this past week in papers and the photograph was obviously altered or Photoshopped in some way,' Ms Liz Rosenberg told Reuters in an e-mail.

'Like Michelle Obama, Madonna has beautiful and very impressive arms.'

The United States First Lady Michelle Obama was the subject of endless reports early this year after she posed in a sleeveless dress for a White House portrait.

Madonna, 50, is known for her devotion to fitness. She religiously follows a six-day-a-week two-hour gruelling workout with personal trainer Tracy Anderson, who was introduced to her by actress Gwyneth Paltrow.

Ms Anderson's training focuses on smaller muscles and varying moves so that the body continues to be challenged, according to the New York Times.

In one exercise, you pull down on resistant elastic bands strung from a ceiling and dance around a room, endlessly circling your arms.

Although she is based in New York, the trainer has flown to London to help the singer prepare for her tour in Europe.

Ms Anderson was quoted as saying in Daily Mail: 'I have completely changed Madonna's body. I told her to forget everything she had been taught before and to give up yoga, which can make you look terribly veiny.

'Madonna's very healthy and looks fantastic but those veins have nothing to do with me.'

This article was first published in The Straits Times.