Arm fat is one of the most targeted areas of stubborn fat loss for women. Here’s how to lose arm fat to reveal those strong and toned arms.
Have you ever experienced that embarrassing moment of waving goodbye to someone and feeling the flap of your arm fat waving like a flag in the wind?
That’s a true wake-up call to do something about your unsightly arm fat.
But don’t worry because if you pay close attention to the workout tips in this article, flapping arm fat doesn’t have to be your companion any longer.
How To Lose Arm Fat Once And For All
In order to make your arm flab disappear, a two-pronged approach is needed:
- Reduce your overall body fat levels to a minimum
- Build up the muscles in your arms
One thing to note is that doing exercises that target the muscles in your arms will definitely help to build muscle in that area.
However, exercising your arms will not specifically target the fat in that area.
Another important note is that building up the muscles in your arms will help to increase your metabolism.
This will, in turn, help you to burn more body fat in general and eventually lose fat in that area.
So now let’s take a closer look at the two main factors in getting rid of arm fat and how you can implement them into your current routine.
Reduce Overall Body Fat
If you have been around the fitness community for any length of time, you’re already well aware of the basic principles of fat loss.
If you eat too many calories, the excess energy that your body doesn’t get used right away and gets stored as fat.
This means that if you want to lose the fat on your arms, you are going to have to reduce the total amount of fat that your body is storing.
Assuming that you are already doing some form of cardiovascular exercise, there is no special diet program that you can follow that specifically targets the fat on the back of your arms.
In order to reduce body fat and thereby lose the fat on your arms, simply stick to a program that focuses on fat loss and burning up extra calories.
One way is aiming to eat foods that are high in fiber like whole grains, legumes, and vegetables, and lean sources of protein.
In this type of program, you will also avoid simple sugars and other high-glycemic carbohydrates such as white rice, white flour, doughnuts, and many breakfast cereals.
Another way is to follow a Keto diet and stick to eating nuts, various sources of protein along with healthy fats such as olive oil and butter.
Ketogenic diets are a good way to help the body shed more fat while balancing cholesterol levels as well.
Build Arm Muscle
Once you have your nutrition in order to start maximizing fat loss over your entire body, you need to start targeting the muscle groups of the arms (plus shoulders).
These include:
- Deltoids (shoulders)
- Biceps (front)
- Triceps (back)
- Forearms (lower arm)
Targeting these specific muscles will help to tone up that entire area and create some definition.
This will dramatically help to improve the appearance of your arms once the excess fat is burned off.
Here are a few exercises to get you started.
1. Bicep Curls
Assuming you are using dumbbells, start by holding the weights at your sides with your palms facing forward.
Lift the weights in a linear pattern until they get close to your shoulder while keeping your elbows tucked in close to your sides.
Be sure that you don’t let your elbows move out to the sides or move forward or you will be putting stress on your shoulders and not your biceps.
Repeat the movement for 12-15 repetitions and complete 3-4 sets with minimal rest in between.
If you need to build a lot of muscle in your arms then you can use a heavier weight and perform fewer repetitions, maybe 8-10.
On the other hand, if you already have a decent foundation to work with then you can use lighter weights and perform higher repetitions such as 12-15.
This will give you greater tone and overall strength.
A variation of this exercise is to start with the weights at your sides with your palms facing inward.
As you start to lift the weights twist your wrists so that your palms are now facing forward, bringing them up to your shoulders.
2. Triceps Extensions
One of the best exercises to target the back of the arms is the triceps extension.
There are many different variations of this exercise but the one that we will be talking about today is the lying extension with dumbbells.
Start out by lying on your back, either on the floor or on a bench.
Next, position the dumbbells straight out overhead with your palms facing each other.
Start lowering the weights by bending at the elbows and then continue to lower the dumbbells right down to your shoulders.
Lift the weights by reversing the movement and get a good squeeze in your triceps muscles when you get back to the top of the movement.
This exercise will be the most beneficial for getting rid of that awful arm flap because it directly targets the muscles of the back of the arm, which is exactly where you need it most.
3. Shoulder Raises
Not quite an arm exercise but these are still important to the overall picture.
Start out by holding the weights down in front of you, palms facing your thighs.
Try to keep your arms straight and lift the weight straight ahead in an arc until they reach the level of your shoulder.
At the top of the movement, your palms should be facing the floor.
This exercise is going to target the anterior deltoid, which is the front of the shoulder.
You can also vary this exercise by alternately raising each arm instead of both at the same time.
4. Shoulder Press
Finally, you can add shoulder presses to top off your arm fat elimination routine.
Start out by either standing or sitting and holding your arms out at a ninety-degree angle, keeping your elbows pointed out laterally.
Then simply press the weights straight up over your head before lowering them back to the starting position.
You can repeat the movement for 12-15 repetitions and complete at least 3 sets with minimal rest in between.
These exercises are enough to get you started, but it is best to vary your exercises and mix them up.
Changing things from time to time will keep challenging your muscles and help you avoid any type of plateau.
Final Thoughts: Say Goodbye to Arm Fat
Now the key is to follow a healthy diet and dedicate yourself to performing these exercises on a regular basis.
When you do, you’ll no doubt be able to quickly reach your goal of tight and toned arms.
Give them a try and let us know how it goes by leaving a comment below!
