Upper arm fat?!

[I LOVE BASIL]

Hey guys,


I'm a bit disconcerted with my upper arm fat!


I acknowledge that physical apperance is not worth dwelling on and that notions of beauty are societally constructed and irrelevant la la la but it's still hard to overlook that bingo wings'/'tuckshop lady arms' are unsightly, no?


Any ideas on how to erradicate it?


Cheers.

 

[I LOVE BASIL]

If you have suggestions of exercises that may work, I would appreciate it.


Or any other way to get rid of the fat, short of surgery, because I'm not ready to consider that yet.


Or even if you don't have suggestions, is anyone able to empathise?

 

[Jericho]

best you can do is some exercises to tone the area but since you can't spot reduce fat, it comes down to overall weight loss.

 

[Sue123]

My mother has the same problem, and even though she is not really big, she always have to go a size or 2 bigger to be able to find a top with sleeves that are wide enough to accommodate her arms.

I saw a few years back some bands that you can place around the arms while exercising. It is similar to the belts that people wear while exercising. Not sure how effective this method, but maybe you can give it a try. Good luck

 

[Prue99]

I agree it comes down to overall weight loss........but........I think if you are quite demented in your quest you can achieve much more toned arms and then be happier about them!

Do you have weights at home? I have a set next to the computer and while reading I will constantly do exercises with them whilst sitting. You can really feel the muscles working!

Also chair dips (I'm not whether that is the right wording!?*) are also good for the triceps.....start with 2 sets of about 10 and then build from there.

There is of course the dreaded pushups (aarrrggghhhhh) sad but true, they work for arms.


Good luck though.......I know what it is like and I'm sure it is hereditary in my family!


Warm thoughts,

Prue

 

[workoutdvdworld]

Yes, unfortunately spot reducing doesn't work, so you will have to lose fat in general for your arms to become smaller. The best way to lose at is through good nutrition and interval training, which is a combination of weights and cardio. The weights will increase the amount of lean muscle you have, which in turn will help increase your metabolism to shed fat, and the cardio will keep your heart rate high and burn calories. The main key to weight loss is calories in versus calories out. You need to be eating less than you are burning.

There are many ways to exercise at home, if you don't want to hit the gym. You can either do your own circuit style training using pure body weight exercises, or you can get some equipment like dumbbells, a resistance band and something you can use as a bench, so that you can get into some proper weight training. A lot of women think that weight training will just make them look even bigger, but the fact is that muscle is a lot denser than fat and therefore takes up less space. If you lose the fat on top of the muscle through diet and cardio, then increasing your lean muscle mass will give you a shaplier, more toned appearance.

If you are unfamiliar with what sort of exercises to do then you could try buying a few workout DVDs. There are so many great ones for shedding fat and toning the upper body specifically. The Firm has a huge selection of DVDs that use the interval training principle for maximum results. Also the 10 minute solution series is great because it has all different workouts broken into 10 minute segments so that you can either do them all together or separately, depending on how much time you have. I swear by workout DVDs. It means you have no excuses cause you don't even have to leave the house. No expensive gym fees and minimal equipment (you can even fill water bottles with sand for hand weights).

If you don't like the idea of workout DVDs, however, you could simply google "body weight exercises" or "equipmentless training" and there will be a whole bunch of sites giving you ideas on what exercises to do.