Target Weight Loss: Tone Your Arms

While losing weight, some body areas often need a little extra work than others, such as your stomach and upper arms.

However, it’s difficult to target weight loss to a specific area of your body. Here we explain what you can do about it.

Why Are The Upper Arms Such A Problem Area?

Even slim people can carry extra weight on their upper arms.

Genetics indicate where we store fat, so in that sense, it is something inherited, but our sedentary lifestyles only make these ‘chicken wings’ more likely to develop.

While we use our legs constantly in day-to-day activities, our arms rarely carry anything much heavier than a bag of groceries, so our muscles don’t get the chance to develop as they should.

Furthermore, most people who lose a considerable amount of weight are often left with loose skin, which can be more noticeable on the upper arms as they are more likely to be on show.

However, you can combat this problem and tone your arms on phentermine by combining both a healthy diet and exercise from the beginning of your weight loss journey.

This way, you can be more assured of achieving both the weight loss and the body that you want.

How To Tone Your Arms

You can’t specifically lose fat from your arms or any other area, as the body metabolizes stored fat from different zones at different rates.

For this reason, when aiming to target weight loss, you need to burn fat all over. This way, as you lose the fat that is distributed over your body, your arms will also lose fat.

The best way to burn fat all over is to begin exercising in some form at the start of your weight loss journey.

And while it’s true that healthy eating directly contributes to weight loss more than exercise, exercise lays the foundations of the body and weight you want in the long term by helping you to build a leaner, more efficient body for the future.

Cardio exercises, which also work the arms, are great if this is your main problem area.

This will mean that oxygen and blood flow throughout your whole body and ensure that muscle-building exercises for your arms will work even better.

So, try the elliptical machine, swimming, running with hand weights, or hitting the rowing machine to burn calories and work your upper and lower body.

The Best Arm-Toning Exercises

Although you can’t specifically lose fat from your arms, you can, however, focus your toning efforts; muscle tone requires having leaner muscle fibers, and to build lean muscle, you need to make your muscles work by carrying out resistance training.

Women actually lack the testosterone to get bulky, so you shouldn’t be frightened of building too much muscle, and heavier weights will actually help to build a strong and lean body as well as burn more fat.

You’ll also need fuel to repair and grow muscle, so be sure to consume protein and carbohydrates post-workout.

1. The Machines That Matter

Aside from free weights at the gym, you should use the close-grip bench press and the tricep cable machine for optimum upper-arm toning.

If you’re new to these machines, ask a trainer how to use them to ensure that you don’t use them incorrectly or injure yourself.

2. Arm-Toning Group Classes

As for classes, Bodypump classes offer a good workout for all over fat-burning and muscle-building.

TRX classes are also a great option; they involve using elasticated suspension cords to build muscle and tone and also help to improve balance and core strength as well.

Your gym may not run these classes, but it’s likely to have suspension cords to use as equipment, so ask a trainer for a demonstration on how to use these for the best results.

3. Two Key Exercises

The king and queen of upper body exercises are pull-ups and push-ups.

If you can master these two moves, you will literally work every muscle in your upper body, including those tricky triceps.

Of course, both are a challenge that you’ll need to work up to, but life is about goals, and if you can achieve 10 full press-ups and 5 full pulls ups, you can wave goodbye to those chicken wings for sure.

4. Cardio Winners

If you can’t make it to the gym, skipping and boxing are awesome for fat burning and working the muscles – in fact, boxing is also a key exercise to get a flat stomach.

However, if you’re boxing, don’t punch the air; invest in a punching bag and give it all you have. This is because you need the impact resistance to really shock the muscles into becoming stronger.

Would you like more toned arms? Do you have any toning tips of your own? Let us know by commenting below!