Essential Information about Losing Arm Fats
I am about to deliver some disappointing news, there is no shortcut to reducing fats in only your arms. Despite what many other sources may inform you, how to slim down arms and back essentially means how to slim down as a whole. Sadly, there is no way to target areas to slim down, you must lose weight and fats generally. There is absolutely no ‘ how to slim down upper arms ‘ only.
The body works in a manner that it will decide on its own, which area to lose fat first. This may be the belly, thigh, hips, arms, back etc. But if one’s arms happen to be the most stubborn fat storage area (and thus the hardest to lose), one needs to lose even more fats in the rest of your body, before you can see results in slimming your arms.
There is really no fastest way to slim down arms, as supported by Healthline.
The way to lose fats generally is to do cardio activities. Cardio is defined as exercises that bring up your heart rate by about 50% of your normal heart rate for a sustained period of more than 30 minutes. And doing exercise with weights can still achieve fat burn. This means changing the idea of ‘how to slim down arms with weights’ to ‘how to tone up my arms with weights’. When you gain muscle mass in your arms, it may not be visible now but the arms will appear toned after all the fats disappear. A plus point, muscle helps to burn calories too, as mentioned in our previous article about Calorie Deficit vs Calorie Surplus. And when you work on those muscle groups, you are burning calories too.
Exercises that target the arms
When you work on your arms, you are essentially training your biceps, triceps, and shoulders. Hence, the following exercises target at least one of these muscle groups.
1. Push ups.
Push ups work on our triceps and shoulders. By doing them correctly on a daily basis, you will be able to see some results within a month! For beginners, below is a quick guide on how to do push ups correctly. You may start off with 10 or 20 push ups a day and progress gradually from there.
2. Dips.
Similarly, dips work on our triceps and shoulders but from a different angle. We will need a coffee table or a chair to do it. Below is a quick guide on how to perform dips correctly.
3. Arm Circling
Arm Circling works on the shoulders. As mentioned in BetterMe, this is another convenient exercise and is recommended for twenty minutes on a daily basis. Straighten your arm towards your sides, while keeping your elbow bent. Start rotating in a clockwise manner and vary the speed according to your stamina!
Image Credits: ArtStation
These three exercises are the easiest and most convenient exercise that you can do it at home to fix that flabby arms.
The following are exercises that require weights.
For beginners, we recommend that you start off light with at least 1kg on each hand. This could be a 1L bottle or some dumbbells. You may do each of these exercises in three sets of twenty, on a daily basis.
4. Shoulder Side Fly
This exercise targets your deltoids (muscles on the side of your shoulder). Extend your arms diagonally outwards, while keeping your elbows slightly bent. Flap your arms (like wings!) by bringing them to your shoulder level and back down, without touching your thighs. It would be even more effective if you can feel some tension in your arms, because it shows that you are engaging your muscles.
Image Credits: Men’s Health
5. Shoulder Press
Doing this exercise works on your shoulders and triceps. Other common names for this exercise include overhead press and arm extensions. This involves extending your arms overhead (remember to keep your elbows slightly bent, never fully straight when you are holding weights!) and bringing them back to shoulder level.
Image Credits: Verywell Fit
6. Bicep Curl
As the name suggests, this exercise targets your biceps. Extend your arm downwards (again without locking your elbows), with the weights facing upwards. Bring your arm towards your shoulders and continue this motion.
Image Credits: Verywell Fit
7. Rotational Bicep Curl
This exercise is similar to the above but targets specifically the inner biceps. It adds a twist to workout #6 by requesting that one rotate one’s arms, such that the weights are facing the hips when your arm is extended downwards. Flip the weights back to facing upwards, when you bend your arms towards your shoulders.
Image Credits: Gfycat
8. Triceps Press
This exercise targets your triceps. It involves holding the dumbbells (by the top edge) above your head, with your arms fully extended. Bend your elbows backward such that your arms become an inverted V. Extend it upwards again.
Image Credits: Verywell Fit
9. Triceps Extension
Again, this exercise targets your triceps. Another name for this exercise is called the Dumbbell Kickback. Bend your body slightly downwards with your elbows bent. Push your arms slightly backward while straightening them.
Image Credits: Tenor
10. Around the World
This exercise targets your entire arm! Raise your arms above your height and drop your arms in the shape of a circle – personally, this is an exercise loved by many of our clients!
Image Credits: Saradas
In summary…
Top three things for you (tldr):
You cannot just lose fats in your arms. You need to lose fat overall by doing cardio
Working out on your arms will help you burn fat too, and build muscles
These muscles will show when the fats surrounding them are gone!
Keen to lose fats with professional training and advice? Get in touch with our personal trainers in Singapore here!
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