Help...How to reduce arm flab???

2kidsandatrip

I am in the midst of my weight loss journey, at the start of the journey I was almost 350 lbs, I am now 273 and continuing on my journey. I appreciate my progress however I have always had larger pudgier arms that hang and have a roll, I would really like to work on reducing the amount of flab there is. I know some of it is probably hanging skin and that I don't have a ton of options for that but in general what are good options for this.

* I should mention, I have added much exercise in to my routine as I have a hernia repair and a hysterectomy about 2 months ago and have not been cleared for anything strenuous.

I appreciate any help or suggestion!

ninerbuff

If I'm being honest because I've worked with many people at this weight, even IF you're doing everything right, you're likely going to be stuck with a lot of loose skin on your arms even if you get down to goal weight. At that point you can wait a couple of years to see if some of the skin retracts. If it doesn't than you have 2 choices: learn to live with the excess skin or have it surgically removed. There are NO exercises, creams, massages, dry brushing, etc. that reduces excess skin.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

AnnPT77

With apologies in advance, because this is going to be an essay (I can touch type and I know how to abuse that). . . .

There are 3 things I'd encourage you to think about (more details below):
1. Where you are in the weight loss process
2. How loose skin tends to behave
3. Women's upper arms, and how we perceive them (I'm a woman, in case it isn't obvious)

Where you are in the weight loss process:

You're reallly getting well under way with weight loss, which is a great thing (congratulations on your progress!). One thing I'd like to point out is that it's hard to tell, in the early to middle (and even semi-late stages), how you will look at goal weight.

Many of us - me included - look worse part way to goal weight than we will at goal, in terms of perceived loose skin. Fat cells can deplete anywhere in our fat mass (not neatly starting from outer layers then proceeding inward). That means that fat areas may get squishy and sort of floppy, and people think that's loose skin. True loose skin is thin layers, like wrinkles in a medium weight fabric (maybe corduroy or denim). Think about the skin you can pinch up on a bony body part, like kneecap or back of hand. Thin! Things that are 1/2" plus folds or rolls probably still have some subcutaneous fat conspiring with gravity to keep the skin stretched out. When that fat depletes further, skin in those areas can begin to seriously shrink. Skin shrinkage, IME, lags behind fat loss, and is a slow thing in itself.

So, how your arms look now is not how they will look at goal weight, and how they look at goal is not how they'll look permanently when you stay at goal weight.

How loose skin tends to behave

So: Loose skin can really start shrinking only after weight loss is pretty well under way, and can continue quite a long time after one reaches goal weight. I'm sorry if that sounds discouraging, but I hope it needn't be: If you're concerned about it, it means there's hope for continuing improvement.

My loose skin was much worse at goal, and continued to shrink at least into year 2 of maintenance (maybe longer). Because of my personal weight distribution patterns, I lost more weight between my ribcage and knees, though I did lose some inches on my arms. At the risk of TMI, my derriere looked like a bulldog's face right after weight loss, and I think now (4+ years later) looks pretty much like any other woman my age (I'm 64 now) who's been at a healthy weight long term. This can be true of any body part where we happen to have previously stored a meaningful amount of body fat, including arms. You may find that some body areas lose down to mostly just loose skin earlier in the weight loss process, and others later, but that all tends to be pretty individual.

I absolutely agree with Niner's statement that "There are NO exercises, creams, massages, dry brushing, etc. that reduces excess skin." People may recommend some to you, but I think they "work" by giving us something to do while the passage of time is what actually achieves some improvements.

Beyond that, what I'd say is that skin is an organ, and the things that keep other organs healthy are also likely to keep skin as healthy as practical, thus elastic and perhaps more likely to be willing to shrink. That means sound well-balanced nutrition (enough protein, enough healthy fat, plenty of varied, colorful veggies and fruits), regular exercise (ideally both cardiovascular and strength, challenging but not excessive (excess = stress)), good hydration (not crazy-much, just adequate), as good sleep as one can manage, and a sensibly moderate weight loss rate (not crazy fast). Not saying you have to be perfect every minute - none of us are - but keeping an eye on those things improves your odds of a good long-term result.

Women's upper arms, and how we perceive them

Finally, about the arms: I find that most women (every single one I've discussed this with in real life, in fact) are misidentifying relaxed triceps muscles as part of their loose skin or fat. I ask them to stretch one arm out straight, then take the opposite hand, and grab the "loose skin" "chicken wing" "bingo wing" "flap" on the extended upper arm, putting their finger tips close to the upper arm bones, and hold on.

Next, I've had them flex that extended arm in as "bodybuilder-like" a pose as they can accomplish: Upper arm above shoulder level, elbow bent, hand curled down/in toward the inside of the arm, consciously/conscientiously tightening every single muscle they can feel, especially those underneath the upper arm. Anything that firms or tightens up when we do that is muscle, not fat or loose skin.

I'm not saying there's no fat or loose skin. I'm saying that in many cases, a big chunk of what women identify as fat/loose skin is actually relaxed muscle. It's 100% normal among even quite fit women (and men) to be able to extend an arm horizontally but otherwise relaxed, shake it hard, and get some floppy mobility in the upper arm. If relaxed muscles were tightTight, how would we move our skeleton around? Relaxed is relaxed, so somewhat slack. The long muscles, in a horizontal position, relax and hang a bit, under the influence of gravity. (Thighs will do the same thing, but we don't usually see them in the same way.)

(That women often misidentify their triceps and hate them as part of their "arm flaps" is one of my pet peeves. )

Hang in there, keep up the good progress, stay patient, and let your healthy body bring you positive outcomes! :flowerforyou:

Best wishes!

2kidsandatrip

I appreciate all the insight, I had no idea about most of that. 🙃

I do think alot of the weight in my arms are fat right now, I wonder though if there is exercise to help this though as I continue to lose weight. My arms have always been a huge problem area. 😔

BAC716

@2kidsandatrip Congrats on all of your progress thus far! The best thing you can do is continue on with a steady sustainable eating plan and focus on building/preserving muscle through weight training. You can add in some cardio as well or whatever style of exercise works for you.

Unfortunately, there's no way to really target or spot reduce body fat in certain areas. We all tend to carry it a little differently and have problem spots. You can certainly put time into building lean muscle in your arms but it won't directly cause more fat loss there specifically. The fat will come off different places as you go, just keep working out and keep protein levels up to preserve that muscle and be patient!

Like the others said, stay away from any creams, wraps, etc. that claim to help in any significant way!

AnnPT77

2kidsandatrip wrote: »

I appreciate all the insight, I had no idea about most of that. 🙃

I do think alot of the weight in my arms are fat right now, I wonder though if there is exercise to help this though as I continue to lose weight. My arms have always been a huge problem area. 😔

Unfortunately, no, I don't think there are specific exercises that will help just exactly that.

I think that exercise generically may help somewhat in an overall sense - both cardiovascular exercise (potentially ensuring you have good circulation in your body tissues, so skin stays as healthy and elastic as possible) and strength exercise (so that the musculature in that and other areas becomes as firm and healthy as it can be).

You can pick a form of cardiovascular exercise you enjoy, anything that gets your heart beating to the point where it's a little bit of a stretch/challenge, but not miserable or exhausting to do. As you get fitter (and you will), you can increase the duration, frequency, intensity, or type of cardiovascular exercise, to keep it enjoyable and just that little bit progressively challenging. There are lots of options for types of exercise: Walking, biking, swimming, dancing, active video/VR games, online classes of many sorts, and more.

It's OK to experiment to see what seems do-able and enjoyable, but I'd encourage you to give each new thing a fair chance (as long as you're not fearing injury!). It's normal to feel awkward and like it's impossible to do something at first - we all feel that way! - but after a few sessions, it starts to seem more achievable. If you can, give things that few sessions' chance. The things that seem easy from day 1, by contrast, often get boring really quickly.

On the strength training front, there's a good thread about picking a strength training program, and it includes some beginner programs, including ones that require minimal or no special equipment. It's here:

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10332083/which-lifting-program-is-the-best-for-you/p1

If the beginner progam you pick is a little too challenging for you at first (as it is for some of us), it's fine to do adapted versions of exercises, or fewer repetitions, or something like that, and gradually work up to the full beginning set of things.

It looks like you probably do have some body fat in that upper arm area, and as I mentioned, sometimes an area of fat gets a little more floppy or droopy when we start losing weight, but will improve slowly as time goes on. Think about a water balloon. When it's full of water, it's kind of plump and firm and rounded. If you let some of the water out, but don't let air in, the balloon kind of gets floppier and flatter and droops, but the balloon stays pretty stretched out. Once all the water is out (no air), the balloon will shrink back to closer to its empty size, maybe even all the way back.

It's only a very approximate kind of thing, but fat-storage areas can be a little like that, with the skin being sort of like the balloon (just a slowly-shrinking one). When you get near goal, you'll have a much better idea how much fat is lost from that area, and how much true loose skin there is (the thin-wrinkles kind). That true loose skin then will take some time to shrink, but there is a continuing chance it will.

Even after reaching goal weight, that skin shrinkage keeps going on, and some of the fat may even change appearance super slowly over time. I know this is really frustrating and alarming that it can take time, that I'm telling you it's hard to tell what the result will be right now.

What I'd underscore, though is that many, many things will be better with weight loss. You'll look better, feel better, be healthier. Even along the way, there will be lots of exciting, positive changes. There will be little things, often, that feel really rewarding. (Check out this loooong and popular thread for many examples: https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1275030/whats-your-most-recent-nsv - "NSV" is non-scale victory).

If you go over to the "Success Stories" part of the forum, you'll find many before and after photos of women who've lost substantial amounts of weight, including swimsuit or sportswear photos that really let you see results. I'm betting you'll find that most people get better results even in "problem" areas than you might be imagining for yourself right now. Patience is hard, but there's good reason to hope for and even expect reasonably favorable outcomes in the long run.

Hang in there: Wishing you much success!

2kidsandatrip

Thank you all for your advise, I very much appreciate it!!! I will continue on the journey and incorporate some more exercise as my doctor releases me to do so and I will be patient.