Arm Strength training: heavy/slow? light/fast?

mrtentaclenun

I just had a quick question. I have fatty arms, and would very much like to slim them down. I would also like to eventually have muscular arms.
So far I have been doing cardio every day (c25k m,w,f, elliptical t,th) and on tuesday and thursday I do my strength training. So far I have been doing heavier weights, moving up heavier when I am ready, and lifting slowly. My boyfriend said I am doing it wrong, that since I want to lose the weight, I need to do light weights and move fast and do a lot of reps, and then after I lose the weight and have slim arms, THEN start doing weights heavy and slow. Is he right? Should I be doing a lot of reps at light weights until I slim down and then move to building muscle??

jbenton091011

I'd like to know the answer to this too...

erickirb

Lifting heavier will be better, as it forces your muscles to work harder, and as a woman you will not bulk up due to a lack of testosterone, not to mention building muscle while in a caloric deficit is very difficult to do.
Even if you were lifting a lighter weight it should be done in a slow controlled manner, no reason to go fast even for light weights, I'm not sure where that theory came from.

gigidrew

Hey,
Your boyfriend is mostly right. I'd suggest the toning of your arms before building up the muscle and it's easy to do. What you want to focus on is using moderate weights (15's to start) to 10's if your better with that, and focus on your form and posture. You want to look at doing 3 sets with 12-15 reps in each with a 30 second break between the three. For muscle building, you're looking at heavier weights, shorter reps and longer rest time. That's the main difference.

You don't want to lift heavier. When you work out, it causes your muscles to become strained, then they heal and build back up, which is why protein is good in a diet because it helps speed up that process. Going big and heavy will yes, build your muscle but it wont completely take care of excess skin which make your arms looking bigger than they are. You want to tone first.

You want to make sure you're also working the triceps, and two really good work outs for that are:
1) Stand with your feet shoulder width apart, knees bent, butt out and leaning forward. (watch yourself in the mirror) with the dumbells, extend both arms back, the bring them back up (bending your arms) so that the weights are at your chest. Continue this for the sets you decide.
2) Sitting on a workout ball, back straight, grab one weight, (20 or 25 if you can) and with both hand, hold the weight so that your arms are up and bent and the weight is behind your head. (hope that makes sense). What you do then for your set reps is while staying stable on the ball with your back straight, extend your arms up straight, then back down. That's one.

Both these burn and are awesome. I hope this helped!

jamie1888

Building muscle is the best way to lose the fat and get tight, muscular arms! Keep doing the heavy weights, not super slow.. but, not fast! A slow, controlled movement with good form. Do as much weight as you can for 8 - 10 reps. The last 3 should be difficult to complete.

erickirb

Hey,
Your boyfriend is mostly right. I'd suggest the toning of your arms before building up the muscle and it's easy to do. What you want to focus on is using moderate weights (15's to start) to 10's if your better with that, and focus on your form and posture. You want to look at doing 3 sets with 12-15 reps in each with a 30 second break between the three. For muscle building, you're looking at heavier weights, shorter reps and longer rest time. That's the main difference.
You want to make sure you're also working the triceps, and two really good work outs for that are:
1) Stand with your feet shoulder width apart, knees bent, butt out and leaning forward. (watch yourself in the mirror) with the dumbells, extend both arms back, the bring them back up (bending your arms) so that the weights are at your chest. Continue this for the sets you decide.
2) Sitting on a workout ball, back straight, grab one weight, (20 or 25 if you can) and with both hand, hold the weight so that your arms are up and bent and the weight is behind your head. (hope that makes sense). What you do then for your set reps is while staying stable on the ball with your back straight, extend your arms up straight, then back down. That's one.

Both these burn and are awesome. I hope this helped!

There is no such thing as "toning", you build muscle and/or burn fat, the difference comes down to making the muscles larger or more dense, but toning is not a real thing, you look toned when you have muscles and not much fat, it has nothing to do with the way you lift the weights.

jamie1888

Lifting heavier will be better, as it forces your muscles to work harder, and as a woman you will not bulk up due to a lack of testosterone, not to mention building muscle while in a caloric deficit is very difficult to do.
Even if you were lifting a lighter weight it should be done in a slow controlled manner, no reason to go fast even for light weights, I'm not sure where that theory came from.

Yes! ^
Women don't bulk like men do. Needing to use light weight in the 12 - 15 rep range is old school thinking. The results come from the heavy, heavy!

gigidrew

Actually "toning" is used in the sense of when you burn off the excess adipose tissue which results in more defined look of your muscles, before having to completely bulk up to show them off. Going heavy to soon and too quicly on undeveloped muscles can cause damage to them.

And it's important to know how you're lifting the weights because if not done right you're working out the wrong part of what you're trying to define.

Kristy0728

http://www.treeoffitness.com/Articles/Article--Long_Lean_Muscles--Wishful_thinking_or_factual_distinction.htm

I thought article was interesting... maybe it will help....

End6ame

Actually "toning" is used in the sense of when you burn off the excess adipose tissue which results in more defined look of your muscles, before having to completely bulk up to show them off. Going heavy to soon and too quicly on undeveloped muscles can cause damage to them.

And it's important to know how you're lifting the weights because if not done right you're working out the wrong part of what you're trying to define.

No one would recommend going heavy all at once. You build up to using progressive loading.

And there is no such thing as toning, it is a fitness buzz word. There is only stronger and weaker, more fat and less fat.

gigidrew

What I'm trying to say is that it's important to lose the fat before bulking up. If you focus on bulking up, all that's going to happen is you're have larger arms, yes, but you'll still have that fat around it.

erickirb

What I'm trying to say is that it's important to lose the fat before bulking up. If you focus on bulking up, all that's going to happen is you're have larger arms, yes, but you'll still have that fat around it.

If you are in a caloric deficit you will not bulk up, muscles need calories and load to build, you take one of those away and you will not add any bulk. So if you lift heavy and are in a caloric deficit, you will lose fat and get stronger, but your muscles will not grow (unless you are brand new to strength training), which would lead to a more "toned" look.

lovetowrite73

What I'm trying to say is that it's important to lose the fat before bulking up. If you focus on bulking up, all that's going to happen is you're have larger arms, yes, but you'll still have that fat around it.

If you are in a caloric deficit you will not bulk up, muscles need calories and load to build, you take one of those away and you will not add any bulk. So if you lift heavy and are in a caloric deficit, you will lose fat and get stronger, but your muscles will not grow (unless you are brand new to strength training), which would lead to a more "toned" look.

Exactly. I started doing the ChaLean Extreme/Turbo Fire hybrid with over 30 pounds to lose. I have been operating on a caloric deficit and my arms and legs have leaned out unbelievably and it has been amazing watching my muscles get defined. I haven't bulked up at all and have continuously fit into smaller sizes (started in a 12 and now in an 8, sometimes 6). So, to the OP, in my opinion, I think you should continue to lift heavy. Just by building up the muscles you have underneath the fat is going to help you burn the fat that is there (in the words of Chalene: muscle burns fat!).

aj_rock

Your bf almoooost have it. Instead of thinking 'move fast', think less rest ala circuit style. That may have been more along what he was referring to. Circuits are pretty good for fat loss because they help maintain muscle mass while keeping your heart rate up.

koosdel

Lifting heavier will be better, as it forces your muscles to work harder, and as a woman you will not bulk up due to a lack of testosterone, not to mention building muscle while in a caloric deficit is very difficult to do.
Even if you were lifting a lighter weight it should be done in a slow controlled manner, no reason to go fast even for light weights, I'm not sure where that theory came from.

Yes! ^
Women don't bulk like men do. Needing to use light weight in the 12 - 15 rep range is old school thinking. The results come from the heavy, heavy!

This ^^

rybo

Stay on the heavier side. It will be much better to accomplish what you want to do.

SpaceMarkus

You need to do both. Focus on going heavier to build muscle, which will burn the fat around the area. But try and get at least once a week of light weights with lots of reps. This will make sure you keep muscle endurance.

Basically, you need a good base first (Limit strength). Check out the strength curve to help you out.

crisanderson27

Your bf almoooost have it. Instead of thinking 'move fast', think less rest ala circuit style. That may have been more along what he was referring to. Circuits are pretty good for fat loss because they help maintain muscle mass while keeping your heart rate up.

I agree with your method, but not that the boyfriend is right. What you're talking about is turning weight training into a cardio workout...which is awesome =D. Moderate to heavy weight, 5x5 format (5 reps, 5 sets MAX...this ensures you're not 'overloading' too early...but still gets the serious weight you need to build/burn)...and little to no rest (best if you have a HRM to know when to move to the next set/exercise).

I burned 380cal yesterday, measured via my Polar FT7...in 30 minutes of doing a 5x5 circuit of bodyweight strength training. The routine is on the first page of the link in my signature. If you think bodyweight training is less effective than weights...realize it's all that was used to turn the before picture below...into the after picture, in just a couple months.

End6ame

If you think bodyweight training is less effective than weights...realize it's all that was used to turn the before picture below...into the after picture, in just a couple months.

Depends on your goals

It looks like you have pretty similar muscle mass in your “before” picture as you do in your “after” picture. You simply have less body fat so your muscle is more defined and pronounced. Looks like you built on to your pecs and triceps a bit.

What I am trying to say, is you will never achieve a 300lb bench press by doing push-ups, you have to lift with heavy weights to get there. And while I would advocate body weight exercises over isolation exercises any day of the week, they will not build the same kind of muscle mass and strength as heavy barbell training.

Congrats, though!

End6ame

Couple things wrong with this. First and foremost:

Have you ever watched the WNBA? Thinking that women can't develop muscle tone is pretty ridiculous.

Lifting heavy weights on a calorie deficit three or four days a week will not make you look like a WNBA player. They train a h*ll of a lot harder than any casual gym goer to get those results.

You help develop mass by using explosive movements, and work on the tone with slow controlled contractions.

This sounds an awful lot like bro-science.

“Tone” is controlled by body fat %; less body fat equals looking more “toned”. Additionally heavy weights (typically in conjunction with a caloric surplus) no matter how you lift them will build mass. Faster lifting will allow you to lift heavier weights which will produce more strength and power, while slower lifting will force you into lighter weights but will focus more on muscular endurance.

crisanderson27

If you think bodyweight training is less effective than weights...realize it's all that was used to turn the before picture below...into the after picture, in just a couple months.

Depends on your goals

It looks like you have pretty similar muscle mass in your “before” picture as you do in your “after” picture. You simply have less body fat so your muscle is more defined and pronounced. Looks like you built on to your pecs and triceps a bit.

What I am trying to say, is you will never achieve a 300lb bench press by doing push-ups, you have to lift with heavy weights to get there. And while I would advocate body weight exercises over isolation exercises any day of the week, they will not build the same kind of muscle mass and strength as heavy barbell training.

Congrats, though!

Agreed almost COMPLETELY. My point was in this person's case, bodyweight would be all that was necessary. Heavy weight training is an incredible strength builder...and there is little to nothing that would compare.

However, that being said...no way you'll build a 300lb bench with standard pushups...but, bodyweight training is about leverage. Levering the most resistance onto your target area. If you weigh 200lbs, and you're doing 1 arm decline pushups with either arm (I've seen this)...I'd bet you're damn close to 300lbs benched. If you look around over on bodyweightculture.com or other sites...some of those guys are crazy built, and the level of practical strength is astounding. I don't just mean strength to weight either. I mean pure strength.

I'd love to see one of those guys go through a weight training circuit to see where they stand by comparison.