arm flab - more reps? or heavier weights?

Holmfridur_Gestsdottir

OK there are 3 ways to lose the flab. Cardio, strength training and diet. First and foremost you need to lose weight through diet (most important) cardio and resistance training). If you have excess pounds, they are going to be visible on the arms, just as they will be in other areas. So if you lose the weight, the flab will be less. Be aware that fat tends to accumulate on some areas more than others. For example I tend to accumulate tummy fat and that is also the last place the fat leaves. So maybe you will have to be patient - but it is going to be SO worth it if you are persistent with good clean diet.

Strength training is also going to help. It is NOT going to burn the fat away, but if you train wisely, you will develop nicely shaped arms you will love looking at when the flab has gone. Now I see that many women worry about becoming like the Hulk if they are going to be lifting more than teeny weights. But that is NOT the case! You need to be a man or eat steroids to become like a man via strength training. It is not going to happen overnight, trust me.

You need to lift weights that are DIFFICULT. No pain no gain applies 100% to strength training. I reccommend changing up your routine. Try a new program at least every month. Change up the number of sets and reps - it is a good idea to do 2-4 sets and 6-15 reps. More than that is not going to help you to increase muscle mass (which in turns help to burn that flab away even when you are on that couch watching Dr McDreamy). It might go without saying but if you are going to do 15 reps with 10 pound db, you are going to have to pick up a heavier one if you are planning on 6-8 reps. You need to feel the pain for the last reps, and if you can maintain a normal face and breath normally throughout the whole set, you are cheating yourself out of results. But you should of course always maintain proper form. You need to rest 30 secs to 2 minutes for each exercise. For arm exercise, don't rest between sets more than a minute. For multijoint / compound exercises (which are going to bring much faster and more results) like squats, lunges, pullups etc) you might want to increase the resting period.

Good luck with the flab fight!

bmw4deb

OK there are 3 ways to lose the flab. Cardio, strength training and diet. First and foremost you need to lose weight through diet (most important) cardio and resistance training). If you have excess pounds, they are going to be visible on the arms, just as they will be in other areas. So if you lose the weight, the flab will be less. Be aware that fat tends to accumulate on some areas more than others. For example I tend to accumulate tummy fat and that is also the last place the fat leaves. So maybe you will have to be patient - but it is going to be SO worth it if you are persistent with good clean diet.

Strength training is also going to help. It is NOT going to burn the fat away, but if you train wisely, you will develop nicely shaped arms you will love looking at when the flab has gone. Now I see that many women worry about becoming like the Hulk if they are going to be lifting more than teeny weights. But that is NOT the case! You need to be a man or eat steroids to become like a man via strength training. It is not going to happen overnight, trust me.

You need to lift weights that are DIFFICULT. No pain no gain applies 100% to strength training. I reccommend changing up your routine. Try a new program at least every month. Change up the number of sets and reps - it is a good idea to do 2-4 sets and 6-15 reps. More than that is not going to help you to increase muscle mass (which in turns help to burn that flab away even when you are on that couch watching Dr McDreamy). It might go without saying but if you are going to do 15 reps with 10 pound db, you are going to have to pick up a heavier one if you are planning on 6-8 reps. You need to feel the pain for the last reps, and if you can maintain a normal face and breath normally throughout the whole set, you are cheating yourself out of results. But you should of course always maintain proper form. You need to rest 30 secs to 2 minutes for each exercise. For arm exercise, don't rest between sets more than a minute. For multijoint / compound exercises (which are going to bring much faster and more results) like squats, lunges, pullups etc) you might want to increase the resting period.

Good luck with the flab fight!

THANK YOU WONDEFUL REPLY :drinker:

veracruz

Thanks everyone for the feedback - great advice!! I'm going to buy some 10 lb weights tonight and just be persistent!

clairegreen1974

Bingo Wings... my arch nemesis!!!

susanswan

Arm flab, or any flab for that matter, requires weight loss more than weight lifting. Spot training/reduction (working a specific part of the body such as arm flab or abs to get rid of fat in that area) is a myth. I would encourage you to keep working at reaching your goal weight which. That should take care of most of the flab. I wish there was an easy and quick way to do it but there isn't.

Of course you should continue resistance training to strengthen your muscles which will increase your metabolism and help you lose weight even faster.

As to more reps or heavier weights, lift an amount that you can do comfortably up to 15 repetitions. Once you're able to do that you can safely increase the weight lifted. Remember: No pain, No pain!

Ahhhh.....Stan! I think you are approaching this "ladies question" as a man. Lucky you, probably no arm flab! = D I have the same problem of flab. I have lost 60 pounds so far with 12 left to go. I am 146 pounds, but 54 years old. My skin has lost it's ability to "snap back". So my arm flab is like your grandmothers. Arm with some muscles and then loose bag of skin hanging below it when I raise my arm up. My uneducated thinking is the muscle needs to be built up to fill up the "empty bag of skin". The bigger the muscle, the less hanging skin. And good luck on building the muscle. It takes a long time for me, and not that I would want to completely bulk up my arms by doing weights to fill the skin out completely, either. So I am working on raising my weights as I can.

My belief is the sag is earned by years of neglecting my body. The younger the person is, the better luck they may have in reducing this type of weight loss induced flab. Good luck to you all ladies. It isn't a race, let's see what we can do. It will be a lifetime project in my case!

nb9251

OK there are 3 ways to lose the flab. Cardio, strength training and diet. First and foremost you need to lose weight through diet (most important) cardio and resistance training). If you have excess pounds, they are going to be visible on the arms, just as they will be in other areas. So if you lose the weight, the flab will be less. Be aware that fat tends to accumulate on some areas more than others. For example I tend to accumulate tummy fat and that is also the last place the fat leaves. So maybe you will have to be patient - but it is going to be SO worth it if you are persistent with good clean diet.

Strength training is also going to help. It is NOT going to burn the fat away, but if you train wisely, you will develop nicely shaped arms you will love looking at when the flab has gone. Now I see that many women worry about becoming like the Hulk if they are going to be lifting more than teeny weights. But that is NOT the case! You need to be a man or eat steroids to become like a man via strength training. It is not going to happen overnight, trust me.

You need to lift weights that are DIFFICULT. No pain no gain applies 100% to strength training. I reccommend changing up your routine. Try a new program at least every month. Change up the number of sets and reps - it is a good idea to do 2-4 sets and 6-15 reps. More than that is not going to help you to increase muscle mass (which in turns help to burn that flab away even when you are on that couch watching Dr McDreamy). It might go without saying but if you are going to do 15 reps with 10 pound db, you are going to have to pick up a heavier one if you are planning on 6-8 reps. You need to feel the pain for the last reps, and if you can maintain a normal face and breath normally throughout the whole set, you are cheating yourself out of results. But you should of course always maintain proper form. You need to rest 30 secs to 2 minutes for each exercise. For arm exercise, don't rest between sets more than a minute. For multijoint / compound exercises (which are going to bring much faster and more results) like squats, lunges, pullups etc) you might want to increase the resting period.

Good luck with the flab fight!

I Agree. I did Chalean Extreme for a bit and she was very adament that you needed to lift heavy weights. her famous saying "Go heavy or go home!" The most reps we did was 10-12. ANd you should be pretty much done for by then. And another hint is to go slow. If you go faster then momentum may be helping you do the owrk instead of havig it be 100% muscle. NAyway. Hope all these hints from everyone helps. I can't wait to have fabulous arms. Gotta lose some pounds first