Exercise for flabby arms

Slim140

I've just started to train with a trainer 3x a week and i wanted to know how long it would take to firm up my arms. i have 13 inches of flab around my arms and i am absolutely determined to get them firmed up as soon as possible. I am also on 1200 cal a day so i am addressing the extra fat

hellohappylisa

All I know is it takes some serious commitment...which I have failed on! hah

californiagirl2012

I used to have flabby arms. It goes away when you lose the fat, so it depends on how long it takes you to lose the fat. It took me two years to lose 60 lbs. That was sustainable for me and I've kept it off over a year now.

Good that you are working out. Hopefully your trainer has you lifting weights. This will make your lean body mass pretty when the fat is gone.

Sounds like you are on the right track, now it's patience patience patience, keep working out, be true to your calorie budget, and patience patience patience

Your body loses weight in chunks, not linear. I have found that you can do everything right and your weight loss seems to plateau but if you are patient and keep exercising and eating at a deficit (however slight) you will lose it, it will suddenly "whoosh". There are so many variables for the scale; water retention, digestion, hormones, allergies, sodium, carbs, water intake, DOMS, inflammation, the list goes on. People mistakenly think they lose or gain weight when they eat more or less because of these fluctuations.

Losing weight requires tremendous patience. You will not lose it when you want it or where you want it. The body does its thing. Some apparent plateaus can last a month or so. You cannot make it happen faster. You must focus on two things; calories and exercise. Nothing else matters. Scales and metrics don't matter. The day in and day out grind of exercise and calories are all that matters. It is not very exciting until things fall into place. You get your victories and you ride one victory to the next.

The scale is a trend tool. The scale is good but put it away and only check once a week and only use it as a trend tool. It will fluctuate, it does not matter. Take front side and back progress pictures at least once a month. You will see differences that the metrics won't tell you and it's that little bit of NSV that will keep you going until the next victory.

blakejohn

as a former trainer I would never just think about firming up your arms, we look at the whole picture, your arms are going to do lots of work, if you workout 3 days or more a week your arms will start to look better in about 3 months

Elzecat

push ups (you can do wall push ups or push ups on your knees if you are not yet able to do "regular" push ups) and tricep dips are good body weight exercises for the arms. Also discuss lifting weights with your trainer. You should be working your whole body for the best results.

MinMin97

I used to have flabby arms. It goes away when you lose the fat, so it depends on how long it takes you to lose the fat. It took me two years to lose 60 lbs. That was sustainable for me and I've kept it off over a year now.

Good that you are working out. Hopefully your trainer has you lifting weights. This will make your lean body mass pretty when the fat is gone.

Sounds like you are on the right track, now it's patience patience patience, keep working out, be true to your calorie budget, and patience patience patience

Your body loses weight in chunks, not linear. I have found that you can do everything right and your weight loss seems to plateau but if you are patient and keep exercising and eating at a deficit (however slight) you will lose it, it will suddenly "whoosh". There are so many variables for the scale; water retention, digestion, hormones, allergies, sodium, carbs, water intake, DOMS, inflammation, the list goes on. People mistakenly think they lose or gain weight when they eat more or less because of these fluctuations.

Losing weight requires tremendous patience. You will not lose it when you want it or where you want it. The body does its thing. Some apparent plateaus can last a month or so. You cannot make it happen faster. You must focus on two things; calories and exercise. Nothing else matters. Scales and metrics don't matter. The day in and day out grind of exercise and calories are all that matters. It is not very exciting until things fall into place. You get your victories and you ride one victory to the next.

The scale is a trend tool. The scale is good but put it away and only check once a week and only use it as a trend tool. It will fluctuate, it does not matter. Take front side and back progress pictures at least once a month. You will see differences that the metrics won't tell you and it's that little bit of NSV that will keep you going until the next victory.

I love this input.
Thanks for posting this!

PhatAv8r

There is no ONE exercise... for women, this is a key DEPOSIT area (including hips and thighs)... as you lose weight, it will shrink, but it takes time... you have to view these areas a lot like onions... the fat peels away in thin layers (the good news is that SOME layers are thicker than others, so as you work on your weight loss, you'll notice a few points where they disappear more quickly)..

Also, to keep from getting depressed when you have lost 20-30 pounds and still have skin hanging there, buy a cheap skin caliper and measure those 'skin folds'... you'll find out that they are truly getting SMALLER even though it takes up to 2 years to shrink the skin back and have it tight against your muscles.

All that said, if you don't work on developing muscle strength in your arms, you'll just end up with skin hanging over the bone... so you need to lift, you need to do arm focused exercises like push ups, presses, etc... and you need to do burpees that are full body exercises.

gr8pillock

I've just started to train with a trainer 3x a week and i wanted to know how long it would take to firm up my arms. i have 13 inches of flab around my arms and i am absolutely determined to get them firmed up as soon as possible. I am also on 1200 cal a day so i am addressing the extra fat

I was with a trainer for over a year and progress was slow. Then I started taking Aerial silks classes and the effort and strength needed to get the simplest of moves was absolutely brutal. I gained strength at a crazy rate, just doing what I could and after a month, I'd lost a half inch in my arms. If you push those muscles, th response can be quite impressive, but what you think is pushing with a trainer is completely different as compared to trying to climb a rope or the like.

Slim140

Thanks PhatAc8r....how long did it take you to lose 55 lbs?