Can you help a girl out?

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  • jezama77
    jezama77 Posts: 138 Member
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    Haha thanks guys lol I almost deleted this!! Yeah I've been doing the JM workouts and I'm having a hard time with the plank exercises because I can't hold myself up for very long

    Planks are great! I have been pushing myself to increase my time. I use my phone stop watch lying beneath me to time it. I coach cheer at my middle school, so it is really motivating for me that I can do better than any of my girls! I am in MUCH better shape than any of them! It is also fun to encourage them to try harder and get more seconds. We do the same with jumping jacks, push ups and squats. We have made it up to 60 seconds of planks and 75 jumping jacks. :)

    Good luck with your definition! My starting showing more when I got to be in the middle section of my weight range. I am 5'5" and my range on most calculators says 120-150. I started in January at 170 (I've been at goal before, but got lazy and stressed!). I am now 136. My arms are looking really good on top, but I still need to keep doing exercises to 'target' (yes, I know you can't spot reduce, but you can't ignore a muscle group either!) my triceps. The backs are the only part that jingle a bit. My husband noticed my arms and was like 'whoa' you are getting buff! :)
  • jezama77
    jezama77 Posts: 138 Member
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    Nope no gym. I've got a 30lb toddler though, if that helps : )

    My baby is 36 pounds! Well, she's four years old now, so not really a toddler...lol..time flies!

    She always wants to sit on my back when I do planks! Ugh!

    Today we both weighed ourselves and I am exactly 101 pounds heavier than her now. Hopefully it will get less too. :) I have a goal to be under 130.
  • carissar7
    carissar7 Posts: 183 Member
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    Haha thanks guys lol I almost deleted this!! Yeah I've been doing the JM workouts and I'm having a hard time with the plank exercises because I can't hold myself up for very long


    Why would you delete your original post? They were all very valid answers to your question. You asked for exercises that would specifically target arm fat, and most of the replies were saying the same thing, that you can't target fat loss in any one particular area. The majority of fat loss is achieved through your diet. If you're eating more calories than you are burning and lifting weights then you will gain both muscle and fat. Since you want to lose fat, figure out your TDEE and eat about 20% less than that. Do full body compound lifts that target all major muscle groups and your arms as well as the rest of your body will get smaller and firmer (less body fat). If you're very new to exercise then you might even gain a little muscle at first, too. I've had great success getting leaner using free weights and barbells. Since you don't have access to a gym, all of the exercises that metacognition recommended for your arms are great. On days where I'm not lifting 'super heavy', I grab a set of 10 or 15 lb dumbbells and do dumbbell presses, chest flys, side lateral raises, 'skull crushers', bicep curls, front dumbbell raises- you can also do some of these exercises with resistance bands. It's also great to not neglect the rest of your body when doing these and incorporate some squats or lunges in between each rep. Of course you can also do pushups and pull ups at home if you can get a pull up bar that you hang in a doorway.
  • chantelp89
    chantelp89 Posts: 590 Member
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    Nope no gym. I've got a 30lb toddler though, if that helps : )

    My baby is 36 pounds! Well, she's four years old now, so not really a toddler...lol..time flies!

    She always wants to sit on my back when I do planks! Ugh!

    Today we both weighed ourselves and I am exactly 101 pounds heavier than her now. Hopefully it will get less too. :) I have a goal to be under 130.
    Omg she does the same thing! It kills me! Oh and I'm officially 129.6lbs!! If I can do it, you can do it!
  • chantelp89
    chantelp89 Posts: 590 Member
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    Lol because I know you can't spot reduce. I was looking for arm exercises( any and all) that I could do to improve my arms
  • craigmandu
    craigmandu Posts: 976 Member
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    Not gonna badger about "spot reducing"...I'm sure you've got that point by now in this thread.

    I would suggest however that you do compound exercises instead of arm focused exercises. Reason being is that it engages more muscle groups....if you've got a few dumbbells around you could try to start with something like this:

    http://scoobysworkshop.com/womens-beginning-dumbbell-workout/

    This will give you a squat mechanic, chest mechanic, shouder mechanic...

    The more muscles you engage, the more overall body fat you will shed as your body starts trying to conserve those muscles.

    I wish you great success in your journey!
  • chantelp89
    chantelp89 Posts: 590 Member
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    Good god man! Burpees for 10 minutes!! Are you going be there to peel me off the floor?
  • craigmandu
    craigmandu Posts: 976 Member
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    Good god man! Burpees for 10 minutes!! Are you going be there to peel me off the floor?

    You go at your pace silly girl....work into it, start at 3 minutes burpees, then move on etc..etc...
  • chantelp89
    chantelp89 Posts: 590 Member
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    Good god man! Burpees for 10 minutes!! Are you going be there to peel me off the floor?

    You go at your pace silly girl....work into it, start at 3 minutes burpees, then move on etc..etc...
    Thanks for the site though. That's really what I was hoping to get out of this
  • ChaseAlder
    ChaseAlder Posts: 804 Member
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    Since body fat reduction has already been covered, I'll comment on exercises to work out your arms with what you have. I personally would do a lot of body weight resistance... pushups (elevated and regular), pullups, dips, etc. If you have two 10lb weights, you could do a plank with your hands gripping the weights as they sit shoulder width apart on the floor and alternate lifting each weight up to your armpit. Your body weight will be your best option for resistance as 5-10lb weights won't give you a lot of that.

    Good luck!
  • chantelp89
    chantelp89 Posts: 590 Member
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    Since body fat reduction has already been covered, I'll comment on exercises to work out your arms with what you have. I personally would do a lot of body weight resistance... pushups (elevated and regular), pullups, dips, etc. If you have two 10lb weights, you could do a plank with your hands gripping the weights as they sit shoulder width apart on the floor and alternate lifting each weight up to your armpit. Your body weight will be your best option for resistance as 5-10lb weights won't give you a lot of that.

    Good luck!
    Thank you
  • RobP1192
    RobP1192 Posts: 310 Member
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    Don't believe that spot reducing bs...

    Do workouts that target your biceps and triceps. The bigger your muscles are, the more calories you burn. So you figure... if you have muscles where that arm fat is, and it's bigger than what you have now, then the fat around it will burn right up!!! But that would go against the whole spot reducing thing... so you're screwed, sorry. But yeah, do some tricep kickbacks and dips!
  • 2aycocks
    2aycocks Posts: 415 Member
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    You can't spot reduce sweetie!


    Agreed.

    Oh you men!! You just don't get it! Men don't get under arm jiggle like us ladies do. We are built differently in case you haven't noticed. ha!

    Men have more upper body strength and can build muscle there easier than we can. We start to have arm jiggle way too early in life and it only gets worse. The only thing we can do for that is lose any extra pounds we carry and do strength training to try to firm up the arm muscles.

    Now you guys, you have to worry about "chesterdrawers" and "noassatall" syndromes. You've heard of it. You chest falls down into your drawers (undies), and your butt goes away!!!! :laugh:
  • chantelp89
    chantelp89 Posts: 590 Member
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    ^ lol too right
  • lafemmekim
    lafemmekim Posts: 2
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    You can do assisted dips using the edge of a chair, couch, etc.
    Squat down in front of the chair, facing away. Place your hands behind you and on the edge of the chair.
    Straighten your legs out in front of you, with your heels on the floor.
    Push up until your arms are extended. Dip down (elbows bent).
    Do as many as you can. Rest. Do it again. At least 3 times.
    Keep doing those every day and you'll see a difference!
    Do not be discouraged if you can only do a few at first. (or even just one)
    The trick is, just do it!
    Hope that helps.
  • onwarddownward
    onwarddownward Posts: 1,683 Member
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    Swim. My arms are getting toned and muscular.
  • helpfit101
    helpfit101 Posts: 347 Member
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    I agree about the can't spot reduce fat. Only way to spot reduce fat is to do cardio and fat will be reduced in all your spots :)

    As to building some muscle firmness in your arms here are two workouts for the two biggest upper arm muscles:
    Tricep extension
    Bicep curl

    Check youtube about how to do them. Do 3x12-14 (sets/reps).

    Forearm / wrist / hand you can work separately but I wouldn't advise it at this point.

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