Arms
Spoilascanb
Posts: 40 Member
I have just gotten into loosing weight, eating healthy, and exercising. However, my arms are extremely large. They don’t seem to go with my body. My arms are hereditary. Everyone on my dad’s side have extremely large arms.
I have heard I needed to do extreme weight lifting, but as large as my arms are I have no strength in them. I can barely do the minimum.
Help!
I have heard I needed to do extreme weight lifting, but as large as my arms are I have no strength in them. I can barely do the minimum.
Help!
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Replies
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Is it muscle or fat? In case of fat it will come off when you lose more weight. You can't spot reduce so if you lift it will grow the muscles underneath which might firm your arms but won't make them much smaller.2
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@Rose18l I would say 1/2 and 1/2
I will post a picture0 -
What is extreme weight lifting and why would that help you reduce your arms?1
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Lifting heavy will not reduce fat directly. Fat loss/gain is a result of your diet. Resistance training will help retain muscle as you lose fat though.Spoilascanb wrote: »@Chieflrg lifting heavy. My arms are naturally big. Fat not muscle with no strength9 -
I agree, you will lose fat in them as you lose weight over all, but I do also think lifting weights will help them (well, all of your body) look better over all.1
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I used to have little stick figure arms, very weak and flabby, and then P90X kind of fixed that, and I get compliments on how nice my arms look. So, try some kind of program like that, something already designed for full upper body that is going to build muscle in an overall balanced way...you can start with light weights and then move up as you get stronger, and don't worry about size, if you make them strong and balanced then they will look nice.1
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Dont lift heavy!!! Why do you want strength when strength will increase your arm size? Do 2 light sets each of about 20 reps for triceps and 20 reps for biceps twice a week. ie light toning. The only way to reduce your arm bulk is reducing overall ie losing bodyfat weight over your whole body. Lots of ladies have the same problem with upper legs/hips/glutes and yes, back and arms. But you can work on your body proportions by building up elsewhere, while at the same time losing overall including your arm bulk. Its not easy but you can make the best of your genetics.24
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Dont lift heavy!!! Why do you want strength when strength will increase your arm size? Do 2 light sets each of about 20 reps for triceps and 20 reps for biceps twice a week. ie light toning. The only way to reduce your arm bulk is reducing overall ie losing bodyfat weight over your whole body. Lots of ladies have the same problem with upper legs/hips/glutes and yes, back and arms. But you can work on your body proportions by building up elsewhere, while at the same time losing overall including your arm bulk. Its not easy but you can make the best of your genetics.
Ignore the bolded - it's bro advice straight out of bro-ville, and completely ridiculous. Reputable trainers stopped giving that kind of advice some time in the 1970s.
There is no such thing as "toning", except in attention-grabbing titles on the cover of women's magazines. As others have said, if the size on your arms is mostly fat, it will reduce in size as you lose weight, but you can't "spot reduce" from your arms (or any other part of your body).
Read these two articles instead (read the second one all the way through before taking the advice seriously!):
https://www.aworkoutroutine.com/muscle-tone/
https://www.aworkoutroutine.com/toning-workout-for-women/
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Dont lift heavy!!! Why do you want strength when strength will increase your arm size? Do 2 light sets each of about 20 reps for triceps and 20 reps for biceps twice a week. ie light toning. The only way to reduce your arm bulk is reducing overall ie losing bodyfat weight over your whole body. Lots of ladies have the same problem with upper legs/hips/glutes and yes, back and arms. But you can work on your body proportions by building up elsewhere, while at the same time losing overall including your arm bulk. Its not easy but you can make the best of your genetics.
Lifting in a caloric deficit is not going to magically give her crazy biceps, it is simply going to preserve any muscle that she already has while losing weight. Every piece of advice I see you give is extremely outdated and based on myth and broscience instead of fact. You need to stop reading Cosmo and start reading some articles actually backed by science.12 -
Dont lift heavy!!! Why do you want strength when strength will increase your arm size? Do 2 light sets each of about 20 reps for triceps and 20 reps for biceps twice a week. ie light toning. The only way to reduce your arm bulk is reducing overall ie losing bodyfat weight over your whole body. Lots of ladies have the same problem with upper legs/hips/glutes and yes, back and arms. But you can work on your body proportions by building up elsewhere, while at the same time losing overall including your arm bulk. Its not easy but you can make the best of your genetics.
Ignore the bolded - it's bro advice straight out of bro-ville, and completely ridiculous. Reputable trainers stopped giving that kind of advice some time in the 1970s.
There is no such thing as "toning", except in attention-grabbing titles on the cover of women's magazines. As others have said, if the size on your arms is mostly fat, it will reduce in size as you lose weight, but you can't "spot reduce" from your arms (or any other part of your body).
Read these two articles instead (read the second one all the way through before taking the advice seriously!):
https://www.aworkoutroutine.com/muscle-tone/
https://www.aworkoutroutine.com/toning-workout-for-women/Dont lift heavy!!! Why do you want strength when strength will increase your arm size? Do 2 light sets each of about 20 reps for triceps and 20 reps for biceps twice a week. ie light toning. The only way to reduce your arm bulk is reducing overall ie losing bodyfat weight over your whole body. Lots of ladies have the same problem with upper legs/hips/glutes and yes, back and arms. But you can work on your body proportions by building up elsewhere, while at the same time losing overall including your arm bulk. Its not easy but you can make the best of your genetics.
Lifting in a caloric deficit is not going to magically give her crazy biceps, it is simply going to preserve any muscle that she already has while losing weight. Every piece of advice I see you give is extremely outdated and based on myth and broscience instead of fact. You need to stop reading Cosmo and start reading some articles actually backed by science.
Agreed!!!3 -
Yeh, science is the holy grail, right! Except "science" changes its mind every generation. And every generation seems to know less and less about training and rely more and more on diet "magic". Toning may be an old fashioned word but it just means lightly working the muscle to retain a little functional strength, and muscle firmness, with a minimum amount of muscle building. I know firming muscle means muscle gain but If her arms are big, she dosnt want them at all noticeably bigger. My advice, get your jogging shoes on, run/walk, work hard in the gym, on areas that will help balance out your arms in relation to the rest of the body and get advice from people who have walked the walk instead of just talking it.22
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"Lifting in a caloric deficit is not going to magically give her crazy biceps, it is simply going to preserve any muscle that she already has while losing weight".
Hey, if she gains weight on her arms easily, as Im sure she does (hereditary - dads side- probably a good % of muscle), and not knowing how much of her arm mass is muscle, right!, then she may gain muscle easily on her arms. Some people are genetically enabled to do that. What do you want her to do, train arms like everything else?? What do you suggest she does apart from lift "in a calorific deficit" ??17 -
Yeh, science is the holy grail, right! Except "science" changes its mind every generation. And every generation seems to know less and less about training and rely more and more on diet "magic". Toning may be an old fashioned word but it just means lightly working the muscle to retain a little functional strength, and muscle firmness, with a minimum amount of muscle building. I know firming muscle means muscle gain but If her arms are big, she dosnt want them at all noticeably bigger. My advice, get your jogging shoes on, run/walk, work hard in the gym, on areas that will help balance out your arms in relation to the rest of the body and get advice from people who have walked the walk instead of just talking it.
More 'women's magazine' gobbledygook. You don't make muscles "firmer" - they get bigger (hypertrophy) or smaller (atrophy). You don't change the firmness of a muscle. You can enhance the appearance of "firmness" by losing the subcutaneous fat covering the muscles (which is done via calorie deficit), but muscle fiber is muscle fiber - there is no such thing as "firm" or "soft" muscle.
This is the kind of garbage that the fitness industry fed women in the 1970s, telling them to lift little pink dumbbells to tone, or they'd get "bulky". I think Tracy Anderson is the only fitness personality left still spouting that trash, telling women they should stick to weights that weigh even less than the purses they carry around every day, or the children they pick up and carry around multiple times every day.
Go read this thread and see how hyooge all those women got from lifting weights (many of them lifting very heavy weights) - you might not believe in science, but I'm sure you can look at pictures: https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/977538/halp-heavy-lifting-made-me-supah-bulky/p111 -
Semantics man, "firmer" "hypertrophy" "toned" "bigger" all the same thing but you guys just want to split hairs and be pedantic and argue about definitions and interpretations without actually helping with the real questions.18
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You're the only one I've seen not being helpful in this thread (and several others) with your outdated garbage advice that's not doing anybody a bit of good. We're not in the '70s anymore man, we've moved beyond the dark ages and learned a lot more about how things work. We don't have to rely on Joe Weider's magazines supplement catalogs for advice anymore.Semantics man, "firmer" "hypertrophy" "toned" "bigger" all the same thing but you guys just want to split hairs and be pedantic and argue about definitions and interpretations without actually helping with the real questions.17 -
There's some rubbish on this thread unfortunately.
@Spoilascanb If you have no history of strength training and, as you say, have no strength in your arms then it's not 50% muscle it's mainly body fat.
Where we store excess fat is governed by genetics. Some people store more in their booty, some their thighs, some the belly and some their arms etc.
You can't spot reduce fat through specific exercises. You say you are just beginning your weight lose journey.
As you lose body fat by being in a calorie deficit your arms will reduce also.
If you want to lift then by all means do. There are all sorts of good reasons to do so but getting smaller arms isn't one of them.
Good Luck in your weight loss.
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Oh yeh, your'e so much better now than the dark ages, 70's or 80's crowd. You know it all (you think), and it shows by your use of demeaning language. Hows it working for y'all, knowing "how things work".15
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Yes, I should only use a set like this, because OMGZ! I might get bulky.
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Oh yeh, your'e so much better now than the dark ages, 70's or 80's crowd. You know it all (you think), and it shows by your use of demeaning language. Hows it working for y'all, knowing "how things work".
It works well. Thanks for asking!
The thing is, fitness and weight management science is not a stagnant entity. Just like knowledge in any endeavor progresses with time, experience and advances in technology, so does this.
The trick, however, is to vet your sources to help eliminate the derp and the woo from the actual advances in knowledge.
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Yeh, science is the holy grail, right! Except "science" changes its mind every generation. And every generation seems to know less and less about training and rely more and more on diet "magic". Toning may be an old fashioned word but it just means lightly working the muscle to retain a little functional strength, and muscle firmness, with a minimum amount of muscle building. I know firming muscle means muscle gain but If her arms are big, she dosnt want them at all noticeably bigger. My advice, get your jogging shoes on, run/walk, work hard in the gym, on areas that will help balance out your arms in relation to the rest of the body and get advice from people who have walked the walk instead of just talking it.
So, instead the OP should ignore all the research from the last 40 years and take advice from a random person on the internet who appears to be stuck in a time warp and espouses thing totally disproved like set point and somatypes?16 -
Yeh, science is the holy grail, right! Except "science" changes its mind every generation. And every generation seems to know less and less about training and rely more and more on diet "magic". Toning may be an old fashioned word but it just means lightly working the muscle to retain a little functional strength, and muscle firmness, with a minimum amount of muscle building. I know firming muscle means muscle gain but If her arms are big, she dosnt want them at all noticeably bigger. My advice, get your jogging shoes on, run/walk, work hard in the gym, on areas that will help balance out your arms in relation to the rest of the body and get advice from people who have walked the walk instead of just talking it.
So, instead the OP should ignore all the research from the last 40 years and take advice from a random person on the internet who appears to be stuck in a time warp and espouses thing totally disproved like set point and somatypes?
And if I go to the doctor for an infected cut, I should ask for leeches instead of antibiotics?6 -
Oh yeh, your'e so much better now than the dark ages, 70's or 80's crowd. You know it all (you think), and it shows by your use of demeaning language. Hows it working for y'all, knowing "how things work".
It is working pretty well. Bodybuilders are larger than ever (even the naturals). Powerlifters are moving more weight than ever. Sports records are broken every day. People are living longer than ever before (despite the opioid epidemic influencing the most recent US stats). Technological progress is soaring. You should try some sciencing, it is neat. It is not about demeaning language, it is just about correcting misinformation so people can make the progress they are hoping to achieve.12 -
If only I could get bulky arms by lifting heavy weights. I have puny little girl arms, I'd love to get some muscle on there.5
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"Lifting in a caloric deficit is not going to magically give her crazy biceps, it is simply going to preserve any muscle that she already has while losing weight".
Hey, if she gains weight on her arms easily, as Im sure she does (hereditary - dads side- probably a good % of muscle), and not knowing how much of her arm mass is muscle, right!, then she may gain muscle easily on her arms. Some people are genetically enabled to do that. What do you want her to do, train arms like everything else?? What do you suggest she does apart from lift "in a calorific deficit" ??
Yeah, that is exactly what I would want her to do: train her arms just like everything else. Why should she exclude her arms? I'm fairly certain she uses them everyday, and preserving muscle while losing fat is a good idea. It is up to OP what she wants to do besides lift in a caloric deficit. Any form of exercise is a good idea in my opinion as long as it is safe and she enjoys it. If she wants her arms to get smaller, then she needs to focus on losing fat, and exercise and a caloric deficit will help her do that.
I just have to say, I think a lot of the reason that people on this site get frustrated easily and believe this process is harder than it should be, is because they get such ignorant advice like the type that you have been giving. You think you know better than people who have been highly successful in reaching all sorts of fitness goals, and you blatantly ignore the science behind it all. You say science changes its mind every generation and that statement again just shows your ignorance. Science doesn't change, opinions do. You are giving advice based on your opinions which directly contradict proven science, and even when presented with facts you stand more resolute in your crazy beliefs. You are not helping anyone. If you want to believe what you do, then that is fine, but don't be spouting off your nonsense to others who are actually looking for real help because you are just causing them more confusion.
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I've been reading this thread because it's in my genetics to get big arms.. and I don't want them..My dad's were like 🌲 trunks when he was young. And I just wanna say good for grambo54 for sticking up for himself and not disappearing with so many attacking his advice. I see nothing wrong with op training arms twice a week with a low weight which is where she'd start anyway and at the same time training everything else and meeting her calorie goals. Maybe I missed something or read too fast...I dunno16
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Spoilascanb wrote: »I have just gotten into loosing weight, eating healthy, and exercising. However, my arms are extremely large. They don’t seem to go with my body. My arms are hereditary. Everyone on my dad’s side have extremely large arms.
I have heard I needed to do extreme weight lifting, but as large as my arms are I have no strength in them. I can barely do the minimum.
Help!
Hey OP, sorry your thread got hijacked :flowerforyou:
Since you know they are hereditary, unfortunately what that probably means is they will be one of the last things to go. Sorry. So the most important advice would be to log accurately and consistently, hit your calorie goal, and be patient as the fat will come off in whatever order your body is programmed to lose it. Frustrating, but it is what it is.
Meanwhile, full body strength training will help preserve the muscle you have as you lose fat. Plus, it can make you stronger without actually building muscle. You just want to do some program that is "progressive" - start with as much as you can do, then as it gets easier either lift heavier or do a more difficult move. Here is a link to recommended strength training programs:
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10332083/which-lifting-program-is-the-best-for-you/p1
When I first started strength training, my arms were embarrassingly weak, and took longer to progress. Just stick with it and you will get stronger, and eventually those arms will improve visually as well. Good luck!8 -
flowerhorsey wrote: »I've been reading this thread because it's in my genetics to get big arms.. and I don't want them..My dad's were like 🌲 trunks when he was young. And I just wanna say good for grambo54 for sticking up for himself and not disappearing with so many attacking his advice. I see nothing wrong with op training arms twice a week with a low weight which is where she'd start anyway and at the same time training everything else and meeting her calorie goals. Maybe I missed something or read too fast...I dunno
Yes, you clearly missed something. Regardless of the weight that OP lifts, her arms are not going to magically get bigger while lifting in a calorie deficit. She needs to focus on losing fat, and lifting is simply going to preserve muscle as she does that.10 -
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Carlos_421 wrote: »
Ditto.
Due to the things said in this thread, I feel the need to say that my profile pic is sarcastic. Lift all the heavy things.
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