Sometimes people wear long sleeves to hide their arm fat, but this is not a viable solution, especially when it is hot. As such, you should consider changing your diet or doing various exercises to reduce your arm fat.
However, if you are already dieting and exercising, it can be stressful if you cannot see any results. The main problem is that you may be eating the wrong foods or doing the wrong exercises.
This article will review effective ways to lose arm fat.
The first segment will focus on nutrition and overall fat loss, while the second will depict the required targeted exercises.
Losing Arm Fat Through Overall Fat Loss Techniques
Many people do not know that their arm fat is due to the excess fat in their bodies. Your body stores excess fat under the skin. Sometimes this excess is then distributed out to your arms.
You shouldn’t be alarmed because this is a natural occurrence! The initial step to losing your arm fat is to reduce your body weight. Ultimately, your arms will decrease in size and become toned.
Achieving this toned look can be difficult if your genetics don’t encourage shedding fat, but we have some helpful tips you can try to implement. Here are a few things you should follow to reduce your arm fat.
Minimize Your Calorie Consumption
Your body will have fewer calories to store as fat when you minimize your food consumption. This is imperative, especially if you do not exercise daily.
The analogy is that your body cannot support all the calories you eat every day, especially if you do not burn them. Thus, it stores these calories in the body as fat, leading to arm fat.
However, you should not cut down your calorie intake abruptly. You must allow the body to adapt to these changes, especially if your food consumption has been high.
As such, you should start by checking your daily calorie intake. Once you have identified the correct figure, you should gradually reduce your calorie intake by 300.
Make these calorie deductions daily until you notice a change in your body weight.
Have Good Eating Habits
Having good eating habits is as essential as maintaining a healthy diet. It does not help if you eat healthy for dinner and eat candy bars in the middle of the night.
As such, you need to limit your junk food intake between meals or cut it from your daily routine. These foods are sugary and have high calories.
It becomes counterproductive if you are eating healthy to minimize your calorie intake but eating junk foods between meals.
Another eating habit you can adopt is having a specific time for eating. This is important for those who eat throughout the day and still have regular meals.
Thus, you can change your routine and eat during breakfast, lunch, and supper. Furthermore, you should space these meals to give the body adequate time to digest and burn the food you have eaten.
Eating fruit like bananas or vegetables is a great way to fill up your stomach with a healthy snack.
Good eating habits reduce your calorie intake, allowing you to reduce your overall weight and arm fat.
Stay Hydrated
The body requires water to survive since it is integral to its metabolism. As such, consuming a lot of water may help reduce your arm fat.
You should take water between meals since it makes you fuller, thus reducing your calorie intake.
Furthermore, taking water is better because you will substitute it with high-calorie beverages, such as soda and juice.
In addition to helping you lose weight, other benefits of taking water regularly include preventing constipation, flushing bacteria, and regulating body temperature.
Get Adequate Rest
Sometimes you may work out a lot and forget that having adequate rest is part of losing weight. Furthermore, inadequate rest affects your insulin, hunger hormones, and glucose levels.
Sleep improves your muscle tone, especially after exercising. This is because vigorous physical exercise tears your muscle tissues, which the body must repair.
As such, these repairs occur when you are sleeping, and they may not build to the same extent if you do not have adequate rest.
Additionally, you can burn fat while resting. The body burns calories, but at a slow rate when you are sleeping to preserve energy.
In contrast, your body will burn fewer calories if you reduce your sleeping time. The body reduces the metabolism rate to burn calories within the limited sleeping time.
Ultimately, getting adequate sleep is healthy, thus making you fresh and ready to tackle the day’s issues.
Increase Your Protein Intake
Building muscle is part of the weight loss process. Apart from exercising, you also need to eat a lot of proteins to tone your arms.
Furthermore, toning your arms is important because it gives them more endurance. It means that you can use your arms to work for longer periods and reduce the risk of injury.
Thus, you should eat proteins after your workout to maximize muscle toning. For example, you can make a protein shake to eat after working out and add some vegetables for better results.
However, you should avoid protein supplements. These supplements are better for someone who wants to build muscle other than lose their arm fat.
As such, you should focus on eating protein-rich foods, such as meat and fish.
How To Gain Arm Muscle: Specialized Exercise
When going through your weight loss journey, it is essential to note that losing fat is not the only goal. You should also work towards increasing your arm muscle strength.
As such, while it is essential to work your entire body, you may need to concentrate on specialized exercises to work out your biceps, triceps, and forearms. Such exercises fall under the strength training category suitable for increasing arm muscles and reducing arm fat.
Let’s look at some of these exercises in detail.
Best Exercises for Strengthening the Arms
Depending on the individual, more extensive or robust arms may give them a strong sense of fulfillment and confidence. Although muscular arms convey athleticism, it also illustrates the power of resilience, persistence, and strength.
Note that more muscle ability lowers your chances of injury and increases your endurance and body metabolism.
However, not all individuals are focused on having muscular arms; some only want to get rid of the fat and tone their arms.
Thus, here are seven exercises that can help you get those arms in shape. They primarily target the biceps, triceps, shoulders, and forearms.
Wall Push-ups
This is one of the most straightforward arm exercises you can do in the comfort of your home.
- Stand a few feet away from the wall.
- Raise your arms on the wall, ensuring your fingers point up.
- Keep your legs straight, knees unlocked, bend your elbows and bring your chin and chest close to the wall. This should be your starting position.
- Try to take a deep breath, exhale, then push the wall till your elbows are slightly bent and your chin and chest are away from the wall.
- Go back to the starting position and repeat step 4 based on your reps for the day.
Bench Triceps Dips
Any arm day is incomplete without training on your triceps. That is where the bench dip comes into play. At first, it may seem like a tedious exercise, but it is a simple exercise, and all you have to do is:
- Sit on a stable bench or sofa with your hands holding the seat.
- Keep your legs close, knees and elbows slightly flexed, feet flat, arms behind you, fingers pointing to you.
- Slide off the chair and ensure your knees and elbows form a 90-degrees angle while keeping your back close to the seat.
- Press onto the seat and slowly lower your hips towards the floor but take care not to go too far below, and lift them, returning to start by extending your arms.
- This completes the first round; repeat the exercise as often as your routine allows.
Bicep Curl
This exercise is quite suitable when you have some light weights. They help build your bicep muscles. To do them:
- Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and a weight in each hand.
- Keep your elbow tucked to your side and hold the weight with your palm facing upwards.
- Pull the weight up to your chest, hold it for a few seconds, then let it return to the starting position.
- Switch between arms for as many reps as your routine allows.
Overhead Triceps Extension
This exercise targets your triceps and back muscles and makes a great addition to your routine.
- For the overhead triceps extension, stand with a dumbbell in each hand and your feet shoulder-width apart.
- Keeping your body stationary, lift your elbows above your head until your arms are straight. Then hinge your elbows and lower the dumbbells behind your head.
- Keeping your elbows in a similar position, extend them straight overhead to complete one round and repeat.
Push-ups
Push-ups will help your work on your upper arms and chest. If you don’t have the strength to complete a full one yet, do this exercise on your knees until you can complete one unsupported!
- First, lie facing down on a mat.
- Place your palms flat on the floor, ensure your arms are shoulder-width apart, elbows are bent and pointed towards your feet, and fingers forward.
- Always keep your feet together, and keep your chin on the floor looking ahead.
- Take a deep breath, raise yourself from the ground while facing down, straighten your elbows, and keep your core engaged and body balanced in that position.
- Immediately while exhaling, lower your chest, flex your elbows and return to the initial starting position.
- Repeat as many times as your routine permits.
Military Press
A military press, also known as a shoulder press, is a strength training exercise meant for the upper body, especially the arms. Thus, to do it:
- Stand with your legs and feet shoulder-width apart and hold on to two weights in each hand, arms at your side.
- Raise the weights above your shoulders. Ensure your palms are facing up and your elbows are bent at 90 degrees, making it the preliminary position.
- Extend your elbows above your head, press on the dumbbells, and return your arms to their starting position.
- Repeat this rep as many times as your routine accepts.
Plank with Leg Lift
This exercise is excellent for strengthening your core and activating your arms (biceps & triceps) and wrists. To do them perfectly:
- Start by getting into a plank position. To maintain proper posture, make sure your elbows are kept underneath your shoulders and not out to the side.
- Keeping your core tight and glutes engaged, raise your left leg off the floor and hold it there for about three seconds.
- Once done, lower it, raise the right leg holding it in that position for three seconds and lower it after.
- Repeat the same for each leg, depending on the number of exercise reps.
Points to remember
- As mentioned in most exercises, do not forget to breathe through every move. First, inhale each time you begin doing an exercise and exhale with the alternative.
- Consider warming up before starting these strength exercises. For instance, you can consider doing these stretching exercises to prepare your body for an intense workout:
- Forearm circles
- Wrist rotation
- Arm circles
- Ensure you keep all your exercises progressive to fit your level of fitness and stamina.
- Remember to take a few breaks in between so you do not lose your breath.
These exercises only work as well if you do them properly and frequently. Always stay dedicated if you want great results.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are the most frequently asked questions about losing arm fat.
Can you surgically reduce your arm fat?
You can surgically reduce your arm fat through Brachioplasty, which entails removing the excess skin and fat between the armpits and elbows.
Which body type is more likely to have arm fat?
Endomorphs are more likely to store fat in their bodies because it is hard for people with this body type to lose weight.
How long does it take to lose arm fat?
You can lose arm fat within four to six weeks if you are consistent with your diet and physical exercise.
Is having arm fat a genetic predisposition?
Yes, it is a genetic predisposition because your genes determine your body shape.
Conclusion
From the beginning of this article, it has become so clear one can lose their arm fat by:
- Minimizing their calorie consumption
- Adopting healthy eating habits
- Drinking lots of water
- Increasing their protein intake
- Resting
However, these strategies should be accompanied by targeted arm exercises that work on toning and building muscle strength within your triceps, biceps, and upper arms successfully.
Implementing these changes in your life can help support your arm weight loss.
Sources
- Harvard Health Publishing: How Much Water Should You Drink?
- Healthcanal: How to Lose Arm Fat: 10 Effective Ways to Tone Arms in 2 Weeks
- Healthline: 10 Arm-Toning Dumbbell Exercises
- Livestrong: Why Do Arms Get Fat?
- Masterclass: How to Do a Military Press with Perfect Form
- Menshealth: How to Do Bench Dips Without Jacking Up Your Shoulders
- Psychology Today: Sleep More, Burn More Fat
- Truefitness: 10 Simple Arm-Strengthening Exercises
- Verywell fit: How to Cut Calories in a Healthy Way
- YouTube: Plank with Leg Lift- Reveal Your Abs for Good- Women’s Health
- YouTube: Wall Push Ups for Beginners/ How To