[Naytally]

So, I was wondering, while I'm losing weight, what is the fastest and most effective way to get rid of the batwings? You know, the flaps of fat that hang down from your upper arm?

Right now I've got a 10 lb free weight that at periodic times through out the day I will lift 16, 14, 12, 10, 8 and so on down until 0 (a total of 72 times per arm) and I lift it way above my head and bring it down to waist level. Is that a good one? I also do curls with it the same 16, 14, 12 pattern as above (basically every time I hear a weight loss commercial on TV I do these... so its pretty often!)

[Depalma]

Don't want to sound negative or discourage you but you're going about it the wrong way. Basically lifting a weight 72 times is only accomplishing one thing. A buildup of lactic acid.

Getting rid of your bat wings is only going to be accomplished by a combination of two things. First, overall body fat reduction (you can't spot reduce fat so it needs to be overall) and build muscle. Doing resistance cardio (light weights at insanely high reps) is not going to build muscle and it is an extremely inefficient way to get a cardio workout. The "burn" you may feel is just lactic acid buildup, nothing more.

Do compound movements with heavy weights and combine it with a more efficient type of cardio. If you want to target your arms a bit more as part of an overall well balanced routine, I would suggest close-grip pushups (you don't need to start from the floor, you can start off a table, stairs, etc and work your way down) as a primary exercise. What other exercises are you doing for the rest of your body? What type of cardio are you doing?

[RobertW]

Surgery and/or massive triceps development. Depalma has some good suggestions for building up your tri's. I don't know any big benchers with bona fide batwings, so maybe training your tri's will take care of it.

[PhotoChick]

What Depalma said.

The whole "tone" thing - lift light and do a gazillion reps - is quite simply useless unless you're just wanting to raise your heart rate. In which case, just do regular cardio. Toning is a myth that is pushed on women who have a fear of getting muscle bound. But the truth is that you're either building muscle or you're not. There's no such thing as "toning" in that sense.

The only way to fill out that empty skin (as the fat leaves) is to build muscle to take the place of the fat. You should do triceps and biceps and lats exercises ... as heavy as you can lift. You should ideally be able to just barely complete 3 sets of 12-15 reps (with 60 sec rests between sets).

Don't freak out about "bulking up" either. It's nearly impossible for women to really bulk up without actively trying (i.e. protein loading, really really really pushing the weights, etc.). We just don't' have the right hormones and muscle composition to "bulk" the way a guy does.

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[lifechange]

Hi Naytally- I would recommend either picking up a book ie Rules of Weightlifting for Women or search You tube for videos for tricep workouts. One key component is doing the right exercises with the right form -so a little education goes a long way. Once you get a feel for what it feels like properly exercising your triceps you will be able to come up with ones you can do at work or walking to give a little extra oomph to your "project". It takes a long time so have patience and keep with it-take your arm measurements once a month. I find it easier to go by measurements than to see a visual improvement.

[Eves]

Dips are a great tricep workout and you don't even need a gym to do them.

Start slow, off of a sturdy chair with both feet on the ground to help you up. As you progress start moving your feet away from your body, then try with one leg.

I try to do 3 sets to failure. I've progressed to using a stability ball (sorta), so failure looks like me landing on my butt!

They haven't gotten rid of my batwings, but when I flex, there's muscle!