Hi there! I'm new here, hope you guys don't mind if I ask a question:

I carry a lot of fat in my arms, I look like a friggin gorilla or something, do any suggestions on exercises to help tone them up without bulking them up?

Thanks for any suggestions you might have!

Hi BellyUp,
I'm the exact same way i hate the fat in my arms. I cant wear sleeveless shirts or sleeveless dresses bc Im way too selfconscious. However, ppl tell me you can't spot reduce. fat tends to leave the places you dont want it to leave first, and the places you do want it to leave last. some ppl have told me that dumbbell exercises that work the triceps and wall pushups help that but i really have no idea. any others out there with an answer????...

I won't be much help other than suggesting you post this on the exercise forum too.... lots of people in there are great with advice.... Hope it helps.

Thanks Sweetcaroline, I knew I should have done that...

I just thought that 20-something arms are a little different than the masses because of skin and muscle structure, but I should go post over there I suppose. Thanks!

I looked for your post in the exercise forum but possibly missed it...so I'm replying here

You can't spot reduce, like kisskiss said. Unfortunately. The only way to get rid of fat anywhere is to reduce your overall body fat. That being said, weight training and exercises that tone the muscle underneath the fat will likely give you a less "flabby" appearence once the fat comes off. Without weight training, you could lose all the weight and your arms would probably just look like a smaller version of what they are now and you still might not be happy.

There are lots of good exercises out there for arms. There's tons of variations on the bicep curl that you can do - hammer curls, concentration curls, dumbell curls, etc - google usually gives you pictures. Triceps always seem to be the cause of so much grief on me, but I really like doing bench dips. I also do tricep kickbacks and tricep extentions. The key here is to reduce your overall body fat percentage and build lean muscle to give your arms a more toned appearence.

I know some women are paranoid of getting "bulky" and I have heard people say _______ looks bigger since they started lifting. It's just because you still have fat on top and you are building muscle underneath. Get rid of the fat and you'll have some nice, lean arms. It's really difficult for women to put on muscle mass and nearly impossible when you're on a calorie restrictive diet. Building muscle requires a calorie surplus in conjunction with heavy weight training so try not to get too freaked out if your arms appear bigger than before. You'll be glad you lifted once all the fat comes off

I have the same issue thanks to my grandmother. She's wondeful but I really could have lived without that gift. Like the others said, unfortunately we can't make it go away. All we can do is lose fat overall. Patience..patience..patience.

Omg I hate my arms...especially since I've gained weight ive become way more self conscious about parts of my body that I was somewhat proud of before..so I know where your coming from

I hate my arms too...but I must say I am really strong and adore weight-lifting and boxing (Not kick boxing....boxing) and so my arms are getting bigger...and when I am not working out they feel huge to me...but I know the weight will come off and they will become more toned.

I am now a proud owner of a framers tan because I won't wear sleeveless yet.

Taylor - I love that you "adore" boxing - that's cute...made me smile!


I'm of the flabby underarm family too - but I'm working on it with steady work at the gym - I know (or at least hope a lot) that once I've got my last few pounds off - that these arms will be gone - no more swinging in the wind!!!

I didn't the Taebo tapes for two years and that REALLY helped firm up my upper arms! I think the best move they do for that is where you hold your arms up elbows pointing straight out and then you try to make rotations with your upper arms trying to keep you elbows still and still sticking straight out. I'm not sure if I'm explaining this clearly enough.

The ladies on here are right though, don't worry about bulking up when you life weights. Most women can't get man arm size unless they take some kind of supplement. Also, remember muscle burns fat at a higher rate...so if you do balk up a bit, you'll be burning more calories like that.