My arms are huge! I feel like they don't even match my body! Everytime I look in the mirror here at work, I just think, damn! Excuse my language, but that's how I feel! Anyway chickies, what can I do to get that fat off my arms and get to that muscle that I know is lurking beneath it?! Thanks girls!
I'm dying to know too! I'm scared if I do arm weights, they'll get huge. I know it's better to do small weights. The worst part of my arms is the wiggly underarm part. Any tips guys?
Pure and simple getting rid of the arm fat is by doing cardio, weight training HEAVY, don't be shy, they will NOT get bigger!! There is no such thing as spot reducing but if you do plenty upper body workout you're arms will get stronger....IF they get bigger it's because you have fat on top of the muscle, plain and simple. Keep up the clean eating, cardio and weight training, EVENTUALLY the fat WILL melt off...Honest ....
My arms are the part of my body that bothers me most. As a woman, you would have to lift like it was your full time job in order to get your muscles really big, so don't hesitate with lifting weights-it will just make your arms more toned looking. If you're still concerned with getting too bulky, make sure you stretch after you work out, that will help keep the muscle lean and long, rather than bulky. I usually do tricep workouts sitting down with my arms behind me. Make sure the upper arm is parallel to the floor; start with the elbows bent and extend your arms straight back behind you (holding dumbells; I find 5lbs. is decent to start). It's very important that you don't move your elbows. There are lots of variations on tricep workouts that you can find on the internet. The comment earlier that there is no such thing as spot reducing is true. Sadly, patience is your only option, but you will eventually see results.
I'm a classic pear shape. My arms weren't great, but they have responded to training so well. Ditto the weight training. I do various exercises for my arms, biceps, triceps and compound exercises for chest and shoulders that hit the arms as well.
Coupled with lots of cardio, and in my case swimming - I am convinced swimming makes a huge difference, you will see results. I am wearing sleeveless tops for the first time ever!!! And get loads of complements on my arms and shoulders.
Mia, you're so funny! First of all, you're probably being hard on yourself. Measure your arms and tell us the results.
Well, I don't even have to measure them again. They've been about 12 1/2" (the biggest part) for over a year now. No matter if I lose inches from my waist, or hips, or bust, those dang arms stay the same!
My arms are the part of my body that bothers me most. As a woman, you would have to lift like it was your full time job in order to get your muscles really big, so don't hesitate with lifting weights-it will just make your arms more toned looking. If you're still concerned with getting too bulky, make sure you stretch after you work out, that will help keep the muscle lean and long, rather than bulky. I usually do tricep workouts sitting down with my arms behind me. Make sure the upper arm is parallel to the floor; start with the elbows bent and extend your arms straight back behind you (holding dumbells; I find 5lbs. is decent to start). It's very important that you don't move your elbows. There are lots of variations on tricep workouts that you can find on the internet. The comment earlier that there is no such thing as spot reducing is true. Sadly, patience is your only option, but you will eventually see results.
I tried I guess my own variation of tricep exstensions. I stand up and do them. I only do this every once in a while. I guess I need to do them more! As long as my arms don't get bulky! I'll stretch as you said.
Thanks everybody for your responses! I'll use my weights again tonight!
My arms are about the same size as yours (12" at the biggest part). They are the only part of my entire body that has not shrunk one bit. But ... because I lift (as heavy as I can for 3 sets of about 12 reps with good form) and swim, they look soooo much better than when I started. Be sure to work both your triceps and biceps, and shoulders too, to give your arms nice firm curves. Keep up with the lifting and especially cardio and the fat will eventually come off. At least that's what I keep telling myself.
What I'd give for 12 inch biceps! Mine are much bigger than that (around 18 inches), but I can totally relate when you said that you feel like your arms don't belong on your body. That's how I feel. It's rare for me to see a gal with a similar body shape/size to mine have as big of arms as I do. Actually many people I see who are larger than I am have MUCH smaller arms. When I had my body fat tested my upper arms were %-wise the "fattest" part of my body. Followed by my thighs.
Anyways, I've been doing lots of weights and toning exercises...the normal kickbacks, extensions, presses, dips... Then there's these unusual elbow squeeze moves (sorry, don't know what they are called) that I saw on Tamilee Webbs dvd that are obnoxiously hard and totally fatigue my triceps. After doing a full set of French presses (I use 2 8 pound free weights crossed over eachother) you stand with your elbows pointing up to the ceiling, weights behind your head and you squeeze your elbows in towards your ears and back out. My muscles start screaming and shaking. I know I'm getting stronger and building muscle. But, I'm fairly sure there's brachioplasty in my future.
Mia my arms are about the same size as yours also and always have been, But....since I have been working with weights even though they are the same size they are much more toned and sleek looking. I no longer have any fat or skin hanging from under my arm when you wave and you can actually see definition. So I think lifting as much weight as you can is the way to go. I'm with you though, I would really like them to be smaller, hopefully, eventually the fat will go and I'll be left with really toned, sculpted arms.
My arms are 34cm (~13.5"). They started 2 months ago at 36cm (~14"), and the smallest they've ever been were 32cm (~12.5") (at 35 lbs less than I am now).
I haven't shied away from weight-training, and while I've got muscles now, they're the size they're going to be - the rest is just a matter of losing the 2cm of fat around the muscles. They have firmed up considerably, though, and certainly didn't get BIGGER. So don't be afraid of the weights. I have big arms to start with, but they aren't flabby (and I'm a 5'10" amazon anyway) - the flab will go away if you work out with cardio, and weights will help tone and firm up what's under there. So, while it's not much difference in circumference, my arms are a lot tighter, flatter, and aren't jiggly any more, which is what I think most people should be aiming for.
Thanks guys. I've also read somewhere that if you work with weights at a high rep(like a cardio and weight train at the same time) you will get leaner, sleeker results. Maybe we all can try this!
First, 12 inch biceps are NOT big. If they are jiggly, that's fat. 12 inches of muscle looks quite good.
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you would have to lift like it was your full time job in order to get your muscles really big
It pretty much is my full time job, and my biceps at their largest, flexed, are 12 1/2 inches. I curl 30 pounds dumbbells for 10 rep sets and can't seem to get them any larger.
Doing cardio with weights is a great way to injure your rotator cuffs. The difference in the number of calories you would burn is miniscule, but the chance of injury is very high. while you are doing cardio, you really can't pay attention to proper weight lifting form. In addition, if you do it too frequently (like everyday) you'll also have injuries. It's just not worth the risk of injury.
Pick a weight which you can do 10-15 repetitions of an exercise. It should be quite doable for the first few repetitions, then HARD for the last 2-3. 12 inches of muscular arm looks great, 10 inches of muscle with an inch of fat padding all around looks bigger As Ilene said, you can't spot reduce. You can build muscle, and use nutrition and cardio to lose fat.
I've got bat wings too.. no matter how hard I try to tone them its just not working. When I go shopping for long sleeved shirts I have to get three sizes bigger than my torso size because of my arms. I'm a size 16 shirt however I have to get a size 20-22 so that my fat arms would fit in
Fat Arms
....
Mine are much bigger than that (around 18 inches), but I can totally relate when you said that you feel like your arms don't belong on your body. That's how I feel. It's rare for me to see a gal with a similar body shape/size to mine have as big of arms as I do. Actually many people I see who are larger than I am have MUCH smaller arms. When I had my body fat tested my upper arms were %-wise the "fattest" part of my body.
Followed by my thighs. 
As Ilene said, you can't spot reduce. You can build muscle, and use nutrition and cardio to lose fat.
