How to tone and firm flabby arms

Firm your flabby arms by exercising them and losing fat by cutting calories.

When we talk about flabby arms let’s face it most of us think of women and how a lot of you get flabby arms mostly on the back of your arm which is your tricep area.

This is just one area that women accumulate fat easily just like on your hips and legs. Men tend to gain their weight mostly on their bellies.

But this Hub is about toning those flabby flappy arms once and for all so that the next time you lift your arms in the wind your triceps don’t hang there and flap in the wind (humour).

The tricep muscle which is the muscle on the back of your arms is actually larger than your biceps. Some people don’t know this. So if you tone your triceps you tone a large part of your upper arm.

The two ways to tone and firm up your arms is to exercise them and to eat less calories than your body needs to maintain your current weight, yes I am talking about dieting.

Exercising will help to tone your arms even under the layers of fat but you do need to try to lose some weight. If you just have soft flaccid arms without a lot of excess fat you will not only feel the difference but you will see it too very quickly.

We will not be talking about losing weight here. If you are interested in how to easily lose a few pounds then check out the links to some great articles at the end of this one.

When exercising for toning you want to use a moderate weight if using weights. Remember we are toning not trying to build muscle.

Because you are going to use a moderate weight you will be able to exercise your arms every 2nd or 3rd day.

Training like this will show you results in just a couple of weeks barring you give it an honest try and stay consistent.

To tone your arms you will want to focus on your triceps but also include your biceps.

For biceps I recommend doing standard barbell or dumbbell curls and every 4^th or 5^th bicep workout do dumbbell hammer curls to switch it up and work your biceps from a different angle.

Use a moderate weight and keeping your repetition range up around 8 to 12 repetitions. Do 3 or 4 sets and you can increase the weight slightly but don’t go to heavy.

Once you get to your twelfth repetition you should be very close to failure which means you just can’t move the weight anymore. But don’t quite achieve failure otherwise you will not repair quickly enough for your next workout in two to three days. Got it?

Biceps – 3 or 4 sets for 8 to 12 repetitions with a moderate not heavy weight.

To tone your triceps you want to go by the same rules as biceps and use a moderate weight and keep the rep range between 8 to 12. Difference is I want you to do two exercises for your triceps performing two to three sets of each.

There are many exercises for your tricep muscles that you can perform. I am going to give you 4 that you can use and switch them around every few weeks to keep your tri’s working hard.

1st exercise I like for triceps that is easy to do and does not require any equipment is a push-up with your fingers pointing straight ahead and elbows in. The push-up works more than your triceps and is a great place to start.   

To perform a push-up to effectively work your triceps get into a push-up position whether you do a man or a woman push-up with your knees on the floor.

For your hand placement you want to make sure your fingers are not pointing outwards at all, they should be pointing straight ahead and your elbows up beside your body. When you perform this movement think about your triceps doing all of the work.

Go all the way down and all the way up. When in the top position tighten your triceps for a second and continue with your next repetition.  Do 8 to 12 repetitions for 2 to 3 sets.

 This exercise does not require any special equipment, just a couple of benches or chairs or one of each.  

For this exercise place a bench or chair behind you and a bench or chair in front of you less than body length apart.

Place the palms of your hands on the bench behind you and put your feet up on the bench in front of you with your knees slightly bent.

Now slowly lower your body in a controlled manor keeping your elbows in until your upper arms are just parallel or just beyond parallel to the ground and then raise yourself back up to the starting position.

Do 8 to 12 repetitions for 2 to 3 sets.

Grab a hold of one moderately weighted dumbbell in one hand and either sitting or standing, lift your arm up so that your arm is vertical up over your head. You can place your other hand on your hip.

Slowly lower the dumbbell behind your head keeping your upper arm stationary and only moving your forearm. Lower it as far as it will go and then lift it back up to the starting position. That was one rep.

Do 8 to 12 repetitions for 2 to 3 sets.

I just call this one a kick-back but I have heard others call it a bent over tricep extension. I think kick-back is easier to remember.

For this exercise you will use a dumbbell with a light weight. Bend over at the waist with a dumbbell in one hand and put your other hand on your thigh to stabilize yourself.

Hold your upper arm beside your torso and upper arm almost parallel to the floor and your elbow bent so that your forearm and upper arm is close to a 90 degree angle.

Now with just moving your forearm, slowly move the dumbbell back so that your whole arm is horizontal to the floor and then return to the starting position.

That was one set. If your elbow hurts or you can’t do this one in a slow and controlled manor then the weight is too heavy.

You do not need a lot of weight for this exercise.  Do 8 to 12 repetitions for 2 to 3 sets.

There you have 4 different exercises to work your triceps that are easy to perform and need minimal equipment. Pick two of the tricep exercises to perform during any workout and every few weeks switch one that you are currently doing for one that you are not doing.

Doing these exercises on a consistent basis will tone your arms in no time at all.

So now it is your job to work on cutting back on the calories and making sure you are working out every 2 to 3 days and you will definitely see results.

Why have flabby arms if you can have tight toned firm arms with minimal effort. Good luck.

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