How To Tone Those Flabby Upper Arms

The upper arms have two sets of muscles, the biceps above and the triceps below.

Although it is in the triceps area that upper arm flab is evident much of this is due to gravity and it is important to exercise both sets of muscles to regain the tone and curves of the past.

A further problem can arise after the muscles have been toned up and that is loose skin remaining. This can be tightened by a skilled plastic surgeon leaving almost invisible scars in the armpit area.

There seems to be a grey area surrounding the effectiveness of liposuction and plastic surgery as a means to regain the shape of the upper arms.

Before committing to this type of procedure it is imperative that you seek a number of opinions from qualified medical personnel, visible scarring seems to be a problem, amongst others.

It is better by far to carry out a regular regime of exercises that are designed to tone up the two muscle groups and that can prove beneficial regardless of age and general fitness. Before starting there are two important considerations to bear in mind that are common to all fitness regimes, regularity and not over doing the routines.

To gain any lasting benefit from exercising it is essential to begin by committing yourself to a daily or at least every other day schedule of routines.

Once set in the habit then a few days off every so often is unlikely to be a problem.

At the same time it is important and possibly even dangerous to overdue the exercises in the first flush of enthusiasm.

Do not put a strain on your body or any individual muscle group, as soon as the repetition begins to become uncomfortable – stop.

As time goes by you will be able to build up the strength in your muscles and this is when you will notice the increase in firmness and tone of the upper arm area.

Focusing on the biceps and triceps, start by performing probably the best known exercise of all, pushups, but they must be done correctly.

• Lie flat on floor face down, hands, palm down, touching the floor, close to the shoulders and elbows.
• Press down onto your hands so that your entire body’s weight is taken onto the arms.
• Lift  the body up, keeping it as straight as possible, until your arms are outstretched fully. Then gently lower yourself into the starting position.
• Repeat as often as possible aiming initially for 15 –20 repetitions, if that is a problem don’t worry, even a start with four or five will lead to building up to the optimum, but try not to cheat by keeping your knees on the floor!!
• Now turn over and lie face up on a bench or floor, body stretched out straight.
• Hold a pair of  dumbells or other weights in both hands, cans of food are a good substitute.
• Place your hands by the side of your head with your elbows pointing towards your feet.
• Raise your hands straight above your head then steadily lower to head height keeping the elbows in tight above the body.
• Do 15-20 reps to start if you are able.
• When comfortable with this increase the weight of the dumbbells.
• Sit on the edge of a bench or firm seat and grip the front edge by the side of your hips. Using you arms lift your body from bench. Move your feet slightly away from the bench.
• Lower your body down the front of the bench until your arms are at right angles then press back up until your arms become straight and locked and at all times keeping your upper body erect and your elbows in.
• Repeat 10-15 times and as it gets easier progressing to 25-30 times regularly every day or other day.

Any other form of exercise such as walking, jogging or cycling will help to burn off excess weight and, although not specifically targeting the underarm flab problem, the general all over body toning benefits will be reflected in some reduction, however slight, in those unsightly arms.

Finally and not to be forgotten is the importance of diet. The benefit of any exercise program will be dramatically reduced if attention to a balanced and healthy diet is ignored so eat sensibly!

Work at it and you should be able to regain those lovely upper arms without the help of any cosmetic surgical procedures except perhaps in a worst-case scenario a little near invisible skin tightening.

Start now and you will soon be wearing those sleeveless tops this summer without embarrassment.