Exercises For Upper Arms & Back Flab

Excess body fat in the upper arms and back may be a common complaint without an easy solution. The key to reducing fat in any area is not about spot reducing, but rather improving muscle tone with weight training and reducing overall body fat with cardio training and proper nutrition.

Upper Arm Free Weight Exercises

Your biceps and triceps make up the upper arm muscles. Your triceps, located in the back of your upper arm, tend to become flabby with increased body fat and decreased muscle tone. Free weight exercises, including bicep curls, tricep extensions, and overhead extensions, target these muscles, working to bend and extend your elbow joint. Suggested exercise guidelines include three to four sets of 10 to 12 repetitions for each exercise, working to muscle failure. Workout should be repeated two times weekly for increased muscle tone.

Back Exercises

Your back muscles work to extend your shoulders from a flexed position and to pull resistance toward you. Exercise suggestions to help reduce back flab include pullups using your body weight as resistance, pulldowns using cable machines, and rowing machines to combine strength training with cardio training. Perform sets of as many pullups as possible and three to four sets of 10 to 12 repetitions for pulldowns. Rowing workouts are based on intensity settings and time. Use a moderate- to high-intensity setting for a duration of 10 minutes, working up to 20. Two weekly workouts are suggested.

Kettlebell and Medicine Ball Workouts

Kettlebell exercises work many muscle groups. Exercises target specific muscles for movement, requiring other muscles to contract to stabilize your body. Suggested exercises for your arms include single-arm kettlebell jerks and kettlebell cleans. Single-arm kettlebell rows target your back and bicep muscles. Perform three to four sets of six to 12 repetitions. One kettlebell workout per week can be added to your training program.
Medicine ball exercises add intensity to your workout requiring your muscles to exert the most amount of force in the shortest amount of time. Throwing a medicine ball, from your chest or from an overhead position, works your arms. Your back muscles contract to catch a medicine ball. One workout per week is suggested.

Circuit Training

Circuit training workouts combine strength training for muscle tone and cardio training for burning fat. Circuit training is done by moving from one exercise station to another with minimal rest periods. By alternating between muscle groups and training modes, the same muscles are not worked consecutively, allowing muscles to maintain strength levels throughout the workout. Suggested station order includes pullups, jogging in place, bench dips, jumping jacks, bicep curls, squat jumps, medicine ball throws, box jumps and pushups.