The Best Exercise To Tone Flabby Upper Arms

Flabby arms are a troublesome spot, especially for women. They jiggle when you wave and are more noticeable when you wear sleeveless tops. Exercising the major muscle groups in your arms is important for developing overall fitness and helps you perform many of the major activities of daily living. Target your biceps and triceps, and closely related muscles, to strengthen and tone flabby arms.

Arm Muscles

The biggest muscle in your arms is the bicep brachii, located in the front of your arms. It is supported by the brachialis, which flexes your elbow, and the brachioradialis, which flexes your forearm at your elbow. The tricep brachii is at the back of your upper arm, the region many people find problematic. Your triceps help you extend your arms and hold it in certain positions. To tone your upper arms, your workout needs to focus on both of these major muscle groups.

Bicep Exercises

To tone your biceps, concentrate on movements that involve bringing weight, or resistance, toward your body. Bicep curls using a barbell, free weights, bands or any safe object in your home, such as a water jug or soup can, are an important exercise in your arm routine. Start with your arm fully extended and bring your hand toward the body by bending the elbow. The Mueller Center at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute says bicep muscles have more "fast twitch" muscles; when working them out, do a few sets of about six to eight reps, using weight that is heavy for you.

Tricep Exercises

Dips are a good triceps-building exercise that can be done using just your body weight as resistance. Sit near the edge of a chair, with your arms gripping the edge of the chair and your elbows pointing back. Slide forward, and lower your body until your arms are bent at 90 degrees. Hoist yourself up and down using your arm strength. The Mueller Center also recommends using relatively heavy weight for about six to eight reps per set.

Martial Arts

Boxing, kickboxing and other traditional forms of martial arts are great for toning your arms. This is because they use explosive movement and speed to tone your arms. In addition to hitting your biceps and triceps, they assist with related muscles in your forearms, hands and shoulders. In addition, they are vigorous forms of exercise, which will boost your calorie and fat burning. Punching a bag provides impact and resistance to muscles in the arm, but even shadow boxing with techniques such as jabs, hooks, uppercuts, claws and elbow strike. Because you are quickly extending your arms out and retracting them in, you work your biceps and triceps well.

Yoga

Yoga improves muscular strength and flexibility in your arms. It also uses your natural body weight to produce the resistance necessary to tone your arms. Some people also had props like small hand weights to their yoga routines. Yoga helps by requiring you to use your arm strength to place yourself and hold several poses in a sequence. Some poses that challenge flabby arms include Chaturanga, Downward Dog, Upward Plank and Reverse Namaste.