People often find it difficult to get rid of arm fat. Many believe the flawed idea that it's possible to spot-reduce fat from given areas on the body. Indeed, if you try to lose arm fat by performing arm toning exercises but fail to include a proper diet and full body strengthening, you only get limited results. Combine a reduced-calorie diet with a full-body workout program to increase your chances of reducing arm fat; consult your doctor before you begin any new diet or exercise regimen.
Calorie Deficit
Fat loss requires you to create a deficit between calories going into your body and calories going out. Your body needs calories to function properly in your daily tasks. Fat builds up on your arms and throughout your body when you consume more calories than your body uses. On the other hand, your body burns fat stores when you consume fewer calories than it uses. Do not to reduce your caloric intake below 1,200 to 1,500 calories, the MedlinePlus website instructs, because you risk causing your body to go into a starvation mode, where it uses very few calories and stores more fat.
Cardiovascular Exercise
Cardiovascular exercise helps you to lose weight by burning more calories. While all forms of cardiovascular exercise help reduce fat throughout the body, those that require arm movement help focus the weight loss in your arms. Common forms of cardio exercise include jumping rope, kickboxing, rowing and swimming. To increase the number of calories you burn, consider adding interval training to your cardio workout. Interval training consists of alternating between vigorous exercise and moderate intensity exercise throughout your workout. The American College of Sports Medicine recommends between 60 and 150 minutes of cardiovascular exercise each week, but you may have to exercise for 300 to 450 minutes each week to achieve fat loss.
General Strength Training
Strength training builds lean muscle to help slim you down and increase your metabolism. Strength-training exercises that focus on the large muscles of the body or require the use of multiple muscle groups build the most lean muscle tissue. Perform a strength-training workout on a minimum of two non-consecutive days each week. Your muscles need at least 48 hours of rest between strength-training workouts to heal and grow. Common exercises that focus on large muscle groups and recruiting multiple muscle groups include squats, lunges, leg presses, pushups, lat pulldowns and chinups.
Arm Toning
Muscle mass takes up less space than fat. If you add an extra strength-training workout each week that focuses on the arms, you can slim your arms even faster. Include exercises for your biceps and your triceps in your arm workout. Consider performing biceps curls, triceps kickbacks, pushups and bench dips. If you do not know what exercises to perform or how to perform exercises that work the arms, consider using the online exercise library provided by the American Council on Exercise, which includes detailed instructions for performing exercises based on what part of the body you want to tone.
References
- American College of Sports Medicine: Physical Activity Guidelines
- MedlinePlus; Tips for Losing Weight; Dr. David Zieve, et al.; October 2009
- American Council on Exercise; Why is the Concept of Spot Reduction Considered a Myth?; Cedric X. Bryant; January/February 2004
- American Council on Exercise: Interval Training
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