You've likely seen those ads on television for devices and contraptions that are "guaranteed to help you lose that weight that builds up on your belly," or thighs, or another part of your body. The unfortunate reality is that you cannot lose fat on only one part of your body. In order to lose weight to develop that cut and muscular look you want you're going to have to burn more calories than you take into your body. It's that simple. The good news is that if you want cut and defined arms, there are a few things you can do that will help.
Create a Caloric Deficit
A caloric deficit is a fancy way of saying that you're going to have to burn more calories than you put into your body. According to the American Council on Exercise the best way to do this is to eat a diet that is low in saturated fat and regularly perform aerobic exercise. Try to get at least three periods of aerobic exercise that last between 20 and 45 minutes or more at a time. You don't have to join an aerobics class to get exercise. Walking, jogging, hiking or mountain biking for a half hour three times a week can help burn those excess calories off your body.
Reduce Your Number of Reps
It may sound counter-intuitive to reduce the number of repetitions you're performing with each set if your goal is to develop defined muscle tone, but this can help, according to MuscleBuildingFitness.com. When combined with a reduced calorie intake, reducing the number of repetitions you perform can help develop cut muscles by forcing them to work nearly as hard as before when you were performing more repetitions, but without the additional fuel in the form of calories. Cutting down from three sets of 20 biceps curls to four sets of 10 can help save the amount of calories you're putting into your body while simultaneously continuing to burn fat through weight training and a reduced caloric intake.
Hold That Contraction
Another technique that can help you develop those cut biceps muscles is called isotension. This method uses a static contraction to help you burn fat and fire up those muscles. Contract your biceps muscle using your opposite hand as resistance and hold the contraction in the same place for up to 30 seconds without letting the arm you're exercising move at all. This technique can also work before a workout by firing your muscles to get them tired and forcing them to work by performing your regular exercise routine immediately following the isotension contraction exercise.
Reduce Your Rest Time Between Sets
According to Bodybuilding.com, reducing your rest period between sets at the gym can help increase the intensity and work load of your workout. If you're resting a minute between sets of biceps curls, cut it down to 30 seconds or even 15 seconds. This technique is also great for a calisthenics workout that uses only your body weight as resistance. You can increase the intensity of almost any exercise by trying to do a second set immediately after working your muscles to exhaustion.
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