Upper-arm fat can be unattractive and embarrassing. To avoid sagging skin when waving your arms, incorporate resistance- and aerobic-training programs into your daily routine. Together they will burn fat and increase lean muscle mass. Don’t be scared to lift weights — a pound of muscle takes up less space than a pound of fat. Anatomically, your upper arm consists of your biceps and triceps. Therefore, adding resistance training and targeting these muscles will tighten and tone your upper arms and reduce the overall size of them.
Resistance Training
The main benefit of resistance training is it increases your lean muscle mass. As you gain muscle your body, has to work harder to maintain it. The harder your body works, the more calories it burns, thus your metabolic rate increases. The result of your increased metabolism is the reduction of body fat and overall weight loss. The American College of Sports Medicine recommends doing eight to 12 repetitions of each exercise two times per week. If you are a beginner, start with one set and gradually increase to three as you become stronger.
Biceps
The biceps brachii is a two-headed muscle — it has a long head and a short head — and makes up approximated one-third of the muscle mass of your upper arm. Some exercises that emphasize your biceps are dumbbell biceps curls, standing barbell curls and dumbbell hammer curls. It is essential to focus on the eccentric — downward motion — part of the exercises. The eccentric phase is more important than the concentric — upward motion — phase and should be done at a slower pace.
Triceps
The triceps brachii is a three-headed muscle, with lateral, medial and long heads. The triceps muscle sits on the posterior side of your upper arm. To isolate your triceps, perform dips, triceps extensions and kickbacks. As you extend your elbows, squeeze your triceps to increase the intensity.
Aerobic Exercise
Aerobic exercise is necessary to increase your daily calorie burn to shed unwanted fat. ACSM recommends at least 30 minutes of moderately intense aerobic exercise five days per week, or at least 20 minutes of vigorously intense aerobic exercise three days per week Moderate-intensity means you are working hard enough to raise your heart rate and break a sweat. Methods of aerobic exercise include running, walking, swimming or bicycling.
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