Whether you have excess fat on your arms and legs or if you have under-developed arm and leg muscle, resistance training can help you tone these muscles to achieve your desired shape. Using a low amount of weight or your own body weight, perform three sets of 12 repetitions of each exercise. ExRx.net suggests performing aerobic exercise in addition to resistance training to achieve a toning effect.
Body-weight Exercises
Target your triceps with close-hand pushups. Lie your palms flat on the floor 4 to 6 inches apart. Perform pushups on the balls of your feet or on your knees. Perform underhand pullups to strengthen your biceps. Grasp the pullup bar with a shoulder-width, underhand grip, bend your knees to keep your feet off the floor and pull your body upward until your chin is over the bar.
Work your legs with body-weight squats and calf raises. Stand with your feet hip-width apart, bend forward at the waist and bend your knees to lower your buttocks toward the floor. Stand on the balls of your feet on the edge of a stair and raise your heels to perform calf raises.
Free Weights
Use two dumbbells or a barbell to target your biceps. Keeping your upper arms close to your sides, bend your elbows to raise the weights toward your biceps. To work your triceps, grasp a dumbbell with both hands and lower it behind your head. Straighten your arms to raise the weight above your head.
Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart with a dumbbell in each hand at your shoulders, or hold a barbell across your lower shoulders. Step forward with one foot and bend your knees until they form right angles. Alternate legs between sets to target your legs.
Resistance Bands
Resistance bands are stretchy, rubber tubes that create resistance for toning exercises. Stand on the center of the band and hold each end in your hands to perform biceps curls. Keep your upper arms close to your body and bend your elbows to raise your hands toward your biceps. Work your triceps by standing on one end of the band and holding the opposite end with one hand. Raise your arm straight above your head, then lower your hand behind your head. Alternate arms between sets.
Target your outer thighs by wrapping each end of the band around your ankles. Lie on your back and raise your legs off the floor. Pull your legs apart as far as possible and hold for one count. Work the fronts of your thighs by attaching one end of the band to a sturdy, fixed object and sitting in a chair with your back to the fixed object. Wrap the opposite end of the band around one of your ankles. Beginning with your leg bent, straighten your leg until it is parallel with the floor. Alternate legs between sets.
Aerobic Exercise
In addition to leg and arm resistance exercises, perform aerobic exercise to help shed fat. You cannot spot reduce fat from any area of your body. Instead, you will lose fat evenly from all over, but ultimately you will shed fat from your arms and legs. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests at least 150 minutes a week of moderate exercise for basic health benefits, but recommends 300 minutes for additional benefits and effective fat loss. Choose exercises such as brisk walking, jogging, running, swimming and cycling.
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