Fat loss occurs all over the body and cannot be targeted to certain areas. Exercise, however, is the best way to firm up and tone flabby upper arms at home without any expensive exercise equipment, report trainers at Bodybuilding For You. The ideal exercises target the triceps and biceps, as well as the shoulders and upper back for better tone and overall balance.
Push-Ups
Push-ups are the standard in upper-arm exercises and remain one of the best ways to firm and tone the arms. Do full-body push-ups that require you to prop yourself up on your hands and toes or partial body push-ups, using your knees and hands. Get on the floor and place your hands palms down on the floor under your shoulders. Push up your body, keeping it as straight as possible. Lower your body to the ground slowly, allowing your arms and core to hold your weight. Push yourself back up. Start with 10 push-ups three or four times a week when you work out and add repetitions as you get stronger until you reach at least 50.
Dumbbells
Dumbbells or free weights are inexpensive and easy to store at home. Purchase weights in a variety of sizes to provide continued increasing weights to your workout and to vary your routines. Trainers at the Sports Fitness Advisor report that free weights work the smaller muscles in the arms and stabilize target muscles. Lie flat on your back on the floor and lift weights up from your chest. Raise one arm with a weight in hand and lower it to the ground overhead and return. Sit on an armless chair and hold the weights over your head. Lower both hands to your shoulders and lift them again. Stand and bend over, leaving your knees slightly bent. With weights hanging in front of you, raise them to your sides. Sit on the edge of a chair or bench and repeat the movements. Stand straight and hold the weights at your sides. Raise and lower one arm at a time. Reverse the position of your hand on the weight and repeat. Repeat each set 10 times; rest and repeat two more times. Lift weights every other day to give your muscles a chance to rest and recover. Muscles actually build during the resting and regrowth phase.
Bench Dips
You'll need two sturdy chairs or benches to perform the bench dips that work all the triceps muscles, as well as the deltoids. Place the chairs or benches across from each other so that you can rest your ankles on one and your hands on the other, typically about 2 1/2 feet. Hold yourself up with your hands, which should be placed slightly inside the width of your shoulders. Your body should form an L in the starting position. Lower your body down between the benches, supporting yourself with your hands. Go as low as you can, hold the position for a second or two and raise yourself back up. Repeat 10 times, increasing the number of repetitions as you gain strength. Put a weight in your lap to increase resistance when the exercise becomes easy for you. Add bench dips into your weight training days so that your muscles have time to recuperate, since you work many of the same muscles doing bench dips as you do when lifting.
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