A lot of people avoid wearing clothes with short sleeves even in the extremely hot weather conditions during summer because they feel conscious of the fat on their arms. Many people, who are otherwise fit, might have flabby arms and this fat might act quite stubborn and be hard to get rid of. Since not everyone has the time to go to the gym on a regular basis and not each and every person can afford to have a personal trainer, they are led to simply accept arm fat as something they have to live with.
However, this is far from the truth. With the correct combination of diet and exercise at home itself, without the need of any equipment, it is quite easy to tone your arms and get back the confidence you need to don those sleeveless dresses with elegance and style! This article will help you understand why fat tends to accumulate near the arms and lists out some of the quickest and most effective ways to get rid of it fast; with or without the need to exercise.
Why has fat accumulated near my arms?
Before we get rid of the stubborn fat on your arms, it might prove to be useful to understand why it accumulated in that area in the first place. The main reason for this is that when one grows older, it is not uncommon for the metabolic rate of the body to decrease. This causes the excess calories that you consume to be stored as fat in your body, and the upper arms are very vulnerable to the same. The collagen in the body also decreases, and this can cause your arms to look saggy.
Additionally, if your lifestyle is such that it does not include a lot of physical activity, you will not be able to burn a significant amount of the calories that you consume, which may lead to fat accumulation. When a person gains weight or even when an overweight person suddenly loses a lot of weight, he or she might end up with flabby arms. Even the genetic heritage of a person can be responsible for fat accumulation in specific areas such as the upper arms.
How can I reduce the fat on my arms?
A change in lifestyle, such as starting to work out and eat healthier can easily help a person slim down and lose some weight. But one cannot determine where the loss in fat occurs and cannot target a specific area on the body such as the arms. This depends on factors such as genes, hormones and the type of body that you have. However, if one continues to regularly maintain a healthier and more active lifestyle with the intent to lose some extra fat, he or she will surely shed the fat on the arms too with time.
Here are some ways that you can change your diet to shed that extra weight and some exercises that will help you to target the stubborn fat on your arms and tone them down.
Without exercise
1. Create a small calorie deficit
If you have fat on your body, the best way to naturally get rid of it is by creating a calorie deficit by using up more calories than you consume. This will coerce your body into burning up all of the extra fat stored in your arms to maintain its need. All you need to do is eat healthier foods that make you feel full without carrying huge weights in terms of calorie content and stay away from eating any more than what is required. Do not restrict your calorie intake by a margin of more than 500 calories.
If you go beyond this and take extreme measures in terms of calorie restriction, you might initially lose a lot of weight. But you will end up gaining it all back just as fast because such methods are usually not very effective for long and can only give short-term results. To keep a check on your calorie consumption, you can either maintain a diet diary where you manually write down what you eat and how many calories you consume with every mean, or use an app built for the purpose of counting your daily calories per meal.
2. Increase the amount of fibre in your daily diet
If you want to shed those extra pounds, then foods rich in fibre, such as colourful fruits and vegetables, sprouts, beans, pulses, peas, oats, sweet potatoes and nuts are your best friends. Consuming foods that have a lot of fibre content can help you feel full for longer because they take relatively longer to be processed by the digestive system and thus, remain in the body for a greater duration of time. They contain fewer calories and can help you resist the urge to ruin your diet by binging on unhealthy food.
Thus, increasing the fibre content of your daily diet, and eating these foods as healthy snacks when you feel hungry between meals can help you lose some weight and in time, shed the flab on your arms. However, make sure to drink an adequate amount of water while adding fibre to your diet to ensure that your digestive system runs smoothly and to avoid uncomfortable side-effects such as consolation and gas formation.
3. Cut down on the sugar in your daily diet
A very important step towards effectively losing weight is cutting out all of your favourite unhealthy snacks with high sugar content, and this includes sodas, cakes, cookies, ice cream and candy. You must also make a conscious attempt to not add as much sugar to your daily cup of tea, coffee or milk as you usually do. The fruits that you eat contain sugar too, but they also contain fibre that helps you to feel full and lots of vitamins and minerals that nourish the body. On the other hand, added sugar, unlike the natural sugar found in fruits, just adds on calories to your diet without providing any form of nutrition and have a significant contribution when it comes to weight gain. It doesn’t make you feel full, and you tend to eat a lot more in the course of the day than the amount that you ought to eat. Additionally, cutting out sugar from your diet has added benefits for the body.
Not only does it immediately reduce the stubborn fat stored in arms, thighs and stomach, but it also ensures that your skin looks better and you have energy that lasts throughout the day. It reduces the risk of developing diabetes or heart disease and helps in quick and efficient weight loss.
With exercise
1. Use a skipping rope to burn fat
As explained before, doing a workout routine that targets all of your body is the best way to get rid of the fat around your arms. Doing cardio is the best way to exercise your whole body. With time you will lose weight from everywhere, including stubborn areas like upper arm fat. Using a skipping rope to exercise is an excellent idea since it puts the entire body to work. Additionally, it requires you to repeatedly move your arms in a circular motion to rotate the rope around your body, which activates and tones them so that they become slimmer with time. Additionally, instead of counting the number of times, you can jump the rope consecutively, continue if you falter and try to keep a time limit as a goal instead to get better results.
If you are a beginner and find it hard to jump rope, try to set a target of twenty minutes of moderate-intensity of skipping per day with small breaks in between. With try to increase your time to at least half an hour every day to get the best results in the least amount of time.
2. Wave your arms in circles
The target area of exercise:
- Biceps
- Triceps
- Shoulders
Steps to be followed:
- Stand straight on the ground without slouching. You can also do this while sitting but make sure that your back is perfectly straight. Keep your core muscles tight around your stomach to be able to do the exercise more efficiently.
- Now, raise your arms by your side perpendicular to your body. Make sure that there is tension in them and that they do not sag.
- Start to rotate your arms in circles. Try to maintain the radius of the circle and the speed at which you are rotating your arm. You can increase both of these as the muscles in your arms become stronger with time.
- After you have done this for thirty seconds, take a break for ten seconds and repeat the rotations as described above for thirty more seconds but in the opposite direction.
- Do this routine at least three times with breaks in between each repetition to dull the ache that you might feel in the shoulders. Try to increase the time of your reps and decrease your rest time each consecutive day to target more fat and build more strength in your arms.
3. Do bicep curls to build strength
The target area of exercise:
- Biceps
Equipment needed for exercise:
- You need a standard pair of suitable weights for doing this exercise and dumbells would be the best option. But in case you want to do this is the comfort of your home, a pair of identical bottles filled with water might do the trick for you.
Steps to be followed:
- Stand with your feet flat on the ground and your back straight. Keep your feet apart to match the width of your shoulders and tighten the muscles around your abdomen area to improve your efficiency.
- Take the pairs of weights in your hands and let them hang down your sides. Make sure that your palms are facing outwards and that your knees are slightly bent.
- Now without moving your upper arms, curl both of your lower arms simultaneously so that the weights are close to your shoulders.
- Now with complete control over your arms, slowly lower down the weights without causing any jerks or any sudden movements. Make sure that your elbows are close to your body throughout all the steps.
- Do around twenty to twenty-five bicep curls during one routine and repeat it three times with a gap of sixty seconds between each. With time, you can try to increase the number of bicep curls you do per routine to build more strength.
3. Do planks to tone your arms
The target area of exercise:
- Biceps
- Abdomen muscles
- Shoulders
- Chest
Equipment needed for exercise:
- This exercise should be done on the yoga mat since if you do it directly on the floor, your elbows might experience pain due to the pressure of being pushed against the hard ground.
Steps to be followed:
- Lie down on the yoga mat on your stomach.
- Now, position your elbows perpendicular to your body right beneath your shoulders.
- Raise your body off the ground with your legs slightly apart. Balance yourself on your forearms and feet with your behind tucked into the position, not sticking out of the parallel line.
- Engage your core and tighten the muscles in your abdomen as you hold this position. Your body should be parallel to the floor in a straight line from your head to your feet.
- Hold this position for at least 30 seconds. Try to increase your time with each repetition and aim to increase your time to a minute or longer in accordance with your capacity.
- Do around three to four sets of planks in a day to build core strength and tone your arms.
Along with eating right and making some changes to better your diet if you adopt a healthier lifestyle, you will surely succeed in getting rid of the excess fat on your arms. Try to go to bed early and wake on time so that you get enough sleep each day to keep you going. Drink a lot of water to better your digestion, increase the metabolism rate of your body and stop yourself from eating more than you need to. Do not try any extreme crash diets or skip any meals of the day as such measures can only give you unsustainable results.
Make sure that you do not exert yourself over your limit when it comes to exercising. Weight loss is a gradual process, but with time, you will surely be able to achieve your goals, tone down your arms and get back your confidence.