As summertime gets underway, the time has come to tone flabby arms again. Short sleeves, tank tops and bathing suits can be embarrassing to wear as they expose those arm jiggles to everyone. It can make it very uncomfortable to dress for the weather or even just to wave at a friend.
If you’re looking to tone flabby arms this year, the odds are that your main focus will need to be your triceps. While many people focus on the bicep (the large muscle on the top of your upper arm – typically the one you’d “flex”), it’s the triceps that really matter. Triceps are the large muscles on the back of your upper arms.
As they’re used mainly for straightening the arm, not lifting it, they’re often neglected in a workout. Therefore, they take more focus when your goal is to tone flabby arms.
What Causes Flabby Arms?
There are two primary culprits for your needing to tone flabby arms. The first cause is aging. The second cause is body fat.
Aging typically causes skin to lose some of its elasticity, leading to a less springy and more saggy texture. Areas where the skin is softest and most delicate are often affected the most. This explains why many people complain about sagging skin on their faces, necks, backs of the hands and upper arms.
While diligent skin care and proper diet and hydration over the years can help to slow that process, the rest is up to genetics. There isn’t a lot we can do about that aside from surgery.
When it comes to body fat, there are two issues. The first is that the extra fat itself can cause sagging. This leads us to want to tone flabby arms. The second occurs after we lose a lot of weight. Perhaps you’ve used diet pills or lost a lot of weight through careful lifestyle changes. The result is that the skin remains stretched out even once the fat underneath is gone.
Steps to Tone Flabby Arms
The main effort you’ll need to make to tone flabby arms is to use the right resistance exercises that focus on your triceps as well as your arms as a whole. That said, it’s still important to keep nutrition in mind. If you need to reduce arm fat, then diet will play an important part in that.
In order to complete the following exercises at home, you’ll need to have a couple of hand weights. Most people do well with at least 2 to 5 pounds, but if you’re stronger you can go heavier. Don’t overdo it at the start. The last thing you want to do is injure yourself and hold back your progress.
These exercises are some of the best activities to tone flabby arms.
Triceps Kickbacks to Tone Flabby Arms
This exercise will need you to use one weight in each hand.
- Stand with your feet flat on the floor, about hip width apart.
- Bend your knees slightly and lean your upper body forward until it is nearly parallel to the floor.
- Keep your upper arms in line with your upper body or raise them slightly farther back if you can. Bend your elbows to a 90-degree angle.
- Straighten both your arms back, keeping your palms facing in toward your body until your arms are completely straight.
- Bend your arms to 90-degrees once more. Don’t swing your arms. Make deliberate movements. You should be able to feel this in the back of your arms. Do 3 sets of 8 to ten reps.
Gold’s Gym certified personal trainer, Michelle Trapp provides the perfect example of performing tricep kickbacks properly:
Push-Ups to Tone Flabby Arms
This exercise doesn’t require any equipment. It’s the same move that tortured you in gym class. Now, you’ll get to love it because it will help you tone flabby arms.
- On the floor, get into a plank position with your hands palm-down on the floor directly under your shoulders. Your back should be straight, not arched or bent. Don’t hold your backside up in the air. If you are unable to do a plank position in proper form, bend your knees to the floor and make a plank from your knees to your shoulders.
- Hold your elbows close to your body.
- Slowly bend your elbows and lower your body to the floor. Keep your back straight and your elbows close to your body.
- Push back up to the starting position, keeping your back straight. Repeat between 10 and 15 times.
Peter Carvell from sixpackfactory.com explains in detail how to do the perfect push-up below:
One-Arm Side Push-Ups to Tone Flabby Arms
If you’ve reached the point that a standard push-up just isn’t enough challenge for you, you have an alternative. A one-arm push-up from your side may help boost your challenge and tone flabby arms more quickly.
- Lie down on your left side, slightly bending your knees for stability.
- Place your left hand on your right shoulder.
- Place your right palm on the floor and push until you straighten your right arm, raising your upper body off the floor, bending at the waist.
- Slowly bend your right arm and return your upper body to the floor.
- Repeat 10 times, then turn over and do 10 reps on the other side.
Triceps Dips to Tone Flabby Arms
For this exercise to tone flabby arms, the equipment you’ll need is a stable chair. It’s best if the chair does not have casters/wheels and does not have a padded seat that could throw off your balance.
- Stand in front of the chair with your feet shoulder distance apart and have a seat perched on the front edge.
- Slide forward and place your hands on the seat of the chair at shoulder’s width apart as close to the front of the chair as you can. Keep your elbows straight.
- Move forward so you are no longer seated on the chair and your arms are holding you up. Your feet should be firmly planted on the floor. Your knees should be bent at about the same angle they were when you were seated.
- Slowly bend your elbows and lower yourself down in front of the chair, keeping your feet in place, bending your knees. You will feel this in your arms.
- Push yourself back up to the starting position. Repeat this 10 to 15 times.
In this video, fitness instructor, Rachel Buschert Vaziralli provides excellent instruction for the tricep dip:
Triceps Extensions to Tone Flabby Arms
For this exercise to tone flabby arms, you’ll need your hand weights again. There are two different ways to do this exercise. You can do it lying on the floor or standing up.
• Lying on the floor – Lie down on your back and, holding the weights, raise your arms so your hands are above your chest and your arms are nearly straight, but not quite. Your elbows should be a little bent. Bend your elbows until they are bent at a 90-degree angle. The weights should be on either side of your head, higher than the level of your head. Slowly lift the weights up to the starting position. Repeat this move 15 times.
• Standing up – Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and your knees slightly bent. Holding the weights, raise your arms above your head, nearly straight. Bend your elbows to 90 degrees. Straighten your arms slowly while squeezing your triceps. Repeat this move 15 times to tone flabby arms.
Jason Brown of Box Programming demonstrates the lying down version of this exercise here:
