How to Get Rid of Flabby Under Arms

Many of my clients over the age of 45 complain of having flabby underarms and want to know how to reduce the fat – there. Before I attempt to tackle that, let’s discuss how it got there in the first place. A popular misconception is that hormones or menopause are largely to blame. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but hormones (assuming you don’t have any serious underlying conditions) don’t generally cause weight gain. You can see what the Mayo Clinic has to say about this here. A slowing metabolism and lack of exercise can contribute to flabby arms (as well as weight gain anywhere in the body) but…

The real culprit behind flabby arms is eating more calories than your body is burning!

So how to you get rid of flabby arms? The answer is very simple:

  1.  Take in less calories than your body needs on a daily basis.
  2. Perform exercises that will tone, strengthen and GROW your Triceps.

Calories

To determine how many calories your body needs, check out this weight calculator at the National Association of Sports Medicine. It will give you a breakdown of your calories that you need on a daily basis (Basic Metabolic Rate) as well as provide you with some calorie targets if you want to lose weight. I want to stress that unless you are willing to reduce your caloric intake (Go on a Diet – GASP) you cannot get rid of that under arm fat. The good news is – is that if you begin to follow a healthy diet that you will be able to lose some of that underarm fat! The real question is – how badly do you want to get those arms back!!

Spot Reduction and Toning Your Triceps

The bottom line – Unfortunately, spot reduction is a myth. If you don’t trust me, check out what Barbend has to say about it. Your genetic makeup determines where fat gets stored. Therefore the trick is to reduce your overall body fat and your arms will at some point follow along! To reduce your body fat requires you of course to watch your calories (see above!) AND increase your exercise level to include both Cardio and Resistance Training. Cardio will help increase your daily calorie burn but is not as important as resistance training. Resistance training will…

  1.  Increase Your Metabolism
  2. Build Muscle Mass
  3. Increase Bone Density
  4. Increase Daily Caloric Needs

Exercise Program

  1. Cardio – 90 minutes per week (Walking doesn’t count! – See my blog post here)
  2. Resistance Training for your Triceps 2x per week. 3 different exercises on a given day – 3 Sets of each – 12 Reps each – Weight: by the third set you should be tired! 1 minute break between sets. 1 minute break between exercises.
    • Triceps Extensions
    • Triceps Kickback
    • Triceps Cable Pushdowns
    • Diamond Push ups
    • Triceps Dips

It CAN BE DONE. The question is…. ARE YOU BUILT FOR MORE?

JT

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