Has anyone got rid of their bingo wings using handheld weights?

[Appalonia]

I recently bought some small handheld weights and tried a few exercises daily for a few weeks. I can feel small muscles develop on the top of my arms but it's not affected my underarms, which is what I would really like to change. Had anyone had any success in improving this area please?

I’ve got to be honest I don’t think there’s a way of banishing them.
I swim 3-4 times a week, gym twice a week focusing a lot on upper body and do 2 reformer Pilates class a week.
I have lost weight and did eat a pretty shit diet for a long time before this so it’s clearly taken its toll, those wings aren’t budging!
I know a couple of women who’ve had surgery to remove it and they’ve been very happy with the results.

Are you doing any triceps exercises?

Triceps exercises, like what do you mean?

my arms are way better since using weights and the old cable machine. Spent the first 20 years of adulthood refusing to reveal them
Make sure you are exercising all muscles and your form is good, esp withbicep curls

Things like overhead extensions. Hold the dumbbell with 2 hands behind your head and straighten your arms up or triceps kick backs .... probably easier to Google the excersises than have my awful explanations 🤣

If you feel it on the top of your arms you’re working your biceps. You need to work your triceps, which is the back of your arms, google bicep exercises, and you need to lift heavy, little weights won’t cut it.

I did the same thing, I have clear muscle on the top of my arms, my biceps, and when I moved my skin looked crepy, which was small bingo wings, I’d not done my triceps, so now I have added those in, and it is improving. I also moisturise all over every day, keeping the skin supple.

Agree with this. Also tricep dips. Just google bicep exercises.

i think it will be hard. I am in the same position, just lost a decent amount of weight. Have big arms which are now flabby and a family history of bingo wings (grandma). I’ve got a friend who is about 10 years younger than me who lost 20kg about 6 months ago and I can see she still has the bingo wings. I think they are difficult to shift. What exercises are you doing?

Whoops… google tricep exercises (not bicep).

Unfortunately you can't lose weight from one particular area - if you want to get rid of fatty bingo wings, you need to diet. If it's loose skin, then there's very little you can do, other than tone up your arms to make them less obvious, or have skin removal surgery.

Anyone promising targeted weight loss is lying to you. Only liposuction can do that, which is expensive and carries its own risks.

I'm a retired fitness instructor always had a healthy diet always exercised and my bat wings wobble. It's better if I do weights but it's also just genetics imo.

how heavy are the weights you are lifting? How many reps are you doing? What exercises are you doing and which muscle groups are being worked?

Whatever weight you are lifting, the last reputation needs to feel really hard, otherwise you’re not doing much.

Also agree with others in that you need to google tricep exercises. Tricep extensions, tricep kickbacks and tricep dips off of a chair would all be a good start.

I remember hearing Matt Roberts in his earlier fitness guru years on Woman’s Hour. Jenny Murray asked about ‘bingo wings’ and he very kindly said that they’re just something that happens as women get older and not to worry or be self conscious about them (paraphrasing). Not to say don’t bother exercising, but you can’t actually get rid of them completely.

Yeah that’s nonsense, plenty of older women have strong muscular arms,

If you train hard enough they will certainly improve, which is all most of us want. I agree tricep dips and plenty of them is probably the way forward because they are so hard.

Thanks all. My arms aren't fat, just a bit crepey and wobbly underneath. I've only recently started using the weights and I did Google some exercises, one of which has been mentioned above. Just wondered if anyone has seen any actual improvement in that area.

I've also just joined a gym so shall be using the arm machines there too.

The wobbly bit is fat, skin and gravity and won't be affected by exercise. I have semi muscular arms and when I flex my bingo wings disappear but if they are slack then they are just there. Unless you lose lots of weight you'll always have a bit of a bingo wing.

I have been going to the gym / lifting progressively heavier weights for a couple of years now.

A lot of areas are still very much below the extreme beauty standards that society holds us to.

BUT I am a Middle Aged perimenopausal woman. My body is now designed to hold onto fat!

I am stronger than most people my age and there are obvious areas where you can see that definition eg shoulders, biceps, thighs and I have a great bum

Knowing that makes it very easy to ignore my wobbly triceps, my very rounded belly, my tiny boobs, my chicken skin hands etc

So I’d say focus on building a strong body that you are proud of and the focus on smaller imperfections will fade.

Get some bigger weights or a gym membership!

I did join the gym just last week!😁

I’d say tricep press-ups will be waaaay more effective than hand held weights (but do both!). My arms are nicely toned but if I’m not tensing my triceps then obviously the still wobble (I’m not sure men get that in the same way?)

I'm havig the exact same issue.
I've lost quite a lot of weight, so some of it is probably loose skin. I bought some dumbbells and have been trying to do a very short program most days, only 7 exercises and do them for 10 reps each, twice. I don't know if that's realy enough. It's a mix of biceps and triceps exercises I think. Plus I do some pushups. It's made my arms look a little more muscley but hasn't stopped the wobble! I don't know if it ever will, or if it's just the loose skin that is wobbling. Looks quite awful but not much I can do about it.

I don't think my weights are enough to really make much difference, but they are as much (or more) as I can do at the moment for some of the exercises - 4.5 kg at the moment. It's an adjustable set that will go up to 5kg. I've had some arms and shoulder issues, so I"m probably pretty weak. When/if I get good at the 5kg ones, I might buy the next set up. I can't be bothered to adjust it in between exercises right now, though, so I do all of them on the same weight, whether that's ok or really hard. If I move up to the next set, I could then leave some on the lighter weights and do the ones I can a bit heavier, which might help a little more. I don't really know whether my form is good or not as I've never been to a gym (and am not likely to go), so I just try to follow the instructions. I think for some of the exercises, the weights are a bit heavy right now and I lean back more than I should or bend my elbows more or something.

you can get you under arms operated on I think

Yes it is working for me, and the poster above mentioned trivet push ups, google the correct form, these are excellent, start low, like ten in the morning and ten in the evening and build up.

One more thing. I see planks and press ups being advised. But I have massive boobs, so I really struggle to do these exercises as my bust probably weighs about a stone ( am an Apple shape ). It's hard to lift that amount of weight! I'm 5 foot 5 and 10 stone 5, so not hugely overweight, just struggle with those kind of exercises...

I feel your pain with boobs and arms - think the weight is linked
I had a reduction and this made a massive difference ( and literally KG) to my ability to exercise

Yeah, I've had chronic back pain since I was 19. I bloody hate my boobs!