Help me shrink my arms!!

[bedmonster]

My arms are really bulky and chubby at the top - what should I be doing to combat the fat that sits there?

Rowing.

2-5km on a rowing machine each, or every other day.

Bicep and triceps curls with free weights.

If you need to reduce your body fat overall, this would help also.

This is very true, however since I don't have a rowing machine and will not pay to go to the gym do you have any home made tips?

You can do tricep dips at home.
Sit on a chair with your hands either side of your thighs on the chair.
scooch forward so your bum is hovering in front of the chair.
now dip down bending your elbows, keeping your knees bent and static and back up again.
repeat 10 times, have a rest and do 2 more sets of ten.
Goodbye bingo wings!!

Simple! Hold a can of beans, soup or similar in each hand and use them as weights.

Try straightening each arm in turn above your head and lowering the can down to touch the back of your shoulder, then back up. Repeat on each side X 10. Great for bingo wings.

Hold each arm out straight to the side at shoulder height for a count of thirty then lower. Repeat x 10. Great for top or arms/shoulders.

Keep a couple of cans next to the kettle and do a mini workout every time you brew up!

Right I did 20 of the chair dips and also did loads of stuff with beans tins!! Arms absolutely murderously aching today. They look no smaller but I realise it will take a while.

Somebody beat me to the beans!

Tricep kickbacks - kneel on the floor, put one hand on the floor in front of you so back nearly flat, tin of beans in the other hand.
Straighten that arm backwards, just above the level of your bum. Pulse for three, then lower the tin to next to your thigh (no further forwards) for three
repeat till your muscles scream, do same on other arm.

Lie on your back, knees bent feet standing. Tin of beans in each hand, arms straight up to the ceiling, thumbs next to each other.
Bend your elbows to lower the tins to your forehead, without letting them touch each other or your forehead and without your upper arm moving a millimetre - repeat till muscles scream

two or three times a day - backs of your arms will become like steel.
Flat muscles come from low weights, high reps.

Eek, this all sounds like bloody hard work. But I went for a 7 mile fast walk yesterday and did more chair dips. Might invest in a light set of proper weights though rather than beans, we keep eating them all.

:-)
Start light and build up.

Pilates and yoga are both GREAT for flat, effective muscles.

On one of the 5:2 threads I suggested people bought second hand Wii and Wii Fit (most Pawn shops have piles of them) as the yoga on there is pretty reasonable.

I have a Wii fit plus! Will dust it off in the morning. Am also starting pilates next week. Thanks everyone, you have all spurred me on.

can anyone who's done it give me an idea of how long you would need to do these exercises (say every other day) before a visible change in muscle definition - we talking weeks, months, a year?

tricky - if you look at the Michael Moseley horizon programme, some people just do not react to exercise
others bulk up right away

I do a lot of yoga and swimming, one hour a week of bodypump
the definition on the back of my arms is what my kids call "hench"

so talkin, when you started exercises targeting the arms, how long before you aw an improvement - I need a lot o motivation to last more than a week, so need something to aim for!

Search for pop pilates on you tube, there are loads of 10 minute sessions that target specific areas. It's a bit irritatingly perky, but they work

Calanetics. stand feet a foot apart. arms out at 90 degrees - level with the floor. swivel hands so they are palms up. take arms back, still horizonal with floor.. try to get thumbs to touch behind you. when you are as close as you can get, make tiny pushing together movements 50 times. Lower arms slowly and you will feel that ache at the backs where you've worked.

sorry... should have said... swivel hands forwards, not back. Clockwise.

Marking place to read later

eh? I understood the first explanation (or so I thought) but not the second one !!!

arms out at sides horizontal with floor, palms up, then what?

Apparently you get Michelle Obama's arms with this workout - looks pretty doable. I say "looks" as have not actually tried it

And I am guessing her overall fitness regime differs slightly from mine.

Do like her arms though.

www.oprah.com/health/How-to-Get-Michelle-Obama-Arms-Michelle-Obama-Arm-Workout

ten minutes of bean tins a day should show well within a month
BUT
it depends on the level of subcutaneous fat to remove