How to Lose Arm Fat
Arm fat is a common and frustrating problem for many people. Whether you’re fit and healthy, have undergone post-bariatric surgery, or are in the process of losing weight, you may notice some trouble spots, particularly in your arms. Arm fat can make you feel self-conscious wearing sleeveless shirts or tanks, and you might feel insecure about extra skin beneath your arms that no one else may notice. Even covering it up with sleeves might not be a satisfactory solution for you.
So, how do you get rid of arm fat? Fortunately, there are options.
What Is Arm Fat?
Arm fat consists of extra skin and fat located beneath your arms. However, “fat” doesn’t refer to just one type of fat. Rather, it encompasses two types: visceral fat and subcutaneous fat.
Visceral fat is the fat stored behind your stomach muscles, enveloping your organs and providing protection. The right amount of visceral fat can be healthy, but having too much can be dangerous and lead to health issues like heart disease, stroke, and diabetes.
Subcutaneous fat, on the other hand, is found just beneath your skin, along with the dermis and epidermis layers. Subcutaneous fat sits in the innermost layer of your skin. It serves various functions, including cushioning your muscles and bones, protecting you from injuries, assisting your blood vessels and nerves from your skin to your muscles, and using connective tissue to attach your core layer of skin to your muscles and bones. While some subcutaneous fat is beneficial for your health, too much can cause health problems, including an increased risk for cancers, fatty liver disease, gallbladder disease, and more.
Arm fat can be particularly embarrassing, especially when you move your arms and notice the jiggling skin accompanying your movements. What’s worse is that even if you do everything right—eat well, exercise, and reduce junk food intake—your arm fat often stubbornly remains.
Causes of Arm Fat
Obesity, significant weight loss, or genetics can all contribute to extra skin and fat in the arms. Women have a higher chance of carrying extra weight in their arms. Hormonal imbalances and a sedentary lifestyle can also contribute to arm fat. Hormonal imbalances can lead to water retention, making your arms appear inflated. A lack of physical activity can cause you to have more weight in your arms and other areas because you’re not getting enough physical activity to tone your muscles.
Arm Fat Treatment
The good news is that there are many arm fat treatment options to reduce or eliminate arm fat.
Natural Treatment Options for Arm Fat
Natural treatment options for arm fat include diet and exercise. Since arm fat is often associated with being overweight or losing a significant amount of weight, the first step is changing your eating habits and incorporating more exercise into your routine.
If you’ve lost weight and have an arm flab as a result, you should maintain a consistent weight while doing exercises to help reduce your arm fat. On the other hand, if you’re overweight and in the process of losing extra pounds but are worried about having an arm flab, you should consider incorporating muscle-toning exercises into your routine immediately to help tone your muscles and reduce flab as you lose weight.
Lastly, you might need to adjust your sleep schedule. Getting enough rest will make you feel more energized and motivated to work out, which can increase your chances of losing extra weight. For the best results, it’s important to combine a good sleep schedule with a well-balanced diet and a vigorous exercise routine.
Surgical Options for Arm Fat
A common surgical option for removing arm fat is called an arm lift procedure. During an arm lift, your doctor will remove any extra skin and fat beneath your arms. This helps reshape the contour of the arm. Your doctor will then drape your skin back over your arm, thus tightening your skin.
An arm lift surgery is performed under general anesthesia and can take up to three hours. You’ll be required to wear a compression garment to reduce swelling. Recovery time takes around four weeks, but you can resume light activity a few days post-operation.
While arm lifts are generally a good procedure to undergo, some doctors may recommend liposuction along with an arm lift. Some patients request liposuction to avoid the scarring that arm lifts leave behind. Unfortunately, liposuctions aren’t as effective and won’t be able to address arm fat alone.
Arm Fat Exercises
When it comes to arm fat exercises, there are many you can incorporate into your routine to help you shed the extra weight in your arms. Two of the most popular options are cardio workouts and strength-training exercises. Some people also prefer interval training, which can speed up the process of losing arm fat.
Popular exercises to help with arm fat include aerobics, strength training, and flexibility or balance exercises. Doing some combination of all of these exercises helps keep workouts interesting and prevents boredom or lack of motivation.
How much exercise you should be doing will depend on you. However, it’s recommended that you aim for 2.5 hours of moderate activity per week or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise per week. You don’t have to jump into moderate or vigorous exercise right away. Start slowly and ease yourself into it.
You shouldn’t expect to see results right away. Dropping stubborn fat can take months of continuous effort. Your progress will depend on you. If you’re already at a healthy weight, it may take just a few weeks to notice results. However, those at a higher weight may not see results for some time. Patience is crucial. Stick with your exercise routine—the results will be worth it.
The 9 Best Ways to Lose Arm Fat
You can reduce arm fat by focusing on overall weight loss and doing cardio exercises. Shedding stubborn body fat can be tricky, especially when it’s concentrated in a specific area of your body. The arms are often considered a problem area, leaving many people looking for ways to lose extra arm fat.
Fortunately, there are many strategies you can use to slim down and tone your arms. Here are nine ways to reduce arm fat and promote overall weight loss.
1. Focus on Overall Weight Loss
Spot reduction is a method that focuses on burning fat in a specific part of your body, such as the arms. Though spot reduction is popular in the fitness industry, most studies have found it to be ineffective.
One study of 104 people showed that completing a 12-week resistance training program using only the non-dominant arm increased overall fat loss but had little effect on the specific area being exercised.
Another small 12-week study found that resistance training focusing on one leg was effective at reducing overall body fat but did not decrease body fat in the leg being trained.
Therefore, it’s best to focus on overall weight loss and use exercises for muscle toning rather than fat loss.
2. Start Lifting Weights
Resistance training is a type of exercise that involves working against a force to build muscle mass and increase strength. Lifting weights is a common example. While it may not cause fat loss in your arms specifically, it can help increase overall fat loss and tone your arms to make them appear slimmer.
For example, one 12-week study in 28 women with type 2 diabetes showed that performing low-intensity resistance training promoted total fat loss while increasing muscle mass and strength.
Another study of 109 people found that resistance training alone or combined with aerobic exercise was more effective at increasing lean body mass than aerobic exercise alone.
Building lean body mass can help boost metabolism and increase the number of calories burned at rest throughout the day.
Bicep curls, overhead tricep extensions, overhead presses, and upright rows are some examples of exercises that can help tone your arms and increase muscle mass.
3. Increase Your Fiber Intake
Adding a few extra servings of fiber to your diet can jumpstart weight loss and help you lose excess body fat.
Fiber moves slowly through your digestive system, which increases the amount of time it takes to empty your stomach and helps you feel fuller for longer.
According to one study in 252 women, each gram of dietary fiber consumed was associated with 0.25% less body fat and 0.5 pounds (0.25 kg) less body weight over 20 months.
In another review, increasing daily fiber intake by 14 grams for four months was linked to a 10% reduction in total calorie intake and 4.2 pounds (1.9 kg) of weight loss—without making any other changes.
Fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, seeds, and legumes are examples of nutritious, high-fiber foods that you can enjoy as part of a healthy diet.
4. Add Protein to Your Diet
Increasing your intake of protein is another simple way to reduce cravings and keep your appetite under control. This, in turn, may help with weight management and assist you in reducing excess body fat.
A study in 20 young women found that eating a high-protein breakfast decreased hunger, increased fullness, and reduced levels of ghrelin, the hormone that stimulates hunger.
Another small study showed that consuming more protein in meals was associated with less abdominal fat. This suggests that a high-protein diet could help improve body composition and increase fat loss.
Meat, poultry, seafood, legumes, eggs, and dairy products are all high-protein foods that can help you lose arm fat quickly.
5. Do More Cardio
Cardio is a type of exercise that focuses on raising your heart rate to burn calories. When trying to lose arm fat, incorporating cardio into your daily routine is essential.
Studies show that aerobics can be an effective strategy for weight loss and may help increase lean body mass.
For example, one study in 141 people showed that pairing 40 minutes of aerobics three times per week with a weight management program resulted in a 9% decrease in body weight in just six months.
It’s generally recommended to do at least 20–40 minutes of aerobics per day, or between 150–300 minutes per week.
Jogging, cycling, rowing, swimming, jumping rope, and dancing are all activities that can help you meet your daily cardio goals.
6. Reduce Refined Carbs
Refined carbs are carbohydrates that have undergone processing, resulting in a product that’s lower in several key vitamins and minerals. Typically, refined carbs are high in calories but low in fiber, which can spike blood sugar levels more quickly and result in hunger.
Examples of refined carbs that are often lacking in nutrients include pasta, white bread, breakfast cereals, and other pre-packaged ingredients. Instead, choose whole-grain foods such as quinoa, buckwheat, barley, oats, sorghum, and spelled. They’re high in fiber, which can help support blood sugar control, stabilize your appetite, and promote weight loss.
7. Set a Sleep Schedule
Aside from changing your diet and exercise routine, getting enough sleep each night is another important factor to consider for weight loss.
Multiple studies have found that sleep plays a role in regulating appetite and may also enhance weight loss.
One small study showed that people who lost weight through a calorie-restricted diet experienced greater reductions in both fat mass and total body mass when they got 8.5 hours of sleep each night compared to those who slept only 5.5 hours per night.
Another study in 245 women found that improved sleep quality and getting at least seven hours of sleep per night increased the likelihood of successful weight loss by 33%.
8. Stay Hydrated
Drinking plenty of water each day is very important when it comes to losing arm fat.
Some research suggests that drinking water with meals can promote feelings of fullness and decrease the total number of calories consumed.
Water may also help temporarily increase metabolism, which can enhance weight loss.
A study in 13 people found that drinking 500 mL of water temporarily increased metabolism by 30% for 30–40 minutes.
Another study in 14 people showed that drinking 500 mL of water before a meal decreased the number of calories consumed by 13%.
Drinking one to two liters of water per day is a simple way to help enhance fat burning and avoid excess arm fat.
9. Do Bodyweight Exercises
If you don’t have access to a gym or equipment, doing bodyweight exercises is a great way to enhance muscle tone in your arms and keep them looking slim.
Bodyweight exercises involve using your body as a form of resistance to build up muscle mass and strength.
While they may not burn a large number of calories, bodyweight exercises can help increase muscle mass and can be especially beneficial if you’re looking to shed arm fat.
Some bodyweight exercises that can help sculpt your arms include push-ups, planks, tricep dips, and inchworms.
For best results, be sure to incorporate these exercises into your routine a few times per week.
The Bottom Line
Although research shows that spot reduction is ineffective, there are plenty of strategies you can use to lose arm fat and increase weight loss.
Including even just a few of these changes in your daily routine can support weight loss and help you shed your extra arm fat.
Be sure to pair these tips with a well-rounded diet and regular exercise to keep your body healthy and help improve overall body composition.
