Toning Flabby Upper Arms

Q: I have been lifting weights to firm up my triceps for the past four months, but my upper arms are still flabby. Twice a week, I use 3- to 5-pound dumbbells, and for the past month, once a week, I bump it up to 10-pound dumbbells. But my arms are still loose when I hold them up and wave goodbye. I’m not overweight, so fat is not the problem. How long should it take to firm up this area?

A: Even though you are thin, you may still have a high percentage of body fat compared to your muscle tissue—and this can make you look flabby. That’s why dieting alone, or simply keeping your body weight low, doesn’t guarantee that you look firm and toned.

Resistance exercise needs to be part of the equation to firm up flab—so you’re on the right track lifting weights. But you need to give it time, and you need to continue to progress to heavier weights.

New moms have some of the best-looking arms around. When baby is born, mom is lugging from 6 to 8 pounds around all day. And as the child grows, so does the weight that mom has to carry. A 3-year-old who still demands to be picked up may weigh as much as 30 pounds. So the average mom has progressed from lifting 6 pounds to lifting around 30 over the course of a few years—and her arms probably look firm and strong (even if she has excess fat). 

On the other hand, many women working out on their own refuse to even lift a 10-pound dumbbell, much less a 20- or 30-pound weight. They are afraid of bulking up or straining themselves. But women who do progressively increase the amount of weight they use see the best results.

The key to lifting heavier safely is to not lift too much too soon. Increase the weight you lift by a few pounds every few weeks. You’ll know if the weight is too heavy if your joints feel strained when you first try to do an exercise.

If jumping from a 5- to 8-pound dumbbell is too much to handle, use a heavier weight for only a few repetitions. For example, if you normally do three sets of 12 reps of a triceps extension exercise with a 5-pound weight, try two sets of 12 reps with the 5-pound weight. Then do, say, six to eight reps for the third set with a heavier weight. Or do two to four reps of each set with a heavier weight, then complete the rest of each set using the lighter weight.

The key is to dole out your resistance in small, challenging amounts. Your muscles will get the stimulus they need and adapt by becoming stronger. Overloading too much will produce strain, but underloading will not trigger further improvements. So you need to  experiment with different amounts of weight and find ways to rev up the challenge just enough—but not too much—during each workout.

It takes months, not weeks, to see improvements in muscle mass. So keep lifting, but be patient. Try a variety of exercises—pushups and triceps dips on a bench, for example, and triceps kickbacks and extensions using weights.

If you tend to store body fat in your arms—even if you’re thin—adding more cardio workouts to your week can help decrease body fat all over, helping to make your muscles look more sculpted.

Find More from Martica:

• Lifting Weights to Lose Weight?
• Manipulating Calories You Eat
• Stretching Misconceptions
• Myths of Big Busts and Skinny Waists

Find all articles by Martica.

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Martica is a Manhattan-based exercise physiologist and nutritionist and an award-winning fitness instructor. She has written for a variety of publications including Self , Health , Prevention , The New York Times and others. Martica is the author of seven books, including her latest, - Cross-Training for Dummies . (Read her full bio.)