If you want to learn how to lose arm fat, you’ll have to realize that it will not be a stand-alone program. Instead, losing arm fat is a multi-faceted approach, and you can do it by following these few simple tips.

How to Lose Arm Fat: The Top 3 Countdown

#3 Aerobic Exercise

There’s no way to get around it; it’s going to take some cardio training (in addition to weight training) to burn off excess body fat and reveal those sexy, toned muscles beneath. One of the biggest reasons to do cardio is to burn a lot of extra calories, which will be necessary to show off your newly toned arms.

Aim for at least 30 minutes of walking (or some other movement you enjoy) a day to start. You can later increase the frequency of cardio sessions, the duration, and the intensity as you move along in your program to get more rapid results.

#2 Adjust Your Diet

Yes, it’s true. You can’t spot reduce, so that means you have to lose fat over your entire body if you want to lose arm fat. How do you adjust your diet for fat loss? Start by figuring out how many calories you need to maintain your current weight. There are a lot of calorie calculators online to choose from. You’ll plug in your height, current weight, sex, age, and level of activity, and the calculator should give you a ballpark maintenance calorie level.

From there, depending on how fast you want to shape up, subtract between 10 and 20% of your calories to start losing body fat. Follow this plan for two to four weeks and then reassess and adjust.

Not only will you want to reduce your calories and move to whole, healthy natural foods, but you’ll want to cut out processed foods wherever you can. Is it the calorie count in those foods that’s the problem? Well, partly, but the other problems are that refined foods are full of chemicals and toxins that may make it more difficult for your body to release fat. These toxins can also create cravings you might not otherwise have if your diet is based on healthy whole foods.

Additionally, processed foods and sugars will leave you in an energy slump and hungry, and that will just make losing weight more difficult.

So, stick with healthy foods and make sure to get plenty of protein and fiber in your diet throughout your day. Protein is what makes up muscle tissue, so if you want to build muscle, you need to eat lots of protein. And fiber can help you feel full and create more volume, so you eat less but still lose weight. Finally, don’t neglect healthy fats, which can also help you stay full and satiated for longer.

#1 Resistance Training

The number one thing you can do to lose arm fat and improve the sexy appearance of your arms is to engage in resistance training. Lifting weights will add some sexy shape (muscle) to your frame and give you a wonderfully toned look. Even if you are sporting some excess body fat, toning things up will change your look dramatically. Here’s what to do:

Arm Exercises to Quickly Tone Up

As you get all the other factors above in place, you can really hone in on your resistance training to target your arms. While you can’t spot reduce when it comes to fat loss, you can definitely focus your workouts on certain areas of the body to improve their size and shape specifically.

The muscles you’ll want to target in (and near) your arms are the biceps, triceps, chest, shoulders, and even your upper back. Why? Working a muscle by itself is nearly impossible, you have to recruit the surrounding musculature to complete movements. Yes, everything really is connected. That said, working the areas around the arms will give you a nice overall shape and will help you bring out the muscles in your arms.

Pushups

This just might be the number one exercise you can do to shape your upper body and shoulder girdle. You may need to start by doing pushups against a wall, countertop, table, bench, or just on your knees. That’s okay. You’ll graduate soon enough to regular pushups as you get stronger with practice.

Start face down with your palms on the ground (or against a solid surface) underneath your shoulders, with your arms straight. Keeping your legs straight (unless you’re doing knee pushups), slowly bend at the elbows to lower your chest toward the ground. Come down until your chest is a few inches from the ground, and then push back up to the starting position by straightening your arms again.

Face Pulls

This exercise will help shape the back of your arms and shoulders as well as your upper back. Stand in front of a cable machine with a rope attachment hooked up at about chest level (or above). Keep your feet about hip-width apart and grasp the ends of the rope, one in each hand, with an overhand grip (i.e., palms facing down). Pull the rope toward your face (separating your hands) to bring your arms up and toward your ears. Keeping your elbows high (above your wrists), pull your elbows back until they can’t go back any further. Squeeze your shoulder blades together, and hold this position for a moment. Then control the weight as you return to the starting position.

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Triceps Kickbacks

Grab a dumbbell in your right hand. You can kneel on a bench or simply bend over at the waist, bringing your upper arm next to your side and up so that it’s parallel with the ground. Your elbow should be bent at a 90-angle, and your palm should be facing your body. Next, kick your hand and forearm back and upward to straighten your arm fully. Squeeze your triceps muscles as you do this movement, and don’t allow your upper arm to move. Control the weight as you return to the starting position and repeat.

Hammer Biceps Curls

Grab a dumbbell in your right hand. You can kneel on a bench or simply bend over at the waist, bringing your upper arm next to your side and up so that it’s parallel with the ground. Your elbow should be bent at a 90-angle, and your palm should be facing your body. Next, kick your hand and forearm back and upward to straighten your arm fully. Squeeze your triceps muscles as you do this movement, and don’t allow your upper arm to move. Control the weight as you return to the starting position and repeat.

Shoulder Side Raises

Again stand with your feet about hip-width apart. With a dumbbell in each hand (start with something light, like two to five pounds), raise your straightened arms out in front of you until they are parallel with the floor. Your elbows should be “soft,” that is, not locked. Hold the weight at this top position for a moment and then slowly return to the starting position.

Remember that changing the shape of your arms takes time and effort. Focus first on the healthy habits of exercising regularly, eating more healthy whole foods, and gently decreasing the calories you consume, and your arms (as well as the rest of your body) will start taking shape.

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