How to spot-treat my upper arms and waist with exercise?
August 3, 2012 1:34 PM Subscribe
So I know you can't spot-treat areas of the body with exercise/weight loss, but if I DID want to spot-treat my upper arms and waist, how would I go about doing this?
I'm in general quite happy with my body. I eat reasonably healthily (Kashi, eggs, lots of salads with protein, although, ahem, admittedly also some chocolate, cheese, and wine), and am pretty comfortable with my shape. For reference, in case it matters for the purposes of your answers, I would consider my body type to be not particularly slim but rather curvy athletic (34C/D - 29" - 37"). I'd really like to reduce the size of a couple of areas of my body in particular:
1. My upper arms: I feel like my upper arms look conspicuously and unattractively large especially in the girly sundresses that I wear. I'm not sure that the problem is flab, as my upper arms appear to me to be actually quite muscular: when I tense them up to make a muscle, they're almost entirely hard, and when I try to pinch fat, I seem only really to get skin. However in general I think that they look big or flabby when I'm not tensing them up (being pale rather than tan probably doesn't help). I still would prefer that they be a bit smaller, or, barring that, that the muscles looked more defined so that it was clear without flexing that the area is muscle rather than flab. Is there any way to tone them or reduce their size without bulking up further? I'd be very happy to lose muscle in that area in the process, as I have as much muscle as I need, as far as I'm concerned, and I'm going for aesthetics here. I think my body naturally gains muscle very easily: I used to be a runner and a swimmer, and I was always larger and weighed more during the seasons when I competed than the seasons that I didn't (with muscle, as far as I could see). My sister also gains muscle ridiculously easily, and when she started lifting weights to tone her arms, they became really large, which I'm worried about.
2. My waist: I'd love to slim down a couple of inches on my waist, in particular so I can better fit into 1950s dresses from Ebay/Etsy without having to wear foundation garments etc.
At the moment, I walk a few miles a day, often carrying bags of groceries, and do the occasional hiking, kayaking, or other outdoorsy thing. I don't go to the gym, lift weights, or any other indoor exercise. I would prefer exercises that I could do at home, as I'll be away for the next month without gym access. However I'd be happy to hear gym exercises too, as although I tend to find going to the gym boring and thus have difficulty motivating myself, I'd consider joining a gym if need be. I'd love to have suggestions of (or links to) specific exercises that I could do to target these areas. I'd also be interested in general suggestions about which types of exercises to do to achieve what I've suggested with my body type (e.g. do Pilates and avoid weight-lifting), and why. If the answer is that this is generally impossible, and I can only do this through overall weight loss by dieting etc., don't sugarcoat it, although I'm wary of that option because I tend to lose weight from my breasts first when I diet, and I'm not so keen on buying a whole new bra wardrobe. Thanks for any suggestions you all have!
I'm in general quite happy with my body. I eat reasonably healthily (Kashi, eggs, lots of salads with protein, although, ahem, admittedly also some chocolate, cheese, and wine), and am pretty comfortable with my shape. For reference, in case it matters for the purposes of your answers, I would consider my body type to be not particularly slim but rather curvy athletic (34C/D - 29" - 37"). I'd really like to reduce the size of a couple of areas of my body in particular:
1. My upper arms: I feel like my upper arms look conspicuously and unattractively large especially in the girly sundresses that I wear. I'm not sure that the problem is flab, as my upper arms appear to me to be actually quite muscular: when I tense them up to make a muscle, they're almost entirely hard, and when I try to pinch fat, I seem only really to get skin. However in general I think that they look big or flabby when I'm not tensing them up (being pale rather than tan probably doesn't help). I still would prefer that they be a bit smaller, or, barring that, that the muscles looked more defined so that it was clear without flexing that the area is muscle rather than flab. Is there any way to tone them or reduce their size without bulking up further? I'd be very happy to lose muscle in that area in the process, as I have as much muscle as I need, as far as I'm concerned, and I'm going for aesthetics here. I think my body naturally gains muscle very easily: I used to be a runner and a swimmer, and I was always larger and weighed more during the seasons when I competed than the seasons that I didn't (with muscle, as far as I could see). My sister also gains muscle ridiculously easily, and when she started lifting weights to tone her arms, they became really large, which I'm worried about.
2. My waist: I'd love to slim down a couple of inches on my waist, in particular so I can better fit into 1950s dresses from Ebay/Etsy without having to wear foundation garments etc.
At the moment, I walk a few miles a day, often carrying bags of groceries, and do the occasional hiking, kayaking, or other outdoorsy thing. I don't go to the gym, lift weights, or any other indoor exercise. I would prefer exercises that I could do at home, as I'll be away for the next month without gym access. However I'd be happy to hear gym exercises too, as although I tend to find going to the gym boring and thus have difficulty motivating myself, I'd consider joining a gym if need be. I'd love to have suggestions of (or links to) specific exercises that I could do to target these areas. I'd also be interested in general suggestions about which types of exercises to do to achieve what I've suggested with my body type (e.g. do Pilates and avoid weight-lifting), and why. If the answer is that this is generally impossible, and I can only do this through overall weight loss by dieting etc., don't sugarcoat it, although I'm wary of that option because I tend to lose weight from my breasts first when I diet, and I'm not so keen on buying a whole new bra wardrobe. Thanks for any suggestions you all have!
If the answer is that this is generally impossible, and I can only do this through overall weight loss by dieting etc., don't sugarcoat it,
Pretty much this. Strength training (e.g., lifting weights) will help by preserving or adding to your existing muscle mass. With all due respect, there is fat covering the muscles on your arms. The only way to "fix" this is to reduce overall body fat and/or increase overall muscle mass.
Start lifting weights last Thursday. Look into programs like "Starting Strength" or "New Rules of Lifting For Women". You're gonna love the way you look.
posted by jclovebrew at 1:42 PM on August 3, 2012 [2 favorites]
Pretty much this. Strength training (e.g., lifting weights) will help by preserving or adding to your existing muscle mass. With all due respect, there is fat covering the muscles on your arms. The only way to "fix" this is to reduce overall body fat and/or increase overall muscle mass.
Start lifting weights last Thursday. Look into programs like "Starting Strength" or "New Rules of Lifting For Women". You're gonna love the way you look.
posted by jclovebrew at 1:42 PM on August 3, 2012 [2 favorites]
If I begin lifting weights, will this get rid of the fat and make my upper arms look slimmer, or will my arms bulk up and look even more muscular? The reason I haven't lifted yet is fear of the latter...
posted by UniversityNomad at 1:44 PM on August 3, 2012
posted by UniversityNomad at 1:44 PM on August 3, 2012
Pilates can make one's waist seem a bit slimmer, because of the "natural girdle" effect of strengthening the transversus and rectis abdominis. A bit slimmer; "a couple of inches" would be quite unlikely.
posted by Sidhedevil at 1:48 PM on August 3, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by Sidhedevil at 1:48 PM on August 3, 2012 [1 favorite]
If I begin lifting weights, will this get rid of the fat and make my upper arms look slimmer, or will my arms bulk up and look even more muscular? The reason I haven't lifted yet is fear of the latter...
If you are a female free of steroids, and not an genetic oddity, you will have a very hard time bulking up. Let's put it this way - it's not going to happen by accident, and especially not on a calorie deficit. It is simply a non-issue.
posted by jclovebrew at 1:48 PM on August 3, 2012 [8 favorites]
If you are a female free of steroids, and not an genetic oddity, you will have a very hard time bulking up. Let's put it this way - it's not going to happen by accident, and especially not on a calorie deficit. It is simply a non-issue.
posted by jclovebrew at 1:48 PM on August 3, 2012 [8 favorites]
So is the consensus that lifting weights is the best way to slim down my upper arms (as opposed to pilates, yoga, general cardio like running, etc.)?
posted by UniversityNomad at 1:54 PM on August 3, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by UniversityNomad at 1:54 PM on August 3, 2012 [2 favorites]
Lifting weights will increase muscle in your upper arms which may make them look more toned and if you're doing it as part of an exercise regimen you'll see some loss of fat but spot reduction is impossible.
posted by FAMOUS MONSTER at 1:57 PM on August 3, 2012
posted by FAMOUS MONSTER at 1:57 PM on August 3, 2012
I'd love to slim down a couple of inches on my waist, in particular so I can better fit into 1950s dresses from Ebay/Etsy without having to wear foundation garments etc.
Consider that in the 1950's most dresses were designed with the assumption that some foundation garments would be worn underneath them, so expecting to fit into vintage clothing without them may not be realistic. All those actresses on Mad Men? Foundation all the way, baby.
posted by ambrosia at 1:57 PM on August 3, 2012 [10 favorites]
Consider that in the 1950's most dresses were designed with the assumption that some foundation garments would be worn underneath them, so expecting to fit into vintage clothing without them may not be realistic. All those actresses on Mad Men? Foundation all the way, baby.
posted by ambrosia at 1:57 PM on August 3, 2012 [10 favorites]
If I begin lifting weights, will this get rid of the fat and make my upper arms look slimmer
If you begin lifting, your upper arms will look less flabby and will appear more muscular even when you're not flexing your arm muscles. You will not bulk up.
Anecdata: a close friend of mine is very petite and also a hardcore powerlifter. She weighs about 105 lbs. soaking wet and can lift significantly more than her own body weight. Her arms are toned and have beautiful muscle definition. She does not look at all bulky, and we're talking about someone who lifts well over 100 lbs. on a regular basis.
posted by pecanpies at 1:58 PM on August 3, 2012 [2 favorites]
If you begin lifting, your upper arms will look less flabby and will appear more muscular even when you're not flexing your arm muscles. You will not bulk up.
Anecdata: a close friend of mine is very petite and also a hardcore powerlifter. She weighs about 105 lbs. soaking wet and can lift significantly more than her own body weight. Her arms are toned and have beautiful muscle definition. She does not look at all bulky, and we're talking about someone who lifts well over 100 lbs. on a regular basis.
posted by pecanpies at 1:58 PM on August 3, 2012 [2 favorites]
I disagree with everybody who says you will not bulk up. Some women DO have a genetic tendency to bulk up and you basically said you are one of them, based on your history and your sister. Also, bulky arm muscle covered by a thin layer of fat does look just plain big rather than muscular. I work with circus performers; we women have big arms. They are bulky. And they don't necessarily look buff or ripped in sundresses. I also work with woman who are amazingly strong and still have slender, lean arms. But as far as I can tell it has more to do with genetics than diet or exercise. The fact that there are some female powerlifters who are slender doesn't mean you personally won't bulk up.
It sounds like you need to lose body fat. Your body might fight you on this, because it also sounds like you are pretty healthy. For exercise, I'd recommend cardio of various sorts -- high intensity interval training in particular, but long-distance running would probably work too if that appeals. Weight-training does help with fat loss, but I don't think you want to train your upper body much. You could probably get benefits from just training your legs. If you do train your arms, focus on low reps and high weight, which tend to build strength more than bulk.
Also, I don't think yoga or pilates will do much. Some kinds of yoga do a lot of chaturangas, which build triceps muscles -- not what you want. Pilates may slightly slim your waist as mentioned above, but is unlikely to help burn fat.
posted by nevers at 2:07 PM on August 3, 2012 [19 favorites]
It sounds like you need to lose body fat. Your body might fight you on this, because it also sounds like you are pretty healthy. For exercise, I'd recommend cardio of various sorts -- high intensity interval training in particular, but long-distance running would probably work too if that appeals. Weight-training does help with fat loss, but I don't think you want to train your upper body much. You could probably get benefits from just training your legs. If you do train your arms, focus on low reps and high weight, which tend to build strength more than bulk.
Also, I don't think yoga or pilates will do much. Some kinds of yoga do a lot of chaturangas, which build triceps muscles -- not what you want. Pilates may slightly slim your waist as mentioned above, but is unlikely to help burn fat.
posted by nevers at 2:07 PM on August 3, 2012 [19 favorites]
Try the Tracy Anderson workouts for stuff you can do at home. They're basically bodyweight dancing type moves and they're quite good.
posted by fshgrl at 2:09 PM on August 3, 2012
posted by fshgrl at 2:09 PM on August 3, 2012
Also, to slim down your arms and waist by losing body fat, you will, unfortunately, lose fat first wherever your body prefers. If that is your breasts, there is not much you can do about it. It may help some to look into reducing stress/cortisol, which encourages your body to store belly fat.
posted by nevers at 2:09 PM on August 3, 2012 [4 favorites]
posted by nevers at 2:09 PM on August 3, 2012 [4 favorites]
Hi-rep, low weight reps for your arms, and situps for your waist. With low weight, you won't build bulk, you'll just tone.
posted by DarlingBri at 2:11 PM on August 3, 2012
posted by DarlingBri at 2:11 PM on August 3, 2012
And I, personally, bulk up despite being a woman. I'm tall and small boned so I can pull it off but yeah some women do build muscle easily and quickly.
posted by fshgrl at 2:11 PM on August 3, 2012 [3 favorites]
posted by fshgrl at 2:11 PM on August 3, 2012 [3 favorites]
So for the waist, is the consensus that simple sit-ups or crunches are the most effective way of toning?
posted by UniversityNomad at 2:17 PM on August 3, 2012
posted by UniversityNomad at 2:17 PM on August 3, 2012
Here is what you need to understand: there is no such thing as "toning." You can build muscle and you can lose fat. That's it. "Toned" is just a colloquialism for someone with a moderate amount of muscle and low-ish bodyfat. To become "toned" you have to lose fat and/or gain muscle. You don't do anything different to become "toned" than someone who wants to become very muscular and very lean (like a bodybuilder), you just don't take it far.
It sounds like you mainly need to lose bodyfat. Weight loss is accomplished by creating an energy deficit -- burning more than you consume. That's done with diet and exercise, but primarily diet. To ensure that the weight lost is fat rather than muscle, you should lift weights. You can find more info on this page.
posted by ludwig_van at 2:29 PM on August 3, 2012 [21 favorites]
It sounds like you mainly need to lose bodyfat. Weight loss is accomplished by creating an energy deficit -- burning more than you consume. That's done with diet and exercise, but primarily diet. To ensure that the weight lost is fat rather than muscle, you should lift weights. You can find more info on this page.
posted by ludwig_van at 2:29 PM on August 3, 2012 [21 favorites]
So is the consensus that lifting weights is the best way to slim down my upper arms (as opposed to pilates, yoga, general cardio like running, etc.)?
So for the waist, is the consensus that simple sit-ups or crunches are the most effective way of toning?
Not to be an ass, but literally everyone in the thread is telling you that spot-reducing fat from particular areas of your body isn't possible. Maybe listen to the advice?
posted by downing street memo at 2:30 PM on August 3, 2012 [19 favorites]
So for the waist, is the consensus that simple sit-ups or crunches are the most effective way of toning?
Not to be an ass, but literally everyone in the thread is telling you that spot-reducing fat from particular areas of your body isn't possible. Maybe listen to the advice?
posted by downing street memo at 2:30 PM on August 3, 2012 [19 favorites]
What nevers said times one billion. I tend to gain weight - and keep weight - in my outer thighs. I can lose weight off my stomach, my sternum can stick out like some scary boney skeletor, and I will still have fat on my thighs.
You can build muscle, and you can lose fat, but the process of "toning" (less fat and more muscle) is not possible. Doing crunches will build up your abdominal muscles, but they will still be covered by a layer of fat unless you change your calories in/calories out ratio.
I recommend adding more high intensity cardio (running, swimming, or biking) to lose weight, and yoga or some weight training to add muscle. I would also recommend keeping a food diary for a week or two - you might be surprised at how many calories you eat vs. how many you thought you eat.
I don't mean to body-shame or sound like a jerk, but there's a common misconception that the average adult can slim down and shape up without significantly altering their diet or exercise regimen. (i.e., "toning") If you would like to change the shape of your body, eat less, do more cardio, and do some weight training. There is no shortcut.
posted by ablazingsaddle at 2:33 PM on August 3, 2012 [1 favorite]
You can build muscle, and you can lose fat, but the process of "toning" (less fat and more muscle) is not possible. Doing crunches will build up your abdominal muscles, but they will still be covered by a layer of fat unless you change your calories in/calories out ratio.
I recommend adding more high intensity cardio (running, swimming, or biking) to lose weight, and yoga or some weight training to add muscle. I would also recommend keeping a food diary for a week or two - you might be surprised at how many calories you eat vs. how many you thought you eat.
I don't mean to body-shame or sound like a jerk, but there's a common misconception that the average adult can slim down and shape up without significantly altering their diet or exercise regimen. (i.e., "toning") If you would like to change the shape of your body, eat less, do more cardio, and do some weight training. There is no shortcut.
posted by ablazingsaddle at 2:33 PM on August 3, 2012 [1 favorite]
...you can't target fat loss to certain areas of your body. Full stop.
This is not nearly as true as you think it is. Areas of the body that get more work get less fat. I've seen it happen.
I'm not sure that the problem is flab, as my upper arms appear to me to be actually quite muscular: when I tense them up to make a muscle, they're almost entirely hard, and when I try to pinch fat, I seem only really to get skin. However in general I think that they look big or flabby when I'm not tensing them up (being pale rather than tan probably doesn't help).
If you aren't popping veins out, then there is still plenty of fat in there. If it droops when the muscle isn't being flexed, there is fat in there. Muscles don't droop.
posted by gjc at 2:35 PM on August 3, 2012
This is not nearly as true as you think it is. Areas of the body that get more work get less fat. I've seen it happen.
I'm not sure that the problem is flab, as my upper arms appear to me to be actually quite muscular: when I tense them up to make a muscle, they're almost entirely hard, and when I try to pinch fat, I seem only really to get skin. However in general I think that they look big or flabby when I'm not tensing them up (being pale rather than tan probably doesn't help).
If you aren't popping veins out, then there is still plenty of fat in there. If it droops when the muscle isn't being flexed, there is fat in there. Muscles don't droop.
posted by gjc at 2:35 PM on August 3, 2012
Hi-rep, low weight reps for your arms
Do this all and all you'll get is tired. You should lift to failure--meaning lift as heavy as you can for a full set of 12 reps. Light weights is cardio, basically.
Building muscle means your body burns more calories even at rest. You might have the genetics to build muscle easily, but frankly, I'd rather have big biceps that are solid muscle than be skinny-fat.
And if you're going to do sit ups/crunches, make sure you're pushing your navel to your spine or else you'll build a strong, bulging midriff. Pilates is great for working your core. Or just practice sitting with your navel pushing in towards your spine.
posted by Ideefixe at 2:36 PM on August 3, 2012 [1 favorite]
Do this all and all you'll get is tired. You should lift to failure--meaning lift as heavy as you can for a full set of 12 reps. Light weights is cardio, basically.
Building muscle means your body burns more calories even at rest. You might have the genetics to build muscle easily, but frankly, I'd rather have big biceps that are solid muscle than be skinny-fat.
And if you're going to do sit ups/crunches, make sure you're pushing your navel to your spine or else you'll build a strong, bulging midriff. Pilates is great for working your core. Or just practice sitting with your navel pushing in towards your spine.
posted by Ideefixe at 2:36 PM on August 3, 2012 [1 favorite]
> "there is no such thing as "toning." You can build muscle and you can lose fat. That's it."
I see this repeated a lot on the internet, and Ludwig knows a lot more than I do about these sorts of things, but I should mention that there seems to be a fair amount of scientific literature on the difference between sarcoplasmic and myofibrillar hypertrophy.
posted by surenoproblem at 2:37 PM on August 3, 2012 [3 favorites]
I see this repeated a lot on the internet, and Ludwig knows a lot more than I do about these sorts of things, but I should mention that there seems to be a fair amount of scientific literature on the difference between sarcoplasmic and myofibrillar hypertrophy.
posted by surenoproblem at 2:37 PM on August 3, 2012 [3 favorites]
If you want to work abs, sit-ups and crunches are poor choices - crunches are sub-optimally effective, and sit-ups don't even really work the abs and can actually be bad for the spine if you do too many. Planks are a better choice, as are full-body lifts that use the core (e.g. squats).
posted by Earl the Polliwog at 2:42 PM on August 3, 2012
posted by Earl the Polliwog at 2:42 PM on August 3, 2012
You will not bulk up.
I love the way everyone says this without even knowing you, without even seeing you they're sure your arms are flabby not muscular. Some women do gain muscle easily and I'm going to take you at your word that you are one of them. Given that your sister is similar and did bulk up when lifting weights, its not unreasonable to assume you would to. I have PCOS (as do 5-10% of women, so not exactly freaksome or uncommon) and its pretty common among PCOS women to gain muscle easily.
If the issue is flab and you don't want to reduce your weight too much and don't want to change the parts you like, there are ways to spot reduce, if you have the cash. Liposuction, obviously if you want to go the whole hog with surgery but laser/lunchtime lipo is becoming more common and affordable and has no downtime, you'll generally have the sessions over a few weeks and will need to exercise (just regular cardio) to get results.
There are also various creams on the market that tighten the skin (I think most of them actually do it by dehydrating the target area slightly, so I suspect you'd have to use them forever to maintain results)
For the waist, do you have a couple of inches of excess fat there? Your genetics may just not be designed for 50s style dresses without foundation garments, most people's aren't. If you tighten your abs, is your waist as small as you'd like it to be? Exercises that tighten your core (planks for example) will give you a temporary waist reduction - same for pushups with your arms, depending on your body, just a few every morning could leave your biceps a little more 'pumped' and tighten up that under arm flab.
posted by missmagenta at 2:54 PM on August 3, 2012 [3 favorites]
I love the way everyone says this without even knowing you, without even seeing you they're sure your arms are flabby not muscular. Some women do gain muscle easily and I'm going to take you at your word that you are one of them. Given that your sister is similar and did bulk up when lifting weights, its not unreasonable to assume you would to. I have PCOS (as do 5-10% of women, so not exactly freaksome or uncommon) and its pretty common among PCOS women to gain muscle easily.
If the issue is flab and you don't want to reduce your weight too much and don't want to change the parts you like, there are ways to spot reduce, if you have the cash. Liposuction, obviously if you want to go the whole hog with surgery but laser/lunchtime lipo is becoming more common and affordable and has no downtime, you'll generally have the sessions over a few weeks and will need to exercise (just regular cardio) to get results.
There are also various creams on the market that tighten the skin (I think most of them actually do it by dehydrating the target area slightly, so I suspect you'd have to use them forever to maintain results)
For the waist, do you have a couple of inches of excess fat there? Your genetics may just not be designed for 50s style dresses without foundation garments, most people's aren't. If you tighten your abs, is your waist as small as you'd like it to be? Exercises that tighten your core (planks for example) will give you a temporary waist reduction - same for pushups with your arms, depending on your body, just a few every morning could leave your biceps a little more 'pumped' and tighten up that under arm flab.
posted by missmagenta at 2:54 PM on August 3, 2012 [3 favorites]
Anecdata for the arms...I've always thought my arms to be a bit flabby, i.e. too fat, especially the part above the elbow. I've ramped up my workouts swimming in the past few months, which for me is primarily doing the crawl with a pool buoy, because that's my favorite. I swim 45-60 min 2-3x per week with lots of breaks between laps and sets. So, lots of upper body work and moderate cardio overall. I haven't changed my eating habits at all and I haven't lost any weight. But my arms are definitely more defined/muscular. In my opinion, this gives me a much trimmer look, even though it may be that my arms have gotten more bulky (since there is obviously more muscle and the same amount of flab). So I would say you should do some arm strengthening....if you feel like you're getting too bulky there, back off a little.
posted by Tandem Affinity at 3:07 PM on August 3, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by Tandem Affinity at 3:07 PM on August 3, 2012 [1 favorite]
Also, fwiw, its far easier to change your personal style to suit your body type than it is to change your body to match your style. If your arms are too bulky for girly sundresses and your waist is too large for 50's dresses then find something that suits your more athletic body-type. There are certain looks I'd love to go for but they just wouldn't suit my body type and no amount of diet, exercise or surgery is going to change that.
posted by missmagenta at 3:15 PM on August 3, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by missmagenta at 3:15 PM on August 3, 2012 [1 favorite]
Although I hate them.... push-ups will actually help you spot-treat BOTH areas. A nice push-up (oxymoron!) will help with your arms, back, and core.
I'm hearing from more and more trainers that sit-ups are not really effective for the abs (somewhat effective, but not on the high end of things)
Doing planks, with a straight back, makes your core really work to keep you upright.
Push-ups are just moving planks.
While I disagree that women cannot "bulk up" over time, I agree that you will not bulk up by accident. People aren't able to work out for just a few weeks and get giant guns (unfortunately!). So if you believe you are getting too muscular, you can go from doing 5 workouts a week to 3, or something.
Also, I believe your reps vs weights factor into it. If you want to stay lean you do more reps with less weight (if 10 reps of 20lbs becomes easy, then you go to 15 reps of 20lbs) and if you want to bulk up you add more weight and keep the reps constant (if 10 reps of 20lbs becomes doable, then you go to 10reps of 30lbs).
FWIW (and you don't have to tell me I'm being judgmental, I know I am, and it's only my personal perspective) - I saw a young woman the other day who was pretty unimpressive (I don't think she was trying to impress - she was at work in a sweltering studio) except her arms were like, pure muscle. It was very impressive. It's very hard to go wrong with muscle!
posted by Lt. Bunny Wigglesworth at 3:15 PM on August 3, 2012 [1 favorite]
I'm hearing from more and more trainers that sit-ups are not really effective for the abs (somewhat effective, but not on the high end of things)
Doing planks, with a straight back, makes your core really work to keep you upright.
Push-ups are just moving planks.
While I disagree that women cannot "bulk up" over time, I agree that you will not bulk up by accident. People aren't able to work out for just a few weeks and get giant guns (unfortunately!). So if you believe you are getting too muscular, you can go from doing 5 workouts a week to 3, or something.
Also, I believe your reps vs weights factor into it. If you want to stay lean you do more reps with less weight (if 10 reps of 20lbs becomes easy, then you go to 15 reps of 20lbs) and if you want to bulk up you add more weight and keep the reps constant (if 10 reps of 20lbs becomes doable, then you go to 10reps of 30lbs).
FWIW (and you don't have to tell me I'm being judgmental, I know I am, and it's only my personal perspective) - I saw a young woman the other day who was pretty unimpressive (I don't think she was trying to impress - she was at work in a sweltering studio) except her arms were like, pure muscle. It was very impressive. It's very hard to go wrong with muscle!
posted by Lt. Bunny Wigglesworth at 3:15 PM on August 3, 2012 [1 favorite]
I love the way everyone says this without even knowing you, without even seeing you they're sure your arms are flabby not muscular. Some women do gain muscle easily and I'm going to take you at your word that you are one of them. Given that your sister is similar and did bulk up when lifting weights, its not unreasonable to assume you would to. I have PCOS (as do 5-10% of women, so not exactly freaksome or uncommon) and its pretty common among PCOS women to gain muscle easily.
Seriously. I don't know why it is such a rampant idea in certain circles that women are just incapable of bulking up, when there are SO MANY women with a naturally stocky and strong build walking around before our eyes. Nobody else descended from peasant farm women like I did? I don't mean bulked up to looking like a male body builder. I mean bulked up just like looking like a larger muscled, maybe more square-shaped female. You see these more solid, but still perfectly natural female body types in collegiate, amateur and professional female athletes like Shawn Johnson, Annie Chandler, Brandi Chastain, Gail Devers and thousands upon thousands of others, as well as millions of ordinary women. It is EXTREMELY easy for me to add bulky muscle, and I can, do, and have caused that by doing nothing but lifting weights. Not taking drugs, not going on any weird diets, not doing anything out of the ordinary. Not heavy weights either, 10lb hand weights and my arms grew enough just from that that my sleeves stopped fitting. If I bulk up I do not look like a male bodybuilder. I just have a more square-shaped, sausage-like look. A look that I see around all the time.
I am just saying this so that you know, OP, that if anyone says that women can't bulk up so just don't worry about it, you know off the bat that they are not taking into account the things that you are worried about. For me, the only way to get rid of those bigger arm muscles I grew was to just stop using them for years. Eventually it happened slowly. I was at my highest weight when I was that bulky (around 145 or so), and when I cut out sugar and slowly sank back down to 125 as a side effect, everything shrank overall, including the arms.
posted by cairdeas at 3:19 PM on August 3, 2012 [14 favorites]
Seriously. I don't know why it is such a rampant idea in certain circles that women are just incapable of bulking up, when there are SO MANY women with a naturally stocky and strong build walking around before our eyes. Nobody else descended from peasant farm women like I did? I don't mean bulked up to looking like a male body builder. I mean bulked up just like looking like a larger muscled, maybe more square-shaped female. You see these more solid, but still perfectly natural female body types in collegiate, amateur and professional female athletes like Shawn Johnson, Annie Chandler, Brandi Chastain, Gail Devers and thousands upon thousands of others, as well as millions of ordinary women. It is EXTREMELY easy for me to add bulky muscle, and I can, do, and have caused that by doing nothing but lifting weights. Not taking drugs, not going on any weird diets, not doing anything out of the ordinary. Not heavy weights either, 10lb hand weights and my arms grew enough just from that that my sleeves stopped fitting. If I bulk up I do not look like a male bodybuilder. I just have a more square-shaped, sausage-like look. A look that I see around all the time.
I am just saying this so that you know, OP, that if anyone says that women can't bulk up so just don't worry about it, you know off the bat that they are not taking into account the things that you are worried about. For me, the only way to get rid of those bigger arm muscles I grew was to just stop using them for years. Eventually it happened slowly. I was at my highest weight when I was that bulky (around 145 or so), and when I cut out sugar and slowly sank back down to 125 as a side effect, everything shrank overall, including the arms.
posted by cairdeas at 3:19 PM on August 3, 2012 [14 favorites]
If you are determined to spot reduce fat in certain areas of your body without losing weight or gaining muscle in those or other areas, your sole legitimate option that exists in the real world and not in an infomercial is liposuction.
posted by elizardbits at 3:19 PM on August 3, 2012 [10 favorites]
posted by elizardbits at 3:19 PM on August 3, 2012 [10 favorites]
For the waist- try different diets. If I drink 3 beers, eat pasta or fruit or drink black tea I look like I'm pregnant for 2 days. If I avoid all that stuff my stomach is pretty flat.
posted by fshgrl at 3:20 PM on August 3, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by fshgrl at 3:20 PM on August 3, 2012 [1 favorite]
I haven't changed my eating habits at all and I haven't lost any weight. But my arms are definitely more defined/muscular. In my opinion, this gives me a much trimmer look, even though it may be that my arms have gotten more bulky (since there is obviously more muscle and the same amount of flab)
Same amount of flab? No way!
If you haven't lost weight, but your arms are definitely most muscular, then that means you've lost quite a bit of "flab"! Muscle tends to be heavier (denser) than fat, so if the scale's staying the same, there's a shifting of balance.
One thing I recommend to anyone that gets discouraged about dieting/fitness/whatever (not saying that's you, Tandem, the idea just fits the response) is to get a scale that measures not just body weight but also body fat. It's very frustrating to change your diet and exercise and not see the scales go down (or sometimes go up!) but when the body fat is going down, it makes it easier. I have the Taylor Body Fat Scale (a later gen of this, I think) and couldn't love it more.
posted by Lt. Bunny Wigglesworth at 3:23 PM on August 3, 2012 [1 favorite]
Same amount of flab? No way!
If you haven't lost weight, but your arms are definitely most muscular, then that means you've lost quite a bit of "flab"! Muscle tends to be heavier (denser) than fat, so if the scale's staying the same, there's a shifting of balance.
One thing I recommend to anyone that gets discouraged about dieting/fitness/whatever (not saying that's you, Tandem, the idea just fits the response) is to get a scale that measures not just body weight but also body fat. It's very frustrating to change your diet and exercise and not see the scales go down (or sometimes go up!) but when the body fat is going down, it makes it easier. I have the Taylor Body Fat Scale (a later gen of this, I think) and couldn't love it more.
posted by Lt. Bunny Wigglesworth at 3:23 PM on August 3, 2012 [1 favorite]
If you can't manage a real pushup, I'd advise doing them on an incline (ie, against a kitchen counter or stairs if you have the room) rather than kneeling pushups, its too easy to have poor form and cheat by using your hips to push. Doing them against a wall or counter with your core straight and tight works out both your key areas at once and is closer in form to the real thing.
posted by missmagenta at 3:23 PM on August 3, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by missmagenta at 3:23 PM on August 3, 2012 [1 favorite]
I'm not sure that the problem is flab, as my upper arms appear to me to be actually quite muscular: when I tense them up to make a muscle, they're almost entirely hard, and when I try to pinch fat, I seem only really to get skin. However in general I think that they look big or flabby when I'm not tensing them up
My arms are the same (hard when flexed, not able to pinch much) but I would say I have a ways to go on the toning, so trust your instincts and work out your arms a bit more to get rid of this.
I will say that some cuts of dresses are very unflattering, too.
posted by Lt. Bunny Wigglesworth at 3:30 PM on August 3, 2012
My arms are the same (hard when flexed, not able to pinch much) but I would say I have a ways to go on the toning, so trust your instincts and work out your arms a bit more to get rid of this.
I will say that some cuts of dresses are very unflattering, too.
posted by Lt. Bunny Wigglesworth at 3:30 PM on August 3, 2012
I changed my eating habits, lost weight (all over), and 100 push ups has done a lot to tone my arms and strengthen my core. I don't eat a super "clean" diet, and I'm not ripped; I just look less jiggly.
posted by rtha at 3:34 PM on August 3, 2012
posted by rtha at 3:34 PM on August 3, 2012
I love the way everyone says this without even knowing you, without even seeing you they're sure your arms are flabby not muscular. Some women do gain muscle easily and I'm going to take you at your word that you are one of them.
While I'm in the camp of "of COURSE women can bulk up", UniversityNomad said she "thinks" she gains muscle easily but it's not clear from her description she does - almost everyone will have more muscle when regularly competing in a sport than not, that's not unique. Furthermore she says she kayaks (an upper-body intensive activity) but still doesn't have much upper arm muscle. So the "try it and see" and "it won't happen by accident" aren't necessarily unfounded or wild guesses - they are based on the OP's description of herself.
posted by Lt. Bunny Wigglesworth at 3:40 PM on August 3, 2012 [1 favorite]
While I'm in the camp of "of COURSE women can bulk up", UniversityNomad said she "thinks" she gains muscle easily but it's not clear from her description she does - almost everyone will have more muscle when regularly competing in a sport than not, that's not unique. Furthermore she says she kayaks (an upper-body intensive activity) but still doesn't have much upper arm muscle. So the "try it and see" and "it won't happen by accident" aren't necessarily unfounded or wild guesses - they are based on the OP's description of herself.
posted by Lt. Bunny Wigglesworth at 3:40 PM on August 3, 2012 [1 favorite]
When people say you won't bulk up by lifting weights, they don't mean it's impossible for women to get bulky. They mean you aren't going to just wake up one morning and be totally jacked like by accident because you did some squats.
The things you can control are your body fat percentage (mostly by how you eat) and the sizes of different muscle groups (by exercising them). How you look depends on these things plus your frame. Vary your diet and your training routine until you find the mixture that works for you. There aren't any shortcuts unless you want surgery. No one said it would be easy.
posted by no regrets, coyote at 4:03 PM on August 3, 2012 [4 favorites]
The things you can control are your body fat percentage (mostly by how you eat) and the sizes of different muscle groups (by exercising them). How you look depends on these things plus your frame. Vary your diet and your training routine until you find the mixture that works for you. There aren't any shortcuts unless you want surgery. No one said it would be easy.
posted by no regrets, coyote at 4:03 PM on August 3, 2012 [4 favorites]
So I know you can't spot-treat areas of the body with exercise/weight loss, but if I DID want to spot-treat my upper arms and waist, how would I go about doing this?
Have liposuction, or a surgery to remove excess skin.
posted by yohko at 4:12 PM on August 3, 2012 [3 favorites]
Have liposuction, or a surgery to remove excess skin.
posted by yohko at 4:12 PM on August 3, 2012 [3 favorites]
My large upper arms haven't gotten begger (or smaller) from exercising the biceps, triceps and deltoids. They do look better to me than they did before. Try it -- if you don't like the result, just stop and your arms will quickly go back to their original state.
posted by wryly at 4:13 PM on August 3, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by wryly at 4:13 PM on August 3, 2012 [1 favorite]
It's not that you won't bulk up. It's more like, if you work out hard, or work out easy, you'll probably bulk up almost the same, but if you work out hard, you're more likely to lose the fat over the muscle, whereas if you try to do "toning" exercises you'll probably still get a bit of muscle pump but not actually lose the fat covering them.
Unless you work out really, really hard. I have big ass arms, and I lift a lot of weight. I earned those arms through years of heavy weightlifting. They are badges of honor, not something I got from 10lb dumbbells 3x a week.
posted by ch1x0r at 4:26 PM on August 3, 2012
Unless you work out really, really hard. I have big ass arms, and I lift a lot of weight. I earned those arms through years of heavy weightlifting. They are badges of honor, not something I got from 10lb dumbbells 3x a week.
posted by ch1x0r at 4:26 PM on August 3, 2012
Sounds like you have a similar body to me but I'm a teensy bit slimmer. I certainly do bulk up when I start doing any upper body exercises. Fortunately, I like this and I don't think it makes me look hefty, purely balanced. I'm not sure anyone else would notice any of this bulk, but it changes the way my clothes fit and bending my arms feels weird. It does make my arms look a lot better to me though.
At the moment I'm putting a little (and I do mean a little) effort into improving my upper body strength because I'm enjoying Tae Kwon Do and I want to be able to hit harder. I have a friend who is a personal trainer and after laughing at my pathetic upper body strength he suggested doing 20 secs pressups, 10 secs rest, 20 secs pressups, 10 secs rest etc for 4 minutes (8 sets). Because I am pathetic I am doing 'pressups' by leaning against a wall, but you might be able to do pressups while resting on your knees, or real pressups - whatever you can maintain for the above time. I do this once a day and I'm very happy about how my arms are looking.
I am also losing weight because it's summer and I'm eating a lot of salad. This may be contributing.
The times when I've had the smallest waist have been when I've been doing loads of yoga, loads of pilates, loads of dance or loads of singing (amazing abs workout when done well). I don't know whether this is because I feel healthier so I eat less, because I'm working those muscles all the time, or whether it's because I have better posture.
How is your posture? Better posture can make most bodies look better and that's certainly true for waists and arms.
I also hear you about losing weight from your breasts first. I simply have bras in three different sizes.
posted by kadia_a at 2:05 AM on August 4, 2012
At the moment I'm putting a little (and I do mean a little) effort into improving my upper body strength because I'm enjoying Tae Kwon Do and I want to be able to hit harder. I have a friend who is a personal trainer and after laughing at my pathetic upper body strength he suggested doing 20 secs pressups, 10 secs rest, 20 secs pressups, 10 secs rest etc for 4 minutes (8 sets). Because I am pathetic I am doing 'pressups' by leaning against a wall, but you might be able to do pressups while resting on your knees, or real pressups - whatever you can maintain for the above time. I do this once a day and I'm very happy about how my arms are looking.
I am also losing weight because it's summer and I'm eating a lot of salad. This may be contributing.
The times when I've had the smallest waist have been when I've been doing loads of yoga, loads of pilates, loads of dance or loads of singing (amazing abs workout when done well). I don't know whether this is because I feel healthier so I eat less, because I'm working those muscles all the time, or whether it's because I have better posture.
How is your posture? Better posture can make most bodies look better and that's certainly true for waists and arms.
I also hear you about losing weight from your breasts first. I simply have bras in three different sizes.
posted by kadia_a at 2:05 AM on August 4, 2012
Pilates and yoga worked well for me because of the focus on upper-body and core exercises, and if you go often enough it serves as a cardio workout that will help with overall weight loss. I'll echo that losing a little weight overall helps makes arms look the most defined: when I was really into yoga the cardio plus chaturangas gave my arms a very nice look. Plus yoga just does good things for my mood and brain.
I'm doing some pushups now with a similar effect, and I've seen noticeable change within a month. (I do really hate pushups, but oh well.)
posted by lillygog at 7:31 AM on August 4, 2012
I'm doing some pushups now with a similar effect, and I've seen noticeable change within a month. (I do really hate pushups, but oh well.)
posted by lillygog at 7:31 AM on August 4, 2012
If you want what Tracy Anderson calls "ballet dancer arms," try her arm workouts. Her program calls for people to use nothing more than two pound weights to prevent bulking.
Here and here are examples of what I'm talking about.
I've done this and have had great results. I was surprised at how difficult it was and how I felt like my arms would fall off.
posted by Hop123 at 7:55 AM on August 4, 2012 [5 favorites]
Here and here are examples of what I'm talking about.
I've done this and have had great results. I was surprised at how difficult it was and how I felt like my arms would fall off.
posted by Hop123 at 7:55 AM on August 4, 2012 [5 favorites]
This thread is closed to new comments.
...you can't target fat loss to certain areas of your body. Full stop.
Do cardio, lift weights, eat lots and lots of protein at a slight caloric deficit and you'll slim down.
posted by downing street memo at 1:40 PM on August 3, 2012 [6 favorites]