way to slim down arms?
 

This is my problem:
I've lost 50lbs, gone from a size 14 to a 4, lost 9 INCHES from my waist, a few inches around each thigh-but the size of my arms hasn't gone down nearly as much. Now I need a size small shirt to fit my body, but I sometimes have to buy a medium for my arms. They're much more toned than they used to be-they don't really look flabby, especially considering the weight I've lost. I also carry around my child all the time, and I've noticed as his weight goes up, so does my arm size.
I'm starting to look very disproportionate. I've always been bigger in my upper body, but it's getting ridiculous. My arms actually look strange in pictures-like they don't belong with my body.
I do an hour of cardo and 45 minutes of non cardio type stuff (weights, push ups, sit ups, oblique excersises, ect.). 3-4x a week.
When I stop excersising they just get flabby and stay the same size.
Is there some type of excersize to make arms SMALLER instead of just toning up what's already there? i've tried everything I can find. I want feminine, small arms, not super-toned man arms (like Madonna's, which to me look just masculine and awful these days, lol).
Suggestions?

I have the same problem girl. I'm in a 5 now and still have big arms. I tell everyone that if I cut my hair off I would look like a football player with my broad shoulders and big arms. All I know is to do light weights to tone and not gain a lot of muscle. I didn't realize you had lost so much weight, congrats. Do you lose it all doing Atkins?

No, I lost some of it on a low calorie diet that my Doc put me on, and some with other "fad diets" It took me about 2 years. Atkins is the ONLY diet I have ever been on that is effective and do-able, though.

gahh, I have the SAME PROBLEM. my arms are ginormous! my mom tried to get me to swim when I was little because I have such a gimungous upper body. Um, I just do regular toning...they don't get smaller but at least they're not flabby.

kickboxing kickboxing kickboxing!!!

....a dance class?

I did Jazz which always seemed to involve having your arms in the air for an hour - my arms reduced dramatically!!

L

I second kickboxing. I truly believe that the combination of cardiovascular+lots of reps+not much resistance (but you can wear weighted gloves) really does the trick.

Weight training can also help firm up your arms..but you have to remember that there's a bunch of different muscles in there that need different moves and probably different levels of resistance. Most likely, your biceps are stronger than your triceps.

Kris

Do alot of weithted tricept exercises as well as sholder exercises. As some1 else said lighter weights, lots of reps.

Hi.

Just remember that you cannot target fat loss. Fat comes off all over, but people's fat cells are distributed differently.

You can target specific muscles to work on, but they are a different things. Building the muscles in your arms will not cause the fat to burn in the same place.

Building muscle should help your body burn fat better. I feel that fat comes off on a "last on - first off" basis.

Good luck!

Try to do exercises with the dumb-bell

Try to do light weights with more reps. Punching a boxing bag works realy well too...

I just started working with this new machine I found at the gym... its like cycling but you're standing and the pedals are made for your hands... so you pedal as slow or as fast as you like... it worked out my arms like crazy!!!!

I agree with patty. I've done a lot of targetted exercising to no avail. I learned that fat does not come off where you want it, same way that hair does not grow where you want it to... http://www.lowcarbsite.com/images/sm...n_confused.gif

If you want strong sexy arms, you gotta lift heavy not light. Lift enough weight that you can only do about 8 perfect reps, and do them S L O W L Y. Form has to be perfect... no swinging the weight or using momentum. Count to 5 on the contraction and to 5 on the extention. Yes, it's different... but I've read a lot on this and it's like the mantra of eat low fat to lose weight. It's far more effective to lift heavy with fewer reps than light weights over and over. Women can't build muscle like men so we actually NEED to use heavier weights for that reason alone. Women won't get bulky. We'll get defined muscle shape and firm. Even if you have a fat layer that prevents it from showing... it will be there when the fat is lost. Also, be sure to work opposing muscle groups. Don't just do bicep curls... do tricep presses, too.

I work out a good bit and the only way I have found to really decrease the size of a body part that already has a great deal of muscle built up on it is to do constant light weight aerobic excercises. Something with like a 5 or 10 pound weight for several hours. If you lift heavy weight the muscle is going to get larger. Think of it like the difference between runners and weight lifters. Runners have thin lean legs. Weight lifters have large thick legs. Large muscles will lean out if the heavy weight is removed and is replaced with light weight for LONG durations of movement. Concentrate on the full range of motion too. This will stretch the muscle and promote it becoming lean.

The suggestion of kickboxing and working on a punching bag are good ones. Just make sure to keep at least a 5 pound weight in each hand so that your arms have more stress on them than just their own weight. They will burn this way. If you are into martial arts at all... try working with a Bo Staff, or Escrima sticks. These will burn the crap out of your arms after a few hours. They will really define your shoulders too.

Congratulations on your great weight loss!

Arm size:
Maybe you already know this, but any exercise that works your arms should be done with a light weight, but lots of reps. That tones the muscles without building them. Maybe modify your pushups also so that you're not putting a lot of weight on your arms-- do girls style with bended knees, for example.