Is arm jiggle destroying your confidence and stopping you from wearing the clothes you want? “It can happen to anyone, even those who are slimmer,” says board-certified plastic surgeon Dr. Beverly A. Fischer. “Poorer upper arm muscle tone is sometimes the culprit. Fat and sagging skin collect below the arms due to decreasing testosterone hormones as we age. You might also see more sagging after you lose a lot of weight since the skin doesn’t always bounce back well.” While excess fat on your arms can seem impossible to shift, it’s incredible how much progress can be made in as little as two weeks through making simple lifestyle changes and focusing on fa-burning and toning. Here’s how to shrink arm jiggle and get more toned, strong arms in 14 days.
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Use Dumbbells To Tone Up
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Using dumbbells to build muscle will quickly give you beautifully toned, tight arms. “The good news is that by adding the right exercises to your workout routine you can start strengthening the muscles in your arms rather quickly,” trainer Stephanie Mansour tells TODAY. “One of my clients added a 5-minute arm routine to her typical workout routine and noticed a change after just three sessions. Within a week she already felt more confident in her sleeveless tops and dresses.” Mansour recommends these five moves using 3-5 pound dumbbells: bicep curls, tricep kickbacks, hug a tree, serve the platter, and V exercises.
Swimming Sessions
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Swimming is a great cardiovascular exercise for building beautiful arms and shoulders. “This is a wonderful low-impact exercise that can help fight flab,” says Dr. Fischer. “By concentrating on your upper arms with freestyle and butterfly strokes, you’ll be building and toning muscle.”
Calorie Deficit
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If the goal is also overall weight loss, focus on a calorie deficit. “Losing weight essentially comes down to one thing: By burning more calories than you’re eating, a math solution called a calorie deficit,” says the Cleveland Clinic. “You can create a calorie deficit by reducing your calorie intake or combining fewer calories with more exercise.”
Fuel Your Muscle
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Enjoy a nutritious diet with lots of quality protein, healthy fats, and fiber, such as the Mediterranean diet. “The Mediterranean Diet pyramid is one way to visualize what foods you should eat and how often,” says the Cleveland Clinic. “Different organizations have created slightly different versions of this pyramid. All Mediterranean Diet pyramids encourage you to eat mostly veggies, fruits, whole grain, and extra virgin olive oil while limiting red meat and sweets.”
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Yoga and Pilates
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Yoga and Pilates can help with building long, lean, strong arms. “Known for being an excellent core builder, Pilates tones the entire body,” says Dr. Fischer. “To focus on your arms, you can try specific exercises like tricep squat presses to help build muscle strength. For the same reasons that pilates is an effective toner, yoga also helps increase strength, along with balance and concentration. Positions like bridge pose, plank and reverse plank, and chaturanga dandasana help tone your underarms too.
Let Your Muscles Rest and Recover
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Don’t overdo it with the arm workouts, experts warn. “The muscles in the arms are much smaller than the rest of the body, so you need to ensure you have enough rest between workouts to continue progressing with your training,” Matt Harras, Head of Fitness at Virgin Active, tells Cosmopolitan. “If you overload the arm too often in a week, not only will you negatively impact your strength gains because your muscles don’t have time to recover, but you’ll also impact upper body workouts more generally, meaning you’ll struggle with chest, back and shoulder workouts if the arms are feeling tired. Aim to train the arms a maximum of 2 days a week, and schedule your workouts so a lower body session follows a tough upper body day. This will help the upper body recover whilst still remaining active.”