I hear many women say they want more toned and defined arms.  They lack some confidence to go sleeveless or to wear that little black dress and show their upper arms.  Arm flab is what they want to lose.  The question is, how to define the muscles in your arms?

Toning your arms is more than heading to the weight rack.  To build dense, thick, and defined arm muscles, it is important to focus on both strength training and proper nutrition. 

Here are some questions to get started with.

• How much exercise have you done up to this point?
• Are you focused on your nutrition?
• Do you currently do any strength training?

It is tough to lose upper arm flab.  You can’t tone fat and lose skin. You can tone muscle that lies underneath the skin to gain more shapely arms. Part of the lack of tone in upper arms can be due to an overall increase in total body fat.  Not having enough muscle in the body contributes to being fat. Someone can be categorized as “fat” no matter how big or little the number on the scale is when there is a lack of muscle in the body.

If you want toned arms, the real challenge is to increase total lean muscle tissue in the entire body.  A few arm exercises alone will not get the job done. Your arm muscles are small. It is better to concentrate on your larger muscles such as your chest, back (which also use the arm muscles) and leg muscles.  Exercise boosts your metabolism. When you boost your metabolism by working on your large muscle groups, you will do far better for overall muscle tone than if you only target your arms.

Nutrition

Nutrition also matters. Be sure to eat enough protein, nutrient rich veggies, and healthy fats. Junk food, sugar, and refined carbs are friends of flabby arms.  Also, stay hydrated by drinking plenty of water throughout the day.

Weight Training

There are a great variety of exercises that will tone your arms. Incorporate arm work with larger muscle work. Do 3-5 sets of each exercise and 10-15 reps within a set. Some favorite arms exercises are:

Bicep curls

Reverse fly

Tricep Extension

Lateral Raise

Push-ups

Building muscle and changing body composition takes time and consistency.  Stick to a workout and nutrition routine to see the best results. There are many factors involved in how to define the muscles in your arms.