How can you lose weight on the upper arm?

introduction

Just as fat pads in the abdomen and hips can be very annoying, many people find fat pads hanging on their upper arms, so-called “waving arms”, to be a nuisance.
With regular strength training of the arm muscles and fat burning through endurance training, these love handles can be removed.
In addition, you should eat a healthy and balanced diet in order to increase the training effect.

It is important to mention that it is not possible to only lose weight on the upper arms.
Rather, regular exercise boosts the fat burning of the entire body.

But there is also the option of surgical removal of the excess fatty tissue from the upper arms, by means of liposuction.
Hanging sections of skin can also be removed with the surgical upper arm lift.

What methods are there to lose weight on the upper arm?

Targeted weight loss on the upper arms is not possible.
Rather, the combination of exercise and a change in diet causes excess fat tissue to be increasingly broken down all over the body.
A change in diet does not mean going hungry! Instead, you should pay attention to a healthy, balanced food intake, which on the other hand leads to a calorie deficit: You should eat fewer calories than you actually use.

The training should consist of strength training and endurance sports.
Endurance sports such as jogging, Nordic walking, swimming, cycling etc. are very suitable for this.
Endurance training not only activates the carbohydrate stores and consumes ingested carbohydrates, but also uses up accumulated fat tissue.
Targeted strength exercises on the upper arms lead to an increase in the muscles of the upper arm muscles.
This gain in muscle, in turn, causes more calories to be metabolized.
In addition, there is a so-called afterburn effect after strength training. This means that the body uses more energy than usual during these hours.
So you can achieve leaner and firmer upper arms through the interplay of strength and endurance training.

You can find more information about endurance and strength training here:
Endurance sports and fat burning
Successful weight loss through weight training

Another possibility to reduce only the upper arm circumference without training is the surgical method: liposuction.

Liposuction is a common method in aesthetic surgery to surgically remove unwanted fat deposits that cannot be removed either through regular exercise or any diet or diet.
Various therapy methods are used.
Common to all methods is the destruction of fat cells and the suctioning off of them.
If there is more and more sagging excess skin after the operation, this can be reduced using other methods (e.g. thread lifting) and ensure taut upper arms.

Find out more about liposuction and upper arm lift at:
Liposuction - Everything You Should Know
The upper arm lift - what methods are there?

Which exercises help?

There are numerous exercises that, together with a balanced diet, help you achieve beautifully shaped, slim upper arms.
A distinction is made between exercises that can be easily performed at home and those that can be performed on sports equipment in the gym.
Here are three exercises you can do at home.

Flexion support

Flexors or “dips” are easy to do with a chair or bench.
Starting position: You grasp the front surfaces of the seat edge and step into the support.
It is important that the arms are not fully stretched.
Procedure: Now move your bottom towards the floor until you reach an angle of approx. 90 degrees in the elbow joint. Then the bottom is lifted up again.

approx. 3 sets of 15 repetitions

pushups

To do this, crouch down and then place your arms and hands on a mat at shoulder height.
Then you straighten your legs and tense your body.
The feet touch the mat with the toes.
Now you bend towards the ground a little, but don't touch it.
Then you push yourself up again, but always make sure that your back is straight.

approx. 3 sets of 15 repetitions

Over head triceps extensions

You need a dumbbell for this exercise.
Hold a dumbbell over your head with both hands and stretch your arms upwards.
Then you bring the dumbbell behind your head and lower your arms a little towards your shoulder blades.
Then you go back to the starting position.

approx. 3 sets of 15 repetitions

How can you lose weight without building muscle?

Losing weight is basically achieved through physical activity.
For this, muscles are of course activated.
The muscle work ultimately leads to muscle growth, which is related to the force applied.

Therefore, weight loss cannot be achieved without building muscles as part of exercise.
But you can reduce muscle growth by doing more endurance sports than weight training.
Because, unlike strength sports, endurance sports do not work specific muscle groups, but rather activate numerous muscles of the entire body.

However, you also lose weight more slowly because the muscles are relatively less stressed.
In addition, the side burning effect listed above fails.

You can also find out how you should eat properly as part of endurance sports:
Endurance sports and nutrition - you should pay attention to this!

Liposuction on the upper arm

Fat deposits that cannot be removed despite regular exercise and a balanced diet can be surgically removed using liposuction (Liposuction) to be eliminated once and for all.
Various methods can be used for this.

In the most common method, the tumescent procedure, saline solution and a locally effective anesthetic, which are summarized under the word “tumescent solution”, are injected into the sub-fatty tissue. The solution loosens the fatty tissue and consequently leads to the constriction of the surrounding blood vessels due to the swelling that has arisen, which greatly reduces the risk of bleeding and makes it easier to suck off the fat.
The procedure is painless and general anesthesia is no longer necessary due to the local anesthetic.

To suck out the fat, small incisions are made and cannulas are inserted into the tissue.
However, there are no scars, which is why liposuction is a popular option for removing bothersome fat deposits.

The cost of upper arm liposuction varies from clinic to clinic and also depends on the scope of the operation, but is usually in the four-digit range.
Sometimes it will also be necessary to have an upper arm lift afterwards, as a lot of excess skin remains, which can no longer recede on its own.

Would you like to know more about the cost of liposuction? Then read our article about it:
Liposuction costs

The upper arm lift

The arm lift is a surgical procedure that removes sagging skin folds.
To do this, the surgeon makes an incision in the armpit and guides it along the inside of the upper arm towards the elbow.
In this way, excess skin is removed and the cuts are then sewn up again.
With this procedure, however, the formation of scars cannot be completely avoided.

However, an upper arm lift will not be able to reduce the upper arm circumference if the cause is an increased proportion of fatty tissue.
Therefore, it is best to reduce the fat content of the upper arms through exercise and a healthy diet before considering tightening the upper arms.

The skin then pulls back to a certain extent depending on the age.
If long-term sagging skin flaps remain after removal, an upper arm lift can be considered.

The costs that arise for this again depend on the clinic and the size of the skin areas to be removed.
Many clinics also offer a non-binding quote for this.
In general, you should expect around 2000 to 5000 euros.