Full arms spoil everything: your mood, looking in a chic dress with short sleeves or without them at all, a beach suit, and, most of all, self-esteem!
Hanging ears and flabby triceps are very difficult to hide, and even harder to come to terms with. This feature is inherited and acquired by eating disorders and a sedentary lifestyle.
Most often, it is the back of the arms that sag - the triceps and flexor muscles in the armpit area. The reason is that by nature, we bend our arms more often in everyday life, and unbend them less often. Thus, the triceps muscle remains in the shadows and gradually begins to show itself in “all its glory.” How to reduce the size of your arms at home?
Since flabbiness is most often associated with excess weight , it is necessary to adjust your diet and perform a set of cardio and strength exercises. In this situation, you will be able to afford your first open dress no earlier than in a month.
Is it possible to reduce shoulders?
Yes, but only partly. Of course, it is impossible to change the width of the bones and the size of the shoulder joints, but there are several ways to visually reduce your shoulders. “The first method: increase the volume of the waist and hips, thereby making the shoulders appear smaller,” comments Escalada fitness club .
— The second way: pump up the trapezius or pectoral muscles, thereby the sloping shoulder will smooth out its width. Well, the third way is to reduce overall body weight and slightly pump up this area to restore muscle tone.” The last method is the most reliable, according to experts. It is useful to combine weight loss in general (after all, we do not lose weight locally) with training in problem areas. Thus, you will not only reduce the volume in this area, but also make it a little more prominent, more “elastic”.
Don't forget about your diet
The most important step on the path to removing excess volume (or, as you say, removing muscle) is to rebuild your diet. Something in your diet and eating habits has caused you to gain weight. Now you need to structure your diet so as not only to lose extra pounds, but also not to cut down on the supply of nutrients to the body. Our recommendations will be as follows:
- Eat small meals - break three main meals into 5-6 small ones.
- Drink more water.
- Eliminate “empty” calories—foods and drinks that don’t provide any benefit.
- Eat more vegetables and fruits, and also pay attention to foods rich in dietary protein, complex carbohydrates, and fiber.
- Never skip breakfast - this will allow you to properly structure your nutrition throughout the day. In addition, it is in the first half of the day that our digestive system is most active.
What workouts will help you lose weight in your shoulders?
Forget about big scales! “Interval strength and/or cardio training, any cardio classes (including group ones) and the pool will help reduce the volume in the shoulder area,” says Sergey Kotov.
Heavy weights will not help you lose weight in your arms and shoulders “Exercises with expanders, small dumbbells, weights and fitballs are suitable for this,” notes Mikhail Vysochansky, master trainer, senior trainer at the gym of the X - Fit Monarch . “It’s important to maintain a high-repetition training regimen and work in a cardio mode rather than a strength mode.”
It is also important to get enough cardio exercise. “Swimming, running, aerobics are suitable, but I would especially recommend training on the elliptical trainer. Firstly, this is the safest type of cardio for your joints. Secondly, he actively involves his hands in the work,” says Mikhail Vysochansky.
Popular mythology: where do the misconceptions about muscles come from?
Most often, girls think about reducing muscles, causing bewilderment among men, who have to fight for years in the gym to gain muscle tissue. Girls believe that, having acquired muscles, they will look too masculine, and their figure will lose proportions. In reality, everything is not so simple.
In fact, muscles decrease only in one case - when they atrophy. Want to know how to reduce leg muscles? Literally - stop walking and lie down on the sofa to “take care” of your legs. But seriously, visually the volume of your body is created not by muscles, but by subcutaneous fat or excess water. To remove it, on the contrary, you need to move as much as possible. After all, the more the muscles of the body are in work, the better they look. If the muscles rarely work, then, as a rule, they look flabby and loose. Moreover, this is typical even for very thin people - there is a type of figure called “skinny fat”, “fat skinny”. Such a person cannot be called overweight, but his muscles are undeveloped, and there is enough adipose tissue to make the body look flabby. In this case, thinking about how to remove muscles on the legs or arms is completely unnecessary. On the contrary, you will need good muscle development to form relief and “sculpt” a new figure.
As a rule, the idea of how to reduce hips as much as possible or how to remove muscles on the legs of girls arises from the desire to be like a model figure type. But the fact of the matter is that models are thin because they naturally have similar data. And even for them, maintaining such thinness comes with many difficulties in the form of unhealthy dietary restrictions and constant trips to the gym. Now the fashion industry is increasingly moving away from the type of unhealthy thinness towards a natural slimness and fit figure. The athletic type is just a girl who does not ignore strength training and does not think about how to remove abdominal or thigh muscles.
Often girls refuse to do strength exercises during training, fearing that it will make them masculine. In fact, such fears are unnecessary: in women, the hormonal background is characterized by less testosterone, and it is this that contributes to muscle building. Professional bodybuilders most often take steroids to significantly increase their muscle size. In the case of ordinary activities aimed at improving your figure and well-being, strength exercises not only will not harm, but, on the contrary, will help to form a harmonious body.
How to lose weight in the hands of girls: the most common mistakes
If your goal is to lose weight in your arms and shoulders, it is important to avoid the following mistakes:
- Refusal of cardio exercises. The reduction in volume occurs precisely due to aerobic exercise, so by refusing it, you slow down the process of losing weight.
- Using large weights. “Working with heavy dumbbells provokes muscle growth (not fat loss). To lose weight, it is important to do high-repetition exercise with light weights,” says Mikhail Vysochansky. Overtraining this area. “The shoulders are a relatively small muscle group. If you want to reduce volume in this area, there is no need to perform too many (and too often) isolated exercises for the shoulders - this will not make you lose weight,” notes Sergey Kotov. It's much better to do exercises to lose weight on your arms and shoulders as part of your regular workout routine, do regular cardio, and eat a balanced diet. This will help you lose weight and strengthen your shoulder muscles.
What exercises for arms and shoulders should you choose? We asked Mikhail Vysochansky to compose and show us a set of such exercises. You can do it at home, if you have the appropriate equipment.
Why aren't you losing weight from exercise?
Does it seem to you that from training, thanks to which you are supposed to lose volume, you, on the contrary, are gaining body weight? In fact, the following happens: if you have not done any physical activity for a long time, then during the first time of training your muscles will get stronger and increase in volume a little. But there is no need to worry about this and worry about how to remove muscles: firstly, during this same time you will already partially get rid of the fat layer, which will visually make your figure more attractive. Secondly, muscle and fat tissue look completely different: the first is dense and knitted, the second is loose and flabby. If you compare two people with the same weight, the one with more muscles will have a better figure. Some people, due to regular exercise, on the contrary, begin to weigh more, but visually decrease in volume - not surprising, because muscles are 30% heavier than fat. In addition, playing sports also affects the condition of the bones - they become stronger and also begin to weigh more.
Of course, there may be another option - from regular training and increased activity, your appetite simply increased and you began to eat more. Your muscles have begun to grow and require more nutrition, and if you do not reconsider your diet now, then, unfortunately, fat will not be burned either. It is worth limiting sweets, fatty foods, flour, alcohol, trying to keep your diet balanced - and then the fat will gradually melt away.
How to build a lesson
- Start your workout with a light warm-up . This will protect you from injury.
- Use the exercises at your own discretion. “You can perform the entire complex or select 3-4 exercises from it and add it to your regular workout. I would recommend training your shoulders on days when you train your legs or back,” says Mikhail Vysochansky.
- Perform exercises in 3-4 sets of 10 repetitions each.
- Do this program 2 times a week.
- Finish your workout with stretching .
To perform the complex, you will need a mat, dumbbells, a step platform (or bench), a bodybar, a kettlebell, and an expander.
Exercises for losing weight on arms and shoulders
Ideally, these should be performed several times a week, but it is important not to overtrain the shoulders since they are a small muscle group.
Kettlebell press
Take the weight in your right hand. Get down on your knees, step your left foot forward, bend your left knee to a right angle. Stretch your left arm to the side. Work your abdominal, back and arm muscles. Bend your right arm, pulling the weight toward your shoulder (fingers pointing toward you). Straightening your elbow and turning your hand away from you, lift the weight up. Return to the starting position for one repetition. Perform the required number of them in each direction.
Abduction of arms
Take a “pancake” in each hand. Stand straight, feet hip-width apart. Maintain a neutral lower back position. Extend your arms out to the sides, lifting the weights to shoulder level. Keep your elbows slightly bent. Then lower the “pancakes” down, connecting them in front of you. This will amount to one repetition, complete the required number of repetitions.
Raising your arms in front of you
Take the bodybar with both hands with an overhand grip, placing your palms shoulder-width apart. Place your feet hip-width apart. Maintain a neutral lower back position. Smoothly raise your arms with the bodybar forward to shoulder level. Then lower them down to their original position. This will amount to one repetition.
Bodybar press
Take the bodybar with an overhand grip, placing your palms shoulder-width apart. Place your feet hip-width apart. Work the muscles of the abs, back, arms, legs, back. Bend your elbows and pull the bodybar up to the level of your collarbones. Smoothly press the bodybar up, extending your arms above your head. Then lower the apparatus to the level of the collarbones, returning to the starting position. This is one repetition.
Arnold press
Take dumbbells in your hands and sit on a fitball. Work the muscles of your abs, back, legs and arms. Bend your elbows and lift the dumbbells up, bringing them together at eye level. Then, describing a circle with the shells, first spread the dumbbells to the sides (elbows are still bent), then lift them up (elbows are extended). Return to the starting position by bringing the dumbbells together in front of you at eye level. This will amount to one repetition.
Swing through the sides
Stand up straight, place your left foot on the center of the expander, grab the handles. Move your right foot back, bend your right knee and rest only on your toes. While stretching the shock absorber, spread your arms to the sides, raising your palms to shoulder level. Then lower them to the starting position and repeat.
Reverse push-ups
Sit on a step platform or bench, rest your palms on its edge. Bend your knees to a right angle, place your feet together. Leaning on your straight arms, slide your pelvis forward. Bend your elbows, lower your pelvis down, then perform a reverse push-up, straightening your elbows. This will amount to one repetition, complete the required number.
Butterfly
Stand straight, feet hip-width apart. Grasp the expander with your hands (its rubber part, not the handles). Raise your arms with the expander to chest level (palms at body width). Spread your arms to the sides, stretching the expander, then return your palms to their original position. Repeat.
Features of fat distribution
Fat in the body is stored mostly in special cells called lipocytes in the form of a chemical called triglyceride. In order for fat to be used for certain body needs (energy, cell wall formation, hormone production, etc.), the fat cell must split the triglyceride into fatty acids and glycerol. This process is called lipolysis. During it, fatty acids and glycerol are released from the fat cell and pass into the blood, and then transferred to those places in the body where they are needed.
The message about the need to start lipolysis and release stored fat into cells comes from hormones. Let us recall that hormones are bioactive substances that are used to control the cells of the body. They are secreted by special organs - glands - into the bloodstream, due to which they enter all zones of the body.
Passing near a cell whose processes the hormone should influence, it comes into contact with its receptor and gives the cell the necessary signal. If we talk about fat, this is a command to break it down.
Now, it has become clear that it will not be possible to retain hormones that travel through the blood in a certain area (on the stomach, sides, etc.). They will come into contact and give signals to all fat cells at the same time.
Photos "Before" and "After"
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