The upper arm is one of the most common and noticeable locations of excess fat. You may see the added bulk in pictures or the mirror and feel the extra jiggle when you move your arms. How can you get rid of the flab and tone up your upper arms as you lose weight after bariatric surgery?
Getting leaner-looking arms requires two things:
- Losing fat
- Toning your arm muscles
- Losing Fat Everywhere
There is no exercise that will remove excess fat from just one area of your body, despite the claims of popular workout videos. Doing cardio activities that get your heart pumping and your body moving will help you burn calories and lose fat all over. If you want to shrink your arms, you’ll have to settle for losing weight everywhere.
Toning Your Arm Muscles
While you can’t focus on losing fat from your arms, you can work on building your arm muscles. Building muscle mass in any part of your body will help you burn more calories, which leads to more fat loss. Building muscles in your arms can leave you with a more toned, sculpted look after the fat has disappeared.
Two simple exercises to tone arm muscles include:
Bicep curls: Start by holding a dumbbell straight by your side. Slowly bring the weight up to your shoulder by bending your elbow. Lower the weight back down to your side. Repeat this 8 to 12 times.
Tricep extensions: Use both hands to hold one dumbbell or weighted ball above your head. Bend your elbows to slowly lower the weight behind your head. Extend your arms to raise the weight up to the starting position. Repeat 8 to 12 times to complete a set.
Arm Lift Surgery
If you have lost a significant amount of weight with bariatric surgery, no amount of toning will remove the sagging skin sometimes referred to as “bat wings” that you may be left with. One of the most frequently performed procedure performed by plastic surgeons after weight loss is the brachioplasty or arm lift. Excess skin procedures often result in long scars but modern scar minimization techniques may allow your surgeon to reduce scarring. For older patients with less elastic skin, brachiolasty may be the only viable method for removing excess skin and fat under the arms.
