Toning up Arms

cinnamon

I am very slim (5'7", 8st 4lbs) However my arms arent very well toned.
I've done weights on my arms in the past (3x15 reps 3 times a week (0.5-1kg) - is this too little?) and I can feel the muscle getting more defined but I cant seem to get rid of the 'fat' off my upper arms (It's not very fat, just not toned).

I eat well, run 3 times a week, walk all the time, sometimes go cycling.
If I ever lose weight (which I'm not planning to do) it comes off my tummy area or face, never anywhere else. How do u get rid of this arm weight?

Is there a combination of cardio/weight training I can do that is good for my arms?

Thank you.

PS I know the difference between fat and muscle :P

ronbyrne2005

so you have bingo wings???

only kidding!

lift heavier dumbells and do biceps and triceps.

Smellyirishman

The "others" (ie; the people with a clue. ie; not me) will probably want to know what age and sex you are. They might also tell you that you cannot cut fat from any particular area, it will be lost evenly accross your body.

How were *you* finding 3x15, easy, medium, hard, pushing to failure... (I would hazard a guess that you could lift well over .5-1kg, maybe 10x that)

g'em

cinnamon wrote:

I've done weights on my arms in the past (3x15 reps 3 times a week (0.5-1kg) - is this too little?)

Yes. That's ridiculous. Your shopping bag weighs more than that. Lift as heavy as you can manage for 12 reps. It is NOT going to give you big biceps but will make them stronger. As pointed out you need to work triceps and biceps. The triceps are actually a bigger group of muscles and when they're toned they give your arms a sleek look. Plus the muscle groups are antagonistic (work against each other), so they should both be strong to prevent injury

To take away the fat you need a good diet. if you need help, post it up.

cinnamon

thanks for the advice

g'em wrote:

To take away the fat you need a good diet. if you need help, post it up.

My bmi is 18 so I dont want to lose weight. I eat well, am vegetarian and ironically am probably not eating enough fat so I don't know what is wrong with my body.

Could someone show me or direct me to a site where they show tricep/bicep exercises and how often they should be done a week
Thank you

g'em

dips, push downs and tricep extensions for the tri's, dumbell curls, hammer curls, ez bar curls, preacher curls.. ooh the list is endless for biceps!! you'll find descriptions for those exercises here (but don't worry you won't end up looking like either the man or the woman in the pictures )

Make sure the fats you get are good ones, and your diet can be happily up to about 20% (even more sometimes) fats if they're the right ones- nuts, seeds, fish, flax etc.

Caryatnid

cinnamon wrote:

I've done weights on my arms in the past (3x15 reps 3 times a week (0.5-1kg) - is this too little?) and I can feel the muscle getting more defined but I cant seem to get rid of the 'fat' off my upper arms (It's not very fat, just not toned).

WEIGHTS? You call these WEIGHTS!!??

Smellyirishman wrote:

The "others" (ie; the people with a clue. ie; not me) will probably want to know what age and sex you are.

Yes, it definitely makes a difference if you are male or female. I'm female, about 5' 1'' or so, weigh just over 7 and a half stone .... I'm not as toned as I'd like to be but I keep weights on my desk in work that are 0.9kg each. I don't even work up a sweat when I'm using them - that's why they're on my desk. My point is - even if you are a weak little female like me - lifting 0.5kg is basically useless. As g'em said you'ld get more of a work out going shopping. Buy a bag of sugar and carry it home.

t-ha

cinnamon wrote:

My bmi is 18 so I dont want to lose weight. I eat well, am vegetarian and ironically am probably not eating enough fat so I don't know what is wrong with my body.

If you are a vegetarian you will have a higher fat/muscle ratio unless you're very careful to enough protein in your diet, from sources which provide, or combine to provide all the essential aminos. I would like to see an example of your daily diet as this could be the issue.

'Spot reducing' as most people know it is a myth. There is certaintly the possibility that reduced bloodflow to a section of fat could hinder your bodies ability to use it for fuel, and increased bloodflow would have the opposite effect, however most people just need to reduce all round, and the effect of the above is not very significant. The positions on the body where fat is layed down first and taken from last are decided largely by your hormones. Therefore it is in your best interest to make sure that your diet is healthy if you feel it is coming off in an imbalanced way - that basically means make sure you're getting enough healthy fats (including some saturated fats), and often for a vegetarian, that your iron and protein intake are good too.

It is possible that you are what is called "skinny-fat", which is typically the result of chronic undereating. Lets see the diet anyways, and amounts or calorie values of meals would be helpful.

Seraphina

cinnamon wrote:

I am very slim (5'7", 8st 4lbs)

everyone else has given advice, there's no point in me repeating it, i just gotta say, at that height/weight, you must look great as it is, what are ya worrying about your arms for?!

cinnamon

what are ya worrying about your arms for?!

i would really like my arms to be toned - i see people with toned arms and think they look great.

here is my diet (i really try and drink 2 ltrs of water -sometimes I don't and i try to keep away from choc/biscuits)

BTW I am 31 (hate admitting that) and have never had children (if that makes any difference). I am a student so my days are spent in college

breakfast 8am- bowl of just right cereal with low fat milk
actimel or orange juice

11am - banana and/or apple
- healthy bar (nuts and fruit type thing)

1pm - brown bread with cheddar cheese, tomatoes, cucumber
- apple and/or health bar


3pm - maybe chocolate bar (twix) or just cup of black tea

5/6pm -vegetarian pizza (1 whole one!), sometimes i eat half with a salad
- or veg stir fry with lots of vegetables
- or fried eggs in brown bread
- or beans on toast

8pm -peppermint tea. lately i've started eating rubbish at this time like biscuits and chocs, but plan to cut out

I drink 2 litres of water throughout the day, sometimes plain, sometimes diluted orainge.
I used to eat no bad stuff whatsoever but find myself hungry and miserable.
I used to eat dried fruit and nuts and maybe should start eating them again.

Actually when I look at my diet I probably eat a lot of fats in my choice of dinner.

ronbyrne2005

thise "healthy bars" arent usually very healthy. your diet doesnt seem bad, if you have fat to lose either eat less or do more exercise and do some weight training to get defined arms or defined any part of your body. eat some healthy fats like flax seed oil.those dried fruit and nuts tend to be high in calories too,if your really hungry eat a bowl of porridge with some sugar or honey or dried fruit(not loads of nuts/seeds),its sweet and filling.

t-ha

cinnamon wrote:

i would really like my arms to be toned - i see people with toned arms and think they look great.

here is my diet (i really try and drink 2 ltrs of water -sometimes I don't and i try to keep away from choc/biscuits)

BTW I am 31 (hate admitting that) and have never had children (if that makes any difference). I am a student so my days are spent in college

If 2 litres of water is difficult to drink in the day, it hints that your metabolism mighten't be as quick as it could be. I'm just going to break down your intake now into the three main macronutrients (Protein/Carbohydrate/Fat).

cinnamon wrote:

breakfast 8am- bowl of just right cereal with low fat milk
actimel or orange juice

10/55/2.9, sug:22g, sat fat 1g, kcal: 286.1

cinnamon wrote:

11am - banana and/or apple
- healthy bar (nuts and fruit type thing)

15.2/38/7.4, sug:31g, sat fat 2.6g, kcal: 280

cinnamon wrote:

1pm - brown bread with cheddar cheese, tomatoes, cucumber
- apple and/or health bar

guessing slightly, assuming the bar (balance bar trail mix in all cases)
31.4/54/18, sug:17g, sat fat 8g, kcal: 342

cinnamon wrote:

3pm - maybe chocolate bar (twix) or just cup of black tea

twix;
2.6/37.4/13.9, sug: 27.4g, sat fat: 5.1g, kcal: 284

cinnamon wrote:

5/6pm -vegetarian pizza (1 whole one!), sometimes i eat half with a salad
- or veg stir fry with lots of vegetables
- or fried eggs in brown bread
- or beans on toast

these vary highly. I'm going to take the veg pizza 'cos it's listed first.
9/36/7, sug 12g, sat fat 3g, kcal: 216

cinnamon wrote:

8pm -peppermint tea. lately i've started eating rubbish at this time like biscuits and chocs, but plan to cut out

I'll give you the benefit of the doubt here, but hopefully by comparing the twix to your breakfast you'll see how much food these little snacks really have in them.
0/0.5/0 sug 0g, sat fat 0g, kcal: 2

cinnamon wrote:

I drink 2 litres of water throughout the day, sometimes plain, sometimes diluted orainge.
I used to eat no bad stuff whatsoever but find myself hungry and miserable.
I used to eat dried fruit and nuts and maybe should start eating them again.

As a general rule you shouldn't be hungry & miserable, nuts are a good way of maintaining satiety (not getting hungry).

cinnamon wrote:

Actually when I look at my diet I probably eat a lot of fats in my choice of dinner.

Nope, sugar is your problem. Here's the whole lot brought together anyway;

10 /55 /2.9, sug:22g, sat fat: 1g, kcal: 286.1
15.2/38 /7.4, sug:31g, sat fat: 2.6g, kcal: 280
31.4/54 /18, sug:17g, sat fat: 8g, kcal: 342
2.6 /37.4/13.9, sug: 27.4g, sat fat: 5.1g, kcal: 284
9 /36 /7, sug: 12g, sat fat: 3g, kcal: 216
0 /0.5 /0 sug: 0g, sat fat: 0g, kcal: 2

Total;
Protein: 68.2g
Carbohydrate: 220.9g of which sugars: 109g
Fat: 49.2g of which saturates: 19.7g

Total calories: 1,410 kcal/day

My analysis: To be honest it's not half as bad as I thought it would be but it can be improved.
Firstly, your intake of carbohydrates is quite high in comparison with your protein & fat intake. It's not that big of a deal except almost half of it is simple carbs (sugar) which should be avoided as much as possible except when physically active. I'ld ditch the twix, DEFINITELY ditch the late night chocolate & biscuits, and I would think about shifting from those healthy bars to something healthy (the dried fruit & nuts would be a better option than the bar).
Your fat intake is OK, I'ld bolster it up slightly (by about 10g) by adding a variety of nuts into your diet. They are high in mono and poly-unsaturated fats, and protein. Just be careful because nuts are quite dense (alot of calories in very few nuts).
Your protein intake is not abissmal but it's not good either. I would recommend your intake be closer to 100g a day. Protein safegaurds our skeletal muscle which tends to naturally diminish with time, causing an associated lowering of our metabolism. I'm going to take a deductive leap here and say you're vegetarian, so this is something you especially need to take into account. Protein is best taken regularly so you have a constant supply of aminos, being a veggie is not an excuse either - just ask Mike Mahler .

Edit: And you're under-eating, 1400 kcal/day is too low. You want something closer to 1800 kcal per day. Chronic undereating (undereating for a long time) will reduce the amount of muscle you have. I'ld be surprised, given your diet, if you are carrying much muscle at all on your frame (and I'm not talking Arny Scharzenegger stuff here, I mean a normal healthy amount of muscle). Get a bit more calories by eating alot more protein, a little more fat, more complex carbohydrate and alot less sugar. If you don't play a sport or have any kind of activity during the week - take one up. Some physical activity like squash or soccer or something is great for safegaurding muscle.

cinnamon

thank you for the analysis

t-ha wrote:

these vary highly. I'm going to take the veg pizza 'cos it's listed first.
9/36/7, sug 12g, sat fat 3g, kcal: 216

The pizza i eat has about 700 calories in it so I would say I am eating my quota of calories

t-ha wrote:

Your fat intake is OK, I'ld bolster it up slightly (by about 10g) by adding a variety of nuts into your diet. They are high in mono and poly-unsaturated fats, and protein. Just be careful because nuts are quite dense (alot of calories in very few nuts).

Would I put on much weight if I ate this amount of fat? I really dont want to put on weight - I think my weight is fine at this size.

t-ha wrote:

'ld be surprised, given your diet, if you are carrying much muscle at all on your frame (and I'm not talking Arny Scharzenegger stuff here, I mean a normal healthy amount of muscle). Get a bit more calories by eating alot more protein, a little more fat, more complex carbohydrate and alot less sugar. If you don't play a sport or have any kind of activity during the week - take one up. Some physical activity like squash or soccer or something is great for safegaurding muscle.

My legs are all muscle from years of kickboxing and I've started running 3 times a week, as well as walking everywhere. So I am toned more than muscly, I suppose. But lateely I am feeling lethargic after exercise and I wonder has this anything to do with my diet? I have such a craving for sweet things that lately i've been worried about diabetes, because it runs in my family. I'm probably overreacting though.

Ok thanks for the advice. BTW are you a nutritionist?

t-ha

cinnamon wrote:

The pizza i eat has about 700 calories in it so I would say I am eating my quota of calories

:eek: Look up the breakdown of those calories (how many grams of protein/carbs/fats). That is a huge amount of calories for someone your size to take in in one sitting. I'ld bet that the vast majority of it is from carbohydrates too - it's not that carbohydrates are bad, it's just that they're used for energy/physical activity and so your intake of them should be related to how physically active you are (and I can't imagine you need that many at 6pm, even if you were going to workout that evening). Also, by the way, a vegetable stir fry has very few calories in it generally - the options that you showed me are all quite different so your intake will swing from one day to the next.

cinnamon wrote:

Would I put on much weight if I ate this amount of fat? I really dont want to put on weight - I think my weight is fine at this size.

To be honest I think that shape and bodyfat levels are more important than 'weight'. And the answer is no, as long as you are taking in the same amount of calories then you won't put on fat. In fact, I'ld bet that if you replaced some of your sugar calories with calories from mixed nut sources you'ld lose fat. A good intake of healthy fats helps your body to function properly which allows it to deal with/metabolise food effectively. The idea that the fat you eat straight-away becomes the fat on your body is out-dated.

cinnamon wrote:

My legs are all muscle from years of kickboxing and I've started running 3 times a week, as well as walking everywhere. So I am toned more than muscly, I suppose. But lateely I am feeling lethargic after exercise and I wonder has this anything to do with my diet?

Well, I can't remember if I mentioned this or not but 'tone' is by and large just what we see when someone has an appreciable amount of muscle and only a small layer of bodyfat covering it. Lethargy after exercise typically means you're not eating enough. I'ld say that what's happening (guessing) is that you could be eating your foods at the wrong times. Not eating enough around exercise time and then eating 700 kcal of pizza in one go. The other thing could be that bodyfat has nothing to do with this and you just need to build up your arms a little to hold everything tighter. If you used to do kickboxing then maybe you have a punch-bag? Just punching the hell out of the bag should do it?

cinnamon wrote:

Ok thanks for the advice. BTW are you a nutritionist?

No I'm not, which I guess needs to be kept in mind when taking any of my advice.

cinnamon wrote:

I have such a craving for sweet things that lately i've been worried about diabetes, because it runs in my family. I'm probably overreacting though.

If it bothers you tell your GP (see answer above).

cinnamon

thanks t-ha for all your advice. You're very knowledgeable on all this. I just try and eat the food pyramid way ('try' being the operative word!) and don't know much else about nutrition only what i learned in home economics many moons ago.
Would it be too much bother if I asked you what a healthy day's eating plan would look like? I always seem to be hungry and thats why I end up eating rubbish like twixs. I've made a concerted effort over the past weeks to bring a 2 ltr bottle of water into college with me everyday, because I know thirst is often mistaken for hunger.
Ok thanks again.