How to get slender toned arms?

JajaD

I have currently started my diet. I am 5 foot 4, weigh 9 stone 5 pounds and ideally would like to go down from a size 12 to a size 8. I have always been an 8 up until this year but now im a size 12 and my upper arms have noticeably gotten bigger.

I have cut 400 calories a day from my diet every day and have been going for walks. Whats the best way to get slender toned arms and lose the bingo wings!

Wonkagirl

Just continue what you are doing, and when you're down to an 8, start a weights routine.

I'm not a fan of walking as a means of losing weight, but whatever works or you i guess.. I got much better results from weights/interval training. Certainly to tone up you will need to include weights..

Transform

Wonkagirl wrote: »

Just continue what you are doing, and when you're down to an 8, start a weights routine.

I'm not a fan of walking as a means of losing weight, but whatever works or you i guess.. I got much better results from weights/interval training. Certainly to tone up you will need to include weights..

what she said 1+

walking is not going to change your arms in any significant way

JajaD

I dont do any excersise so i am so unfit. I plan to just go walking to start me off gradually. I will then start running, then playing gaelic football (lot of arm movement) combined with light weights.

I dont want muscles though, will the light weights give me muscles. I have fairly big arms so im afraid that by doing weights, they might get bigger? :eek:

Lantus

JajaD wrote: »

I dont do any excersise so i am so unfit. I plan to just go walking to start me off gradually. I will then start running, then playing gaelic football (lot of arm movement) combined with light weights.

I dont want muscles though, will the light weights give me muscles. I have fairly big arms so im afraid that by doing weights, they might get bigger? :eek:

This is the biggest myth being touted about by the women and probably the most annoying. Resistance training is an essential part of obtaining a fit and healthy body as it provides not just strong muscles but strong joints, bones and overall strength (bye bye bad back.)

Women CANNOT get big muscles from resistance training because they lack a key building block in muscle growth; Testoterone. The women you are thinking of have trained for years and decades taking male hormones to achieve the scary look. Without these they would look quite normal.

The myth that women can or should only use light weights is equally annoying. All weights should be relative to the person using them. If 2kg military presses are 'easy' then increase the weight until the last 1 or 2 of the 10-12 reps is very very hard. Thats the right kind of weight.

Muscle growth is incredibly hard to achieve even for men and takes years. It's twice as hard as putting on fat and I never once heard someone turn down a biscuit because they would be scared of gaining several stones of fat overnight. You simply cannot put on muscle that quick and if after years of training you finally achieved the level you are happy with you can stop and adjust your training.

Without a good resistance routine the best you can ever hope to look is the thin, flabby look.

Lastly, work out the entire body, just focusng on the triceps is a mistake. Every muscle needs attention for the whole body look.

JajaD

Lantus wrote: »

This is the biggest myth being touted about by the women and probably the most annoying. Resistance training is an essential part of obtaining a fit and healthy body as it provides not just strong muscles but strong joints, bones and overall strength (bye bye bad back.)

Women CANNOT get big muscles from resistance training because they lack a key building block in muscle growth; Testoterone. The women you are thinking of have trained for years and decades taking male hormones to achieve the scary look. Without these they would look quite normal.

The myth that women can or should only use light weights is equally annoying. All weights should be relative to the person using them. If 2kg military presses are 'easy' then increase the weight until the last 1 or 2 of the 10-12 reps is very very hard. Thats the right kind of weight.

Muscle growth is incredibly hard to achieve even for men and takes years. It's twice as hard as putting on fat and I never once heard someone turn down a biscuit because they would be scared of gaining several stones of fat overnight. You simply cannot put on muscle that quick and if after years of training you finally achieved the level you are happy with you can stop and adjust your training.

Without a good resistance routine the best you can ever hope to look is the thin, flabby look.

Lastly, work out the entire body, just focusng on the triceps is a mistake. Every muscle needs attention for the whole body look.

I see what you mean. But when i was a teenager, i rode horses a few times a week, also lifting heavy bails of hay, water, food etc.. I used to have quite big muscles for a girl and it wasnt the feminine look i want now haha

So u reckon if i do some weights a few times a week then my arms would tone up?

Thanks for your reply

Amtmann

So u reckon if i do some weights a few times a week then my arms would tone up?

Certainly not within a short timeframe I'm afraid.

You cannot target specific areas of the body for fat removal so forget about exercising your arms to lose fat on your arms. The only way to remove fat is to exercise in general and restrict your calories (by a sustainable amount, i.e 10-15% below your TDEE). Your body will decide which areas the fat will come off first; you cannot influence this.

mailliw

I find Lantus' answer almost perfect. Walking/ running will lose weight, no doubt, but it also burns muscle. If you're looking to tone up quickly you'd have to use a gym, whereas if you're just looking for a gradual increase in fitness walking/running regularly coupled with weight training will work, just not as quickly. Also, make sure that the calories you have cut from your diet are not protein; try and cut out carbs more than protein Protein is the most important factor in toning up, and the majority of people make that mistake.

Amtmann

mailliw wrote: »

I find Lantus' answer almost perfect. Walking/ running will lose weight, no doubt, but it also burns muscle. If you're looking to tone up quickly you'd have to use a gym, whereas if you're just looking for a gradual increase in fitness walking/running regularly coupled with weight training will work, just not as quickly.

Where is the proof that walking and running that most people would do actually "burns" muscle?

From another forum:

The myth about burning muscle.

Because this topic has come up many times, I decided to do some research on it and get the scientific answer.

The order in which your body uses fuel is: glucose --> glycogen --> fat --> protein. Your body uses glucose and glycogen as the main energy sources. You use fat as the next energy source. The body rarely, if ever, breaks down protein and uses it for energy.

As far as “burning muscle”, I found the below. This is highly simplified, but I found many references that support it. This is what happens if you’re fasting; if you are NOT eating at all.

Basically, for energy the body uses glucose as its primary fuel. It gets glucose from breaking down carbohydrates. Any glucose not used immediately is stored in the liver as glycogen. Your glycogen reserves last about 6 hours.

After you run out of glycogen, your body starts breaking down fats for energy. It will do this for about 2-3 days.

Starting around the 4th day of fasting, your body begins to synthesize ketone bodies from fatty acid breakdown. This primarily fuels the brain and not the body (about 70%).

DEPENDING ON HOW MUCH STORED FAT YOU HAVE (your body fat percentage), once you’ve been fasting for approximately 5 days to 3 weeks, and the ketone bodies are depleted, your body starts to break down protein, which is converted into glucose by the liver. This protein will come from your muscles and your body organs.

Keep in mind, the above is if you’re NOT eating at all. If you have a good nutrition plan, even if it’s a calorie-deficit one, you’re not going to “burn” muscle.

EDITED TO ADD IN THIS MORE SCIENTIFIC EXPLANATION BY MEDX:

Quote from: MedX on 24 February 2010, 16:28:14
Your body doesn't really store protein, it uses it to build body tissues. There is a huge amount of misinformation about "burning muscle/protein" as a fuel source. The truth according to current physiology and biochemistry research is that the body spares and recycles protein whenever possible.

As part of its normal regeneration process, your body is constantly breaking down damaged cells into amino acids which are then reutilized by the creation of new peptide bonds to make new proteins for construction of new tissue. This cell turnover is very necessary to maintain healthy tissues. The slowing of this process is one of the components that causes physiological decline associated with aging.

When carbohydrate reserves are exhausted, the liver can convert proteins into fatty acids, ketone bodies, or glucose. Before amino acids (the building blocks of protein) can be catabolized, they must be converted into substances that can enter the Krebs cycle for oxydation or converted to glucose/glycogen. The process of converting amino acids into carbohydrate (glucose) is called gluconeogenesis. It is actually rather difficult for the body to convert protein to carbohydrate in order to burn it. It only happens in significant quantities in two situations, during extreme high energy demand when glycogen and blood glucose are exhausted but before fat stores (lipids) can be converted into glyceraldehyde and then to glucose, or, in periods of starvation when both carbohydrate and lipid stores are exhausted.* The first proteins to be utilized are the free proteins and amino acids in the blood. The body will not cannibalize (notice the distiction from catabolization) healthy muscle or vital organ tissue exept in extreme circumstances.

Another cause of muscle loss is atrophy due to disuse, such as is seen when muscles are immobilized in a cast for an extended period. Some illnesses can also cause muscle wasting. Overtraining without adequate recovery also interferes with muscle growth and repair.

So, as long as you have decent nutrition with normal glycogen and glucose stores, have some non-essential bodyfat (above 5% or so in adult males) and adequate dietary protein, you will not "burn" significant amounts of muscle tissue as the result of resistance training or aerobic exercise. You still need to allow adequate recovery time based on your own physiology to avoid overtraining.

*Source: Advanced Principles of Anatomy and Physiology by Tortora and Grabowski, Harper Collins Press


Read more: http://www.askscooby.com/losing-weight-and-getting-6-pack-abs/the-myth-about-'burning-muscle'-15354/#ixzz1BaL8JDbd

mailliw

Ok, saying that walking and running burn muscle was a bit simplistic, sorry for any misunderstanding! Basically, when you exercise, your body produces two chemicals: Growth hormone and cortosone. The GH is produced in an arc, in that it reaches its peak at 20mins and stops being produced at 40mins. Cortosone, however, keeps getting produced as long as you are exercising. So any exercise lasting longer than 40 minutes becomes counter-productive in terms of pure muscle building. A great real-life example is the way sprinters (who do intense exercise for short amounts of time) are big and muscley and marathon runners (who run at a slower pace for longer) are skinny and slight.

Amtmann

mailliw wrote: »

Basically, when you exercise, your body produces two chemicals: Growth hormone and cortosone. The GH is produced in an arc, in that it reaches its peak at 20mins and stops being produced at 40mins.

What, just like that? Forty minutes and that's it? What about heart rate, ambient temperature, the intensity of the exercise?

Transform

guys i dont think this conversation is going in a direction that is going to help the OP.

OP - yes do some weights it will help but NOTHING is going to help in any significant way if your diet is pants!

Plus your idea of big arms might be another girls nicley 'toned' arms so overall if you were a stone lighter your arms would certainly look better and better still through weight training than just cardio alone

Barry.Oglesby

mailliw wrote: »

Ok, saying that walking and running burn muscle was a bit simplistic, sorry for any misunderstanding! Basically, when you exercise, your body produces two chemicals: Growth hormone and cortosone. The GH is produced in an arc, in that it reaches its peak at 20mins and stops being produced at 40mins. Cortosone, however, keeps getting produced as long as you are exercising. So any exercise lasting longer than 40 minutes becomes counter-productive in terms of pure muscle building. A great real-life example is the way sprinters (who do intense exercise for short amounts of time) are big and muscley and marathon runners (who run at a slower pace for longer) are skinny and slight.

What e-books have you been reading? Cortisone has next to NOTHING to do with marathon runner/sprinter shapes and sizes, and even less to do with the shape and size of people who walk 40 minutes a day.


Try this for me. Get your mate to run for 40 minutes a day and you sprint for 10 seconds a day and see how much fat you both lose and muscle you both gain.

SIX PACK

Use Weights perhaps start off at 8kg curls do about 60 each arm per day,
Gurantee you will notice a big difference in 2wks

JajaD

Some great tips. Thanks for your help.

Lantus

SIX PACK wrote: »

Use Weights perhaps start off at 8kg curls do about 60 each arm per day,
Gurantee you will notice a big difference in 2wks

Ignore this! The stickies have some exercise routines there I believe for basic resistance and there is a wealth of info out there to get started.

doing lots of curls only is a really dumb way to train and you NEVER train the same body part 2 days in a row. (I only train each muscle group once every 6 days...)

Wonkagirl

Also, isnt 8kg a bit heavy for her to start off?? I know it's only a bicep curl, but i started off on 4kg and built upwards from there..

OP, i had concerns like you starting off- ie that i'd build too much muscle.. not so. Lean muscle takes up so much less 'space' than fat- it's very late and i;m not explaining myself very well, but suffice it to say that i walked, used cardio machines and the like for yrs on end in the gym, to little or no avail.. only when i went to a PT and started doing weights, and focussed cardio intervals did i see results. Simples!

Best of luck, and as Transform said, focus on having a clean diet.. cut out the sugar, processed carbs etc and incorporate some light weights into your routine!