Five Exercises To Ditch Arm Flab

Photo: Daily Mail

If you have embarrassing jiggly arms, ‘a.k.a Christian mother arms’ and you don’t feel comfortable to wear sleeveless shirts, then you are not alone. These jiggly parts of your arms are called triceps. Your triceps are the large muscles at the back of your upper limb and are responsible for straightening the arms. Fighting arm flab requires more than just spot treatment. Various exercises to increase your muscle mass will get you results. You  also have to decrease your caloric intake without risking too much muscle loss. Here are a few exercises that can help.

1. Thumb Downs: Stand with your feet in a wide stance and point your toes outward. It is important to note that your knees should be in line with your toes. Keep your spine in a neutral position, chin up and hips pulled in. Next, fully extend both arms outward (right arm directly over right knee and vice versa) with your hands in the thumbs up position. Next, rotate the thumbs in and downward (as if you were pouring our a bottle of water). Slowly lower your arms, thumbs brushing closely inside the thighs until they meet (starting position). Then in one quick sweeping action, raise the arms up as high as possible following the same angle as the descent.

2. Bridge the Gap: Stand with your back against a corner. Walk your feet forward, keeping only your head and back against the wall. Raise your arms up 90 degrees with elbows bent. Squeeze your shoulders blades together while contracting your triceps and drive your elbows back into the walls to lift your body off of it. You’ll end up in a standing position. Retract.

3. Hands of Time: Start in a standard pushup position (with your feet fully extended outward and your hands directly under your shoulders) slightly pick your right hand off of the ground and begin to perform as many counter clockwise circle as possible for 15 to 30 seconds. Then quickly switch directions (clockwise) for another 15 to 30 seconds. Be sure to contract the tricep muscle on the circling arm to maximize gains while doing your best to keep your hips level.

4. Geisha-Ups: Kneel on the floor. Touch your big toes together and sit on your heels, then separate your knees about as wide as your hips and extend your arms out in front of your body with palms facing the floor and arms positioned shoulder width apart (child’s pose in yoga). Next, drive your hips forward and fall into a pushup position attempting to come as close to the ground with your chest as possible (knees remaining on the ground). Elbows will be tight on your side, in order to maximize tricep development. Retract.

5. Body Rockers: Start in a traditional plank position with your legs fully extended and the upper portion of your body supported with your elbows. Next, replace your elbows with your hands until you reach a traditional pushup position so your hands are now supporting your upper body. Return to your elbows.