Weights are a good way to strengthen and tone muscles, giving them that lean look. But in order to really burn fat off of the arms, or any part of the body, it takes a combination of a balanced diet, strength and weight training and cardiovascular activity. Results won’t happen overnight. It’s important to remember that you can’t burn fat in just one area, like the arms. Fat burning will occur everywhere.
Free weights
Free weights are popular in building arm muscle to burn off fat because there are a variety of exercises and techniques. Exercises like bicep curls, chest bench press, military press and tricep curls target different parts of the arm. Focusing on different areas will build each of those muscles and burn a great number of calories both during and after a workout.
Weight machines
Using the machine weights can be more favorable because it helps people maintain their form. Machines target the same muscles but often allow people to use more weight because of the pulley systems. When using the machines, as well as free weights, it’s important to work the muscles instead of swinging the arms or letting the pulley do the work.
Body weight
Using one’s own body weight is a great way to burn calories and fat and build muscle. These exercises lead to more toning because one is not using more weight than his or her body. Body weight exercises that focus on the arms include push-ups, pull-ups, chin-ups and tricep dips.
Cardio
While cardio exercises aren’t technically weights, power walking, swimming, biking and jogging can help burn fat and tone the arms. Swimming is a full-body workout that burns fat and tones the arms better than any other cardio exercise. In order to burn fat, it’s important to incorporate cardio exercise. Lifting alone won’t burn excess fat.
About this Author
Heather Mayer has been published in nearly 10 health publications, including Health.com, ScienCentral.com, The Post-Standard’s health section and Discover magazine. Her health work has also appeared on Good Morning American and CNN.com. She studied newspaper journalism and nutrition at Syracuse University. Currently, Mayer is a health reporter for DOTmed News.
