Exercises to Reduce Arm Fat: Toning Up With the Triceps and Biceps
The back of the arm, commonly called 'arm fat,' is the area where fat sits over the triceps, so the key is to train the triceps while reducing your overall body fat. On this page we've gathered exercises that stimulate the triceps on the back of the arm and the biceps on the front together.
Since 'spot reduction,' losing fat from only one area, is difficult, it's effective to combine arm exercises with full-body training, cardio, and diet. Each movement comes with a 3D video and coaching points covering keeping the elbow fixed and range of motion.
Accurate form comes before weight. If you feel pain in your elbow, lower the weight, and proceed slowly without momentum, feeling the muscle contract and lengthen.
A Routine Worth Pairing With
- Diet & Fat Burning — A nonstop full-body, high-rep circuit routine
Recommended Exercises / Stretches
- Tricep Dips — A triceps-strengthening exercise using the fixed dip handles on a chin/dip machine.
- Cable Pushdown — A cable exercise that isolates and targets the triceps.
- Overhead Cable Triceps Extension — Take a cable behind your head and extend your arms, intensively targeting the long head of the triceps in a stretched position.
- One-Arm Dumbbell Triceps Extension — Hold a dumbbell behind your head with one arm and extend, training the triceps one side at a time.
- Assisted Dips — A knee pad offsets your bodyweight, so even those who can't yet do dips can learn proper form for the triceps and chest.
- Dumbbell Curl — The most basic arm exercise for targeting and strengthening the biceps.
- Hammer Curl — With a thumbs-up grip, this trains the forearms and biceps together.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will doing only arm exercises reduce arm fat?
Training only one area doesn't burn fat from just that area (spot reduction is difficult). If you train the arm muscles while reducing your overall body fat with full-body training, cardio, and diet, your arms will look more toned.
The inside of my arm jiggles. What exercises are good?
Pushdowns, triceps extensions, and dips that stimulate the triceps on the back of the arm are effective. The triceps make up a large share of the arm's volume, so training them firms up the back of the arm.
Can I do this at home with just my bodyweight?
You can stimulate the triceps with dips using a chair or bench, knee push-ups, and the like. If you have a band or light dumbbells, add curls and extensions to raise the intensity.