Will pushups get rid of flabby upper arms??

[Cinderella]

Would push-ups help get rid of my flabby upper arms?
I've been doing about 60/day...trying to move up to more.

Will this do the trick?

Cin

[LC Sponge]

Nobody's going to notice those flabby arms, they won't be able to take their eyes off your pecs.

[Cinderella]

Thanks LC...you got a giggle out of me..lol. Seriously tho...lol...will it help the flab? :daze: :daze: :daze:

lol...Cin

[LC Sponge]

You could ilnclude the upper arm muscles in your exercise regime.

The triceps, biceps and deltoids are the ones I mean. The triceps particularly are nearest and dearest to the flab you describe. There are lots of resitance exercises you can do with 5,10 and 15 pound weights to exercise and tone these muscles.

Some of the flappy-arm-its-like-I've-grown-wings thing is age, some can be blamed on the weight loss, lots can be blamed on the fact we are WOMEN, but some is muscle tone too.

Good luck out there, I'm pullin' for ya.

[Cinderella]

My husband says I should but my feet up on a chair and do my pushups that way..YIKES...LOL....

Thanks for the advice. I'm not using any weights right now...only the exercise bike.

Have a great day....cin

[DarkLotus]

I have the flab problem there on my arms too, it's what I want gone most. So, to do that, I have been spending 10-15 minutes 5x week trying to tone that area using 5 lb weights to start off with. Last week, after 1 month I moved up to 10 lbs.

I do an exercise where you bring your arm up & back and hold it for a second or two (it hurts at first too). Best advice for that exercise is go slow or you could pull something. I am noticing the flab tightening and I feel muscles in there somewhere, but it's not as fast as I wish it was. Hope this helps you out some. :roll:

[Natrushka]

If you alter the push up slightly, cin, you'll get the desired effect. By placing your hands closer togther than you would for a normal push up you'll focus on the triceps - the largest muscle in the arm and the one that will take care of that flab. Place hands approximately 6 inches apart and perform your push up.

You can see a demo of how this is performed : Tricep Push Up (http://www.abcbodybuilding.com/exercise3/tricepspushups.htm)

These can also be done on an incline (http://www.abcbodybuilding.com/exercise3/closegripinclinetricepspushups.htm) and a decline (http://www.abcbodybuilding.com/exercise3/closegripdeclinetricepspushups.htm) .

HTH
Nat

[razzle]

or do tricep dips (if you have bad shoulders, it's hard to keep good form, tho, and you could aggravate an old injury)

You don't even need a bench...I use my bed, at home. If you can manage your whole body weight (I cannot), the edge of your kitchen counter would work.

If you don't know how to do this, you could hunt on the web for an illustration of how to do these...or browse through weightlifting how-to books at a bookstore until you see it illustrated.

[ptjody]

If you have not been exercising this portion of your body, it is wise to begin very slowly. Trying to perform perfect pushups (hands close together or farther apart) can not only injure your shoulders, you may also over stretch your serratus anterior and possibly cause problems for other scapular stabilizers.

An easy exercise to do that will totally target your triceps without compensation of other muscles, is to 1) lay on your back, hold a weight in your hand (5# to begin would be great), keeping your elbow straight-point your fist toward the ceiling. This is your starting position. Carefully (so that you don't give yourself a head injury :daze:, bend only your elbow so that the weight is slowly lowered by your ear. Do not move your shoulder from the start position. Then extend your elbow back to the start position.

The key is to perform several sets of 10 to 15 repetitions...slowly and controlled. Build to about 4-5 sets and then drop down to doing 1-2 sets however add 1 pound. Good luck! :)
Don't worry what others say about you, they obviously don't!

[Fragem]

I don't know how it works for Women but Pushups have really helped me gain weight. Now I know you going to say "Pushups are too hard!!!' All I can say to that is Shut the f*** its all in your head.

I was a 95 Lbs Wimp before I started doing pushups. Then I started doing pushups halfassed I gained some muscle at 115 lbs. After a while I quit doing pushups. I had gotten to 50. I went to do pushups and voiila what I could do once I could not do anymore. So I quit. About a year ago I got hardcore with pushups. I'm now at 150 lbs and winning most of my Wrestling Matches. And by the way I have gotten to almost elite status in pushups. 200 in a row.

My suggestion to the ladies. I don't exspect you do 200 pushups in a row, but for god sakes, Don't do those girlie pushups they don't do much good.

[LBDropper]

Do what is right for YOU and don't listen to others. If you feel you can only do *girly* push ups then do that. If you feel you can do them regular then do it. It's your body and your own pace. We are all different.

[Fragem]

We all are different. But Girly Pushups don't help. One needs to look at my sister to tell that. She does about 50 girly pushups a day and doesn't even get rid of the Flab on her arm. You can do girly pushups as a progression.

Try this.

Do at least 20 girly Pushups and force yourself to peform at least 5 regular pushups which are too easy for me even when I was a 95lb scrawny little kid.

I really don't like Tricep pushups either they don't focus on your chess. And if you need anymore encouragement to do regular pushups girls. Consider this pushups have the added positive affect of keeping your Breast Perky, breast aren't muscle but the pecs are.

[kelleyb]

But Girly Pushups don't help.

Sure they do! Remember, Fragem, that everyone is at a different point. Lots of die-hard runners may say that walking doesn't help... But there are many people who just can't run for various reasons...Same applies to pushups. Of course, "traditional" pushups are more difficult, and thus, more beneficial... But that doesn't mean that pushups with knees on the floor don't help. Yes, use that as a progression.

The pushups that Natrushka recommends are excellent for triceps, as are the triceps dips. Those can be done with the knees bent as a progression.

Remember though, that you can't really spot-reduce fat! It comes off proportionally, all over the body. Cinderella, I see you are very close to your goal weight. Your arm "flab" is your stubborn area. Mine is the tummy. Those will be our last place--the toughest to lose. But the best way to lose it is to continue to eat properly, and combine cardio with weight training. Yes, pushups will help.

[Raquel2473]

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But Girly Pushups don't help.
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First I would like to say that not everybody is as strong as Fragem, thus everybody should work out at their on capabilities, and I am a strong believer that as long as you are trying no matter how or how many, that's what counts... :)

You might only be able to start by doing them with your knees on the groung, but you can always work yourself up to a regular push up when you are more advanced, and that's is alright.
We are here to encourage one another, not to put down or criticize the way we do things. We all have our own ways to do it, some of us don't have a choice, but to do variations of some exercises....but that is alright :cheer:

So with that said " YOU GO GIRL WITH YOUR GIRLY PUSH UP AND ALL"

[kelleyb]

Fragem's goal is not to lose weight, but to GAIN gain lean body mass (muscle), so for him, it's true that pushups on the knees won't do much. But think about it: Pushing up 140 lbs. even from the knees--is a LOT more work than pushing up 95 or 100 lbs! I think Cinderella's goal is quite different. She's not trying to bulk up (I don't think), but to trim down and tone up. More repetitions with lower weights is better for her, whereas heavy weights with fewer is better for him. We're all different--we don't fit into the same mold.

[AmberinIN]

I've always had pretty wimpy arms, so I didn't think I could do ANYTHING that I've done so far! :D

I usually start with my knees up and do as many regular pushups as I can with good form. If you force yourself to do regular pushups because someone tells you that you can't do it any other way, well, let's just say a lot of low fat gurus have tried to tell me the same thing about my "fad diet" :p Anyway, you can seriously hurt yourself if you do them witout proper form. I usually can do about 4-6 well before I go to my knees and do the rest of the set. I've got very little jiggle left under my arms and my pecs are lookin' good!

Good luck, however you do it!

Amber :wave: