Help w/ arms.

Hi, on my moms side of the family the women have what i call "lunch lady arms" which are large fat flabby arms exspecialy in the tricep area. My mother and two aunts are also all over weight. I was thin all my life untill my last child. I have these arms. I never relized it till i gained weight. i have been working out for about 3-4 months now and i have drop from a size 14 womens jeans to a size 11 juniors. I look in the mirror and see big changes expecially in my legs but, my arms still need alot of work.
What exercises should i do to work my arms. Also i do both bi's and tri's in the same work out, but my fiancee says i shouldn't. Is this true? I am starting to feel like i look uneven because, my legs are getting pretty thin.
Should i lift heavy w/ less reps or light w/ more reps? Please all the advice i et will be appreciated.

Congrats on your progress! What does your workout look like at the moment? If you are working out 5 days per week, I would suggest doing upper body every other day....which would give you 3 days of upper and 2 days of lower. Because you are not training for a competition, I suggest that you do ALL upper body on that designated day...do not limit yourself to just bi's and tri's...use moderate weight with 15-20 reps. REMEMBER that your last 3 reps should almost be impossible to finish.

Thank you!

Hello, my workout is as follows:
Monday: Back, abs
Tuesday: chest
Wednesday: off
Thursday: arms, calves
Friday: Legs, abs
Saturday: off
Sunday: shoulders, abs
My ab routine is almost nonexistant. I feel somedays i am doing abs for nothing because, i dont feel i am totally doing it right. And for cardio i usually get on the treadmill for 10 min before every workout.

nikkirae said:

Hi, on my moms side of the family the women have what i call "lunch lady arms" which are large fat flabby arms exspecialy in the tricep area. My mother and two aunts are also all over weight. I was thin all my life untill my last child. I have these arms. I never relized it till i gained weight. i have been working out for about 3-4 months now and i have drop from a size 14 womens jeans to a size 11 juniors. I look in the mirror and see big changes expecially in my legs but, my arms still need alot of work.
What exercises should i do to work my arms. Also i do both bi's and tri's in the same work out, but my fiancee says i shouldn't. Is this true? I am starting to feel like i look uneven because, my legs are getting pretty thin.
Should i lift heavy w/ less reps or light w/ more reps? Please all the advice i et will be appreciated.

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I train a lot more women than men so let me drop in my 2 cents even though this is the female forum.

Legs should be a dominant focus for you because you indicate it is a weak bodypart and because it is a great place for a female to gain a little muscle mass that will help with your basal metabolic rate.

As far working bis and tris together -- gosh that even has a name -- it's called supersetting. Working the two together is a great idea. You see, the triceps are a stabilizer for the biceps and the biceps are a stabilizer for the triceps. When you superset (alternate one with the other with no rest) you can really make great gains.

Finally, as for the lunch lady arms, you have to understand the physiology of the triceps -- there are (no surprise) three muscles in the trips -- the long head, the lateral head and the medial head. Your primary focus in avoiding drooping low arms are the long head and lateral head. I find these respond best to heavy weight and lower reps -- that is a weight you can use where you reach failue around 8 reps. Dips are a great exercise for this muscle group. Also, overhead extensions with your palms facing in toward your body.

Try to exercise each muscle group 2 X per week. But you should spend more of your time on legs than on upper body.

I am with Missfit on this. Stay with higher reps 12-15. I personally wouldn't recommend supersetting unless you are training for competition and wanting to gain mass. Legs should be a great focus, but it sounds like you train legs more than the rest of your body thus giving unporportional results. Stick with Missfit's advice....she has come a long way and looks GREEEEAAT!!!

junior28 said:

Stay with higher reps 12-15. I personally wouldn't recommend supersetting unless you are training for competition and wanting to gain mass. Legs should be a great focus, but it sounds like you train legs more than the rest of your body thus giving unporportional results.

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Thanks Junior! That is precisely what I was thinking...

I am definitly not trying to gain weight or put on size.

I want to have muscle definition but, my main concern right know is to lose fat and drp sizes. I mean i would like to be a size 7 again.
Could someone write out what body parts and what kind of exercises i should do because i am lost.
Thank you all very much!

my legs arent weak.

i just seam to lose weight there quick. i have definitly lost fat from my arms but, they need the most help other than my abs. I have not worked out for two days i think i am becomming discouraged. I posted the same thread on another site and the women were quite rude to me.I just need help from people who know something about fittness so that i dont end up with fat arms and skinny legs.

Thanks Again!!!!

Nikki, I would try this if I was in your position (meaning a female, which obviously I am not.....OK only on Tuesdays! LOL).
Follow the same program for 6 wks and then change it up. This keeps the muscles shocked and keeps you motivated so you don't get bored. Again, this is just to give you an idea. Let me know what you think. Good Luck. By the way, Missfit, how was the Holiday?

Monday:
DB chest press 3x15
Pec Dec 3x15
DB Shoulder Press 3x15
DB Front Raises 3x15
Triceps ext. 3x15
DB kick backs 3x15
Dips 2x10

Tuesday:
Cardio
Leg presses 3x15
Leg ext. 3x15
Leg curls 3x15
DB rows 3x15
Seated rows (close grip) 3x15
DB alternating curls 2x15
Standing pully curls 2x15
ABS

Wednesday:
Seated chest press 3x15
Incline DB press 3x15
Seated lateral raises 3x15
Reverse deltoid pulls 3x15
Overhead triceps exts. (DB) 3x15
Reverse grip triceps ext 3x15

Thursday:
Cardio
DB step ups (step up on a bench or something) 3x15
Lunges, if you have track lunge on the straight aways on walk the corners (1 lap, depending on the size of the track)
Abduction/Adduction 2x10 each
Wide grip lat pull downs 2x10
Close grip lat pull downs 2x10
EZ curl bar 2x15
Concentration curls 2x15
ABS

Friday:
Pec Dec 3x15
Decline DB press 3x10
Dips 3x10
Tricep ext. with rope 2x20
Single arm ext. 2x20
Calves 3x20

nikkirae said:

i have drop from a size 14 womens jeans to a size 11 juniors. I look in the mirror and see big changes

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Congrats! That's amazing progress!

Just stay healthy & active and you will continue to make progress

Stay positive, I know you will get to where you want to be!

Keep up the cardio and lifting weights

Don't try to focus on losing fat in any one area because it's not possible. You lose fat all over your body and you can't pick and choose where to lose it.

Good luck! You're doing great so far!

junior28 said:

I am with Missfit on this. Stay with higher reps 12-15. I personally wouldn't recommend supersetting unless you are training for competition and wanting to gain mass. Legs should be a great focus, but it sounds like you train legs more than the rest of your body thus giving unporportional results. Stick with Missfit's advice....she has come a long way and looks GREEEEAAT!!!

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Generally speaking I agree. The only exception is for the long head and lateral of the triceps, the muscles that droop on some womens' arms as they age. The long head and lateral head of the triceps really only respond well to heavy weight. So , in the case of these particular muscles, you have to go heavier and if you can do 15 reps you are not heavy enough to engage the long head effectively.

A female doesn't (normally) have high test so the fear of bulking is simply not justified -- relax and do what works for you, you won't look like Arnold.

Another note: When doing your triceps exercises insure proper form and contraction throughout the whole movement. Sundevil is right on that you need to find what works for you. Everybody responds differently. GOOD LUCK!!

junior28 said:

Nikki, I would try this if I was in your position (meaning a female, which obviously I am not.....OK only on Tuesdays! LOL).
Follow the same program for 6 wks and then change it up. This keeps the muscles shocked and keeps you motivated so you don't get bored. Again, this is just to give you an idea. Let me know what you think. Good Luck. By the way, Missfit, how was the Holiday?

Monday:
DB chest press 3x15
Pec Dec 3x15
DB Shoulder Press 3x15
DB Front Raises 3x15
Triceps ext. 3x15
DB kick backs 3x15
Dips 2x10

Tuesday:
Cardio
Leg presses 3x15
Leg ext. 3x15
Leg curls 3x15
DB rows 3x15
Seated rows (close grip) 3x15
DB alternating curls 2x15
Standing pully curls 2x15
ABS

Wednesday:
Seated chest press 3x15
Incline DB press 3x15
Seated lateral raises 3x15
Reverse deltoid pulls 3x15
Overhead triceps exts. (DB) 3x15
Reverse grip triceps ext 3x15

Thursday:
Cardio
DB step ups (step up on a bench or something) 3x15
Lunges, if you have track lunge on the straight aways on walk the corners (1 lap, depending on the size of the track)
Abduction/Adduction 2x10 each
Wide grip lat pull downs 2x10
Close grip lat pull downs 2x10
EZ curl bar 2x15
Concentration curls 2x15
ABS

Friday:
Pec Dec 3x15
Decline DB press 3x10
Dips 3x10
Tricep ext. with rope 2x20
Single arm ext. 2x20
Calves 3x20

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Great suggestion! My only concern is that she may not be getting enough leg exercises on Tues/Thurs, so I would combine the leg exercises for both days and move "back and bi's" to Mon/Wed/Fri...otherwise her chest may overpower her back and her shoulders will begin to round. Play around with the program and see what works for you.

My holiday was great Junior....I am so f-ing tired of turkey! LOL I hope yours was good as well!

Thanks for the routine!

So it is ok to work a body part more than once a week. I have been told not to. I only work each body part once a week, except abs. I really like the routine i have now because it dont take long to do.
Also i dont know if i mentioned before in this thread but, i work out at home. It kind of limits my workouts in a way. I plan on joining a gym after the holidays.

i'm not sure if anyone else touched on this, but in reading your posts i saw that the only cardio you do is 10 min on a treadmill before every lifting day. i think you should do a little more. try this. before every time you start to lift, do your ten minutes on the treadmill to warm up. then after your session get back on the treadmill, or an eliptical, or a bike and go at a medium to slow pace, (about 120-140 bpm heart rate) and go for 20-40 minutes, or whatever your time constraint is. good luck.

It is perfectly fine to workout a body part more than once a week...just don't work the same body part for 48 hours.

QB is right....you should bump up the cardio...10 Minutes is not enough.

Thanks for all the great advice. I am feeling better already and not so confused anymore.

Re: Thank you!

nikkirae said:

Hello, my workout is as follows:
Monday: Back, abs
Tuesday: chest
Wednesday: off
Thursday: arms, calves
Friday: Legs, abs
Saturday: off
Sunday: shoulders, abs
My ab routine is almost nonexistant. I feel somedays i am doing abs for nothing because, i dont feel i am totally doing it right. And for cardio i usually get on the treadmill for 10 min before every workout.

Click to expand...

Could i keep this workout but, change it up like this.
Monday:cardo, back, biceps
tuesday: cardio,chest, triceps
wednesday: cardio
thursday: legs
saturday:cardio,abs
sunday: shoulders
I dont know but, what do you guys think? Or do you think it would be better if i did back & tri's on the same day and chest & bi's on the same day?

just wondering if this could work.

Re: Re: Thank you!

nikkirae said:

Could i keep this workout but, change it up like this.
Monday:cardo, back, biceps
tuesday: cardio,chest, triceps
wednesday: cardio
thursday: legs
saturday:cardio,abs
sunday: shoulders
I dont know but, what do you guys think? Or do you think it would be better if i did back & tri's on the same day and chest & bi's on the same day?

just wondering if this could work.

Click to expand...

IMO....you need to train each muscle group more than once per week to reach the goals you had discussed in your first post.

OK, i understand i just have a limited amount of time to work out but, i will make it work.

Thanks again!