Need help on arm excercises....

[Dee]

Now that I've lost quite a bit of weight, I've notice that when I raise my arms, the upper parts are getting that drooping, wave in the wind thing. Is there a machine at the gym will help with that? It's saggy skin, not muscle...I don't think.

 

[gj62]

The muscle in that area (tricep) is usually very under-exercised by most. What? Because it ain't no fun, and it ain't strong for most people. While there are machines that do work this, sometimes if you don't have good technique, it won't help much. The best is to take a dumbell weight (start with 5#) and hold it in 1 hand (let's say the right hand), straight over your head with your arm fully extended. Your hand should be placed so that if you opened your hand, your palm would face to the right(WHOOPS - EDIT - face to the left). Now, keeping the upper part of your arm extended over your head, drop your hand straight behind yourself as far as it will go. Your elbow should be pointing towards the sky, and the dumbell close to touching your shoulder near you back. Now, extend your hand upward again. With your left hand, steady your right elbow so it doesn't move around and "help" with the exercise, otherwise you won't be exercising the tricep.

You can also use a larget dumbell and grasp it with both hands, then lower it behind your head, then lift till your arms are straight, etc. This doesn't isolate quite as well, but you get done faster ;-)

Gawd, I can't explain for crap - ask someone to show you a "tricep extension". BTW - if you use too much weight, you can't have good form, and it will take *longer* to train this muscle...

 

[MechDiver]

The muscle in that area (tricep) is usually very under-exercised by most. What? Because it ain't no fun, and it ain't strong for most people. While there are machines that do work this, sometimes if you don't have good technique, it won't help much. The best is to take a dumbell weight (start with 5#) and hold it in 1 hand (let's say the right hand), straight over your head with your arm fully extended. Your hand should be placed so that if you opened your hand, your palm would face to the right. Now, keeping the upper part of your arm extended over your head, drop your hand straight behind yourself as far as it will go. Your elbow should be pointing towards the sky, and the dumbell close to touching your shoulder near you back. Now, extend your hand upward again. With your left hand, steady your right elbow so it doesn't move around and "help" with the exercise, otherwise you won't be exercising the tricep.

You can also use a larget dumbell and grasp it with both hands, then lower it behind your head, then lift till your arms are straight, etc. This doesn't isolate quite as well, but you get done faster ;-)

Gawd, I can't explain for crap - ask someone to show you a "tricep extension". BTW - if you use too much weight, you can't have good form, and it will take *longer* to train this muscle...

There are actually three tri-cep muscles, with different excercises for each. Although that will indeed buildup that area Dee, I don't think it will do anything for the excess skin area.

 

[murphdivers286]

You could also do close grip bench presses. They help. It works the same way as a regular bench press, except you move you hands closer together. The closer your hands are, the more you isolate your triceps. Start by moving your hands only a little, then move them closer when you feel more comfortable. Start off with very little weight. When you do this, it will feel like you are not doing much. Wait a few days and you will feel the results.

When you built your triceps enough, you can move up to dips.... They work very well, but it also depends if you take it slow and concentrate on form. Form is very important. Good Luck!!!!!

 

[ElectricZombie]

Cable press downs and dips are my favorite triceps exercises.

 

[Dee]

gj62.....I followed your description just fine! I WAS worried about turning my right palm to the outside but you cleared that up!

Thanks guys. Will building the tricep muscles help with the loose skin?

 

[gj62]

Will building the tricep muscles help with the loose skin?

Depends. Age, total weight loss, sun exposure, genetics, etc. all affect the skin's ability to retain it's elasticity and eventually shrink back.

Dee, I don't know you and would recommend you see a physical trainer to get a more accurate response for your case.

In general, if you have begun a program (diet or exercise or both) that has resulted in significant weight loss in a fairly short period, the primary answer is time.

There is also likely some additional fat in your tricep area that is still waiting to be lost. This will also help.

By exercising that area, you will replace some of the fat with a more toned muscle. This will help reduce the flabby portion - as will continued weight loss if you are not yet at your goal.

So, time, coupled with continued weight loss or maintenance of your current weight goal, and muscle toning in that region will all contribute to the reduction of the flabby skin...

 

[Dee]

Thanks! I'm seeing the skin in other areas tightening up over time in the gym so I'll target that area a little more.

 

[milkathecow]

various exercises for the triceps, some you can do @home too. basically don't forget to stretch them, it's almost as important if not more than making them stronger...

exercises :

Bench Dips - take a chair or bench, place your arms along your body, and almost sit on the chair, legs stretched. Then go up and down to almost 90° angle. when that's easy get another chair, and do it with legs up on the second chair. 3rd step is with weight on the legs..

Push-ups with arms along body, to make it harder, cross legs, 3rd step, raise legs above shoulder level (with any little stool, or coffee table).

Don't forget that before focusing on a single part of the body, you'll need a general prep. which will probably have you do some legs, arms, and stretching, plus some cardio work to get you into a balanced state of the body. If you don't go through this part of the training, you'll find yourself with limitations due to lack of flexibility or strength on various parts of the body.

good luck on your training...

 

[CBulla]

I was just explaining this very thing to my wife who was pointing to that area of her arm saying "I'm to young to have old lady arms! How do I fix this, Colin???" Sooo, when I finished laughing at her way of asking for help, and took a few minutes at the Gym to show her a few exercises to do that address this issue.

For here I just did a search on Google for Tricep Exercises, click Here and found a plethora of websites, some of which describing what has already been mentioned here already.