Many people have excess fat and low muscle tone in the upper arms. A person may notice the skin in this area starting to wobble or droop. Some people refer to this as having “bat wings.”
The main muscles in the upper arm are the triceps and biceps. The biceps are at the front of the arm, and the triceps are at the back.
The triceps are often the weaker of the two because the body does not use them as directly in lifting or carrying.
Strengthening the triceps can reduce the appearance of bat wings. However, to make a lasting difference, a person may need to make broader changes to their exercise routine and diet.
What causes bat wings?
Bat wings are more common in older adults and people who are overweight.
As the body ages, muscle tone diminishes, but many exercises can restore this tone.
Different people carry weight in different areas. Bat wings can result from excess weight in the upper arms.
Targeted exercises can help to reduce weight in this area, though a person is likely to experience more satisfying results from a full-body workout.
Exercises to get rid of bat wings
The exercises below focus on building muscle tone in the upper arms. A person can do them at home or in the gym.
Warming up for 10–20 minutes before exercising can prevent muscle strain. A simple warm-up could include:
- marching in place
- rolling the shoulders in circles
- lifting alternating knees
- stretching the arms above the head
- bending gently from one side to the other
Some exercises below require small hand-held dumbbells. As an alternative, a person could fill two plastic water bottles and use these as weights.
It is important to select weights carefully. The American Council on Exercise recommend starting with a weight that only becomes challenging during the final few repetitions of an exercise.
Training with weights, or strength training, has wider benefits for health. In addition to strengthening muscles, it can improve bone density, which grows more important with age.
Also, raising and lowering weights slowly may be more effective for building muscle.
Choose four or five of the following exercises to create a workout for the triceps. A person may wish to perform the workout a few times each week.
Repeat each exercise 10 to 15 times.
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