How to Get Smaller Arms
- 1). Monitor what you eat. Avoid sugar, unhealthy fats, and fried and processed foods, because consuming an excess of these can bring on weight gain and increase your arm size. Focus on healthy foods, including complex carbohydrates from whole grains, vegetables and fruits. Consume lean protein, such as chicken and fish, instead of fatty cuts of pork and beef. Cook with saturated fats, such as olive oil and canola oil.
- 2). Spend 30 minutes per day, five days a week, on cardiovascular exercise. Walk, jog, bike or swim to promote fat burn from your entire body. Pump your arms when walking or jogging for an additional caloric burn.
- 3). Incorporate strength training on two days of the week to help reduce body fat. Exercise the abdominal muscles, back, legs, shoulders, chest, and arms. Strength training helps maintain and increase muscle tissue. Muscle tissue stimulates your metabolism so you burn fat even when you're not exercising.
- 4). Perform pullovers to tone and slim your arms. Lie on your back with your knees bent. Place your feet flat on the floor. Hold a dumbbell or medicine ball in your hands. Stretch your arms straight out in front of you. Inhale and move the dumbbell backward over your head, as far as you can, without letting it touch the floor. Exhale and return the dumbbell to the starting position in front of you. Complete three sets of 12 repetitions. For an extra challenge, perform the exercise while resting your upper back on a stability ball. Use water bottles filled with sand or food cans as an alternative to dumbbells.
- 5). Include triceps dips to tone the back of your upper arms. Sit on the floor with a bench behind you. Place your hands on the bench, with your fingers facing forward. Use your arms to push your thighs and buttocks off the floor. Balance on the heels of your feet. Bend at the elbows to lower your body down toward the floor. Avoid touching the floor with your buttocks. Repeat the exercise 12 times and complete three sets.
- 6). Add triceps push-ups to your arm strength-training routine. Come down on all fours and, keeping your knees on the floor, lower your hips so your body forms a diagonal line from your knees to your shoulders. Position your hands directly under your shoulders. Bend your elbows to lower your upper body toward the floor. Keep your elbows tucked into your sides. Push yourself back up to the beginning position. Repeat the exercise 12 times. Work your way up to complete three sets. Stretch out your legs to perform full push-ups once you get stronger.
- 7). Perform biceps curls to tone the front of the upper arm. Stand with your feet hip width apart. Grab a dumbbell in each hand with an underhand grip, palms facing away from your body. Let your arms naturally fall at your sides. Bend the elbows and raise the dumbbells up toward your shoulders. Hold the contraction for two seconds and slowly lower the dumbbells down to the starting position. Complete three sets of 12 repetitions.