10 Best Exercises for Flabby Arms (Tighten Bat Wings Workout)

If you find yourself avoiding sleeveless tops and tank tops, then you’re going to want to see these exercises for flabby arms.

Picture yourself wearing your favorite sleeveless dress or top and feel confident about it. With these exercises you can tone and tighten your arms, finally getting rid of flabby areas and sagging bat wings.

But just losing weight can make flabby arms worse because you’re also losing muscle. And doing the wrong arm exercises can give you bad results or cause your arms to bulk up.

Use this collection of the best exercises designed to target tone flabby arms. These are simple at-home exercises that can be done anywhere too, so keep going to say goodbye to flabby arms for good.

Why Flabby Arms Can Be Toned (Fab to Flab!)

What causes bat wings and flabby arms?

Now, we all have those stubborn parts on our bodies that seem to cling to fat more than others. And it seems that, with some bad luck, they’re the first spots to gain weight and the last places to lose it.

But even losing weight doesn’t mean the bat wings will go away. Walking alone will only help some weight come off, but it won’t reduce flabby arms.

Three reasons that cause flabby arms…

1. Not having enough muscle on your arms to tone them.
2. You still have too much excess fat on your arms.
3. Skin elasticity has weakened, causing them to loosen.

It’s a common mistake to think weight loss alone through dieting and walking is enough to get rid of flabby arms. But you’ll also lose muscle along with fat when you lose weight.¹ Arms might then be visibly thinner but they’ll still be flabby.

This is a common problem for those who are “skinny fat.” They may appear to be thin but they’re really lacking serious muscle tone. This is why somebody who looks thin can still have a flabby body.² You need to improve your body fat composition to get the results you’re looking for.³

Muscle loss occurs more rapidly as we age, especially for women over 50 and 60. By then, hormonal changes cause further muscle loss and increased body fat (the dreaded menopausal belly).⁴ Natural muscle loss also occurs with age (sarcopenia) unless one is weight training.⁵

It’s crucial to start building muscle tone in your arms by exercising them. Lack of muscle is a big cause of stubborn loose arm fat. Targeted arm exercises can quickly help tighten them.

This Is the Fastest Way to Tone Flabby Arms

You may have heard that spot reduction doesn’t work for getting rid of stubborn fat. This is when you try to target fat loss in certain areas of your body with specific exercises. But this is only partially true…

For example, it’s true that just doing 100 crunches a day will not do much to get rid of stubborn belly fat.⁶ To get results, you not only have to lose excess weight but also tone up the area with the targeted exercises.

If your arms have excess fat, it’s crucial to put your body into a caloric deficit by either dieting and/or working out. Reducing total body fat will improve your overall body composition, which will really help toning your arms and body.

Combining the arm targeted arm exercises below will then help to build lean and toned muscle to the area. This will produce the fastest and best results to lose arm fat and to get toned and sculpted arms. This study found those doing arm exercises had more fat loss in their arms compared to those who didn’t do any.⁷

I recommend combining the arm exercises below with high-intensity exercises. High-intensity exercises will elevate your heart rate, body temperature, and blood flow and increase total fat burning. Then, mixing in the below-targeted arm exercises will improve fat burning in your arm area by mobilizing fatty acids from fat cells.⁸

I’d then recommend adding 20-40 minutes of traditional slow-go cardio afterward. This can be anything from brisk walking, jogging, cycling, swimming, elliptical, etc. The addition of cardio after strength training in the targeted area enhances spot reduction fat loss.⁹

10 Best Exercises For Flabby Arms

All you’re really going to need is a pair of dumbbells for some of the exercises, which are super inexpensive, and you can find them at your local Target or Wal-Mart.

Find a weight for your dumbbells that will be challenging, but won’t cause your form to suffer. For most women, I suggest starting off with a pair of 6-8 pound dumbbells. This is typically enough weight to challenge your arm muscles while also allowing you to control the dumbbells.

If you don’t have access to or can’t afford dumbbells, try using heavy water bottles. Filled water bottles will give you some weight to work with when you can’t use dumbbells. You can also use resistance bands to do these exercises.

Use a slower 2-3 seconds tempo for the exercises’ positive and negative phases. The positive phase usually occurs when you’re lifting the weight against gravity, while the negative phase occurs when the weight is being lowered.

An example for biceps curls would be to raise the dumbbells up at a pace of 3 seconds to reach the top then slowly lower them back down at a pace of 3 seconds until it reaches the bottom.

A slower, more controlled tempo will cause your arms to work harder and have a higher time under tension. This study by The Journal of Physiology found that time under tension is an important factor in muscle growth.¹⁰

This arms workout is designed to be done with one exercise after the other. Try not to rest long between exercises as we want to create as much demand on your arms as possible. Use a timer to time your intervals with each work set at 30 seconds per exercise. Set the timer to rest for 10 seconds before you would move onto the next exercise.

After you complete all five exercises, you can take a 40-second rest before starting again. Just let the time complete another 30/10 set before beginning the next round. Go for 3-5 rounds total, and I’d recommend doing this workout no more than 2-3 times per week.

Close Grip Push-ups

1. Get in the push-up position, placing your hands closer than shoulder-width apart on the floor, directly under your shoulders.
2. Keep your body perfectly straight with your abs tight and your elbows tucked to begin the push-up.
3. Slowly lower yourself to the ground while keeping your elbows tucked in.
4. It should feel like your elbows scrap your sides as you perform the push-up.
5. As you nearly reach the ground, push yourself back to the starting position. At the top, focus on squeezing your triceps. If this is too difficult to do from your feet, just stay on your knees throughout the movement.

Modified Close-Grip Pushups:

Diamond Push-ups

1. Place your thumbs and index fingers on the floor to form a diamond shape. Then, place your hands directly underneath your chest.
2. Keep your body in a straight line from head to heels, engaging your core and glutes.
3. Bend your elbows, keeping them close to your sides, and lower your chest toward the diamond.
4. Press through your hands to extend your arms and return to the starting position. If this version is too difficult, you can use the modified version below.

Modified Kneeling Diamond Push-ups:

Triceps Floor Press

1. Start in the push-up position. But now, move your hands farther in front of you so they’re in line with your head.
2. Bend your elbows and lower them towards the ground.
3. After they tap the ground, press yourself back up by pushing with your triceps until you return to the top.
4. If this version is too difficult, you can use the modified version below.

Modified Kneeling Triceps Floor Press

Plank-to-Pushups

1. Begin in the push-up position with your hands place a little wider than shoulder width apart and your feet hip-width apart.
2. Lower one elbow at a time towards the ground until it rests, then do the same for the other arm.
3. Once both elbows are on the ground, reverse the process by lifting yourself off your elbow and back onto your hand.

Pike Push-ups

1. Begin in a downward dog position with hands shoulder-width apart and hips raised high.
2. Keep your legs straight and your back flat, forming an inverted V shape.
3. Bend your elbows to lower your head towards the floor, keeping your body stable.
4. Press through your hands to straighten your arms and return to the starting position. Repeat.

Cobra Press Hold

1. Start by lying face down on the floor with your hands under your shoulders.
2. Push through your hands to lift your chest off the ground, extending your arms while keeping your hips and legs on the floor.
3. Hold the top position, keeping your chest lifted and shoulders back, engaging your lower back muscles.
4. Lower your chest back to the ground in a controlled manner. Repeat.

Dumbbell Kickbacks

1. Stand with your knees slightly bent and lean forward, holding a dumbbell in each hand with your palms facing in.
2. Keep your upper arms close to your body and bend your elbows at a 90-degree angle. Your upper arms and shoulders should be straight and parallel to the floor.
3. Straighten your arms behind you by extending your elbows and squeezing your triceps at the top.
4. Slowly bend your elbows to return to the starting position. Repeat.

Overhead Triceps Extension

1. Sit with your feet shoulder-width apart, holding a dumbbell in each hand.
2. Raise the dumbbells overhead until your arms are fully extended, keeping your elbows close to your ears.
3. Bend your elbows to lower the dumbbells behind your head, maintaining a steady and controlled movement. Be sure to keep your elbows in and next to your ears throughout the movement.
4. Straighten your arms to lift the dumbbells back to the starting position. Repeat.

Lying Tricep Extensions

1. Lay on your back while holding a dumbbell in each hand straight out over your body and shoulder-width apart, with your palms facing each other.
2. While keeping your elbows in, slowly lower the weight down towards the top of your head. Make sure your elbows don’t flare out.
3. Then slowly raise them back up to the start position as you extend your arms along with your hips. Be sure to keep your elbows stable and steady throughout the movement.

Chair Bench Dips

1. Find a sturdy chair or bench that won’t break or tip over easily. Stand with your feet in front of the chair. With your back turned to the chair, place your hands on its sides to get in the starting position. Your knees will now be bent while you keep your arms straight.
2. Squeeze the back of your arms while you’re at the top. Slowly begin to lower yourself down by bending your elbows. Only go so low you don’t feel any overstraining in your shoulder.
3. Then, slowly raise yourself back up to the top, where you’ll squeeze your triceps again.

Getting Rid of Flabby Arms After 50

Women in their 50s, 60s, and 70s can have more difficulty getting rid of the bat wings on their upper arms. But there’s still hope!

Doing the targeted arm exercises above will help a lot with tightening and toning the bat wings. Menopausal women experience hormonal changes, such as decreases in estrogen and progesterone, that promote fat storage and muscle loss.

Women usually have a harder time with insulin sensitivity after 50.¹¹ Eating carbohydrates, starches, refined grains, and other carb-rich foods can make it easier for them to gain fat in their upper bodies. Women after 50 can benefit from eating a low-carb diet that’s rich in whole foods.

Intermittent fasting can also be beneficial for women after 50. Fasting helps to decrease daily calorie intake by 550 calories on average.¹² It also reduces snacking. Hormones are improved as well by incorporating an intermittent fasting routine.

Eating a high-protein diet will also help increase muscle tone.¹³ Protein is needed for muscles to build or prevent muscle loss.

On average, it’s recommended to consume 0.8 grams of protein per pound of body weight. So, if someone weighs 150 pounds, then they should consume 120 grams of protein per day. If you have trouble reaching this daily protein requirement then consider taking a low-carb protein powder daily.

Lastly, skin elasticity reduces drastically with age as collagen production in the body decreases.¹⁴ Collagen is the most abundant protein in the body and is known by dermatologists as “the support structure for your skin.”

Supplementing with collagen peptides has been found to quickly improve skin elasticity.¹⁵ Collagen can help tighten up loose skin in the arms (and rest of the body). Adding collagen peptides to your daily routine, especially when combined with the exercises and workout above, can improve crepey arm skin and flab.

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Summary

• Using targeted arm exercises combined with high-intensity exercise and cardio afterward will produce the fastest results for tightening flabby arms.
• Caloric deficit and a high-protein, low-carb diet will also help your arms and body tone up faster. Implementing a basic intermittent fasting routine can also accelerate results.
• Focus on the tempo with these arm exercises to work the muscles better. The more time under tension during repetitions, the more efficient the exercises will be.
• Try to do each exercise until you get a “burn” sensation in the muscle. This will produce more muscle soreness, but in return, your arms will tone up faster by improving fat burning in the area and building more toned muscle.

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Josh Schlottman, CSCS CPT

Josh Schlottman is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) through the National Strength and Conditioning Association and an ACE Certified Personal Trainer with a Bachelor’s degree in Nutrition. With more than 20 years of hands-on coaching experience since 2005, Josh has helped thousands of clients in-person and online to build muscle, lose fat, and improve long-term metabolic health through science-based strength training and nutrition strategies. Josh is the founder of TrainerJosh.com, where he publishes evidence-based workout programs focused on bodyweight training, fat loss, and healthy aging. His fitness insights have been featured in outlets such as Men’s Fitness, Men’s Health, Askmen, Prevention, Healthline and other health publications.