How To Get Rid Of Flabby Arms And A Belly At Home

This is a common question I get from readers
when the New Year starts creeping up and people
are starting to think about getting in shape again!

Question:

Hey Ray, I'm not fat, but I do have a bit of a
belly and flabby arms going on! Now I have started
doing cardio "exercise bike" 30 minutes a day,
that's going to burn the fat! But I was wondering
how do I shape up these trouble areas? I have a
hard time doing press-ups, so what stuff could I
do at home to help me get rid of flabby arms and
tone up the abs?

Answer:

First, what I am about to tell you will only work
when used with a total approach to getting in
shape. That means proper diet, cardio and
resistance training.



The easiest thing you can do to tighten up flabby
arms and a droopy chest is the press up. I know
you have difficulty with them but that's because
they are hard, but they also work VERY well. We
will call the press up a pushup from now on just
because that is the term that most people use. The
pushup has many variations and I am sure that one
of the ones I give you will be well within your
ability to do until you get to the full military
pushup variation and beyond.



A quick word on pushup form. You want to keep your
core tight. What you do not want to happen is that
when you push up, you look like you are peeling
yourself off the floor. I call this worming. A lot
of people do it when they get tired. First you
will see them raise their heads, then their chest
and finally their hips leave the floor. What
should happen is that you contract your core so
that everything from the base contact point (feet
or knees) is lifted off at the same moment.


The other important point to consider when doing
pushups is the arm and shoulder angle. A common
mistake when doing the pushup is having your
shoulders and arms too close to your head. If you
are lying on the floor in the proper pushup
position and someone looked down on your from
above, you would want to look like an arrow head
and not a "T". Your hands should be below your
shoulders or even a little further back towards
your hips. The farther back you go the harder the
pushups becomes. This sets up your arms so they
are slanted back on a 45 degree angle if viewed
from above.


How you can work yourself from square one into
being able to do a full pushup.


The first and easiest version of the pushup is the
wall pushup. This is simply standing face into a
wall and doing your pushups by pushing against the
wall until you are standing straight. You lower
and push over and over. If you can do 15 to 20
reps of these two to three times then it is time
to go onto the second version.


The second version on the scale of difficulty in
pushups is the box pushup. Instead of pushing
against the wall, you will push against something
that is 1-2 feet off the floor.


You should probably do these with your base being
your knees instead of your feet like in the full
military pushup. The couch will work and so will
the coffee table. Make sure you position yourself
so that when you touch the couch (or whatever) in
the bottom position your lower chest is the
contact point.



Aim for the nipples if you want an exact spot.

After you can do 3 sets of 15 on this version, you
are ready for the next step in your pushup
evolution!


The third version on the scale of difficulty in
pushups is when the pushup is done on the knees.

Everything about this version is the same as the
regular full pushup except that your knees do not
leave the ground. This cuts out the extra weight
from the knees to the toes making the pushup a
little easier than the full version. Again, when
you get 3 sets of 15 repetitions, you are ready to
move on.


The fourth version in your journey to a full
pushup is the knee pushup with a full pushup
negative. Now we are getting somewhere! The trick
with this version is to do your pushup as in the
above version and lower yourself in the regular
full pushup version. The reason you do this is
because you are always stronger in the negative or
lowering portion of the movement than in the
positive or raising portion. So we do the heavy
full pushup to lower and the easier knee pushups
to raise your self up. When you get your 3 sets of
15 repetitions here, you are now ready to do full
military pushups!


If you find yourself in a place a couple of months
from now where pushups are like butter then you
can keep the ball rolling. In the beginning we
took the upper body from the wall to the box and
then to the floor. We made it harder by adding
more weight over the chest area in little bits. To
make it more difficult, we do the exact opposite.


First put your feet on the box, then at 45 degrees
on a wall and before you know it, you will be
doing handstand pushups! By raising the feet
slowly over time, you shift even more weight onto
the chest until you hit a point and the working
muscle flips.


Once your feet get high enough and you are almost
vertical, feet up, you will be putting most of the
tension square on the shoulders. This is very hard
but you can do it if you put in the time.



HOW TO GET RID OF THE BELLY AT HOME.

--------------------------------------------------


If you are just starting out, the best way to
safely get into training off that belly is the
simple crunch.


You'll hear a lot of experts jumping on the
bandwagon saying the crunch isn't the most
effective ab exercise. It's not if you are a
gymnast and you have been training for years and
are an athlete. If you can't do a couple of sets
without your abs burning though, it's a great
place to start without killing yourself!


Here is how I teach my clients doing Fat 2 Fit to
do them. Place your hands behind (support, but
don't pull) your head. I like to support my head
by using the finger tips to cup the ears. It's a
light support but it keeps you from cranking your
neck forward.


From here, curl your upper torso forward. As you
do this you want to keep your lower back in mind
and push it into the floor. Bring your rib cage
toward your pelvis until you feel a contraction in
your abs. Holding your hands down by your hips is
an easier version. Pause for the contraction and
slowly return to the starting position. Exhale on
the contraction - this breathing advice applies to
all abdominal exercises.


Three sets of crunches for 20 reps a set is a nice
place for a beginner to start. You can rest
anywhere from 30 seconds to a minute depending on
how hard of an effort that was for you. If that's
not a problem then superset each set of crunches
with the next exercise called hip rolls.


Superset is just a fancy personal trainer term for
no rest. This means then that the first set of
crunches is immediately followed by a brief 30
second rest to let the burn fizzle a bit. Do three
sets of this combination.


To do hip rolls correctly you lie on the ground
pushing down on the floor with your hands by your
sides. Keep your feet off the floor and bent 90
degrees at the knee the whole time. You then raise
your pelvis off the floor so the tail bone comes
right up and squeeze the abs! You should now be
rolled into a ball with your knees over your
chest. At the top if you get really good, not only
will your pelvis be off the floor but also a
portion of your lower back.


NOW STAND ON ONE FOOT AND PAT YOUR HEAD..(just
kidding)


If you watch your diet and do your cardio along
with your full body workout, you will see that six
pack come out. The last step in the beginner ab
routine is to add in some bridges or "planks" as
the yoga folks like to call them.


This is basically a pushup position but you don't
rest on your hands, you rest on your forearms and
just hold it for 30-60 seconds. Don't let your
lower back sag! Keep a slightly inverted c posture
like your trying to pull your hips toward your
chin.

Now to combine all these fine ab exercises into an
abdominal workout you can do at home and get a
little sweat on.


Beginner home abdominal workout

Crunches x20

Hip rolls x20

Planks for a 30-60 second hold

So there you go. If used with proper diet, cardio
and full body training this will tighten up flabby
arms, a saggy chest and a pokey belly in the
comforts of your own home.

Do Your Best Until You Become The Best,
Ray Burton, ISSA-CPT, Crossfit
Author of FAT 2 FIT
FattoFit.com