Will Jogging Help the Flab Under My Arms?

As one of the most effective exercises for weight loss, jogging can help reduce arm flab by encouraging total-body fat burning. And because no exercise removes fat from a targeted area, this strategy is your best option for trimmer arms. Along with losing weight, tone your arms with resistance exercises, which will build muscle tissue to help you appear tighter and fitter. Be warned, however, that some of the "flab" under your arms may be loose skin, which will not respond to diet or exercise.

Losing Fat

Although jogging is an effective step in achieving your fat-loss goals, it will only work if you burn more calories than you eat. Each 3,500-calorie deficit will cause about 1 pound of fat loss, a portion of which will come from your arms. Aim to lose 1 to 2 pounds per week for healthy, effective results -- this means eating 500 to 1,000 fewer calories than you burn each day. Jogging will cover some of that deficit, and you can make up the rest by reducing portion sizes and eating low-calorie, high-nutrient foods such as:

• vegetables
  
• fruits
  
• nonfat dairy
  
• egg whites
  
• whole-wheat goods

Jogging and Calories

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Now that you know what it takes to lose the fat, it's time to put jogging into perspective. Jogging at 4.5 mph, about as slow as you can go without reverting to a walk, a 160-pound person burns about 603 calories per hour. At 5 mph, she burns about 661 calories per hour and at 6 mph, she burns about 778 calories per hour. Based on these numbers, it may take between four and six hour-long jogging sessions to lose 1 pound.

Building a Jogging Schedule

Jogging is vigorous exercise, so if you're new to the activity start with brisk walking and slowly add 30- to 60-second bursts of jogging. For the best weight-loss results, jog or perform other cardio exercise at least 45 minutes per day, five days per week, working up to an hour or longer over time 3. To avoid overuse injury, mix up jogging with other activities throughout the week, such as swimming or using an elliptical machine.

Arm Toning

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While jogging helps torch fat, it doesn't develop arm definition as well as resistance exercises that push your arms to fatigue. The American Council on Exercise found that triangle pushups are the best move for toning the triceps, the main muscles under your arms. Perform them like regular pushups, but with your thumbs and forefingers touching to form a triangle on the ground. Dips are another good choice. For balance and overall strength gains, don't forget the rest of your body -- perform weighted or body-weight exercises for your biceps and all other major muscle groups as well.