Excuse me ‘mam… You have something dangling between your elbow and your armpit?

Ah, yes, it’s under arm flab!

Some women I know with a wicked sense of humor refer to it as “their wings” because their arm flab flaps and jiggles (say that 5 times fast) when they walk or jog. Cool, now I’m up to speed on what females call certain body parts when their talking amongst themselves.

Then… as I’m channel surfing I happen to see this infomercial:

[I know what your thinking and I want you to stop it! We're a PG-13 group here. By the way, who approved commercials for adult toys during the day?]

If products like the one above are making it past the cutting room floor then there must be some serious concern out there from the ladies about getting rid of their wings?

Before I go any further, this topic reminds me of Marty Web.

For those of you who have read Fit Over 40, by fitness author and expert Jon Benson, you’ll be familiar with Marty Web’s story. For those that haven’t, no problem. Here’s a quick synopsis:

She was the 59 year old housewife who was 80 pounds over her ideal body weight. Her wings were flapping in the wind with loads of arm fat. Marty kindly shares her story in Benson’s book of how she transformed her body and recaptured her toned, beautiful arms.

NOTE: My apologies to anyone who found that summary offensive but I just wanted to paint a quick picture of the situation. From this point forward, we will substitute wings for more descriptive terms, promise.

Leaving out the tear jerking moments, here are the basics of what she used to melt away the body fat, especially on the back of her arm.

Nutrition

A common misconception about body fat is (especially on the back of your arms) you can turn it into muscle.

Ha… I wish!

Fat doesn’t turn into anything. It can be used for energy or for the creation of soap products to supplement Tyler Durden’s income for Project Mayhem (Fight Club on cable this past weekend… I couldn’t resist).

Low insulin nutrition is vital to lowering your body fat. Eating more protein-rich foods, foods that are not processed, and plenty of vegetables are the corner stone of keeping your insulin levels low and in check. I’m starting to sound more primal everyday!

For ladies, the “back of the arm” bodyfat is often the last bit to go.

Work Those Wings

I mean, train your triceps!

Women (and guys are way more guilty) often mistaken biceps for being bigger and better then triceps.

WRONG!

The triceps are the foundation of any good looking toned arms. But to work them you need to work all three heads of the muscle- long, medial and lateral head.

Sure there’s a ton of different machines to use at the gym but you can still get work done at home with a classic body weight exercise called the push up.

Craig Ballantyne, author of the Turbulence Training system, has many different workout programs that include the push up and other cool bodyweight exercises. If your interested, check out our review of his program here.

Push ups are great for working all three heads of your triceps but here’s a few tips to bring you past the beginner stage:

[Really, I have to get a new video camera and demonstrate this stuff. It's inexcusable! For now, you'll have to settle for these grainy animated gifs from my buddy Roddy over at myfit.ca]

On Your Knees

If you cannot do a push up with your legs straight, start by doing them on your knees.

But don’t rest there!

Work your way up to straight-legged push ups (see below) for maximum benefit to your triceps.

It’s All in the Hands

Do a set with your hands facing away from your body, a set with your hands facing toward your body (fingers pointing toward you) and your final set with your hands in the “normal” push up position, facing the same direction as your body.

This will work the three heads effectively and keep you and your triceps pumping!

If your looking for inspiring stories about struggles with weight loss then check out Fit Over 40 Review. By my last count there were over 50 stories just like Marty’s above about the tribulations with fat loss and living a healthy lifestyle.