How do I get rid of my wings?

I have zero upper body strength. I dont want big bulky arms. Does anybody have any suggestions on how I can get rid of my "wings" without building up bulky muscle? Thanks!

Don't worry, you're a woman so you won't bulk up without a little bit of help beyond normal exercise.  The best thing you can do is exercise to tone up.  Don't be afraid to lift heavy weights (you should feel the strain after 8-12 reps).

There are some very knowledgeable fitness folks on CC who I'm guessing will respond to you with some good exercise options.  As for the 'wings,' all you can do is try to lose as much excess weight as possible and continue to exercise.  If you're lucky, the flab under your arms will tighten up.  If you're like me and abused your body for far too many years, then it's another story.

Double post

Thank you very much. It seems like I have been over weight forever. I am working my butt of and I am losing so maybe the wings will leave too.

Original Post by 1983mk:

I have zero upper body strength. I dont want big bulky arms. Does anybody have any suggestions on how I can get rid of my "wings" without building up bulky muscle? Thanks!

YOU CAN NOT BULK UP. You can't. Are you a man? Do you take steriods? Do you do a very serious heavy weight routine like benching 150+lbs? Do you eat way over your daily calories? No again? NO BULK FOR YOU. In fact, you have to fight your @ss off to get muscle so forget that

Secondly, your only hope is to get rid of that fat and you can't spot reduce. The best way is to control your diet. The best way by far! Second is actually a serious weight training routine. There are many like a 5x5 or modified Starting Strength. Google it, I'm lazy today

Original Post by kaufmkk:

Don't worry, you're a woman so you won't bulk up without a little bit of help beyond normal exercise.  The best thing you can do is exercise to tone up.  Don't be afraid to lift heavy weights (you should feel the strain after 8-12 reps).

There are some very knowledgeable fitness folks on CC who I'm guessing will respond to you with some good exercise options.  As for the 'wings,' all you can do is try to lose as much excess weight as possible and continue to exercise.  If you're lucky, the flab under your arms will tighten up.  If you're like me and abused your body for far too many years, then it's another story.

Pick your muscle group workout, then find out how to tone those muscles.  More yoga, less lifting.  If you are going to lift, then its all about the reps and not about weight.  Low weight, high repetitions for toning.  If you're concerned about extra skin, talk to your doctor or dermatologist about collagen and elastin lotions.  I'm not sure there's any real evidence that these work, but I've seen some miracles with stretch marks and my mom says that's how she got rid of her droopy arms.  Good luck.  And always consult a doc!

Original Post by mook20707:

Pick your muscle group workout, then find out how to tone those muscles.  More yoga, less lifting.  If you are going to lift, then its all about the reps and not about weight.  Low weight, high repetitions for toning. 

Seriously folks - this post is so full of mis-information (aka bull), I'm at a loss. Sorry man, but this is simply wrong.

Original Post by amethystgirl:

Original Post by mook20707:

Pick your muscle group workout, then find out how to tone those muscles.  More yoga, less lifting.  If you are going to lift, then its all about the reps and not about weight.  Low weight, high repetitions for toning. 

Seriously folks - this post is so full of mis-information (aka bull), I'm at a loss. Sorry man, but this is simply wrong.

I notice you didn't provide an alternative solution.  Sorry.  I stand by this diagnosis.  Less resistance, more reps, more sets, more breaks.  Bottom line is, always consult a trainer or a doctor before beginning any program.

Thanks.

Oh - you want an alternative (besides what spiro said, which is right on the money, as usualy). Ok...

You could start by reading this: Strength without size: How to get stronger without getting bulky.

And there's also this (also from stumptuous):

Many woman who insist on training with light or medium weights and doing many reps end up building Sarcosplasmic Hypertrophy, common in body building, is bloated, soft and useless muscle. Sarcoplasmic Hypertrophy involves the growth of the sarcoplasm and non contractile proteins that do not directly contribute to muscular force production. Filament area density decreases while cross-sectional area increases, without a significant increase in strength.

Proper strength training leads to gains in Myofibrillar Hypertrophy which is referred to as strong and dense muscle. This type of hypertrophy occurs due to an increase in myosin-actin filaments. Contractile proteins are synthesized and filament density increases (Zatsiorsky 1995).

Using lower reps and heavy weights is the best way to achieve the lean physique. Moreover, you will actually have strength that works; strength that will let you achieve that pull up you’ve always wanted. And don’t worry, most women do not have the testosterone levels to achieve the big bulky muscles.

And I also like 4 Things Your Girlfriend Should Know

And this thread, "How do we dispel the "Pink Dumbbell Theory?"" has lots of good information.  You might also want to rethink the use of the word "tone."

And what you gave is a recommendation. Not a diagnosis.

Edit to add: My recommendation - lift heavy (relative to you). Lose fat by controlling your diet and moving more (you can't spot burn, but eventually the fat will come off your arms).  Do lower body exercises like squats, deadlifts, lunges, step ups and upper body exercises like shoulder press, pullups, pushups, and rows. Lower body has large muscle groups - will help with overall fat loss, and upper body work will do the same, plus help give better shape to your arms, as the fat is lost.

Original Post by mook20707:

Pick your muscle group workout, then find out how to tone those muscles.  More yoga, less lifting.  If you are going to lift, then its all about the reps and not about weight.  Low weight, high repetitions for toning.  If you're concerned about extra skin, talk to your doctor or dermatologist about collagen and elastin lotions.  I'm not sure there's any real evidence that these work, but I've seen some miracles with stretch marks and my mom says that's how she got rid of her droopy arms.  Good luck.  And always consult a doc!

What does 'tone' mean? Muscles can get bigger, or smaller, that's it.  What happens when you 'tone' muscles? do they get bigger or smaller?

Fantastic.  I stand corrected.

Ya don't feel to bad.  She has the social skills of a jackel.  It's not personal

Actually, I'm glad to have updated information.  My wife will love it.  I already sent amethystgirl's links to her.

ya her information is good... It just the way she leeps up peoples butts with teeth bared and foaming at the mouth.  I just can't help but be irritated by it.

Original Post by lilsmiter:

ya her information is good... It just the way she leeps up peoples butts with teeth bared and foaming at the mouth.  I just can't help but be irritated by it.

I agree, but nobody's going to get helped with bad information.  I'd be pretty fired up too.  Especially if you've been here long enough and seen plenty of it.

In the end, and in the intrest of not pirating somene elses thread, I'll just say good luck 1983mk and there's obviously plenty of good information out there if you know where to look.

1983mk

To answer your question.

The best way to deal with the bat wings is push ups.

at first you wont be strong enough to do them correctly SO:

Start on your knees in the "girl push up" possition and lower your self all the way to the floor as slowly as you can.  Then use what ever means nessisary to get back up again.  It doesn't matter at this point if you are just sitting up because you need to build the shoulder, back, and arm muscles to actually do a push up.  I would start at just lowering yourself to the ground 10 times every night.  This doesn't sound like a lot and it doesn't take much time but you will gain strenght quickly and with strenght you gain definition. 

Now unfortunatly your bat winds arn't just a lack of muscle but they are an excess of fat.  So keep eating healthy and clean.

Original Post by lilsmiter:

1983mk

To answer your question.

The best way to deal with the bat wings is push ups.

What makes push-ups better than pullups? or dips? or rows? or presses? or squats? for dealing with 'bat-wings'? 

Original Post by lilsmiter:

She has the social skills of a jackel. 

This coming from the person who came into this thread just to insult someone else... 

At the risk of getting yelled at again for daring to correct you, I have an alternative to building up towards pushups, that worked very well for me.

I did pushups on stairs - I'd keep my feet at the bottom, and put my hands on the 4th stair, and do pushups from there. Once I could get to 10 pushups like that, I moved to the 3rd stair, and then down, til I could do them on the floor. If the highest stair you can reach is still too difficult, you could even do them against a kitchen counter.

The reason I prefer this method is that I feel like "girl pushups" don't teach you to keep your body in a straight line, which for me is a huge part of doing pushups. I hate the phrase, but when you are keeping your body in a straight line, you "engage your core" and I find it really adds to the workout.

I do, however, like the idea of doing "negatives" for pushups (only working on lowering) - it's how I am working up to pullups, and I'd never thought of it for pushups.

Push ups are simple, well known, don't require equipment, and can be done in a variety of ways that alows a person to build strenght slowly. 

Even the "lowering yourself only" method that I described can be made even more simple by starting with your hands on a step. 

Pushups are the best way to build all around muscle in your shoulders, back and arms with the smallest risk of injuring yourself.

It's not the Correcting, that makes you come off as a rabid dog with a chip on it's shoulder, it's when you burst into a thread tell someone that they are full of bull crap and don't bother to add any sort of back up information that putts me and I am sure everyone else who gets the pleasure of being told off by you off.

I think both metods are good but it really depends on where the weakest link in your body is.

For me personaly my core is very very strong, and it was only certain portions of my shoulders that were failing me in good solid push ups.

I think for balancing and strenghaning the core plank is probobly better.  The reason why I don't recomend starting with full toe to hand push ups is because if your core is very weak you can do some damage to your lower back.  SO the moral of the story is if you feel unstable on your toes and hands work on the plank first and in the mean time streghten your uper body with the "girl" pushups that I mentioned before.