For toning up arms and lower belly. I have been walking on treadmill but not as much as I need to. But I have noticed my arms and belly are in desperate need of attention. Any suggestions?

Are you working out at a gym?

I ask because I just started using some of the weight machines for that.

Not that you want to neglect the biceps, but the triceps make up 2/3 of the muscle in your arms, so make sure to work those triceps with some dips (or assisted dibs) and close grip bench presses along with bicep work. Lower belly is tough to work on unless you want to do deadlifts, squats and planks. The extra deadlifts have helped me on my lower torso (tummy and sides). If you do those, just make sure you go light at first with high reps to learn the technique. Good luck!

Not that you want to neglect the biceps' date=' but the triceps make up 2/3 of the muscle in your arms, so make sure to work those triceps with some dips (or assisted dibs) and close grip bench presses along with bicep work. Lower belly is tough to work on unless you want to do deadlifts, squats and planks. The extra deadlifts have helped me on my lower torso (tummy and sides). If you do those, just make sure you go light at first with high reps to learn the technique. Good luck![/quote']

Lol.. What did you Just say?

I must be dumb as a stick because I didn't understand a word

Lol.. What did you Just say?

I must be dumb as a stick because I didn't understand a word

It is just strength training lingo. There are a lot of good books out there like Mens fitness book of muscle, body for life,etc that explains all this jargon.

Lol.. What did you Just say?

I must be dumb as a stick because I didn't understand a word

My bad, I had an errand to run yesterday when I started writing that reply and was in too much of a hurry, thus not very thorough. Biceps are your front facing upper arm muscles and triceps are the rear facing upper arm muscles that a lot of people want to work on in the gym. A person would do some of the previous mentioned exercises to target these muscles. Someone doing deadlifts would target their whole body and especially the core (torso) muscles that may help with one's tummy area. Deadlifts are basically taking a weight off of the floor and standing up with it. Though it's still a very technical lift that requires good technique/form. If you've never done any kind of resistance training (muscle building/toning), you'll probably want to do a little research (as Fiddleman stated) on some of those lifts or others you may be interested in. "Mcabercrombie"....those are just a few suggestions that you may want to look into that will hopefully build a little muscle in those areas you are wanting to improve.

Make sure you look up proper techniques before attempting squats or deadlifts. These are wonderful exercises but you can easily hurt your back if you do it wrong. Watch some youtube videos before you start.

Thanks so much

Not that you want to neglect the biceps' date=' but the triceps make up 2/3 of the muscle in your arms, so make sure to work those triceps with some dips (or assisted dibs) and close grip bench presses along with bicep work. Lower belly is tough to work on unless you want to do deadlifts, squats and planks. The extra deadlifts have helped me on my lower torso (tummy and sides). If you do those, just make sure you go light at first with high reps to learn the technique. Good luck![/quote']

Pictures or it didn't happen....

Sent from my iPhone using VST

Pictures or it didn't happen....

Sent from my iPhone using VST

Still a work in progress, but muscle really helps to fill in the loose skin. This one is from over 2 months ago, so I've probably made just a little more progress since then. But some of those core/torso muscles were starting to develop by this time. The deadlifts have really helped to keep the flab away from my tummy. Just need to start really light and get that form down before advancing with deadlifts. I've also had very little issues with loose skin on my arms as well. I would recommend targeting muscles and lifting in any area that one wants to improve loose skin or flab issues. My next goal while continuing the "ab" area is to start improving my chest area with some bench press, incline press and dumbbell flys.

@around - were you fairly muscular prior to surgery or did you add most of it after? How far out are you?

I worked out (lifted) off and on for years before surgery. I thought at the time that I lifted fairly often, which was about twice, maybe three times a week. Looking back, I was not nearly as dedicated as I am now with a set plan and lifting 4-5 times a week currently. So I was kind of muscular and kind of strong, but now that I'm over a year out and weigh a lot less, I feel better and I'm now stronger than I was when I was 315-320. Also, for the first two months after surgery, I lost A LOT of muscle due to losing weight so fast. When I first went back to the gym post-op, I was really weak and it really bummed me out. So it's been a slow, but steady road back to strength and now then some. You have similar goals for strength?

Yeah id like to eventually be around your build but i havent lifted in years. Hopefully what i did have will come back soon. Im just getting the ok to start lifting, but still have to hold off on my abdomen for two more weeks until its finished healing. So im thinking starting on legs, back, chest, arms since im a go on those.

'ActingNurse'....yes, you sure do want to hold off on anything that may engage your core for lifting or even using them for support like squats. Just gradually build up to it over the next couple of months and you should be fine. I'm always looking for tips in the weight room, so let me know what works for ya!

mbabe - I'm in the same boat! I'm down 90lbs entirely from walking and need to do something to start working on the muscle tone and to loose the last 20lbs. One thing I notice for sure is when I last weighed what I weigh now, I was shaped differently! Having a baby at 250 took it's toll on my stomach. I just started to (cringe) run. I downloaded the C25k app and am going to give it a try. So far so good. I've done the run three nights (out of the past 5) and have been back on the treadmill consistently for a few weeks now. I'm NOT a runner so this will be interesting for me. I can't imagine running 5k but I'll follow the plan and see what happens.

I have a little paperback book called 5 Factor Fitness (or something close to that) and it has a very simple exercise plan included. It's a strength & tone plan and it's easy and you just need a couple little hand weights. Five days a week you do sets/reps of three (I think it was three - one upper body, one lower body, one core) exercises and add on at least 5 minutes, but as much as you want, of cardio. It might be a good place to start if you don't go to a gym where you could get help from a pro.

oh and around- you look great!