A slimmer back and arms comes from comprehensive workouts.

Image Credit: South_agency/E+/GettyImages Get rid of those trouble spots once and for all. Jiggly arms and rolls that spill over your bra line or back of your waist can be burned off with exercise, but perhaps not with the approach you would expect.

  Advertisement
 No magic back workouts or arm workouts will whittle your specific fat storage spots, but a comprehensive exercise plan can lean you out and, when you attend to your arms and back with strength work, reveal toned muscle.

  Video of the Day
  
Fat Loss Primer

Your body stores fat where it wants; this seems exceptionally unfair, but it’s the way every body works. In simple terms, when you take in more calories from food and drink than you use up, your fat cells start to swell. Which ones fill up first is dependent largely on genetics and hormones.

  Advertisement
 To lose fat, you will need to consume fewer calories than you burn. Of course, you can cut down your caloric intake — but only so much before you become famished and nutritionally deficient. Exercise helps create a higher calorie burn rate, creating a caloric deficit that makes it easier for fat loss to occur. It takes about a 3,500-calorie deficit to lose 1 pound.

When you exercise and eat less to lose weight, your fat cells begin to shrink back down. Which ones shrink first is again dependent on hormones and genetics, not your wishes. Suffice it to say that if you tend to gain weight in your arms and back first, you’ll lose it from these places last — but it will eventually yield when you become lean enough.

  Advertisement
 Read More: The 7 Principles of Fat Loss

Do Cardio First

Twists, rows and curls target your back and arm muscles, but not for fat-burning. These exercises are important for your health and muscle tone, but won’t really assist you in fat loss. Instead, get out your sneakers and go walking, hiking, jogging, biking or kick boxing. Pretty much any activity that gets your big muscles moving, raises your heart rate and causes you to break a sweat counts. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends a minimum of 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic exercise just to maintain your current weight.

  Advertisement
 Once you've built up the stamina to do this moderate-level intensity exercise, kick up the intensity at a few workouts per week. Go at a faster rate or add intervals —alternating bouts of all-out effort and rest — to turn on fat-burning mechanisms.

  Advertisement
 
Include Strength, Too

Strength training doesn’t burn as many calories as cardio while you’re exercising, but it does help create lean muscle mass to make your back and arms look firmer. Plus, the more muscle, or lean mass, you have on your body, the higher your metabolism — which means you use more calories all day long.

  Advertisement
 Participate in compound exercises that move multiple joints at once to get the most lean muscle-build out of each effort. Squats, lunges and chest presses are some of the best to include a couple times per week in a fat-loss workout.

You’ll want to target your arms and back as well, not to melt fat specifically from this region, but to tone the muscles so they pop when you do slim down. Muscle tissue is firmer than fat and gives your whole body a healthier, fitter look.

  Advertisement
 Exercises to include specifically for the arms and back include:

Bent-over, cable or machine rows Barbell or dumbbell curls Triceps dips or triceps extension Lat pull-downs or pull-ups

Read More: 20 Fat-Loss Secrets

  Advertisement
 
  Advertisement
  
  references
  
      American Council on Exercise: "Why is the Concept of Spot Training Considered a Myth?"
    
      Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: "Top 10 Things to Know About the Second Edition of the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans"
    
      ExRx.net: "Lever Seated Row"
       




  references
  
      American Council on Exercise: "Why is the Concept of Spot Training Considered a Myth?"
    
      Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: "Top 10 Things to Know About the Second Edition of the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans"
    
      ExRx.net: "Lever Seated Row"
    




A slimmer back and arms comes from comprehensive workouts.

Image Credit: South_agency/E+/GettyImages

Image Credit: South_agency/E+/GettyImages

      American Council on Exercise: "Why is the Concept of Spot Training Considered a Myth?"
    
      Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: "Top 10 Things to Know About the Second Edition of the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans"
    
      ExRx.net: "Lever Seated Row"