Can the Arm Hoop Help to Lose Arm Fat?

While traditional exercises can help you burn enough calories to lose your sagging arm fat, switching up your workout routine to try new activities can breathe new life into your fat-burning journey. Arm hoops are much like hula hoops, but they're smaller and you wear them around your arms instead of your waist. Using arm hoops for an up-tempo workout can contribute to fat loss and muscle gain.

  1. Burning Your Arm Fat

    • Contrary to the weight-loss stories you might hear circulating around the gym, working your arms won't exclusively burn your arm fat. While it's true that arm exercises lead to muscle gain in the affected areas, it's not possible to selectively burn fat in a chosen region of your body. This idea is called spot reduction, and the American Council on Exercise confirms it's a fitness myth. Thus, while working out with arm hoops can lead to fat loss, the fat you lose will be in several parts of your body, rather than your arms alone.

    Using the Arm Hoop

    • Whether you plan to buy a pair of arm hoops and exercise at home or find a gym that employs such equipment, you can use this workout to burn overall body fat if you perform it enough. No data about the calorie burn of arm hoops exists, but "Health" magazine reports that, on average, a person will burn about 300 calories in 30 minutes of using the hula hoop, which is a comparable workout.

    Arm Muscle Strengthening

    • Using arm hoops can help you burn the excess fat off your arms, but this workout can also lead to stronger muscles in your upper body. The exact upper-body muscles you'll work while using arm hoops depends on how you use the hoops. In general, however, this workout can build such muscles as your deltoids, pectorals, latissimus dorsi, biceps and triceps. Arm hoops are unlikely to lead to bulky arms, but prolonged use of this exercise can create sleek, toned arms.

    Workout Considerations

    • It's ideal to devote a minimum of 300 minutes of aerobic exercise to your weekly workout routine if you're eager to burn fat to lose weight. Using a pair of arm hoops for this duration might be possible for some people, but others would likely find it monotonous. Instead of solely relying on arm hoops to help you lose weight, perform other up-tempo aerobic workouts, including running, jumping rope and riding a bike.