Living Room Exercises for Bat Wings

Bat wings is an unflattering colloquialism that describes soft, flabby upper arms -- particularly the back of the upper arms. More associated with women than men, this condition is also known as bingo wings and lunch lady arms. The muscles of the rear upper arm are called the triceps and hitting these muscles with some specific toning exercises can go a long way to preventing or even curing those bat wing arms.

  1. Considerations

    • While targeting your triceps muscles will help tone and strengthen them, bat wings are as much about having too much body fat as they are having too little muscle tone. To lose the fat, make sure you make sensible adjustments to your diet and also start exercising more. Target your triceps two or three times a week and do enough repetitions that your muscles feel fatigued. The last couple of repetitions should be challenging but still completed in good form. The actual number of reps depends on your strength the the resistance you are using. If you are new to working out, have been sedentary recently or are significantly overweight, see your doctor before starting a new workout regimen.

    Bodyweight Exercises

    • You don't have to have access to any workout equipment to target your triceps -- your body can be your personal gym. Push-ups and dips are both effective triceps toners and can be modified to suit your personal level of fitness. Do push-ups on your toes for a tough workout or drop to your knees to make them easier. Narrow hands work your triceps more than wide hands. Dips, performed between two chairs or on a step or bench, are easier with your legs bent and feet close to your butt or harder with your legs extended.

    Resistance Band Exercises

    • Resistance bands are a veritable gym in a bag and are ideal for home use. Light and portable, you can replicate many traditional barbell, dumbbell and resistance machine exercise using bands. Loop your band over the top of a door and perform triceps push-downs or stand on your band, hinge forward from your hips and do triceps kickbacks. Both exercises are effective triceps tighteners.

    Weight-Training Exercises

    • Even if you don't have access to dumbbells or barbells, you can still perform weight-training exercises. Water bottles, tin cans, small stones or any sufficiently heavy object can be used for weight training. Hold a water bottle in both hands and raise your arms above your head. Bend your elbows and lower your weight behind your head and then straighten your arms again. Alternatively, lie on your back with a weight in each hand. Press the weights up to full arm extension and then bend your arms and lightly touch your elbows to the floor.