Can You Lose Fat Off Your Arms by Walking?

By incorporating regular bouts of walking into your routine, you significantly increase the total number of calories you burn. Burning more calories helps you create the caloric deficit needed to lose fat. While you can’t target your fat loss to your arms, as you lower your overall body composition, you’ll notice changes everywhere, including at your arms.

  1. Walking

    • Walking is an effective way to increase the number of calories that you burn. The number of calories you burn depends on how often you walk, the pace and distance of your walking sessions and your current body weight. According to MayoClinic.com, a 160-pound person will burn about 204 calories during a 60-minute walk at 2 mph and about 314 calories if they walk at 3.5 mph. A 200-pound person has to work harder during their walks and will thus burn a greater number of calories. During a 60-minute walk at 2 mph, they’ll burn about 255 calories, but if they kick up their pace to 3.5 mph, they’ll burn about 391 calories.

    Losing Fat

    • To lose weight, you’ve got to burn a greater number of calories than you consume. If you’re consistent with your walking sessions, you’ll significantly increase calories burned, which helps you create this caloric deficit. Every time you create a 3,500 deficit of calories, you’ll lose a pound of fat. Therefore, if you were 160-pounds and walked at 2 mph for 60-minutes and thus burned about 204 calories during your workouts, you have the potential to create a 3,500 caloric deficit and thus lose a pound every 17 walks. A 200-pound person walking at 3.5 mph during their 60-minute sessions and burning about 391 calories each time can create a 3,500 deficit and lose a pound of fat every nine walks.

    Targeting the Arms

    • Although your walks won’t target fat loss at the arms, while you focus on lowering your overall body fat, you can simultaneously tone your arm muscles with strength training. Strength training will develop lean muscle in the arms, which will build definition. Two to three days per week and on non-consecutive days, complete biceps curls and triceps extensions to develop both the biceps and triceps. As you lose fat, the muscle you develop will become visible.

    Additional Considerations

    • In order for your walks to help you lose fat, you’ve also got to pay attention to the number of calories you consume. Your walks will only help you create a caloric deficit if you don’t eat too many calories. While you incorporate consistent walks, limit your calorie intake by decreasing the size of your meal portions and eating primarily fruits, vegetables, whole grains and low fat dairy food. In addition, limit excess calories by avoiding sodas and alcohol.