It’s a familiar scenario for many: you spend months working hard in the gym and see muscle growth in just about every area of your body – apart from one.
The upper arms, commonly known as bingo wings, can seem impossible to tone – especially for women.
Now, experts have revealed the biological reasons behind this, of which there are many.
It means if you’re not seeing the results you want, it isn’t the case that you’re not working hard enough. Rather, more significant forces are at play.
Most importantly, some people are genetically programmed to store more fat in their upper arms.
They are a much-hated part of the body for many, but experts say there might not be a lot that can be done to beat the dreaded bingo wings
‘Some individuals are prone to more fat distributed in their arms than others,’ Dr Shelby Johnson, a physical medicine & rehabilitation specialist at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, told USA Today.
Other crucial factors include age and gender, experts add. Age-related changes in skin elasticity can make arm fat ‘more visible’, according to Austin Gontang, Director of the San Diego Marathon Clinic.
And then there’s yet another curse of womanhood.
Experts explain that female sex hormones such as estrogen can impact where the body holds fat – making it harder to expel it from areas of the body, like the arms.
‘Females are at a greater risk of carrying excess weight in their arms,’ said Dr Michael Fredericson, director of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and the co-director on Longevity at Stanford Medicine.
This is especially true during periods of extreme fluctuations in hormones, like menopause, he adds.
Experts say it is possible to disguise arm fat by toning muscles, but genetics may usurp your efforts
And the idea that you can blitz fat in certain areas of the body is a myth, the experts say.
‘Although targeting fat loss in specific areas of the body would be ideal, the theory of “spot reduction” has yet to be proven effective by scientific studies,’ says Fredericson.
However, it is possible to disguise the fat by bulking up the biceps and triceps in the area.
Exercises that target the arm muscles include bicep curls, tricep dips, tricep extensions and arm circles.
But Johnson says that even after lifting the heaviest weights for months on end, it is ‘normal’ for some fat to remain.
And the amount that does is, unfortunately, dependent on your genetic make-up.
