Heavier weights to build muscle

Thanks for the comment Kimberley (see How To Get Rid Of Flabby Arms Jan 24). Yes you are absolutely correct. Heavy weights do need to be used if you want to build muscle.

Toning that underarm flab, like any part of the body, requires two things: an overall approach to reducing excess body fat rather than a spot reducing approach - which won't work of course.

The second thing is the right exercise to strengthen and build those underarm muscles. Light weights are great to start with so you don't get sore or strain muscles that aren't used to work. But it is essential to gradually increase the weight so that those muscles are working progressively harder and growing stronger.

Also ladies don't worry about getting big musclely arms. They are a lot of hard work.

Doing lots of these exercises with really light weights may help a little to start with but you'll mainly be working those red slow twitch endurance muscle fibres. These are the ones endurance athletes work most and they generally don't have huge muscle size.

So the heavier weights are better for working the fast twitch fibres which become bigger over time. They fatigue more quickly, that's why you won't be doing as many repetitions with the heavier weights.

And it's also a good idea to work the whole body, not just the triceps group, otherwise your training regime and your musculature will be out of balance.