Looking to firm up your arms? Consider incorporating these exercises into your routine.

For many, the goal of achieving firm, well-defined arms is high on the fitness priority list. While tricep workouts are a popular choice to tone the arms by reducing flab and building muscle, there’s another approach that might yield quicker results. Experts suggest that a strategic standing workout can be more effective in eliminating arm jiggle than traditional tricep exercises. To help you achieve this, we’ve gathered insights from fitness specialists who recommend six standing exercises designed to tighten and tone your arms, particularly beneficial for those over 55.

Logan Herlihy of Essential Prescription, a seasoned expert in the fitness industry with nearly a decade of experience, explains, “Arm jiggle, often referred to as ‘lunch lady arms’ or ‘bat wings,’ is a common frustration for many women, especially as they approach peri-menopause and menopause. It’s an area where fat seems stubbornly resistant to loss.” Herlihy specializes in high-intensity training with a focus on bodybuilding and strength and conditioning.

He elaborates, “The issue of arm jiggle is primarily due to excess fat deposits. Unfortunately, there is no specific exercise that targets muscle development and accelerates fat loss in just one area. Whether aiming for toned arms or another fitness goal, it’s essential to understand that achieving a more streamlined physique involves increasing muscle mass while decreasing surrounding fat tissue.”

He adds, “Arm jiggle is almost always an issue of excess fat deposits. Unfortunately, there is no exercise that will specifically target muscle development and speed up fat loss in a specific area … Whatever your ultimate goal, realize that a slimmer, more toned physique comes from more muscle, and less surrounding adipose tissue (fat).”

With age, your joint tolerances shift. Deep elbow flexion like dips can cause irritation in the shoulders, elbows, and wrists.

“It is so important to train the whole skeletal system to support the visible change we want to see,” says Julie Dermer, CPT, founder of The Reinvention Project and a longtime Master Instructor at SoulCycle. “Start thinking about how your posture can play a bigger role in how our arms look. When shoulders are forward and you have a weak upper back, this can exaggerate arm looseness.”

Below are six exercises to add to your fitness regimen to make your arm definition truly stand out.

Arm Jiggle Exercises After 55

Keep in mind that training your delts, pecs, shoulders, and lats helps establish more defined triceps.6254a4d1642c605c54bf1cab17d50f1e

“When doing standing exercises, even the core and glutes help out—stabilizing everything so the arms work properly. Something many women don’t realize, is that hormonal changes can affect muscle tone and skin elasticity, too,” Dermer shares.

Coach Amanda Grimm, certified Personal Trainer and Running Coach with a Bachelor’s Degree in Sports Science, says tricep exercises alone lose their effectiveness as you age. She agrees that building firm upper-arm muscles isn’t just about training the triceps.

“You need your shoulders, your rear deltoids and your upper back all working together to create that toned appearance. When those supporting muscles are weak the skin and tissue underneath has nothing holding it up. That is where the arm wobble comes from,” Grimm adds.

Standing Dumbbell Bicep Curls

“This classic exercise targets both heads of the biceps and is a staple in bodybuilding circles for a reason,” Herlihy explains.

1. Stand tall with your feet slightly staggered.
2. Hold a dumbbell in each hand at your sides with a supinated grip. Choose a weight that allows you to achieve 10 to 15 reps with solid form.
3. Bend your elbows to curl the weights up toward your shoulders.
4. Squeeze your biceps at the top.
5. Use control to lower, stopping right before your elbows fully lock out.
6. Perform 3 sets of 10 to 15 reps.

Standing Lateral Raises

“This exercise will target your lateral deltoid (the outside of your shoulder). In conjunction with the bicep exercises, this will help form a “cap” in your arms that will help your triceps really pop,” Herlihy explains.

1. Start this exercise by standing tall in a staggered stance, holding a dumbbell in each hand at your sides.
2. With a slight bend in your elbows, raise the dumbbells out to the sides of your body until you reach shoulder height.
3. Use control to slowly lower the weights, stopping right before you feel a decrease in tension.
4. Perform 3 sets of 10 to 15 reps.

Seated Hammer Curls

“Another biceps exercise to hit the muscle from a different angle. I prefer to do these on a bench with a slight backwards angle (45 degrees). This allows for a deeper stretch in the bicep muscles and new research continues to show that the stretch is significantly more important than other ranges of motion for muscle growth,” Herlihy tells us.

1. Begin seated with your feet flat on the floor.
2. Hold a dumbbell in each hand, using a neutral grip.
3. Keep your arms completely extended at your sides and relax your shoulders.
4. With your palms facing inward, curl the weights up toward your shoulders.
5. Use control to lower.
6. Perform 3 sets of 10 to 15 reps.

Seated Dumbbell Overhead Press

“This exercise will target your shoulders primarily (all three heads of the deltoids) as well as engage your triceps as a secondary benefit. This gives you another unique angle to work your shoulders from, and a little more volume mixed in with the triceps work you’re already doing,” Herlihy says.

1. Begin sitting tall on a sturdy chair with your feet flat on the floor and your core engaged.
2. Hold a pair of lightweight dumbbells at shoulder level, palms facing forward.
3. Press the weights straight overhead without locking out your elbows.
4. Gradually lower the weights, stopping when your elbows get just below 90 degrees.
5. Perform 3 sets of 10 to 15 reps.

EZ Bar Standing Bicep Curls

“This exercise will hit your biceps from one more unique angle. Using a barbell will add a slightly different stimulus. An ‘EZ bar’ is just a prefixed weight barbell with a slight angle in the middle. You’ve more than likely seen these at your gym, even if you didn’t know what they were. The slight internal rotation of your wrists just offers another unique angle to hit your biceps,” Herlihy tells us.

1. Stand tall and assume a staggered stance, holding an EZ bar. Start by using a weight you can complete roughly 10 to 15 reps with solid form.
2. Curl your arms just past 90 degrees.
3. Slowly lower the bar, stopping right before your elbows are totally locked out.
4. Once you reach 15 reps, swap the bar out for a slightly lighter weight.
5. Perform 10 to 15 additional reps.
6. For the third set, drop to a lower weight for the last 10 to 15 reps.

Standing Tricep Kickbacks

For this exercise, Dermer encourages you to “pause at the full extension and feel the burn.”

1. Begin by standing tall, holding a dumbbell in each hand.
2. Hinge forward just a bit, keeping your back flat and your core engaged.
3. Keep your upper arms parallel to the ground as you extend the dumbbells behind you.
4. Squeeze your triceps at the top of the movement.
5. Use control as you return to the start position.
6. Perform 2 to 3 sets of 12 to 15 reps.