As a personal trainer, I’ll get a lot of people asking for advice on how to get rid of stubborn fat around their midsection and thighs. However, especially for women, the arms come in pretty behind.

It may feel like you need to climb mountains to get your flabby arms in tip-top shape, but in reality, it just takes a few adjustments if you want to see toned biceps and triceps.

The biceps are muscles that lie on the front of the upper arm between the shoulder and the elbow, while the triceps are muscles that lie opposite the biceps—on the back part of the arm between the shoulder and the elbow. The biceps are responsible for flexing the elbow, and the triceps—you guessed it—extend the elbow.

The first thing you need to know is that if you want to get rid of arm fat, there needs to be a focus on both of these muscles. People destroy their triceps because that is where they see the flab on the back of the arm. But for the sake of symmetry and creating a balanced look, the biceps and triceps should both be strengthened.

That is the second thing you need to know: to help get rid of arm fat, you need to get stronger. You can’t spot and reduce body fat, which means we can’t control where and when we lose fat. But we can build muscle in certain areas by incorporating exercises that activate the biceps and triceps. Muscle is important because if you lose weight, your arms may look a bit smaller, but they won’t look toned and solid. If you don’t want sad-looking arms, you need some muscle.

For obvious reasons, you’ll want to do a greater amount of upper-body exercises than lower-body exercises if you want to get rid of arm fat. To do this, structure your workouts so that you are doing chest or back exercises first (the bigger muscle groups), and then for the second half of your workouts, there should be a greater emphasis on just bicep and tricep exercises.

The MAPS MODS programs have a great selection of exercises that just focus on the biceps or triceps. Or, if you are looking for a complete training program, MAPS Aesthetic allows you to achieve a balanced, sculpted body, along with Focus days so you can hit those triceps and biceps.

The third thing you need to know is that you need to build muscle and gain strength in the right way. Typically, you will want to stay in a 10 to 15-rep range. This can vary from person to person, but for the purpose of improving muscle definition, this is where you want to be. It’s fun lifting heavy, but the biceps and triceps—being smaller muscles—respond better to lighter weight and higher rep ranges.

I do have to mention that there needs to be SOME cardio involved. Nothing strenuous, but the level of activity and the amount of calories you burn does need to improve. You can build all the muscle you want, but there does need to be some weight loss for you to effectively notice a reduction in arm fat. Again, we can’t control where we lose fat, and at what rate, but I do know that killing yourself on the elliptical is not the answer.

Opt for one or two dedicated cardio workouts a week that fall around a moderate intensity. If you already do this, increase the intensity, or try a different mode of cardio, like going from the bike to the row machine. Outside of that, walk when you can, and maintain a healthy lifestyle outside your workouts. Remember, dedicated workouts make up a tiny portion of your day; what you do outside the gym matters.

And finally, keep your diet on track. Everything I have mentioned will mean nothing if you are overeating and consuming mostly high processed foods.

If you want to get rid of flabby arms, keep these tips in mind. You can also check out Mind Pump’s YouTube channel for exercise tips, like this one here.