For anyone hoping to get rid of so-called “bingo wings,” social media can make the answer look deceptively simple.
Type “toned arms” into TikTok or Instagram and you’ll find an endless stream of videos from lean, sculpted women promising quick upper-body results with workouts that take as little as 10 minutes and claim to build definition within weeks.
Among the viral examples is a routine shared by influencer Hannah Townsend, known primarily for her celebrity interviews and film reviews, which she creates with her husband and fellow content creator Benedict.
Townsend, a former digital content manager with around 80,000 followers on TikTok, frequently posts short clips of her straightforward weight-training routine. She says the sessions take just 10 to 15 minutes, a few times a week, and credits them with helping her achieve her visibly toned arms and shoulders.
The arm workout videos have become some of her most successful posts, often drawing between 50,000 and 80,000 views each.
But can a few brief sessions really be enough to transform your arms?
Personal trainer Edwina Jenner, who has spent 10 years helping midlife women build strength and improve muscle tone, says the reality is more complicated. “Doing 10 minutes of exercises a few times a week likely won’t get you results,” she explains.
So what does work? Jenner breaks down the routine that can genuinely improve visible muscle tone — and explains why effective arm training does not necessarily mean reaching for the heaviest weights in the gym.
Jennifer Aniston – pictured in November 2025, then aged 56 – is living proof that it is possible to build lean muscle in midlife
Where do bingo wings come from?
A number of factors contribute to your fat vs muscle ratio, including genetics, diet and hormonal shifts. Those who’ve lost a large amount of weight may notice excess fat in the arm area due to stretching of the skin and stubborn fat deposits.
But the upper body will get ‘softer’ for women after the age of 30, Jenner says, adding that, after this point, the average woman loses between three and five per cent of their total muscle mass per decade.
During and after menopause, this process speeds up as a woman’s body makes much less of the hormone oestrogen, which helps protect the muscles and bones.
Ms Jenner explains: ‘Declining oestrogen can change muscle mass, strength and fat distribution.
‘Menopause doesn’t specifically target the upper arms, but women may lose lean muscle and gain fat more easily, making the upper arms appear softer than a couple of years earlier.’
She adds that muscle loss is often more noticeable on the arms, compared to other parts of the body.
Melanie C recently married model Chris Dingwall in an intimate Lake District wedding. The bride wore a Victoria Beckham dress that showed off the 52-year-old’s uber-toned arms.
This is because when the triceps, the muscles on the back of your arm, are small, the skin on top of them has nothing to grip, making it look loose.
The good news, Ms Jenner says, is that muscle is highly responsive to resistance training at any age.
Boosting the muscles through weight lifting acts like an internal ‘filler’, pushing the skin out and giving the arms a firmer, tighter look.
What exercises should I do – and how often?
There are six movements that are most effective for toning arm muscles, says Ms Jenner – detailed below.
But the route to defined arms doesn’t just mean strengthening the biceps and triceps.
‘Training the chest and back, along with your shoulders, is what creates visible definition across the whole upper body, including the arms,’ she says.
‘It also allows you to handle heavier weights and burn more calories, which will help add extra tone to the biceps and triceps.’
You don’t have to workout everyday – or even every other day.
Just 30 minutes, two to three times a week, should get you visible results within two months, Ms Jenner says.
She doesn’t advise a specific number of sets, but suggests seeing how many times you can do eight repetitions of each exercise in half an hour.
Every movement she recommends involves dumbbells, which don’t have to be extraordinarily heavy.
‘Start with two to three kilogram weights and, after a month, move up to five kilograms,’ she says. ‘This is called progressive overload, which means slowly making your muscles work harder over time to grow stronger.’
