Everyone is so worried about ab workouts that they totally pass over the upper body, which is equally important, not only for proportions sake, but for your overall health, as well. You will want to do three sets of each of these and you’ll do sets of 10. Start off low and slow, if you want to graduate to more or longer reps, then feel free, but be sure that your body is ready.
Be sure that you start your workout with a warm-up to get your body ready to move before you throw yourself in; You don’t want a pulled muscle or extreme pains! Now without further ado, here is the best upper body workout to get in shape anytime!
Planks
Planks are a great exercise because there are so many different ways to do them. Here i’ll describe the traveling plank, the salute plank, and the elbow plank.
For the elbow plank you will simply rest your weight on your forearm instead of your hands. This gives you more of a burn in your abs and biceps. Keep your back as straight as you can!
Image source: https://www.popsugar.com/fitness/Elbow-Plank-vs-Full-Plank-28764496
For salute planks, you do a normal arm extended plank with a twist, you pick up one of your hands and touch it to your shoulder, and alternate hands. Try to avoid rocking your body back and forth.
Image source: http://blog.myfitnesspal.com/14-day-plank-plan/
For traveling planks, start in the straight arm plank position. With your hands walk yourself to the left, then back to the center. Then proceed to the right and back to the center. Your feet should stay in the same place.
Image source: http://blog.myfitnesspal.com/20-minute-glider-workout-thatll-tone-upper-body/
Pushups
Like planks, there are several kind of push ups that can be done. Here we’ll talk about the inchworm and dolphin pushups.
For an inchworm pushup, you will want to start standing upright. Touch your toes, and work your way out until you can get both palms on the floor. From that point, walk your body out with your hands until you get to pushup position. To get back to the position your started in, walk your feet into your hands.
Image source: https://raykliu.wordpress.com/tag/diamond-push-ups/
For a dolphin pushup, it is easier if you brace your feet against the wall. To begin, brace your feet against the wall, and have both hands down on the floor with your butt up in the air. You want to move your head down to get as close to the floor as possible and come back up at the last second. Your body should try and follow the motion of your head. Concentrate on making your body move smoothly.
- Image source: http://www.prevention.com/fitness/strength-training/arms-and-abs-exercises
Tricep Dips
Image source: http://hiitacademy.com/hiit-exercise-how-to-do-feet-elevated-tricep-dips/
For tricep dips you will need a sturdy bench, couch, chair, or stairs. You want to put both hands on the surface of where you would normally sit. Your body weight should be resting mostly in your hands and your body should be in a suspended sitting position. Lower and raise yourself.
Arm Circles
Image source: http://www.shape.com/fitness/workouts/9-common-exercises-could-be-bad-you
Depending one where you are with your arm strength, you may want to use weights for this move. If you don’t have weights, you can use a water bottle filled to the right amount for you. What you want to do is put your arms straight out from your sides, so that your body looks like a “T”. From there, make circles, alternating between big and small circles. Be careful not to do these exercises too vigorously, or they could negatively impact your shoulders.
Boxing Arms
Image source: http://thecurls.com/five-exercises-to-tone-up-those-arms/
If you’ve got a punching bag, now would be the perfect time to break it out! If you don’t have a punching bag, that’s ok too. Stand with your feet shoulder width apart and your hands in fists (don’t tuck your thumb in!). Next, you will want to just punch and jab. I suggest punching across your body instead of straight out, and alternating which hand you use for punching.
Lateral Raise
Image source: http://www.coachmag.co.uk/exercises/shoulder-exercises/206/lateral-raises-%E2%80%93-how-do-them-and-why-you-should
For this exercise you will need two thing of approximate weight. If you have dumbbells, go ahead and use them! If not, use two water bottles full of water as weights. With one weight in each hand, slowly raise your arms out from your body until your arms line up, making your body a “T”. Hold this position for a second or two and then slowly lower your hands back to your sides. Repeat until you feel a healthy burning in your muscles.
After your workout, do a cool down workout to let your body adjust to what you’ve just put it through, and prepare to do it again tomorrow! Repetition and structure is what really gets the point across when it comes to shaping your body into what you want it to be.
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