Upper Body Aerobics programs

ophedian

Quick question:
Most excercises use the legs, calves etc. I need something to work out the upper body equally as much. Has anyone tried rowing machines, etc. I need something to equally work out the upper body, specifically chest and stomach.

Azdak

Unless you have a medical/physical/occupational need to develop upper-body endurance, "upper body aerobics" is not the most effective way to build fitness or expend calories. Upper body exercise will increase heart rate more than leg exercise, but does not increase oxygen uptake to the same degree, so you are not working as hard as the increased heart rate would indicate.

If you are interested in losing fat around your abdomen, you must reduce your overall body fat. If you are looking to firm up muscles in your arms and chest, strength training is a better option.

PS: Rowing is about 70% legwork.

ophedian

Thansk for the information about Rowing. I definitely did not know that. The issue is that I am doing Cycling for my aerobics days and I wanted to find something that would vary which part of the body is worked out extra hard each part of the week.

I am already planning on doing weight lifting on an alternating upper body/lower body schedule.

Casi23

I like to integrate push-ups, dips, pull-ups, mountain climbers, etc on some of my cardio days.

I will do 20 minutes of running/bliking/elliptical, then rotate through 3-4 of the above exercises. Jump back on the cardio machine for 10 minutes, then do the upper body work again, one more 10 minute cardio blast, a final rotation of upper body moves, then a 5 minute stroll to cool down.

Gives me about an hour of "cardio" but I still get the benefits of working my upper body. Plus my heart rate is up the whole time, so I burn more than if I was just strolling around the gym weight lifting. : )

Good Luck!