Upper body strength workouts?

xmaplegunmanx
xmaplegunmanx Posts: 47 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hey everybody!

So I'm doing an obstacle course race in June and I have almost no upper body strength at all. My legs are very strong but my arms are like jelly!

I'm just looking for a short, effective routine that'll help me build up my strength. I am on Turbofire so I workout everyday and don't really have time for long periods of strength training. (Maybe 15-20 mins a day) does anyone have any videos or websites with great routines that'll help?

I'm not strong at all, just want to build it up for June. :)

Replies

  • AL4040
    AL4040 Posts: 5 Member
    PUSH-UPS !!! Push-ups !!! If you have problems doing them at first start on your knees ,, get a deck of playing cards and flip a card that's how many push-ups you have to do , go till you can't go no more. Before long you will get through the whole deck . This will strengthen your arms,chest , shoulders and back .. HOPE THIS HELPS !!
  • Clarewho
    Clarewho Posts: 494 Member
    Yes - agree push ups are great, no equipment needed and they'll will do wonders for your upper body strength. There are loads of variations, you can start against a wall or on your knees if you struggle. Keep at it and you'll see loads of progress.
  • dbanks80
    dbanks80 Posts: 3,685 Member
    AL4040 wrote: »
    PUSH-UPS !!! Push-ups !!! If you have problems doing them at first start on your knees ,, get a deck of playing cards and flip a card that's how many push-ups you have to do , go till you can't go no more. Before long you will get through the whole deck . This will strengthen your arms,chest , shoulders and back .. HOPE THIS HELPS !!

    I like the deck of cards idea.
  • Vortex88
    Vortex88 Posts: 60 Member
    I agree; push-ups are king. Try adding pull-ups / chin-ups too if you can do them and have a bar to hang from. Between those two exercises they will strengthen pretty much all of the upper body.
  • oh_happy_day
    oh_happy_day Posts: 1,137 Member
    If you're doing an obstacle course race I would suggest working on your grip strength as well. If there's a playground near you, use the monkey bars! Go up and back as many times as you can and do dead hangs from the bars. https://www.fitstream.com/exercises/dead-hang-a6039

    Farmers carries will also help your grip strength. I'd also suggest practicing carries on your shoulders, it sounds like your legs are fine but you'll need some upper body strength there too. I practice with logs, buckets of rocks, sandbags, deadballs (35kg is standard for women in Spartan races) all in different positions.
  • piperdown44
    piperdown44 Posts: 958 Member
    Pushups and pullups.
    If you can't do a pull-up look up pull-up negatives for examples. Basically you start at the top of the pull-up position and slowly lower yourself.
  • Joanna2012B
    Joanna2012B Posts: 1,448 Member
    Agree with all of the above. Visit Popsugar fitness and go to the fit finder!

    http://www.popsugar.com/fitness/FitFinder-Workout-Generator-37460581
  • drwilseyjr
    drwilseyjr Posts: 225 Member
    As well as push-ups, pull-ups, and chin-ups, any type of row variation, too. Barbell, dumbbell, seated rows, etc.
  • questionfear
    questionfear Posts: 527 Member
    Dips are good too. If you don't have access to a gym or dip bar, you can use a 90 degree angle countertop or two chairs back to back (just make sure they are stable chairs!)

    I can do balance work and assisted dips with two chairs, so it can be done.
  • giantrobot_powerlifting
    giantrobot_powerlifting Posts: 2,598 Member
    I'll echo everyone else... push-ups/pullups or variations there of.

    If pull-ups/chin-ups are difficult work on Inverted rows -- on of the truly useful things that a Smith Machine can help with.

    Before this injury, my workout conditioning finisher was just that, chin-ups and push-ups. Every week I added 5 reps. I began at 35, and after 3 weeks I was 45.
  • xmaplegunmanx
    xmaplegunmanx Posts: 47 Member
    Awesome!!! Thank you so much for the advice guys!! I can't even do one normal push up so I'll definitely start there. Lol and I have a kid so I won't look like some weirdo hanging out at the park alone! All great tips, thank you! :)
  • sarabushby
    sarabushby Posts: 784 Member
    I read this with keen interest as I too have strong legs / cardio fitness but pitiful upper body strength. I shall get pushup-ing and tricep dipping as I can do them at home without feeling intimidated in the free weights parts of our gyms. I was already thinking to start with this but it's great to have folk confirm it as the way to go and I love the deck of cards idea thanks AL4040!
  • dbanks80
    dbanks80 Posts: 3,685 Member
    @AL4040 I did the deck of cards push ups. I really enjoyed it before I knew it I did 51 push ups. I will be incorporating this daily!
  • AL4040
    AL4040 Posts: 5 Member
    Excellent !!!
  • cgvet37
    cgvet37 Posts: 1,189 Member
    Push-ups, there are numerous variations. Dips are another good strength builder. If you can, pull-ups and chin-ups. You can do them inverted *kitten* shown above in a previous post. These exercises will also help with grip strength, which is very important.
  • nossmf
    nossmf Posts: 11,630 Member
    Expand the deck of cards variation to include other exercises based upon which suit is drawn. For example, if you do pushups and pullups, then a red card (diamond-heart) will be pushups; if a black card (spade-club) you do pullups. This way you break up the sets of pushups or pullups, so one body part is recovering while the other is working, even if it's a very short recovery.

    For more advanced versions, choose four different types of exercises (for example pushups, pullups, crunches, squats) and assign each to a different suit. Really advanced versions can even assign a static version of each type of exercise to the royal cards (J-Q-K). For example, if you have squats assigned to hearts and you pull the queen of hearts, you squat down and then hold in place for 10 seconds. Once time is up, card is done and draw again.

    Doing this way will net you 55 each of pushups, pullups, crunches and squats, plus three static holds of each type.

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