As the month’s roll on and March is just around the corner, it is starting to feel more and more like Spring. The longer hours of sunlight and generally brighter days always increases my productivity and motivation – especially for exercising. So today, I thought I would share with you a few of my favourite strength training exercises to get a stronger upper body. It is still the case in so many gym’s I have trained at that women tend to avoid training upper body, and sometimes even the weight section altogether in fear that it will make them look ‘bulky’ or ‘manly’. This is definitely not the case, and there are many benefits to building your strength in general, including a stronger heart, lowered and improved blood pressure and cholesterol, increased bone density, improved co-ordination and balance and a healthier body – ideal for preventing injury and allowing you to do whatever you need your body to do. Below are a few compound exercises (they work a number of different muscles at once) that I have found effective in improving your upper body strength. Little disclaimer – if you are in need of any specialised advice or are a beginner and want to ensure you are performing these exercises correctly, consult a PT at your gym. Scroll to the bottom for a list of resources to check out in order to learn how to perform these exercises.
Pull up
The pull up involves hanging from a bar and as you would imagine, literally pulling up your body weight. It activates a lot of different muscles, including many in the back, so it is usually incorporated into the start of my back and bicep training session each week. If, like me, you are unable to lift your own body weight yet, there are many variations that can be useful ways to increase strength. Doing assisted pull ups, by using a resistance band hooked around the bar and your feet or knees is a way to decrease the amount of weight you are pulling up. Negative pull ups – jumping to the top of a pull up and slowly releasing also will help increase your strength, as well as using the assisted pull up machine, which can be found in most gyms.
Bench press
Mastering a bench press is perhaps one of the exercises I found most intimidating to begin with, but I now find the most satisfying to watch my strength increase. This exercise works muscles in both your chest and triceps, the second upper body workout I undertake each week. Begin with the weight of just the bar, and slowly add more as your strength increases. Most gyms have a specific area set up for this, but you can also complete the exercise using dumbbells and a bench if you prefer.
Deadlift
The deadlift is an optimal exercise for working so many muscles at once – including in your back, hamstrings, glutes and quadriceps. The exercise involves lifting weight from the ground to standing position, but requires a lot of knowledge as to how your body should move and it is especially important to ensure form is correct for this exercise. If done correctly, it is a beneficial exercise to include in your workouts and I often feel my strongest when completing them.
Shoulder press
The shoulder press is much like a bench press, but instead you sit upright and move the weight horizontally. This exercise is pretty self explanatory in terms of what muscles it works – your shoulders. Once the movement is mastered you can pick any dumbell weight from 2kg to 50kg, meaning this exercise is accessible for all strengths. You can also try this exercise standing for a different variation.
If you want to know how to perform these exercises, here are a few resources to get you started:
Personal Training session in your local gym
Nuffield Health Youtube Channel
Alice Liveing – Instagram
Until next time,
Abi x