Monday, May 15, 2017

Upper Body Strength

I do some kind of upper body strength exercise three times each week. I have a set of resistance bands, but I've never liked using them. I'm not sure why I don't like them, but give me my little dumbbells any day. If you prefer written programs without the video, I've found plenty of those online, too. VeryWell.com, for example has a 10-exercise upper body routine with photographs and clear instructions, WomensRunning.com has instructions for 6 exercises they recommend, WikiHow has an illustrated article, and there are plenty of others.

Video, though, that's my favorite, because I can have the moving model to follow while still being able to adapt as needed.

There are 2 more posts on this subject: part 2, part 3)

The Fitness Blender Youtube channel has a lot of videos that are much too challenging for me -I get worn out just looking at them- but I've found quite a few that I like to use. These include warm-ups and cool-downs.

The first one is specifically targeted for functional upper body strength rather than for toning.

38 minutes:



Below are three more embedded from that channel:

30 minutes:



38 minutes:



40 minutes:



50 minutes:



This link is to a Fitness Blender video at Youtube that focuses on exercises to improve posture and prevent hunched shoulders. I hope I can maintain, and maybe even build, strength. I want to avoid frailty if at all possible.

2 comments:

  1. These all look so interesting. I only wish they had ones geared to arthritics who can't hold those dumbbells. I can barely hold my coffee mug and it has a handle!

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    1. Actually, doing these exercises with body weight only is a good place to start. I didn't use weights when I first started.

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