The Upper Body Workout You Can do from Anywhere
Life can get hectic and sometimes a trip to the gym just won’t fit into your schedule. For those busy days, we’ve got you! Today, we’re sharing an upper body workout you can do anywhere -- in your living room, on your lunch break, on a business trip. It tones your arms, shoulders, chest, and core, all while boosting your metabolism!
Speed bag
Once you learn how to properly use it, a speed bag is a great, fun workout. Not only does it rapidly strengthen the muscles in your shoulders, arms, back, and core, it improves your hand eye coordination and cardiovascular endurance. If you are new to working out with a speed bag, read this.
- Set your timer for 30 seconds
- Punch at a medium pace
- Count how many times you hit the bag at interval
- If the number is 50, aim to hit the bag that many times for another round
- Increase the number by one extra punch per round
While most speed bags are at the gym or a boxing club, this one, EZspeedbag, is a portable speed bag platform for your home. It fits in any doorway and has an integrated pullup bar that adds versatility to your workouts, which brings us to our next upper body workout you can do from anywhere -- pullups.
Pullups
A standard pull-up is done with your palms shoulder width apart in an overhand grip on the bar. But, you can quickly and easily do several variations just by changing your hand position.
- With an underhand position, also known as chin ups, you put more emphasis on your biceps.
- Widening your grip is a great way to build your lat muscles -- the muscles that run up your side from your hip bone to armpit. It also strengthens your forearms, core, and rhomboids -- the muscle in the middle of your upper back.
Plank Ups
While push-ups are great for exercising your abs, plank ups strengthens your arms, core, triceps, glutes, and quads!
- Start in a high plank. Bend one arm and bring your elbow and forearm to the floor.
- Bring the other arm down so you are in a forearm plank.
- Push up to your start position, placing your hands where your elbows were.
- Repeat this movement while alternating which side you lower first.
Burpee with push-up
The burpee is a full body strength training exercise that works your arms, chest, glutes, hamstrings, and abs.
- Start standing with your feet hip width apart and bring your palms to the floor.
- With your core tight and hips lifted, jump your feet back so that you are in high plank.
- Bend your arms to lower yourself into a push-up, then push back up into a high plank.
- Now jump your feet to your hands. As you stand up, explode up and jump as high as you can with your arms overhead.
When done all together, this workout works more than just your upper body -- you’re exercising your core, glutes, and hamstrings! If you try this workout, we would love to hear about it in the comments below. If you want more exercise tips and workout plans, be sure to follow us on Facebook,Instagram, and Twitter.