5 Ways to Simplify Upper Body Workouts
It takes less effort than you might think.
FITNESS
Did you know more people complain about the size/shape/tone/texture of their arms rather than their legs?
There's a few reasons for that. First, when people begin to work out, they start by walking or something similar, and toning of the legs seems to happen first.
Second, especially with women, clothing tends to favor exposing upper arms instead of upper thighs, so it's harder to hide your arms.Lastly, depending on how your body likes to tone up, since everyone is different, excess skin may linger longer on arms than legs, even with toned muscles.
People also are led to believe that to work on your upper body you need the equipment a gym has, and that anything else is too hard.
As a special bonus, some people fatigue faster in their upper body than their lower, so they work less hard in that area, making progress slow. That's a lot working against us, huh? So it might be in our best interest to take a different approach.
1. Pick points during the day where you can infuse a "set" during your daily activities.Carrying something heavy? Do some reps. Engage your core, and do a few past the point of starting to feel like you're tired, stop before strain or pain.
2. Remember to stretch in ways you normally don't.Reach all the way up, all the way out, all the way down, all the way front, all the way back.
3. Don't pick the lazy way out. Think about chores and other tasks around the house. Are there ways you cut corners to avoid being tired out? Certainly we don't want to completely exhaust ourselves or lack the strength to finish our task, but for things that don't get us that way, how can we do that task to work out our muscles? Vacuum those nooks and crannies, dust the high shelves and on top of doorframes, pick up that heavy object instead of kicking it across the floor. You see where I'm going with this.
4. See challenging activities as an oppprtunity to strength train.There's no explanation to this. It's just a really healthy mindset.
5. Remember that household ojects can double as free weights.That box of junk, canned goods, water jugs, cat litter bags, dog food, your child, rocks, your purse, baskets of laundry...