Upper Body Exercising 101

Information on how to get fit!

So you want to start exercising and don't know where to start. Let me help guide you through the process and give you the facts you need to get that body ready for the beach.

Getting Started

First thing you need to do before starting your exercises is a warm-up. The warm-up is designed to get the blood flowing to the muscles in your body and to prepare the joints to move in full range of motion.

Step 1: Cardio for 5-7 minutes. Choose any sort of whole body movement (running, jumping jacks, fitness machine, etc) and maintain a set speed for 5-7 minutes. Take your heart rate before and after the warm-up to check to see if your pulse has increased. If it has, that indicates your blood is flowing at an increased rate to provide oxygen (fuel) to your muscles.

Step 2: Stretch. The exercises listed below are all for the upper body so we will stretch out the joints located in that area. We will do lots of dynamic (moving) stretches along with some short (5-7 second) static stretches in order to prepare the joints to move in their full range of motion.

Here is a list of stretches to do:

Arm Circles (forwards and backwards)

Twists (arms out and swing horizontally)

Side Reach (hand above your head and reach to one side)

Forward Bend (bend at the waist and touch your toes)

If there is anything else you feel you need to stretch, add that to the list and do that too.

Exercise #1 - Chin Ups (chest, triceps, core)

We will start with chin ups as they are an exercise that works multiple muscles and parts of the upper body.

To start, line up underneath the chin up bar. Use a step or jump up to grab the bar at shoulder width grip. From arms straight, pull up until your chin crosses the height of the bar and then slowly let your body down again. Repeat as many times as possible until exhaustion.

When you can do no more, have a partner hold your feet and assist you in doing a few more repetitions of the exercise.