Upper body strength

[Anonymous]

My upper body is ridiculously weak. Though I'm otherwise in really good shape (I run, I do all sorts of gym classes) I started out barely being able to do a single real push up and now I can do about 8, which is still pretty sad, but I'm working on it. It's just taking so much time! Has anyone else started from zero with their upper body and managed to get strong? What types of exercises worked best for you and how long did it take?

[Anonymous]

Try kayaking or paddle boating.

Burt Lancaster was asked how he trained for Trapeze. His secret: push ups.

[Anonymous]

You can try the pyramid (?, might not be the right term) system with push ups.

ie you first start out by doing one rep. rest. then two reps. rest. three reps.

Then maybe stop at 8 reps and then go back down. So it would be like 1-2-3-4-5-6-5-4-3-2-1 .

Then as you get stronger try to build up the higher number of reps.

Then you can vary the pushups as well. Where the closer your hands are in together, it works your triceps more. The further out they are, I think it's chest more?

Also try to mix in some rows to workout your back. For example if you don't belong to a gym, you can find a place with a low vertical bar (I've seen some potential ones at area playgrounds or hand rails next to sidewalks) to hang from with your feet forward, you can pull up on it and is kind of a similar motion to a row. I think this might describe it better:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supine_row

Try looking up inverted row as well, which might be the same thing.

btw I don't think 8 push ups are that bad. I remember for the longest time being impressed by someone I went to military school with who passed the physical fitness test on a broken arm and thought she did like 40 push ups on a broken arm. Several years later when reminiscing about those days she told me she actually did less than 20. Here's the Army score card for the physical fitness test:
http://armypubs.army.mil/eforms/pdf/A705.PDF

I used to try to maintain the standards after getting out and slowly kept on going downhill and am at the point now that I'm just happy to be in semishape.

But you can use this as a goal to shoot for.

Page 3 shows the score card for pushups. The top row shows the columns for age group and gender. Then towards the left shows the number of reps. And the column under the gender shows your score.

So if you're a 20 year old female that does 8 reps, that's 41 points/percent. It's been a while but I think you need 50% to graduate from basic and 60% from school.

But you're not far off from the 13 reps needed to pass basic! And remember those people live the life of working out and training every day. (but to give them credit they're also probably fatigued and at the point of exhaustion and may do even better if they don't have to train every day but that's besides the point, just didn't want to take anything away from them)

[Anonymous]

Pushups are a great measure of upper body strength. I use to only be able to do about 5 solid pushups and then worked myself up to 25. I did them every other night. I would do as many as I could with perfect form and then once I maxed out, I would drop to my knees and do the modified type (girl pushups) until maxed out. I did 3 sets of this. I think I got to 25 within 3-4 months.

[Anonymous]

Lots of great advice on the Fitness and Exercise board at MyFitnessPal about getting stronger. If you are female, consider buying and reading The New Rules of Lifting for Women.

The quickest way to build strength is to lift heavy with low reps --- like 3 sets of 6 reps at big compound movements (bench, military press, squats). Note that before you can lift heavy, you need to learn proper form for each exercise. Lots of people think you just just weights around, but there is a lot to the form of each exercise. Get a book, watch YouTube videos, start with low weights to learn form, but know that lifting heavy is where you want to get to.

Pushups are great for you right now because if you can only do 8 reps, they are kind of like lifting heavy. As you get stronger, you may need to add variety (decline, one handed knee pushups, one handed pushups, plyo pushups, weighted pushups). Building muscle takes time. Also, be sure that you are eating enough and that you are getting enough protein.


Finally, if you are female, please don't worry about getting too bulky --- you will not accidentally get too bulky. Guys struggle mightily to add bulk, and that's with testosterone. A lot of your gains early on will be neurological (learning to use your muscles), so you will add strength with no added bulk.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lots of great advice on the Fitness and Exercise board at MyFitnessPal about getting stronger. If you are female, consider buying and reading The New Rules of Lifting for Women.

The quickest way to build strength is to lift heavy with low reps --- like 3 sets of 6 reps at big compound movements (bench, military press, squats). Note that before you can lift heavy, you need to learn proper form for each exercise. Lots of people think you just just weights around, but there is a lot to the form of each exercise. Get a book, watch YouTube videos, start with low weights to learn form, but know that lifting heavy is where you want to get to.

Pushups are great for you right now because if you can only do 8 reps, they are kind of like lifting heavy. As you get stronger, you may need to add variety (decline, one handed knee pushups, one handed pushups, plyo pushups, weighted pushups). Building muscle takes time. Also, be sure that you are eating enough and that you are getting enough protein.


Finally, if you are female, please don't worry about getting too bulky --- you will not accidentally get too bulky. Guys struggle mightily to add bulk, and that's with testosterone. A lot of your gains early on will be neurological (learning to use your muscles), so you will add strength with no added bulk.

are you me? Did I sleepwrite this?

This is the best advice in this thread, down to the book recommendation. That book has changed my life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pushups are a great measure of upper body strength. I use to only be able to do about 5 solid pushups and then worked myself up to 25. I did them every other night. I would do as many as I could with perfect form and then once I maxed out, I would drop to my knees and do the modified type (girl pushups) until maxed out. I did 3 sets of this. I think I got to 25 within 3-4 months.

OP here. This is similar to what I've been doing. I try to do them almost every night and when I can't stand doing regular ones I switch to the "girl" ones and do those until I can't do anymore. I can do about 8 non-stop, then I take a break and do the girl ones, then throw in a few regular ones again, switch, etc. I have also started taking a class which involves some kettle ball lifts and

Anonymous wrote:Lots of great advice on the Fitness and Exercise board at MyFitnessPal about getting stronger. If you are female, consider buying and reading The New Rules of Lifting for Women.

The quickest way to build strength is to lift heavy with low reps --- like 3 sets of 6 reps at big compound movements (bench, military press, squats). Note that before you can lift heavy, you need to learn proper form for each exercise. Lots of people think you just just weights around, but there is a lot to the form of each exercise. Get a book, watch YouTube videos, start with low weights to learn form, but know that lifting heavy is where you want to get to.

Pushups are great for you right now because if you can only do 8 reps, they are kind of like lifting heavy. As you get stronger, you may need to add variety (decline, one handed knee pushups, one handed pushups, plyo pushups, weighted pushups). Building muscle takes time. Also, be sure that you are eating enough and that you are getting enough protein.


Finally, if you are female, please don't worry about getting too bulky --- you will not accidentally get too bulky. Guys struggle mightily to add bulk, and that's with testosterone. A lot of your gains early on will be neurological (learning to use your muscles), so you will add strength with no added bulk.

Awesome, thanks! I will look into the book and watch some videos to try to get into lifting. It seems so intimidating right now, but maybe I can also meet with a trainer a time or two and get some pointers before I try on my own.

[Anonymous]

Forgot to finish my sentence above. I have also started taking a class which involves some kettle ball lifts and that seems to be helping build some strength as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pushups are a great measure of upper body strength. I use to only be able to do about 5 solid pushups and then worked myself up to 25. I did them every other night. I would do as many as I could with perfect form and then once I maxed out, I would drop to my knees and do the modified type (girl pushups) until maxed out. I did 3 sets of this. I think I got to 25 within 3-4 months.

OP here. This is similar to what I've been doing. I try to do them almost every night and when I can't stand doing regular ones I switch to the "girl" ones and do those until I can't do anymore. I can do about 8 non-stop, then I take a break and do the girl ones, then throw in a few regular ones again, switch, etc. I have also started taking a class which involves some kettle ball lifts and

Anonymous wrote:Lots of great advice on the Fitness and Exercise board at MyFitnessPal about getting stronger. If you are female, consider buying and reading The New Rules of Lifting for Women.

The quickest way to build strength is to lift heavy with low reps --- like 3 sets of 6 reps at big compound movements (bench, military press, squats). Note that before you can lift heavy, you need to learn proper form for each exercise. Lots of people think you just just weights around, but there is a lot to the form of each exercise. Get a book, watch YouTube videos, start with low weights to learn form, but know that lifting heavy is where you want to get to.

Pushups are great for you right now because if you can only do 8 reps, they are kind of like lifting heavy. As you get stronger, you may need to add variety (decline, one handed knee pushups, one handed pushups, plyo pushups, weighted pushups). Building muscle takes time. Also, be sure that you are eating enough and that you are getting enough protein.


Finally, if you are female, please don't worry about getting too bulky --- you will not accidentally get too bulky. Guys struggle mightily to add bulk, and that's with testosterone. A lot of your gains early on will be neurological (learning to use your muscles), so you will add strength with no added bulk.

Awesome, thanks! I will look into the book and watch some videos to try to get into lifting. It seems so intimidating right now, but maybe I can also meet with a trainer a time or two and get some pointers before I try on my own.

You will be over any intimidation in a few workouts. You can find videos about form - Mark Rippetoe has some good ones. Bodybuilding.com also has them. Even though I am not deadlifting 500 lbs, the videos are still helpful.

[Anonymous]

Try fitnessblender.com too. They have free workout videos on youtube, and plenty of them are weight lifting focused. They are very informative and educational during the workout.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lots of great advice on the Fitness and Exercise board at MyFitnessPal about getting stronger. If you are female, consider buying and reading The New Rules of Lifting for Women.

The quickest way to build strength is to lift heavy with low reps --- like 3 sets of 6 reps at big compound movements (bench, military press, squats). Note that before you can lift heavy, you need to learn proper form for each exercise. Lots of people think you just just weights around, but there is a lot to the form of each exercise. Get a book, watch YouTube videos, start with low weights to learn form, but know that lifting heavy is where you want to get to.

Pushups are great for you right now because if you can only do 8 reps, they are kind of like lifting heavy. As you get stronger, you may need to add variety (decline, one handed knee pushups, one handed pushups, plyo pushups, weighted pushups). Building muscle takes time. Also, be sure that you are eating enough and that you are getting enough protein.


Finally, if you are female, please don't worry about getting too bulky --- you will not accidentally get too bulky. Guys struggle mightily to add bulk, and that's with testosterone. A lot of your gains early on will be neurological (learning to use your muscles), so you will add strength with no added bulk.

are you me? Did I sleepwrite this?

This is the best advice in this thread, down to the book recommendation. That book has changed my life.

I will look into your recommendation, but disagree with the premise that women cannot build too much bulk. My Father was a football player and I build bulk easily. Probably much more easily than most men.

[Anonymous]

Well-I am the rare woman that gets bulky INCREDIBLY easily.

I played soccer for years and had enormously muscular thighs---jeans were a nightmare to fit. Whenever I start concentrating on upper body--I get huge shoulders and popping guns. I get comments all of the time. In fact--my husband jokes that I should really 'go' with my body type and see how big I can get...prob. like a woman bodybuilder without even having to take steroids.

The saving grace is that as I age and lose body mass--I start to look less bulky while still have muscle.

So--yea--there are a few of us women that bulk up fast and quick due to genetics but we are in the minority. Thankfully- I gave birth to all sons because my husband was a bodybuilder in his early 20s.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well-I am the rare woman that gets bulky INCREDIBLY easily.

I played soccer for years and had enormously muscular thighs---jeans were a nightmare to fit. Whenever I start concentrating on upper body--I get huge shoulders and popping guns. I get comments all of the time. In fact--my husband jokes that I should really 'go' with my body type and see how big I can get...prob. like a woman bodybuilder without even having to take steroids.

The saving grace is that as I age and lose body mass--I start to look less bulky while still have muscle.

So--yea--there are a few of us women that bulk up fast and quick due to genetics but we are in the minority. Thankfully- I gave birth to all sons because my husband was a bodybuilder in his early 20s.

Another woman here who easily bulks up. I used to row competitively and one of my coaches was very into powerlifting. People stopped me all the time, including once memorably at a rest stop in Ohio where I was asked to flex (I declined). Also hoping I'll bulk less as I age. I miss lifting but am now running and don't need an extra 15 pounds of muscle.

[Anonymous]

I recommend trx. You can buy a cheap set-up for home use on amazon- look for the woss military trainer. It comes with an exercise chart. It's awesome!

[Anonymous]

Burpies , mountain climbers, thrusters, kettlebell swings