Title
Upper-Body Workout
Image
Just because the weather’s cooling off and it’s time to trade tanks and tees for sweaters and jackets doesn’t mean you should slack off on training your arms, back and core. This workout will have you throwing the football farther, all autumn long. And of course, a strong trunk benefits all the activities that use your lower body now and later, from running to skiing, snowboarding and hockey.
WARM-UP
(Perform each movement for 30 seconds.)
Shoulder Circles (forward and back)
- Stand with your feet hip-width apart and your hands hanging at your sides.
- Bring your shoulders up, forward and around in a circular motion for 15 seconds. Switch directions and circle your shoulders backward for 15 seconds.
Arm Circles (forward and back)
- Stand with your feet hip-width apart and your hands hanging at your sides.
- Arc both arms forward and up in a full circular motion. Focus on using your full range of motion and loosening your shoulders.
- Continue circling your arms forward for 15 seconds. Then switch directions and circle backward for 15 seconds.
Bent-Over Reach-to-Sky Thoracic Rotation
- Stand with your feet under your hips, hands by your sides.
- Tip forward from your hips, knees soft, and keep your back flat as you bring your hands together to hang in front of you. Keep your eyes on the floor in front of you to keep your spine neutral.
- Bring your right hand out to your right side as you rotate through your torso to open up toward the side. Bring your hand up as high as is comfortable.
- Release back down and repeat, then switch sides.
Squat Thrust
- Stand with your feet wider than your hips, hands at your sides.
- Sit your hips back like you’re sitting in a chair to squat, and place your hands on the floor.
- Jump your feet back to come into a high plank.
- Jump your feet back into your low squat and stand. Repeat.
WORKOUT
(Choose a heavy load, perform eight to 10 reps of each move and repeat each set three times, with 60 seconds of rest between each set.)
Set 1
Single-Arm Alternating Dumbbell Row
- Stand with your feet under your hips, holding dumbbells at your sides.
- Tip from your hips, keeping your knees soft, to bring the dumbbells down with straight arms. Your eyes should focus on the ground in front of you to maintain a neutral spine.
- Pull your right elbow toward the ceiling to row the right dumbbell up to rib height, squeezing your right shoulder blade in toward your spine.
- Return the right dumbbell back to start. Row the left dumbbell up to rib height, squeezing your left shoulder blade in toward your spine.
- Return the left dumbbell back to start as you continue rowing, alternating arms.
Standing Arnold Press With Dumbbells
- Stand with your feet under your hips, and hold dumbbells in a curl in front of your shoulders.
- Press the dumbbells up above your head, and straighten your arms and externally rotate your wrists.
- Stop at the top, then internally rotate the dumbbells as you lower them back in front of your shoulders. Repeat, keeping your spine tall and bracing your core to keep from swaying.
Biceps Curl to Overhead Press
- Stand tall with a dumbbell in each hand and your arms at your sides, feet under your hips.
- Rotate your wrists so that your palms are facing up. Bend your elbows and flex your biceps to curl the dumbbells to shoulder height.
- Internally rotate your wrists to bring the dumbbells parallel to one another at shoulder height, then press them overhead.
- Lower the dumbbells back down to your shoulders, externally rotate your wrists and lower them back down to your sides. Repeat.
Set 2
Renegade Dumbbell Row With Push-Up
- Place two dumbbells on the floor, shoulder-width apart, and begin on all fours. Grip the dumbbells and extend your legs to come into a high plank.
- Keeping your body as strong and still as possible, row the right dumbbell to your shoulder and lower it.
- Repeat with your left hand and dumbbell. Then perform a push-up. Repeat.
Bent-Over Dumbbell Reverse Fly
- Stand with your feet hip-width apart, holding a dumbbell in each hand.
- Hinge forward from your hips, letting the dumbbells lower in front of you, keeping your spine long and knees soft.
- Squeeze your shoulder blades together to lift the dumbbells up and out wide, stopping just below shoulder height. Keep a micro-bend in your elbows.
- Bring the dumbbells back down and together. Repeat.
Standing Overhead Triceps Extension With Dumbbell
- Stand with your spine long and your shoulders wide. Grip one end of a dumbbell with one hand placed over the other.
- Engage your abs as you bend your elbows and press the dumbbell up to the ceiling.
- Bend your elbows, keeping them close to your ears and pointed to the ceiling, to lower the dumbbell behind your head.
- Keeping your upper arms as stationary as possible, press the dumbbell away to the ceiling. Lower it behind your head and repeat.
Set 3
Bent-Over Dumbbell Biceps Row
- Stand with your feet hip-width apart, holding a dumbbell in each hand.
- Hinge forward from your hips, letting the dumbbells lower in front of you, keeping your spine long and knees soft.
- Row the dumbbells up toward your ribs, sending your elbows straight back, externally rotating your wrists and the dumbbells.
- Row the dumbbells back down and repeat.
Front-to-Side Dumbbell Raise
- Stand with feet under your hips, holding dumbbells at your sides.
- Bring the dumbbells up in front of you to shoulder height, keeping your wrists facing the floor. Lower back to your sides.
- Bring the dumbbells up and out to your sides, wrists facing the floor, stopping at shoulder height. Lower and then repeat, alternating front and side raises.
Plank Row to Side-Plank Opener With Dumbbells
- Place two dumbbells on the floor under your shoulders and begin on all fours. Grip the dumbbells and extend your legs to come into a high plank.
- Keeping your body as strong and still as possible, row the right dumbbell to your shoulder.
- Rotate to open up through your trunk, coming onto the sides of your feet into a side plank, right foot behind the left, and send the dumbbell up toward the sky directly over your shoulder.
- Bring the dumbbell back down to shoulder height and rotate back into a plank, setting the dumbbell back on the floor. Repeat, alternating sides.
COOL-DOWN
(Hold each movement for 30 to 45 seconds.)
Triceps Stretch
- Stand with your feet under your hips, arms at your sides.
- Bring your right arm up, bending at your elbow and placing your right hand behind your neck, elbow pointed to the ceiling.
- Grab your right elbow with your left hand and gently pull it until you feel a stretch in your right triceps.
- Release and repeat on the opposite arm.
Chest-Opener Stretch
- Stand with your feet under your hips, arms at your sides.
- Clasp your hands behind your back, interlacing your fingers.
- Pull your hands down toward the ground to open up your chest. Hold the stretch, then release.
Back Stretch
- Sit tall with your legs extended in front of you. Cross your right leg over your left and place your foot on the floor, knee bent.
- Bring your right hand to the floor behind you and your left hand to the outside of your right knee. Inhale and lengthen your spine.
- Exhale and twist from your core, rotating your torso as one unit to look over your back right shoulder.
- Hold and then repeat on the other side.
Biceps Stretch
- Stand with your feet under hips and your arms by your sides.
- Bring your right arm straight in front of you, and rotate your wrist toward the ceiling, fingers pointed down and palm facing away from you.
- Use your left hand to grab your fingers and thumb and gently press your right fingers toward your body.
- Hold the stretch, then repeat on the other side.
Shoulder Stretch
- Stand with your feet under hips and arms by your sides.
- Bring your right arm across your body and use your left arm to pull it in toward your body until you feel a stretch in the back of your right shoulder.
- Hold and then switch arms.
https://www.24hourfitness.com/membership/free-pass/?pass=MOBILEWAP&clubId=00663#step/1
Video credit: monkeybusinessimages, Getty Images
Photo credit: RG&B Images, Stocksy; Mark Kuroda, kurodastudios.com
Model: Jeffrey Baltazar, 24 Hour Fitness