Use Upper Body Exercises to Get the Body You Really Want

Go on, start today. You want muscles? These upper body exercises will give you muscles. Want sexy and toned arms and shoulders? They can do that too. You can build your upper body any way you like. These exercises will increase your strength, keep you fit and rid you of pain and injuries. Why not use your home as a place to develop your body. It sure isn't costing you anything...

The upper body exercises within these pages are simple to understand and easy to do at home. We've taken all the hard bits out. All you need to do is look through the exercises, find some you like, and do them. Start with as few or as many as you like, but the main thing is to do them. They will fit into any 5 minute slot of time you have. You'll be rewarded for your effort..... we promise :-)

What you will learn from this article:

• The benefits of doing these exercises.
• All about your upper body.
• The differences between men and women.
• To the girls... make upper body exercise a priority.
• The exercises which you can do at home.
• When should you exercise your upper body?

Benefits of Upper Body Exercises
	It's quite common to have pain in your upper back, neck and shoulders. Exercising these areas will help you to relieve this pain.
	Having a strong upper body will help you to stop slouching. Good posture is very beneficial. It really makes you feel more healthy and alive.
	The more muscle tissue you have on your body the more fat you will burn. Isn't that groovy?
	Upper body exercises will help girls (and guys) firm up those boobs. They will help you reduce the sagging in this area as you age. Geez, if that isn't a good reason to do them, we don't know what is!
	You'll look good on those hot days when it's an absolute must to take off your shirt!
	Doing upper body exercises will grow and strengthen your muscles. This will give you more energy throughout the day to have fun!

Your Upper Body Bits

We're just going to go through the basics of your upper body. You don't really need to worry about all the technical mumbo jumbo. We'll only tell you what you need to know to effectively exercise your upper body.

These are your upper body bits:

• Chest - Okay, we all know where our chests are! The main muscles to be concerned about in your chest are your "pecs". This is short for pectorals. These muscles run across your chest in a fan-like shape. This allows for movement in many directions. You are using your chest muscles when you give someone a tight bear hug.
• Upper back - Your upper back is on the opposite side to your chest. The main muscles here are your "traps" or trapezius. If you're doing chest exercises you also need to work out your upper back. Otherwise your chest muscles will pull you in and you'll start hunching over. Having a strong upper back definately helps to keep your posture in top-notch condition. You use your upper back for things like... pulling the rope for starting a lawnmower.
• Neck - Your neck consists of many muscles, and boy does it need them. Your neck is continuously holding up your head. That can be quite a workout. That's why it is important to keep these muscles strong.
• Shoulders - Your shoulders have an important job. They're in charge of a lot of the throwing, swinging, catching, moving etc. that you do on a daily basis. Your shoulders are what hold everything together in a nice tight little package. It's definately important to keep these strong. The main muscles are the deltoids and the rotator cuffs.
  
• Biceps - Your biceps are on the front of your arms. We're sure that you've, at some time or another, measured your strength by comparing flexed biceps! Your biceps are used for "pulling in" type movements, like lifting a bag of groceries.
• Triceps - Yup, you guessed it, these are found opposite your biceps, on the back of your arm. You use your triceps in "pushing away" type movements. Your triceps are made up of three muscles, hence the "tri".
• Forearms - These are the muscles of your lower arm. You use them when you grab a can of beer from the fridge and grip it tight.

Wow, there's more muscles there than what we thought...

Men and Women

The upper body really does mean different things to men and women:

• Men are generally more concerned about developing their pecs and bulking up their biceps.
• Women, on the other hand, are normally more worried about flabby triceps and their bust size, or the "sagginess" of this area!

It doesn't matter what your reasons are for wanting to learn about upper body exercise. All that matters is that you will feel and look great if you keep up your program!

To All the Girls...

Very often, women don't make upper body exercise a priority. They think they will get big arms, lose all the fat on their breasts (This is a myth called spot reduction. You can learn more about it here) and have broad V shaped manly chests. These are very understandable concerns, but it just doesn't work that way. You won't develop large muscles in your upper body unless you're drinking protein shakes, taking testosterone and training 3 times per week.

So....We suggest that you give upper body exercises a try. Being stronger can only help in your life.

Womens upper body strength often declines dramatically later on in life. This is a preventable problem and you should start your upper body training A.S.A.P This will ensure you stay independant and mobile for as long as possible.

Upper Body Exercise in the Comfort of Your Home

Home exercises are so convenient. There's no need to go to the gym to make your muscles. You can do most of these exercises with no equipment at all.

Check out all our different exercises here:

• It's time to get some sexy shoulders!
• Do you want strong triceps?
• How about some rippling biceps?
• Upper back exercises for a sturdy back.
• Chest exercises for serious toning.
• A simple upper body circuit for building serious strength

Check out our home made equipment section. It's free and will do the job for heaps of exercises.

If you're pretty strong, and need heavier weights, we bet you could buy some for next to nothing on e-bay, or a second hand shop.

When Should I do Upper Body Exercises?

We suggest twice a week. Three if you're training really hard. Aim to give your muscles at least one days rest in between workouts. This will give them enough time to recover and be rearing to go for the next workout.

If you haven't done much upper body training before, start off slowly and develop. You can't be as strong as Arnold Schwarzenegger in a single week. Think how long and hard he worked to get where he was.... Good things take time.

Remember

"The journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step." - Lao tzu

Summary of all the articles that we linked to from this page:

• Home made gym equipment
• It's time to get some sexy shoulders!
• Do you want strong triceps?
• Some great bicep exercises
• Inner thigh exercises
• Upper back exercises
• Chest exercises

Keep us up to date with how you're going! If you want personal advice on upper body exercises, just drop us an email.

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