[Closed] Best way to improve upper body strength

Dumbbells and a bench...
About £60 for a bench, about £20-30 for the weights..

Do you have an android phone? If so, get Jefit as it's an incredible free weights workout guide, otherwise google 'dumbbell exercises'..

DrP

use bodyweight resistance exercises (chin ups, tricep dips, press ups) find a Royal Marine to show you all manner of variety

Or the real cheap option is to do press ups (and variations on those), and chin ups (and the variations on THOSE!)

DrP

EDIT - too slow - curse my bulging biceps limiting mobility....

Bench is a reasonable idea but don't have space

What rough kg value of weights to start with?

ride a Singlespeed,up lots of techy climbs,a lot......

press-ups are an easy option.

Alternate then by doing them flat on floor one day and legs on a chair the next.
You will be surprised how quickly you can build up to a hundred.

Get kettlebells. A 16kg and a 24kg. Too much to tell you here but go to CrossFit.com for videos and Dragon Door.
I SWEAR TO GOD, I've done it all but kettlebells, body weight squats and push ups will see you right.

Take up bouldering.

Get a "starter" 20kg set (so 10kg each side). For MOST exercises (except bench press) that's a good start, as if you're focussing on TECHNIQUE (not just 'wanging' weights all over the shop) then you'll struggle with 10k at first.
The next step would be to get 2 10kg plates (as above, 20kg is a good lift for a starter)

[url= http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/9282898/c_1/1|category_root|Sports+and+leisure|14419152/c_2/2|14419152|Home+gym+equipment|14419293/c_3/3|cat_14419293|Weights+and+dumbbells|14419310.htm ]There you go..[/url]

DrP

The crossfit site looks good too.

CrossFit is the principal strength and conditioning program for many police academies and tactical operations teams, military special operations units, champion martial artists, and hundreds of other elite and professional athletes worldwide.

Interesting how they fail to mention tubby middle managers and lazy students wishing to impress the fit bird in their class.....

DrP

http://hundredpushups.com/

this is surprisingly effective.

Press up's, dorsal raises, heaves, chin ups, dips. you'll be strong in no time....that'll cover shoulders, chest, back, arms.

Swimming is only good exercise if you actually know how to swim...it's all technique and you'll get put off when some fat knacker with good technique just floats by when you're on max revs.

Surrounded By Zulus - Member
Take up bouldering.

Yep

Buy a fixie and figure out where all the gurt big hills in your area are (for me, they are ALL on my commute)....

Have a 10kg baby who is a real challenge to hold, yet wants you to pick him up all the time...

Both the above seem to have increased my biceps somewhat!

DrP

[url= http://www.fitness-superstore.co.uk/vkr_dip_stations/york__workout_tower/10942_p.html ]One of these...[/url]
[img] [/img]

Don't worry about a bench, though if you do have room I would recommend getting an exercise ball. Can do loads of stuff with that complimented by the weights DrP put above. Also push up bars are good for press ups, protecting your wrists and allow you to get down further.

Past few months I've been doing a lot of press ups, chin ups and sit ups. Noticed a hell of an improvement to my bike fitness through doing it.

We got one of those Powerbar chin up bars that sits on the door frame (no drilling required) for a tenner off ebay. Great investment.

Actually, we have one of these:

http://www.amazon.com/Iron-Total-Upper-Body-Workout/dp/B001EJMS6K

agree with scott. press ups and chins etc...

these are good...

Hindu Press Up

Kev

Go to the pool

At the end of your swimming session go to the deep end and hang on the edge underwater, raise yourself out and keep going till your upper body is out the water and your arms are straight (basically from a pull up position into a tricep press)

Not quite fit enough, do it in water shallow enough so when you hang on the edge (with straight arms) your feet just touch the bottom, give a small push with your legs and let your momentum and strength finish the move

Getting better at it, do a length underwater and then crack straight into the exercise, once your exhausted, sprint swim back to the shallow end

Getting fitter still, when your doing the exercise, pull and push with enough force that Shen your arms go fully extended into the tricep press you fling yourself in the air a bit

Also do press-ups and sit-ups at home

You need a montage.

😆

I registered just to post that.

There is a lot of nonsense being spouted as usual in one of these threads.

Getting stronger is an incredibly simple thing to do. It gets complicated by people who don't know what they're talking about.

I have a guy in my class spends around 3hrs/day in the gym doing all manner of weird and wonderful exercises and he is built like the proverbial brick outhouse. The other day he was trying to show off by holding a medicine ball out to the side at shoulder height with one straight arm and seeing how long he could hold it for. I whooped his arse - my strength comes from riding my bike and a wee bit of climbing and bouldering. I am skinny and have puny arms, but see to be really strong. 😀

Nonsense ... as opposed to ego stroking? What you have is a developed lactic acid tolerance, something to train for in an all round package but under no guise is it strength

I am skinny and have puny arms, but see to be really strong

Surrounded By Zulus, I dare say the other guy would bench press a lot more than you. Don't get confused by strength and endurance.

Conquerer, I have some good PDF's that used before. Send me a PM and i'll let you have them.

I have a guy in my class spends around 3hrs/day in the gym doing all manner of weird and wonderful exercises and he is built like the proverbial brick outhouse. The other day he was trying to show off by holding a medicine ball out to the side at shoulder height with one straight arm and seeing how long he could hold it for. I whooped his arse - my strength comes from riding my bike and a wee bit of climbing and bouldering. I am skinny and have puny arms, but see to be really strong.

My wife says I always feel really strong when we strip the willow at ceilidhs.

Check these out

I do squats in the front garden with 150% of my bodyweight held straight-armed above my head - teeth clenched and screaming "who's the daddy?" in a Frank Sidebottom voice. I don't think the screaming's necessary but stops me having to make conversation with the neighbours

This worked for Mick Murphy, and he even won a bike race.

[img] [/img]

Mike Murphy’s victory in the 1958 Ras Tailtean has the whiff of a movie script about it. He was a poor labourer who dreamt of winning Ireland’s toughest cycling race . In keeping with the best traditions of Hollywood the 26-year-old underdog, after completing an epic journey, crossed the finish line in Dublin as champion.

The myth that has grown up around Murphy and his exploits is captured in the following quote from documentary maker Liam O’Brien.

In the case of the Kerry cyclist Mike Murphy, ‘The Iron Man’, the truth exceeds the legend and the legend… Well the legend goes a bit like this: he trained with weights made from stones, he made a living as a circus performer, on one stage in the 1958 Ras, after his bike had broken down, he stole an ordinary bicycle from a farmer and chase down the leading pack. It’s said that he rode for three days with a broken collarbone, that he would cycle for forty miles having completed a grueling stage just to cool down, that he drank cow’s blood and ate raw meat .it said he was indestructible.

Haven't confused anything with anything. He was shaking all over the place right from the start, I wasn't moving.

There were a number of other tests that we did where I beat him by a mile. This is leading him to radically change his training and include much more in the way of core stability and also to develop his ability to recruit specific muscles - so he's going climbing and taking up yoga.

Haven't confused anything with anything. He was shaking all over the place right from the start, I wasn't moving.

There were a number of other tests that we did where I beat him by a mile. This is leading him to radically change his training and include much more in the way of core stability and also to develop his ability to recruit specific muscles - so he's going climbing and taking up yoga.

Turkish get up

Great way of improving functional strength (i'm told)

Nah, he's a rugby hooker.

While bodybuilders are big, they aren't necessarily strong.

Sounds like he's still stroking his ego, whilst at the same time joining in with the nonsense he quoted from other posters, bloke trains 3 hours a day I'm not surprised he was shaking from the off, if your going to post crap at least make it believable. And I'm a little curious what muscles are you "specifically" recruiting by climbing, apart from if it's upper body leverage your lats, your traps, your delts, biceps/triceps, brachorad..... and on, same goes for your legs.

I'm not buying the fact that some bloke trains 3hours a day, even if it's crappily and is now gaining more strength from climbing and friggin yoga

The OP post asked for suggestions to improve his upper body strength and overall fitness, he mentioned swimming, so you could assume he likes doing it, if your climbing to improve your strength your climbing badly, if your advocating yoga as a strength builder over 3 hours in the gym, that's some friggin smashing yoga routine you've got going there, not knocking yoga, if it floats your boat great, but it's not 3 hours strength building in the gym

To sum up, your talking nonsense

decent thread gets mired in nonsense. classic.

I'm glad that you're not buying it because you have completely missed my point.

My point being that you can lift weights until you are blue in the face, but if you don't do anything to help you recruit those muscles and use them functionally around a solid core then you will never gain any usable upper body strength.

Climbing is about control as is yoga. You need to be able to control your muscles or there is no point in having them.

This :-
[img] [/img]

Or this: -

[img] [/img]

I know which one my moneys on! 😀

My point being that you can lift weights until you are blue in the face, but if you don't do anything to help you recruit those muscles and use them functionally around a solid core then you will never gain any usable upper body strength.

Yeah whatever.

Can we get this back to the original point? Was looking to be useful until the bunfight.

What I'd like to know is how long a decent upper body workout would take. Off to Morzine for the 2nd time this summer and last year the strength in my arms and hands let me down a lot. Even Innerleithen will tire me out too quickly. So, what's a good workout that would focus on upper body/core that I could do in say 30 mins? Also, would this be every day or not?

Equipment wise I have a 20kg weight set.

No mate, it was looking totally hopeless until the bun fight. What you have described suggests that you either have no strength endurance in your forearms and fingers or that you grip the bars to tight. Either take up climbing or get one of those grip strength thingys or a power ball. As for core, get a swiss ball and play with that - learn to stand on it.

Replicate what your dad would have done when "he were a lad". My dad threw 12 stone haybales 12ft high. I ain't that manly but my buddy asked for a big old used tractor tyre from a farmer, took it to his house and now lifts, throws it and so on. You use all muscle groups, do core work while you're there and you'll generate real strength rather than showy gym muscle.

12 stone haybales 12ft high

I very much doubt he did.

Not doubting they were heavy, just not that heavy.

kettlebells fwiw

The benefit of dumbbells lies in their ' instability', as in they are felt to be better than a smith machine, or other fixed weights. It is this that not only trains the 'main' muscle, but the surrounding groups too...

When people shake, it's a sign of fatigue (i did research in it, innit!).i could quote the emg responses, but won't.....

Basically, as people have said, lift heavy stuff awkwardly and you'll get strong, but make sure not to put your back out!

DrP

Get out running too.

Sitting on a bike you use your upper body very little compared to running.

Always use freeweights. Machines are hateful things IMO.

If you want strength for fingers and forearms then get a climbing specific "hangboard". Two sessions of 15 minutes twice a week with a simple program would reap huge benefits.

For core strength use body weights, free weights and yoga.

Personally I think it is really worth it to join a gym for a few months but if you are not going to then deffo a bench, some dumbells and a pull up bar are a minimum. Areas to hit for cycling would be triceps, chest, back and forearms.

Do not believe this guff about swimming, bouldering etc being better than weights for building strength. I used to climb a lot and my biggest gains in strength and performance were when I spent less time climbing and more time in the gym, a very good swimmer (US olympic squad) I used to know found something similar.

What I'd like to know is how long a decent upper body workout would take. Off to Morzine for the 2nd time this summer and last year the strength in my arms and hands let me down a lot. Even Innerleithen will tire me out too quickly. So, what's a good workout that would focus on upper body/core that I could do in say 30 mins? Also, would this be every day or not?

Equipment wise I have a 20kg weight set.

[b]Monday:[/b]
Warmup - Pull-overs, situps/crunchs...
Bench press 5 sets
Military press 5 sets

[b]Wednesday:[/b]
Warmup - Pull-overs, situps/crunchs...
Deadlifts 5 sets
Bent over rows 5 sets

[b]Friday:[/b]
Warmup - Pull-overs, situps/crunchs...
Clean and press 5 sets
Bicep curls 3 sets
Narrow grip tricep press 3 sets

Swimming is only good exercise if you actually know how to swim...it's all technique and you'll get put off when some fat knacker with good technique just floats by when you're on max revs.

As I recall, swimming is an even better exercise if your technique is poor as you are working harder to cover the distance, good technique however will give you speed and enhance endurance but you won't be working as hard.

Conqueror- what are you looking to achieve? Why the upperbody requirement?

I'd like to be the other way round IMO. Never had a problem building up upperbody strength however never really had need for it as I've always worn tshirts in summer etc and have no truck with showing 'muscles'.

If you want upperbody strength purely to help with stability/on the bike then 20 pressups aday, 20 shoulder-press with dumbells, 20 arm curls, 20 lat raises with dumbells, then 50 situps.

Everyday. What I mean by medium weight is not too heavy but not too light either- just enough so you can feel it.

After a few weeks you'll feel different. If you want to build up I still recommend starting like this otherwise you'll have sprains/strains etc.

Be happy in your own skin at the end of the day.

I'd love stronger legs!

If you are going to follow any of the advice up there make sure that you look after your lower back. The majority of that stuff up there will only destroy your discs.

Check out[url= http://www.bikejames.com ]Bikejames.com[/url]

He trains the Yeti team, so multiple world champions etc, the guy gets results! He has a number of workouts on his website, one of them is a purely no gym dumbbell routine which sounds perfect for you.

Check out his blog too, those tonnes of free information there that gives you a head start to essential exercises if you havent got much time or cant get to a gym. I've got myslef a bar bell, some dumbbells and a chin up bar and i'm really starting to get results, more power, endurance etc

[i]If you are going to follow any of the advice up there make sure that you look after your lower back. The majority of that stuff up there will only destroy your discs. [/i]

Lets all take up climbing and standing on a medicine ball then, we'll all be shining as brilliant as the ultimately perfected sbz. 🙄

Kev

Keva, I know a good physio for when you need your back sorted out.

If you are going to follow any of the advice up there make sure that you look after your lower back. The majority of that stuff up there will only destroy your discs.

From years in the gym I'm not aware of anyone having back problems to a higher degree than those that don't train. Certainly not a major topic of conversation, which isn't the case with people who don't train. Certainly in my family (similar body types etc) I've had less back problems than anyone else and the only vaguely nasty problem involved a big MX bike crash. In fact all my problematic injuries have been impact related.

I've only seen one back injury in the gym and that was down to stupidity. Someone trying to keep up with the big boys when he wasn't.

Keva, I know a good physio for when you need your back sorted out.

It's a shame you just try to attack other people with made up crap instead.

[i]Keva, I know a good physio for when you need your back sorted out. [/i]

what on earth makes you think I'll ever need my back sorting out ?

why on earth would I contact you if I ever need anything let alone physio treatment when all you do is spout bulshy comments over this forum as if you're the only person in world who knows anything about sports and physical training ?

do you know me ? no. do you know anything about me ? no.

Kev

Shame as I think you have nothing constructive to offer to this thread. I am doing no attacking, just holding my ground. My position is based on an advanced knowledge of this stuff.

Shame as I think you have nothing constructive to offer to this thread. I am doing no attacking, just holding my ground. My position is based on an advanced knowledge of this stuff

If you are going to follow any of the advice up there make sure that you look after your lower back. The majority of that stuff up there will only destroy your discs.

A bold statement. Care to explain?

Conqueror- what are you looking to achieve? Why the upperbody requirement?

I'd like to be the other way round IMO. Never had a problem building up upperbody strength however never really had need for it as I've always worn tshirts in summer etc and have no truck with showing 'muscles'.

If you want upperbody strength purely to help with stability/on the bike then 20 pressups aday, 20 shoulder-press with dumbells, 20 arm curls, 20 lat raises with dumbells, then 50 situps.

Everyday. What I mean by medium weight is not too heavy but not too light either- just enough so you can feel it.

After a few weeks you'll feel different. If you want to build up I still recommend starting like this otherwise you'll have sprains/strains etc.

Be happy in your own skin at the end of the day.

I'd love stronger legs!

Im at 6ft4 roughly - don't know exactly need to measure. Got strong legs, but really quite under developed arm muscles. Amongst other people I find abit odd. So yeah its partly a vanity thing perhaps (like if I'm wearing a t shirt people can see those skinny arms), but also a practical thing, when I lift stuff I'm just not as strong as I'd like to be. My brother and dad are both noticably stronger.

franco - look in the other strength thread i put my answer in there.

check out www.crossfit.com takes a bit of getting used to the terminology but it basically involves lots of compound exercises which work multiple muscle groups over short periods of time ie 20-30mins intensive sessions and plenty of them include body weight exercises that you can perform in your home. New workouts routines are uploaded each day on their forum each day so no need to think about making it up yourself

This is excellent stuff guys, thanks very much. 5thElefant winning so far as I like the sound of 3 days a week. Don't want to overdo it now 🙂 Will be checking out the links too.

Come Morzine I will be a rippling beefcake, riding God and sick to the MAX.

Dunno whether I'd bother listening to half the people on here, they dont have a clue.

All they know of strength and fitness is having a stroll on a treadmill in a nice, warm, cosey gym on a cold winters evening. Its not the way to do it if you want to build strength and fitness. Gyms are great place to go if your incredibly vain and want to get the "toned" look. However, this isnt real world strength, its just a look and its not going to help you at all when your out in sub zero temperatures on a wet, muddy mountain side.

Look at all the greats:- Sir Edmund Hillary, Clint Eastwood and George Foreman to name but a few. You wouldnt catch them in a nice, warm, cosey gym. Strength and fitness is earned through hard, physical graft.

My favoured technique through winter is to spend 4 nights a week putting up stone walls on a local farm. I usually pack a rucksack with my tools and clothes and a bit of bait and then run the 10 miles to the farm (can be further if Im working on the fells). Spend the next four and a half hours drystone walling then run back. On a friday night I'll usually take a bivvy bag and sleep "in the field" over night so I can get an early start on the saturday morning.

I've never been beaten up a hill by anyone at my local trail centre

Funny that, Clint was saying the exact same thing when we were drystonewalling on the top of Ben Nevis last Saturday night. 😉

^^^ I so hope this is true!!
In a similar vain, if I have an event coming up, I simply climb the fence at the zoo and spar with the Polar Bears.

DrP

In a similar vain, if I have an event coming up, I simply climb the fence at the zoo and spar with the Polar Bears.

Clint Eastwood that well known....Actor?roflmao

I find that the trouble with sparring polar bears is that it works neither my core nor my power endurance, couple of slaps and they are usually down. I suppose once they are unconscious I could try chucking them twelve foot in the air like my dad used to do with haystacks but I do worry what that might do to my discs. Probably best to leave it and go for a swim with the penguins instead.

in a similar vain

You'd think a Dr would know about veins/vains wouldn't you.;-)

That bikejames site looks really interesting. I do free weights, kettlebells and a bit of core training twice a week, I will start doing some circuits in the Spring as well. Doing upper body weights to relieve arm pump is slightly counter-intuitive, as the harder you grip the bars, the worse it will get. If you do some all-round conditioning and concentrate on staying nice and balanced on the bike with as much weight as possible on your feet you will probably see a decent improvement.

I bought this setup which I can use at home whilst watching tv and fits into the requirements of 30 minutes every couple of days:

A chinup bar, the POWERBAR:

http://www.v-tapershaper.com/barsaccessories.html

the pullup assist straps:

http://www.v-tapershaper.com/vtschinpullupassist.html

which let you offset your body weight so you can do a set of 10 reps to failure, or whatever.

and these straps that hang off the bar:

http://www.v-tapershaper.com/flexstraps/powerflexbodyweightgym.html

and let you do different types of press-up and lat pull-ups.

I also bought the TRX system but don't have enough space for it.

I start with two sets of press-ups using the straps, then two sets of chinups for the three positions of palms away and hands at shoulder width, palms away and hands wide, and then palms towards and palms at shoulder width. Then I finish with some lateral pullups.

The suspension of the straps means that your core muscles work to keep you stable. You vary the angle of yoour body lean into the straps to get a harder work out.

It seems very effective for me.

Their site also do kettlebells.

For just $37 you can start becoming a better biker TODAY with this revolutionary workout.

that has to rate as the funniest link anyone has ever posted on stw.

http://www.sonic.net/~ckelly/Seekay/weird_bike_stuff2.htm