Forum menu
I run about 20-30 miles a week and try to get 20ish mile on the bike as well, so my lower half is currently getting a good workout. My upper body routine is currently doing sit-ups and push-ups/pull-ups during the week but its liking pulling teeth, as whereas i enjoy running and biking doing resistance work just feels like that...work!
So i am looking for activities that will tone up my upper body as an added bonus. So far i have climbing on the pad of things to do, something only slightly marred by my local climbing wall only being a converted squash court (and the manager/instructor not really seeming to care about teaching new people), kayaking/local rowing club and thats about it. I was looking at some martial arts, as always fancied Kickboxing, but mostly they would be doing more leg work i assume.
So is there anything i have missed?*
*First person to mention ****ing has to go and sit on the naughty step.
Wd definately go for climbing, just be careful and go easy to start with, where are you based as your description of the climbing wall sounds familiar to me
P'Boro Graham....I see your in Cambs also so maybe it is the same place.
Exactly the same one, i used to go up there but got bored of the driving so built my own wall at home, am near huntingdon so prob a bit far out, however if you fancy a go let me know. Haven't been up to peterborough for a while, however if you go up on a tuesday most of them are good to talk to and you an get started easy enough
BMX - if you ride enough it will give you big arms and shoulders, and it's still riding a bike.
so built my own wall at home
Really? Got pics?
Probably going to pop up the 'boro wall tomorrow night and do some bouldering up in the BatCave and have a chat with whoever is there. I did have a lesson a month or so again with the manager/instructor, Malcolm. It was like i had pissed on his chips. Was half tempted to not go back...but got no other options apart from when i go down my sisters in Sheffield every couple of months.
Might have to regress and start climbing trees again.
+1 rusty trowel. All the BMX lads at my local park are proper built. I had a shot and you can see why - landing takes it out of your upper body in a big way.
kayaking
@rusty trowel: Sounds interesting. My local BMX place got shut down tho...cannot stand in the way of development apparently. Think my nearest one is Corby of the top of my head. Bit of a drive.
@Graham: That looks awesome. Must have a bit of spare room at your place!
built it in the barn, you are welcome to have a go if you want.
Must get back up to peterborough at some point but wonder if some of the routes I put up there months and months ago are still up.
Would definately try climbing, however for constantly working your upper body something like kayaking will do it better than climbing i suspect
swimming
Pole dancing 🙂 that wud sort u.
upper body weight training, don't have to do long too often to build up a reasonable base to help you out.
Rowing is good but maybe not an easy option if you just want to do it occassionally. It's very good for core strength too which is a good thing for cyclists who usually have very poor strength in this area which really helps prevent injury.
Sheep wrestling......
Swimming is good for conditioning the upper body. Combine that with weights, climbing etc, and you're sorted!
Another vote for swimming. Then you can go all triathlon-y which is a right laugh. The other benefit is that it does teach you to be relaxed in your breathing which benefits your run & bike.
+1 bmx. My upper body is now bigger than when I weight trained! Get a nice heavy cheap one for max. gains! You also get better at sprinting.Not actually as good as weights though if you go regularly but still good.
Can't you just do weights. Weights and straight forward core strength work has helped me, though I only got into it after an accident highlighted core strength weakness.
At least it gets straight to the core (excuse the pun) of what you want, and it's very time effective.
[i]pulls up a chair[/i]
As I've got older I seem to have permanent upper arm pain/weakness. Never notice it on the bike - I have pretty strong shoulders for a small woman and love downhill although I'm probably a bit of a mincer compared to most, but there are occasions when I go to pick up something like a full kettle and have to use both hands 😳 . I stretch religiously but it doesn't seem to make much difference . . . since last year's skate park faux pas I still can't raise my right hand behind my back. Oh, and I get cirulatory problems too. Maybe it's time to start push-ups again.
i'd see someone about that mamadirt. Maybe some physio?
Mamadirt - would go and see a physio, could be rotator cuff damage as that will limit the amount of force you can apply irrespective of your arm strength, I went last year and found my shoulders were imbalanced (bizarrely caused me to turn my handlebars when jumping) but with some damage to rotator cuff too it mean't my right arm was weaker than the left
Cheers both - not something I'd thought of and a quick google sounds spot on.
surfing?
singlespeeding with rigid forks? kayaking, climbing, pressups, chinups
Another for rowing, good all over workout.
build yourself a pump track or some dirt jumps, riding MTB can work your upperbody as much as (poss more than) your legs
good old fashion genetics seem to work for me............. 😉
ton - Member
good old fashion genetics seem to work for me.............
I want to be toned, not have moobs Ton 😉
toned is pretty and showy.........proper strenghth is hidden just below the fat layer....... 😆
Grahamt1980:you are welcome to have a go if you want.
You know what, i think i may take you up on that. Might have to sync it up with my next trip to Woburn Sands as i assume it will be on the way if its near Huntingdon.
Just get out the saddle more and pull the mtb up the uphills, and stick a brick in the camelback, gets the guns working.
if you went the bmx route you wouldn't need to ride parks or tracks to see gains. A good 25 mins thrash 3 times a week with protein would do the trick.
A good 25 mins thrash 3 times a week with protein would do the trick.
So just take it round the streets you mean?
How much is a half decent BMX these days anyways?
yep. I have an urban post work route. Usually includes a few alleyways and housing ( ie quite ) areas and a few fun bits ( grass banks etc). I'm no expert but you could probably pick somthing up cheap on ebay or s/h in classifieds. Wouldn't need to be cromo if your not riding parks. Could still handle bmx tracks ok.
Something half decent. Don't get me wrong there are much better bikes if your really into them.
half decent -
http://www.winstanleysbmx.com/product/7890/Eastern_MetalHead_Bike_2006
cheap -
http://www.winstanleysbmx.com/product/10274/Felt_Base_Bike_2007
ebay for a bargain. I think 1990's freestyle bikes are pretty heavy.
Typically riding one involves pedalling and pumping it from side to side and then coasting , then repeat. That's how I ride anyways.
No worries jamie. Just send me an email. I think this site allows that. Am out near Ramsey so not too far out
You will have to send me a mail Graham, click on the member bit next to my username, as you do not have one set in your public profile. Just send a blank message and i will reply.
Liking that wall Graham...lucky man!
Enough said about climbing - that was always going to be my suggestion. It's about the most interesting way of doing it. Helps with bike control too.
Err spanner in the works, climed fr about ten years, reasonably well as in onsight e5/f7b, an ive never been muscular, if you pay much attention loads o the top lads aren't so much muscly as they are carryin zero fat. All my mates that bmx however are absolutely stacked!!! Oh on the plus side never had arm pump in five years o mountain bikin......
If you want to build muscle doing something fun, then kayaking is definitely way ahead of everything else mentioned. Most things like BMX, climbing etc. aren't actually that good a way of building muscle, as you're not doing the sort of continuous regular working of the muscles - unless you're climbing really hard stuff you shouldn't actually be using your arms that much, and the guys doing harder stuff mostly get their muscles in the gym.
Rowing would be up there, but it's not a very accessible sport given the commitment needed by a typical rowing club, apart from using an ergo which can get almost as boring as doing weights in a gym. Swimming comes close, but IMHO is far more boring than kayaking as you only get to see the same bottom of the pool all the time (unless you do "wild" swimming, which is recommended, but also has accessibility issues). Also not quite as good at building muscle as kayaking as the peak forces are lower - top swimmers also get their physique in the gym, whilst I've got quite decent upper body development just from kayaking with almost no gym work at all.
I would suggest XC skiing / roller skiing given that's the main way I've maintained my upper body muscle whilst I've been doing less paddling, but that's not exactly very accessible either!
aracer I would disagree with the part about bmxing. If your riding you find yourself constantly using your back, lats, chest, every few yards to keep the bike going. You do not sit down and pedal.
indoor rowing and singlespeeding both work for me.
I don't think rowing would do much for anything other than the core. If you're building up a lot of upper body strength, you're not doing it right. Climbing doesn't have to be all about muscle. I hear Jamie's a bit on the weedy side anyway, so at least he won't be dragging too much up the wall. It's more about strength. Once you get above a certain grade, you'll realise it's all about the feet, but strength and balance give your feet the platform.