Mama Fit Monday: Upper Body Blast

Most women hate to work their upper body. I wouldn't say that I hate to work my upper body, but I definitely prefer to work my lower body. As women
we tend to be heavier in the hips and lower body so we want to target those areas, and we don't have the upper body strength that men do, making an upper body workout sometimes awkward.

That's why today we are going to blast our upper body. Nothing feels better than to feel the sore muscles of our chest, triceps, back, shoulders and biceps.

Let's get to it:

Start with doing 1 set of push ups on a curb or the ground. Try doing 10-15 reps.
Then go right into twists. I love this exercise. It is great for the abs and believe it or not your upper body will feel it, because you are supporting your body with your arms and shoulders. Do 12 on each side.






When twisting make sure you don't hold your breath. Keep rotating your arms, until you complete 12 on each side.






Go right into mountain climbers for 30 sec. If you need more cardio, do 1 min. When doing these, you are actually hopping from one foot to the other.



You are now going to repeat your push ups and twists and mountain climbers.

Next you are going to do 20 crunches on your back. Remember not to pull on your neck. Then you are going to do 12 tricep pushups.








Keep your butt down. This is generally a tough one. One important thing to remember is to keep your elbows tight to your body. Now go right into jumping jacks for 1 min.


Repeat that series from the crunches.

Do a high plank for - 30 sec - 1 min. It's important to keep your butt down on this and keep your hands underneath your shoulders. Don't forget to breathe.






Next go right into some shoulder presses. Always remember to keep your belly button pulled into your spine and exhale as you lift the weights above your head.





For your bicep curls, you are going to do 2 variations. The first is 15 reps of a regular curl. Arms come straight forward.
Next you are going to angle your hands out. Keep your elbows right close to your body. Do another 15 reps.






Repeat from high plank.

You are now going to finish with 1 min of mountain climbers, followed by 1 min. of jumping jacks.

A great way to get in an awesome upper body workout. One thing for sure is to make sure you use weights heavy enough. You definitely want to be pushing through the last couple of reps. If you are easily throwing your arms around, your weight is way too light!

To make it even harder, increase all the cardio parts by an extra minute.

Let me know how it feels.

Committed to your fitness success,
Kelly Parker
www.FitMomMakeover.net