By: Tracy Flood, Physical Therapist and Personal Trainer
With the work from home life being more prevalent than ever before, coupled with an already sedentary lifestyle for many of us, now is the best time to work on your upper body health. Upper body health includes better posture, strength, balance, and ease of daily activities like lifting. Check out the benefits, and exercises, for upper body muscles and better health in your upper body.
Benefits of Upper Body Workouts
Many people don’t realize that many day-to-day activities require upper extremity motions. From getting dressed, to putting your seatbelt on, these motions can be compromised by upper body injuries. In order to prevent these injuries, it’s important to focus on functional motions with good form. Upper body workouts and strength training exercises also support strong bones and burn calories. The best part is, incorporating a few of the movements below, a few times a week, goes a long way toward a more healthy upper body!
Daily activities that may be made more accessible with upper body exercises include:
- Playing tennis
- Lifting heavy objects into your car
- Putting dishes away into the cabinet
- Carrying groceries
- Placing items in storage above your shoulders
Upper Body Workout Examples
- Bilateral External Rotation: This move works to strengthen your rotator cuff muscles. These muscles are important for overhead movements and rotating your shoulders.
- Pull Aparts: This movement helps with postural strengthening as well as prevents rotator cuff injury.
- Rows: This exercise also helps strengthen your posture muscles. Make sure you are pulling your shoulders down and back and not letting your shoulders come up to your ears.
- Farmer’s Carry: This exercise promotes shoulder stability and endurance. Try to maintain good posture while carrying the weight.
- Bicep Curls: Doing this exercise will help with carrying heavy objects. Make sure you’re allowing your elbows to straighten all the way at the bottom of the motion.
At the Village we have a wide variety of equipment and excellent personal trainers to help you with whatever health and fitness goals you have. If you’re looking for more ways to improve your health, check out all the Village has to offer!
