Core/Upper body strength

The Northern Monkey

Can anyone recommend any core/upperbody strength training exercises I can do at home without any equipment?

Obviously there is the pressup, situp and plank, but i'm looking for a bit more variation.


Taa!

welshkev

all the above are good, but get yourself a set of dumbells as well, and do some curls, shoulder presses etc

DCR00

Try powerbands. Lots of exercises available. I used to scoff but used them for shoulder injury recovery, and was so impressed I use them all the time now.

lucus_j

Push up variations - http://goo.gl/EPRGd - for upper body. Also T- pushup http://goo.gl/aXN4Z (with or without weights) and push up row (which does require weights) - http://goo.gl/r4YWP.

Pilates for core e.g. 1 leg semi-squat. Also bosu ball (http://goo.gl/PHck) as prescribed by physios for improving core stability. Sorry, Bosus are really expnsive and there aren't really any cheap or diy alternatives .....

mr_eddy

There are lots of excercises that you can do at home for upper body strength and the core:

Dips : Get two chairs or sturdy tables and putting your feel on one table and then your hands on the other table supporting your wieght with straight legs 'dip' your bum down until your elbows are at 90 degrees then up. 10 x 3 sets, if it gets easy get someone to pile books or bags of sugar on your legs

Plate Press: Grab a flat object that has a little weight to it such as a book (something that you can press without breaking) and press inbetween your hands with your hands in a basketball hoop shape then raise maintaining the shape above your head and down again, great for core , remember to press in as hard as you can.

Invert Press: Stand side on to a wall supporting your weight with your straight arm against the wall then lower your weight towards the wall and press up again. 3 x 10 great for shoulders and balance.

Heel Clicks: This is a good core/abs workout. Lie down with your knees raised but feel flat on the floor, your back and head should also be in the floor, twist your body so you can tap the heel of your right foot then twist the other way and tap your other foot. Do 3 sets of as many as possible. You should get to the point wear the lactic acid build up gets almost painful then stop.

Bicep Curl: this will sound stupid but do 3 x 10 bicep curls without weights just tense your biceps and squeze at the top of the curl. This will build biceps and strength almost as well as using weights.

Shoulder Raise: simple one this get a can of beans and using a straight arm raise your arm so its straight out 90 degrees in front of you hold for 10 seconds and then lower. Repeat ten times. If that is too easy then hold for 20 seconds or get a heavier object such as a bag of flour etc.

Hope this helps

blablablacksheep

Best exercises are the simple ones people just dont like doing

basically you should start from top finish at bottom ie arms to legs.

Press-ups, but not wide ones keep elbows within shoulders, chest no further down than a yellow pages.

plank, one of the best

side plank , supine plank( one with you facing up feet skywoods.) side plank other side

Pull ups, can do around 3 -6 varients with a pull-up bar,google has plenty of varients to suit different bar types.

just make sure to do them offen as you can, during adverts is a good time, or do sets of 3x20 ect with a 10-20 sex break between sets.

Point is, doing exercises at home is limited unless you want to fork out on silly equiptment from QVC channel, so best advise is get outside in the fresh air and exercise in natures playground..

yes i did say that :shock:

The Northern Monkey

cheers all

Loads of ideas! Been getting bored doing what I have been and ned to do more!

Been finding that I'm doing loads of riding and my legs are increasing in strength, but when it comes to those steep technical climbs my arms are killing! (And no I don't mean becasue of pushing :P )

lvquestpaddler

Hanging Knee Raises and the Plank are good for core strength(read somewhere, i forget where as per usual, but that sit ups/crunches don't work the core but the hip flexors?)
Overhand pull ups are nature's way of telling you if your weight matches your upper body strength I reckon....none of the half extensions either, arms straight every time you start to do another rep and chin over the bar....plenty of folk can't do one let alone a set!

The Northern Monkey

Do these things actually work then?
http://www.debenhams.com/webapp/wcs/sto ... C-GOOGLEPS

How long should I look to hold a plank for?

Usually I go for 10 pressups, straight into 10 sec of plank, straight back into 10 pressups and see how long I can keep alternating for

Absoloutley kills me!

Noel PT

http://www.trxtraining.com/

I haven't found anything that compares to suspension training, in terms of versitality and results.

TheNorthernTrain

The Northern Monkey wrote:

Do these things actually work then?
http://www.debenhams.com/webapp/wcs/sto ... C-GOOGLEPS

How long should I look to hold a plank for?

Usually I go for 10 pressups, straight into 10 sec of plank, straight back into 10 pressups and see how long I can keep alternating for

Absoloutley kills me!

Pull up bars are great if you have nothing in your house that will support your full weight. Might be worth finding one that has foam/rubber the whole way along, that way you can vary the type of pull up you do. At our house at uni we had a lonsdale one, was ace!

Other ab exercises you can do are:

Holding a bar/stick/broom/weights at arms length (with hands on top of each other, one potato, 2 potato style) swing them from side to side and use your abs to stop your hips from rotating.

Holding a bar/broom or just put hands on the back of your head, try to rotate your upper body by contracting your abs, make sure you are not using your shoulders or hips to rotate though.

If you want weights - fill a rucksack full of bricks/stones - can do biceps, triceps, wear it on your back when doing press-ups, squats etc. You never need fancy equipment, it just makes it more attractive to you when you do it.

Deepunder

Loving this ghetto gym thread, good stuff

I'm into perfecting the plank at the moment, amazing exercise

TheNorthernTrain

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbxEdnDrIk0

or just find a park and do this!

Mojo_666

My ghetto Gym as the following

Kettle Bell
http://www.purefitnessandsports.co.uk/s ... -1611.html

Dumbbell
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B000N3T0VE/r ... B000N3T0VE

I mostly do a routine with the kettlebell I use the dumbbell when watching TV for some basic exercise..I also have a hand gripper for TV time....I never get arm pump!

TBH Push-ups and squats with weights rule most though..it's just getting down and doing them.

Deepunder

north-sure wrote:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbxEdnDrIk0

or just find a park and do this!

That's I've been going wrong - forgot to put my big pants on and baseball cap...ok fair enough jealous, reverse pull up pretty cool

Deepunder

Mojo_666 wrote:

My ghetto Gym as the following

Kettle Bell
http://www.purefitnessandsports.co.uk/s ... -1611.html

.

Kettle balls seem to be the new thing at the moment although I expect they were around long before dumbells, I've seen people out in parks running group strength classes (in London)

felix.london

I have an ab-roller (£9.99 from John Lewis) which is great for building up your core strength. It also works your shoulders and back. Really good exercise and you can take it really easy by only lowering yourself a bit or go for the full roll/stretch where your stomach is just a few mm from the floor. Well worth the tenner..

squeeler

north-sure wrote:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbxEdnDrIk0

or just find a park and do this!

Those guys are awesome. It seems all about power to weight ratio, no fancy equipment needed.

blablablacksheep

squeeler wrote:

north-sure wrote:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbxEdnDrIk0

or just find a park and do this!

Those guys are awesome. It seems all about power to weight ratio, no fancy equipment needed.

with no jobs no wonder they get like that, who wouldnt get that built if all day you spent in the park smoking dope and doing chin-ups :roll:

they need to join the military and put all that to some use

Mark Bom

blablablacksheep wrote:

Best exercises are the simple ones people just dont like doing

basically you should start from top finish at bottom ie arms to legs.

Press-ups, but not wide ones keep elbows within shoulders, chest no further down than a yellow pages.

plank, one of the best

side plank , supine plank( one with you facing up feet skywoods.) side plank other side

Pull ups, can do around 3 -6 varients with a pull-up bar,google has plenty of varients to suit different bar types.

just make sure to do them offen as you can, during adverts is a good time, or do sets of 3x20 ect with a 10-20 sex break between sets.

Point is, doing exercises at home is limited unless you want to fork out on silly equiptment from QVC channel, so best advise is get outside in the fresh air and exercise in natures playground..

yes i did say that :shock:

Now you're talking! Now I just need to convince the missus!!

Ghostt

get a part time job doing manual labour. Earn some extra dosh (for bike parts obviously!) and get fit in the process (well, unless you over do the MaccyD lunches!)

weirdNumber

north-sure wrote:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbxEdnDrIk0

or just find a park and do this!

That video was fascinating! Seeing which movements used which muscles, including muscles I didn't realise existed!