Biking Fitness:
Strengthening the Upper Body
| Front Raise. With knees slightly bent,
standing upright, raise dumb bells straight in front of you until
parallel to the floor. In a controlled manner, return weight to
sides. (Main body parts worked…shoulders) |
| Lateral Raise. Knees slightly bent, standing
upright with dumb bells straight in front of you, raise the weights
directly out to the side until parallel to the floor. (Main body
parts worked…shoulders) |
| Military Press. You can do this exercise with
dumbbells or a barbell. Starting at the shoulder, press straight
above your head palms facing forward extending your arms completely.
For the same reason as the lat. pull down, I don’t recommend doing
the press behind the neck. (Main body parts worked…shoulders,
triceps) |
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Dumb bell bench press. The dumb bell press is
the same as the barbell except you need to stabilize two weights
independently versus just one with the barbell. The press motions of
the exercise however is the same. Take extra care however to keep
the weights in line so that they don’t fall to one side or the
other and you injure yourself. (Main body parts worked…chest,
triceps) |
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Incline bb bench. With hands slightly wider
than shoulder width, in a controlled manner lower weight to just
above chest. Press to start position. Take it through a full range
of motion (main body parts worked…chest, triceps) |
| EZ bar curl. Standing with knees slightly
bent. Start with arms fully extended. With elbows remaining
relatively stationary, bend arms curling weight to chest. Return to
start slowly. (Main body parts worked…biceps) |
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Dumb Bell Curls.
Standing with the knees slightly bent, hold a dumb bell in each
hand. Raise each dumb bell alternatively, keeping the weight tipped
inward slightly. |
| Triceps press down. Keeping your elbows at
your sides’ press the bar down to full extension, hold, then
slowly return to the start position. Don’t let your elbows rise
and don’t "throw" the weight down. Keep the motion even
and controlled. (Main body parts worked…triceps) |
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Lat. pull down. You can do either lat. pull
downs or wide grip pull ups depending on your preference. For added
variety you can also do chin-ups or machine chi ups same motion with
hands closer together with palms facing you. They work the muscle
groups a little different but are good to mix in. It’s one of my
favorite exercises. Start the movement with arms out-stretched head
up, bring the bar to your upper chest or at least past your chin no
lower than mid chest. If you can’t bring it below your chin for
the desired amount of reps lower the weight. You want a full range
of motion for this exercise. I also don’t recommend pulling to
behind the neck as to avoid injury to the rotator cuff and shoulder
joint. Plus there is a negligible amount of gain that can be had
from pulling to the back of the neck. (Main body parts
worked…upper back, biceps) |
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| Dips. On a dip rack lower your body to about a
90-degree angle between your upper arm and forearm. Press yourself
back to an extended position. (Main body parts worked…triceps,
chest) |
| Seated row. Keep back upright and stationary
and with its natural curve, don’t roll your back during the
movement. Pull straight back, pause momentarily at the end of the
motion (when it is against your torso) slowly return to the start
position. (Main body parts worked…upper back, biceps) |
| Upright Row. With your body upright, back
straight and hands about 5 inches apart, pull the bar straight up
your body with elbows high at the end of the movement and the bar
just below your chin. Lower the bar slowly to start position. You
can do this exercise with an EZ curl bar straight bar or even
dumbbells or exercise bands. (Main body parts worked…shoulders,
biceps) |
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One arm row. Support
your knee and one hand on a weight bench. With a flat back start the
movement with the weight extended, pull the weight to your torso.
Slowly return to start. Make sure to control the weight. (Main
body parts worked…upper back, biceps) |
Click Here for Page 4: Trunk Strengthening
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LIL'BRUCIE
