Upper Body
Just like there are benefits to lower body exercise, and any exercise routine really, working out your upper body comes with many positives as well. I’ve already mentioned elsewhere in this kit that only working out what we think are our “problem areas” is not an effective way to improve our health or get into shape. In fact, yes it does burn calories (and doing something is better than nothing), but only working out limited parts of your body can cause imbalances that can actually hinder your health and function.
Strengthening exercises targeting upper body (think shoulders, arms, upper back even) allow for our body to have “better balance” which means improved overall health and structure for us. Winning! See just a few of the many good reasons to include routines such as these in your workout schedule:
Improves and maintains good posture
More muscle = more fat burning and revved metabolism even at rest
Strong arms and shoulders can assist runners with gaining speed, form, and agility
Including arms in cross-body workout routines directly strengthens your core
Pointing to the beach (just kidding! But, no, really that’s a fun bonus)
Decreases effort for your daily activities (like putting groceries away, cleaning, getting dressed)
Upper body strength is used as one of several clinical indicators of health, comorbidity, disability and function
Decreases instance of back injury – if our arms are weak, we depend more on our spine and back muscles – improperly loading these areas of the body can be detrimental
Shares the same benefits of lower body training like increasing bone density, improving cardiovascular health, strengthening immunity, and just plain making us FEEL good!