Stronger Shoulders
This week we’re continuing with the theme of basic exercises: what are the exercises that everyone can do at home with minimal equipment to improve or at least maintain fitness?
Our focus today is on your shoulders. That can include the muscles of the chest, the back, the shoulder cap or more precisely the deltoids, the upper arms, and lower arms. The exercise that works a majority of those muscles is the push-up. That can be challenging for many of us, including me. I’ve torn both my biceps muscles, so that limits my ability to lower my body more than a quarter of the way. But I’ve improved my shoulder strength a couple of ways.
Wall Push-ups
Just like it reads, stand two to three feet away from a wall, depending on your height, with your body straight; if your behind is sticking up, you’re too far from the wall (like the woman in black). Lower your body toward the wall, and then push back up again. It’s critical that you have on shoes that won’t slip and you don’t do it on a throw rug! You don’t need a trip to the dentist.
Another way of doing the same movement is to use the stairs. Always start on the floor and use the step that is most in line with your arms at 90 degrees. Lower yourself down and push back up. As you get stronger, you can move your arms down a step which will increase the resistance.
Finally, if you can get up and down easily, start with push-ups from your knees. Just lower yourself enough so you can push back up. As you get stronger, you can go lower and lower.
Counter Push-ups
If you have a kitchen island or a countertop, you can do counter push-ups, either in addition or instead of wall push-ups. It’s especially important you wear shoes that will not slip and no moveable carpets. I use these to focus on my triceps muscles by keeping my elbows tight against my side and letting those muscles do the work.
The same logic applies to all these exercises. Begin with the number you can do and work up to 25. Then add more sets until you can get to 100 total. When you get there, try to increase the resistance by moving down a step or doing push-ups on the floor.
Another note: as the woman on the right is doing, you can use your desk as your counter. This would be a great action to use when you need to get up from your desk and give your eyes a break from the computer, which none of us probably do often enough.
Webinar on Sunday
Don’t forget The Keys to Weight Loss webinar; there are still slots open for the live webinar on Sunday afternoon. If you sign-up, and you have questions you’d like me to answer during the webinar, send them to drchet@drchet.com. Here’s one tip. While there are strategies that can help with cravings, the best way is to not bring them in the house. I’ll cover the others in the webinar.
What are you prepared to do today?
