When you are involved in an exercise plan it’s important to make sure that you are working both sides of your body equally. The front (anterior) and back (posterior) need the same amount of work in order to keep yourself balanced and reduce the chance of injury. This week let’s look at an example of a workout for your chest & back.
Push ups predominately work the anterior side of your upper body with your chest and triceps doing most of the work. This exercise will hit your upper back, biceps & some core muscles, but not to the point to where you will get equal muscle development. To get a great workout for the posterior side of your body try pull ups. This movement will mostly focus on your upper & lower back as well as your biceps. The same way that push ups work additional muscle groups, pull ups are not a stand alone exercise and should be used along with push ups for muscular balance.
There are more than 600 muscles in our body. One way to hit more of them is to change our hand positions when doing these two exercises. When doing push ups try these three variations: (1) normal positioning with fingers pointed straight, (2) fingers pointed in towards your chest facing each other and (3) fingers pointed out away from your body. Remember to keep your hands underneath your shoulders and your back flat. For pull ups I suggest that you try these three variations: (1) wide grip with your hands 12 inches or further distance away from your shoulders, (2) normal positioning with hands about 6 inches away from your shoulders and (3) reverse grip with your palms facing you & your hands directly underneath your shoulders.
I believe that these two simple movements are the cornerstones of an upper body workout. I would highly suggest that athletes of all levels incorporate these into their training programs, especially if they are just starting out. Add in core training and you have yourself a great beginning to getting stronger & healthier.
