Tips for Building Upper Body Strength

Although you may think that your treadmill is only good for building up strength in the muscles of your lower body, such as your glutes, quadriceps, hamstrings, and calves, the truth is that you can also get a great upper body workout every time you get on your machine, as long as you know what routines to include and what equipment to use. So if you are looking for even more of a total body workout on your favorite treadmill, whether you own one of your own at home or you prefer to use the ones that are available at your local gym, continue reading.

The tips below will show you how you can take an average cardiovascular and lower body workout on any treadmill and transform it into a workout that does so much more by also building up strength in the muscles of your upper body at the very same time, thereby saving you time and allowing you to work more muscle groups at once so you can spend less time working out and more time showing off the results of your efforts.

The truth is that you can also get a great upper body workout every time you get on your treadmill machine, as long as you know what routines to include and what equipment to use

Add Wrist Weights

A super easy way to take your typical cardio workout to the next level is by adding weights to your wrists and ankles. The added weight on these key joints will make it harder for you to achieve the same goals that you were easily accomplishing without the weights, so they are a great way to begin pushing past an annoying plateau and start building up even more strength and endurance again.

If you have wrist weights on and you keep your arms bent as you run on your treadmill, you will notice that the extra weight puts more strain on your biceps, so you will notice that, over time, your arms begin to firm up and look better than they did before you started incorporating these weights into your cardio workout routine.

You Don’t Even Need to Turn Your Treadmill On

Although you can add weights to your treadmill workout, you can actually use the treadmill itself to work on even more muscles that are found throughout your upper body. And the great thing is that you do not even need to turn on your treadmill to be able to do so and get great results. This will make your treadmill that much more of a worthwhile investment that you will never regret purchasing.

Below are just a couple of the workouts that you can perform in order to strengthen your upper body by using your treadmill at home.

1.     Tricep Dips

Doing tricep dips in order to strengthen and tone your arms is actually really easy to accomplish by using your treadmill. First off, you want to be sure that the machine is turned off completely. Then, stand on the machine as if you would before your workout. This time, though, instead of turning on the machine, place one hand on either handrail. Lean your body back a bit so that your weight is on your heels, and then bend your elbows so that you are dipping down. Keep your elbows pointing up and your arms in one line so that you can maintain proper form. Make sure the rest of your body is engaged, starting with the core, to also be sure you are maintaining the proper form. Dip down and then push back up to the starting position by using your arms only. This exercise will target the triceps. To avoid injuries and strain on the body, never lock the elbows at the top position. Instead, keep them slightly bent.

2.     Chest Presses

In addition to tricep dips, you can also perform chest presses on your machine while it is turned off. Take a wide stance in a plank position and place your hands on the side rails. Then simply do a pushup. This will target your chest muscles effectively, but the wide stance will allow you to put more pressure on the chest, where you want all of the muscles to be engaged.

3.     A Total Body Workout

Below are the steps you can follow to get a total body workout that you never thought was possible with a treadmill alone.

  1. Start by warming up on the treadmill by walking at 3 to 4 mph for one minute. Then jog for another minute. Then increase the speed yet again so that you are running for a minute.
  2. After you have gotten your heart rate up just a bit, you can then grab a resistance band and do some shoulder presses while standing right on the treadmill so that you don’t have to go far. Do that for a minute.
  3. Next, get back on the treadmill at a jog’s pace and, every time your foot hits the treadmill, jab one arm out.