Posted on March 20, 2020 by Kate Halsall

We asked what people wanted now that most of you are working from home, and this was it! So here it is – your no equipment upper body workout! If you do have any kit at home, let us know so that we can write a workout for those too! In the meantime, you could browse our other blogs for ideas.

Warm Up

To get those arms ready for what I have planned, we need to get them warmed up – especially the shoulders! We’re going to do this with Ys and Ts followed by a bit a of shadow boxing!

  • Ys – Lie on your stomach, with your arms and legs fully extended.  Point your toes away from your body and fully extend your elbows and fingers, positioning your palms facing inwards. As you exhale, slowly lift your arms off the floor, moving your arms into the “Y” formation (45-degree angle to form the letter “Y”). Maintain your head alignment with your upper spine and brace the abdominals.  Focus on generating most of your lift through your shoulders and not the lower back. Hold for 10-15 seconds and repeat x 3
  • Ts – From the same starting position as above, gently exhale and slowly lift your arms off the floor, moving your arms into the “T” formation (90-degree angle to form the letter “T”). Again, maintain head alignment, brace the abdominals and avoid using the lower back. Hold for 10-15 seconds and repeat x 3
  • Shadow Boxing – It’s exactly as the name suggests: you are punching the air. You can imagine an opponent if you want but that’s your choice! Go with jabs for 30 seconds – nice and fast without locking your elbows. Rest and repeat x 3

The Workout

Treat this like a circuit. Each exercise has timings or a number of repetitions associated with it. Try and repeat the circuit 2-3 times.

  1. Plank Taps. In a full plank position on your hands, lift your left hand off the ground and touch your right shoulder. Return your hand to the floor and do the same with your right hand to your left shoulder. This is one repetition. Repeat x 10.
  2. Arm Circles. Hold your arms out horizontally. Start to make small circles with the arms in a clockwise direction. Do this for 30 seconds and then hold out straight without moving for 30 seconds. Finally circle anti clockwise for 30 seconds and then hold for 30 seconds.
  3. Walking Plank. From your standing position, bend forward from the hips and place your hands on the floor (you can bend your knees if you need to). Walk your hands and body out into a full plank position, hold for 3 seconds and then walk back in coming back into a full standing position. Repeat x 10
  4. Press Ups. On the last repetition of your walking plank, stay in the full plank position and do 10 press ups. Then walk back in and roll up to standing.
  5. Tricep Dips. Using a chair, a bench or the edge of the sofa. Position yourself so that your backside is just off the ledge that you are using. Slowly bend your elbows to lower your body towards the floor until your elbows are at about a 90-degree angle. Make sure you use your arms to push you back up to the starting position. Repeat x 10.
  6. Plank Up/Downs. Everyone has their own name for these! Start in a plank position on your elbows. Keeping your body straight, come up onto your hands, and then in a controlled manner, come back onto your elbows. This is one repetition. Repeat x 10.
  7. Chest To Floor Burpees. I’m not sorry! From a standing position, drop into a squat and put your hands on the ground. Then jump your feet back behind you, keeping your arms extended so you are in a raised plank position. Control the chest down to the ground. Now push yourself back up off the floor, jump your feet back towards your hands and stand or jump up. Repeat x 10.

That’s it! Just 7 exercises – but effective ones at that! If you have any questions on any of the exercises, just get in touch at [email protected].