Training & Nutrition - Upper Body Workouts

Hey Guys,

I just decided I want to get up to 135 for my racing weight next season, and weigh 127 now. I would like to do it mostly in upper body muscle(and loosing upper body fat while I am at it). Any upper body workout reccomendations would be great, but I dont have weights, so workouts using my body weight are preferable(sp?).

Thanks,
Jake

Well, crunchs and variations, for your abbs, dead lifts for lower back, seated rows for yor upper back, and bench for you back. if you cant use weights do pushs ups crunchs,,you cant really work your back effectively without weights, though, pull ups are good, but they dont isolate the back as much.

dips for triceps... use water jugs as weights for biceps and back, etc)... use soup cans for tris and shoulders as starter "weights"...

tricep pushups... what are they called... putting your feet on a chair and the hands on the floor and doing pushups like that (for your shoulders)

you can get some weights at walmart or target.. they aren't all that expensive! but start out with household products!

OH... and if space is a concern... band sork! you can use bands for all the upper body parts! walmart and target have those too.. relatively inexpensive, too, i believe!

I'm confused. Isn't the objective to keep body weight down? I've been going to the local Y. They've got a load of equipment and a really competent staff that can put together a decent upper-body workout that's tailored for your objectives.

I'm confused. Isn't the objective to keep body weight down?

Correct. Excess body mass, regardless of it's compostion, is detrimental to endurance cycling performance.

Its just more weight you have to expend energy to keep moving forward and frontal area to catch wind!

[QUOTE=Jake B]Hey Guys,

I just decided I want to get up to 135 for my racing weight next season, and weigh 127 now. I would like to do it mostly in upper body muscle(and loosing upper body fat while I am at it). Any upper body workout reccomendations would be great, but I dont have weights, so workouts using my body weight are preferable(sp?).

Thanks,
Jake[/QUO

Why would would you want to gain weight? I can understand you would want upper body strength but do you really want the extra weight aswell? Remember to do step ups, lunges and squats to work your lower lower body...use bags of potatoes or fill up milk cartons with sand and pebbels to add a bit more resistance. I have recently made a thread about strength training and I am going to give it a try for a few months and see how it goes but remember your goal is to improve strength it shouldn't be to make you heavier!

Why do you want to build your upper body up a bit? If I were you I'd put that extra muscle into your legs.

I've found that my triceps are pretty inadequate. When I get down on the hoods and rest my arms on the tops (like Jens Voigt), I find my triceps to start aching.

The ideal cyclist is to weigh as little as possible but if you dont have the upper body to support your legs, i dont think you'd fair as well as someone weighing a little more with a stronger upper.

I kind of worded the question wrong-I meant I wanted to loose all upper body fat, and I thought that muscle would take its place. I guess the reason I wanted to be a little heavier was to be stronger on the flats.

Jake

I kind of worded the question wrong-I meant I wanted to loose all upper body fat, and I thought that muscle would take its place. I guess the reason I wanted to be a little heavier was to be stronger on the flats.

Jake

YEAH! because your bi-ceps make you faster on the flats :p

you're at 127 and have upper body fat?

Pushups and situps will get rid of most of the fat and keep you toned, curls if you want to build your arms.

Upper body will make a bigger difference in crits, or at least I know I sprint better when my upper body is built up (or any out of saddle efforts for that matter). Totally disregarding your upper body is fine if your cycling casually but if you're going to race might as well have everything up to snuff and not just the lower half.

Well, crunchs and variations, for your abbs, dead lifts for lower back, seated rows for yor upper back, and bench for you back. if you cant use weights do pushs ups crunchs,,you cant really work your back effectively without weights, though, pull ups are good, but they dont isolate the back as much.

Actually some of that is backwards. Dead Lifts work mostly your legs, as it does for a lot of core muscles. Seated Rows do work the upper back, and the Bench Press will work mostly your Chest and a little Tricept.

If you want to build upper body for racing I would do pushups and pullups (just about the only thing you can do with out some weights). This will get your arms and back built up a little - but if I were you I would invest in a gym membership or a few cheap dumbbells.

Check out www.CombatConditioning.com (Body Weight Calistenics) and www.Cycle-Core.com (Cycling Specific Body Weight Calistenics)