Friday, July 10, 2009

Friday Fitness Fun!


Let's talk about upper-body strength! Women by nature are weaker in their upper-body then men are ( phooey!). It's just a fact. Those that are not genetically blessed have to really work at it. A good way to assess your upper-body strength is by doing a balance pushup. When putting your hands on a stability ball while doing pushups can make your arms work up to 30% harder than when you have them on the floor. ( Applied Physiology, Nutrition & Metabolism journal, 2007).


The test:

Get in the bottom of a pushup position with your hands on a stability ball. Keep your legs and body straight and your feet hip-width apart-balance on your toes. Extend your arms and push your torso off of the ball until your arms are nearly straight. Return to the starting position and repeat as many times as possible.


Wishful: 1-4 pushups

Sturdy: 5-7 pushups

Strong: 8+ pushups


How did you do? Let me know. I would love to hear from you!

1 comment:

Unknown said...

I've never done them on a full ball before but do them on the Bosu alot!