LGF Upper Body Challenge – Week 1

Woohoo, it’s finally arrived – HAPPY FIRST DAY OF THE LGF 28-DAY UPPER BODY CHALLENGE TEAM!

Ever since I designed the first LGF Challenge back in August last year, I’ve had people messaging me asking when I would be putting together an upper body challenge. To be honest with you, I’ve been avoiding it a little bit because finding quality upper body exercises that you can do without equipment is hard, and I didn’t want this to be just another push up challenge.

But I’ve finally done it.

And now, in just four short weeks you will be feeling like a fitter, stronger, more defined version of yourself… how exciting is that?

The first seven days of the Challenge goes a little something like this:

 

 I’ve done some videos of the exercises for your viewing pleasure (and – more importantly – so you know what you’re supposed to be doing!)

Push ups
You can choose whether to do toe, knee or even wall push-ups. My only suggestion is this – start with the most advanced version you are capable of (while still keeping good form). Once you’ve exhausted yourself, drop down to the ‘easier’ version and keep going. Remember, this is all about challenging yourself. That’s why it’s called a challenge… (but not a push up challenge!)

Tricep dips
No doubt most of your have done these before, but I’ll just give you a couple of tips anyway. 1. Keep your butt nice and close to the wall/chair and make sure you are bending from the elbows – if your butt slides away from the wall/chair this becomes a shoulder exercise instead of triceps. 2. The further away your feet are, the more intense the exercise, so don’t be afraid to work at a level that challenges you.

Supermans
These are a great lower back strengthener. I’ve given you two options here: 1. Traditional superman, with arms overhead but shoulders still pulled down and away from your ears. 2. Arms out to the side, engages your lats too. Mix it up if you like, see which version you prefer!

As with the abs challenge and the legs & butt challenge, every Monday (starting today!) I’m going to post the weekly challenge on Facebook, so it’ll help if you have ‘liked’ my page (you can do it here). You’ll be committing to five days of work per week, but at the beginning it should take you no longer than five minutes per day to complete. And don’t be concerned if you haven’t done any exercise in a while – the challenge has been designed to be adaptable!

These exercises are primarily designed to strengthen your chest, back, biceps and triceps, but will also help to improve your core. I’m going to take a photo before I start the challenge, and another when it’s over. It’s obviously completely up to you, but I’d suggest you do the same. It’ll be nice to have a little proof that all your hard work has paid off. On that note, I want to mention one thing – this challenge should absolutely 100% be combined with a good diet for best results.

Good luck!

p.s Told you this was no ordinary push up challenge!