Are you getting ready for a vacation? When you travel, your lower body probably gets a good workout if you walk a lot, exploring new locales…but if you can’t hit the gym for weight lifting, your upper body gets mushy.
That’s why we asked fitness instructor Joan Price, author of The Anytime, Anywhere Exercise Book, to suggest an upper-body workout vacationers can do without lugging around dumbbells in their suitcases. She recommended a routine that uses resistance bands—strips of latex three to four feet long and about six inches wide. They weigh next to nothing, take up almost no space and cost only about $6 apiece at sporting-goods stores and online.
Bands come in varying levels of resistance or stretchiness. For the routine below, you’ll need three bands—two identical bands at an easier level to work the arms, where women tend to be weaker… plus one at a more challenging level for exercises targeting the stronger muscles of the chest or back or multiple muscle groups.
Moving slowly, do one set of eight to 12 repetitions of each exercise below…rest briefly…then do a second set. If an exercise is too easy, adjust your hand position to increase resistance or use a higher-resistance band.
Band push-ups work your chest, shoulders and arms, with the band providing more resistance than traditional push-ups. Start: Put center of band across your upper back and get down on hands and knees. Placing hands shoulder-width apart, anchor ends of band against floor with hands. Get into push-up position by straightening legs out behind you and resting on your toes… or if that is too challenging, rest on your knees. Adjust slack in band to make it snug across your back. Move: Keeping your body straight, slowly bend arms and lower yourself toward floor until elbows are bent at 90°…then straighten arms and push up to starting position.
Pull-downs strengthen the upper back and shoulders. Start: Stand and hold band so that hands are about shoulder-width apart, with slight tension in the band. Raise arms overhead, elbows nearly straight, shoulders down and relaxed. Move: Keeping left arm nearly straight and without letting go of band, bend right elbow and pull right hand downward on a diagonal until it is close to right armpit…hold for two seconds…slowly return to starting position. After finishing a set, switch arms and repeat.
Chest presses strengthen the front of the upper torso. Start: Stand and wrap band around the middle of your back… elbows bent, hold ends of band at chest height. Move: Push forward, straightening arms…hold for two seconds…bend elbows to bring hands back toward chest.
Triceps toners firm up the backs of the upper arms. Start: Stand and hold one end of band in right hand, elbow bent so hand is behind your head (palm facing you) and band is hanging behind your back. With left hand, grasp band at waist level, palm facing out. Move: Keeping left hand still, straighten right arm above head…then slowly bend right arm and return to starting position. After finishing a set, switch arms and repeat.
Standing biceps curls build muscles in the front of the upper arms. This exercise requires two bands of the same resistance level. Start: Stand with feet hip-width apart, one end of each band on the floor and firmly anchored beneath either heel. Hold the other end of each band in either hand, positioning hands so that there is slight tension in the bands even when arms are nearly straight and relaxed at your sides. Palms face forward. Move: Keeping elbows tucked in, bend elbows, raising forearms until they nearly touch upper arms (do not cock wrists)…hold for two seconds…straighten elbows and return to starting position.
