Fitness hacks for core / upper body exercise?

June 15, 2011 3:25 PM

How can I trick myself into working out my core and upper body? I can't stand the gym.

I can't stand working out in place. I like running, I like biking. I love backpacking and skiing but I consider those activities that require me to be in shape, not ones that I can do often enough to get in shape.

I occasionally swim but not as often as I'd like. I'm satisfied with my leg strength but I really want to have better core strength and upper body strength.

If I lived on a lake I'd take a kayak out several times a week. But I don't live on a lake.

I once had a physically strenuous job that required heavy lifting with proper body mechanics and a nearly aerobic pace. That got me in great shape and I was happy to do it because it felt productive. But current work pursuits are not very physical.

How can I trick myself into gaining core strength and upper body strength?

posted by reeddavid to Health & Fitness (20 answers total)

Rock climbing?
posted by ghharr at 3:35 PM on June 15, 2011 [6 favorites]

I don't know about "tricking" yourself, but I'm reasonably impressed with Convict Conditioning so far.

I understand that you dislike working out in place, but the reason this works for me is that the exercises don't take much time and although some require a pullup bar, most can be done anywhere, so if you suddenly feel like you're in the mood for exercise, you can do the exercises reasonably quickly (maybe 30 to 40 minutes twice weekly for the first 8 months or so) and get on with your day. You'll feel the leg lift exercises immediately in your abdomen, and the early pushup exercises are just demanding enough to build upper-body strength.

Cardio isn't really addressed in the book/program, except for a couple of suggestions (stair sprints and "Hindu squats").
posted by UrineSoakedRube at 3:36 PM on June 15, 2011 [2 favorites]

You can do so-called "odd object" stuff like shouldering sandbags, throwing a medicine ball around, and swinging a sledgehammer. Flipping big 'ol tractor tires is fun, too. Obviously, the best thing for your core is to lift heavy, but failing that, these are good ways.
posted by Theodore Sign at 3:36 PM on June 15, 2011 [1 favorite]

Climbing climbing climbing climbing. You get the most ridiculously awesome upper body physique from climbing.

Core: Yoga? There is yoga out there that is strenuous enough for me.
posted by krilli at 3:50 PM on June 15, 2011

I found I really enjoyed shoveling snow this winter, and I like raking leaves a lot, too. Maybe shovelglove might work for you? It's a thing a person can do while watching television!
posted by padraigin at 3:53 PM on June 15, 2011

I run to a neighbourhood playground and then do push-ups, pull-ups, and dips on the jungle gym. Breaks up the run nicely and I get an upper body workout.

If you can, I think climbing would be ideal.
posted by qwip at 3:55 PM on June 15, 2011

Climbing climbing climbing climbing. You get the most ridiculously awesome upper body physique from climbing.

Except that you tend not to work your pecs and triceps much with climbing alone, or so I would think (you build those by pushing heavy objects away from you or by pushing your body away from the ground).
posted by UrineSoakedRube at 4:27 PM on June 15, 2011

Buy a chin up bar, put it near the bathroom and do a few every time you go in there and come out again. It takes a minute a day to do a bunch of abdominal crunches and a set of press ups with your feet up on a chair.
posted by joannemullen at 4:43 PM on June 15, 2011

Get a couple sets of dumbbells, a kettlebell, find out if there's a park nearby with a parcourse in it (for the pullup bar), and try CrossFit. I started with a few sets of dumbbells, a jump rope, a kettlebell, the track near my house, and the pullup bar in the park.

Brand X CrossFit posts scaled down versions for various ability levels on their website every day.

Good luck!
posted by phoebus at 5:04 PM on June 15, 2011

Climbing'll do it, but if that doesn't "trick" you enough, maybe gymnastics, acrobatics/circus, capoeira, or some other type of dance?
posted by gingerest at 6:29 PM on June 15, 2011 [1 favorite]

Curling. Being a lead forces you to sweep more than the rest of the players on your team. Good exercise.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 6:32 PM on June 15, 2011

This is a hard question to answer. Do you want an activity like biking or skiing or backpacking that gets you outside and moves you around from place to place? Or do you want a type of workout for your "core" muscles?
If we set aside the idea that you could just go to a gym and start lifting and doing functional exercises than there area a number of things you can do that some people have already mentioned. Sandbags, sled, sloshpipe(linked), kettlebells... yardwork. What type of exercises you looking for here?

Obviously, the best thing for your core is to lift heavy, but failing that, these are good ways.

Here's an article by Dan John about how he found out that isn't true at all.
posted by P.o.B. at 8:42 PM on June 15, 2011 [1 favorite]

Nthing Convict Conditioning. I have never been a gym person and much prefer being out on the bike, running, walking, climbing trees, scrambling over boulders, hiking, etc. to stationary work (treadmill desk, sure; treadmill for running, no; stair machine, hell no). I'm very pleased with the results I'm seeing — and I'm still at beginner level and haven't moved past Level 2 of any of the exercises. By the time I make Level 5 I'll probably be able to tear telephone books in half, and once I reach Level 10? FEAR ME PUNY HUMANS! *cough* Ahem.

One of the things I like most about it is what UrineSoakedRube says about being able to fit in a set pretty much anywhere. For example, I'm doing the Veterano training schedule, which means that Mondays are pullups day. My manager was on vacation, so twice during the day I went into her office, closed the door, and did horizontal pulls underneath her desk (sturdier than mine and not against a wall). Tuesday I ducked into an empty conference room, shoved a chair up in front of the door, and did a set of short bridges. And today I pushed the chair in front of the door so nobody would walk in on me while I was doing two minutes of headstand (the Level 1 exercise in the Handstand Pushup progression).

Highly recommended.

Thanks for the link to the Dan John article, P.o.B. I have a hunch my husband will be hitting the hardware store within the next day or so for PVC...
posted by Lexica at 8:54 PM on June 15, 2011 [4 favorites]

Except that you tend not to work your pecs and triceps much with climbing alone, or so I would think (you build those by pushing heavy objects away from you or by pushing your body away from the ground).

Oh, they do grow. Climbing is such a weird load on the body. I had marvelous triceps when I was climbing a lot. The pecs did see some use in climbing as well, and a few bench presses at the end of each session was enough to fill pecs out very very nicely.

You wouldn't believe the forearms you'll get, or the neck / stomach muscles / latimus dorsi you're sporting after a few months in a climbing gym. Monstrous. Your forearms become bundles of hard cured monster rope, Satan jerky, wrapped taut under your birthday suit. You actually scare weightlifters.

However, IMO, biceps need special attention to balance everything out if you're doing climbing exclusively, and are interested in appearance tuning. (Which I am.)
posted by krilli at 1:05 PM on June 16, 2011 [2 favorites]

Handstands. A few years back, I took to doing handstands against a wall. Against a wall! Easy! Uses no muscles, right? Hah! A few months later, I had quite nice arm muscles.
posted by aniola at 4:00 PM on June 16, 2011 [2 favorites]

Classes and access to practice sessions can be expensive, but aerial dance/aerial silks is a super fun and beautiful skill. Really builds core and upper body strength, but like climbing, you're trying to accomplish something, not just working out for working out's sake. You're so busy trying to get the moves right you may not even notice how hard you're working.
posted by aka burlap at 4:33 PM on June 16, 2011

Nthing rock climbing.
For something different if you don't mind being indoors: maybe boxing, kickboxing, or another martial art involving punching, even air boxing / boxercise? They might not build lots of muscle (though often classes will add pushups/situps), but I find I'm sore after.
I suspect a sword martial art (Kendo, broadsword) would also tone your arms and core.
posted by SarahbytheSea at 6:10 PM on June 16, 2011

Here's an article by Dan John about how he found out that isn't true at all.

I'm not seeing that, really. I do notice this:

I can't think of a better way to train for a "change of pace" than a fun workout of just picking up and moving the Slosh Pipe.

I doubt he is saying it is a real replacement, say, for squatting heavy.

Perhaps this section is more to the general point about "core" workouts, though:

Now, as many readers know, I loath the term "core" because it has become such a grab bag term for the fitness industry, like "functional" and "fit" and "weight loss." These terms get tossed around by the nice ladies at the spa like NFL strength coaches and, really, with apologies to Wittgenstein, nobody knows what we mean when we say these words.
posted by Theodore Sign at 5:01 AM on June 17, 2011

Another vote for Boxing. Submission grappling is good, too.
posted by Theodore Sign at 5:04 AM on June 17, 2011

The OP asked about core workout and upper body exercise, not squatting. The Dan John article goes at length into how he, an Olympic lifting coach, found that just doing "heavy lifting" does not work what is commonly referred to as the "core".
My suggestion for the OP (and everyone else) is to actually check him out instead of skimming and cherry picking stuff, because Dan John really should be a must read if you're interested in lifting and athleticism. He's one of the few strength coaches who has interesting insights into these areas.
posted by P.o.B. at 1:01 PM on June 17, 2011