Feb 06 2010

Working The Upper Body With Outdoor Exercise

Sports that take place in the great outdoors are more popular than ever. Just ask yourself if you would prefer being confined to an indoor sport hall or out in the fresh air and wonderful sunshine. The draw back of sports done outdoors though is that most of them are biased towards working the lower body.Short of doing just press ups and pull ups on a tree, its not always easy to think of activities that work the upper body well, here are some that do?

Kayaking. Sports like kayaking or rowing are fantastic for toning every muscle in the upper body. As this is where all the propulsion and stabilising comes from, the shoulders especially get a fantastic workout. The best part is that when you get tired you can just up ores and let the river currents take you for a while. A word of warning however, there is a distinct possibility you’ll get wet, especially if you’re not very good at the sport.

Climbing. Its not easy to find sports that put pressure on every single muscle in the body, but rock climbing is one of them. That said, your legs are not actually worked as much as you might think as a lot of the grip comes from special sticky slim line shoes that look like cycling shoes. The arms are in fact called upon a lot more in most types of climbing and get a real workout. Just holding onto a climbing wall for any length of time will really tone up your upper and lower arms.

Hand Bikes. Bike riding is without doubt the most poplar of the outdoor sports. However, it’s not so great for toning up the arms. Hand bikes however such as Pinarello ones are geared in such a way that you can pick up some great speed just by turning your arms. They are often used by those who cannot use their legs, so have been designed with usability and endurance in mind.

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