4 Reasons Why It’s Important to Have a Strong Upper Body

Having strength in your upper body is important for more than just opening the jar of olives. It can be hard work to get these muscles strong, but your chest, back and shoulder muscles are what attach your arm to your trunk, and they are all used when you reach, push and pull. They tie in directly with your core muscles, as you move your body around through space.

Here are 4 reasons to keep these muscles working, then a video to show you some upper body work to start:

  • building strength helps your bones: as we get older, our bones start to lose density. Resistance training can help, because muscles/ tendons pull on bones and makes them stronger
  • it can help prevent injuries: research shows that strengthening through your pecs, lats and rotator cuff muscles can help prevent injuries through your upper body
  • it can improve your overall posture: strengthening through your back muscles and upper body is never a bad thing, even if it just gives you confidence to know what you can do physically. It can give you energy to better hold yourself upright, and it can train your brain to better connect with these muscles
  • it just feels good: getting strong feels good in the body and the mind. It doesn’t have to be push ups and pull ups, it can be tennis, rock climbing, throwing a frisbee or ball.

See our You Tube Channel “Elevation Physiotherapy and Wellness” to see various One Minute Wellness videos on building upper body strength at home.

4 Reasons to Work on Your Balance… Not That You Need Reasons.

Balancing is a fundamental aspect of any movement we perform. It is one more of those things that you don’t realize its importance until you don’t have it. You need balance in every day movements like standing up from sitting, or to lean forward and reach for something, and certainly to dance!

You work stabilizing muscles to balance, and it also challenges stability in our joints and our vestibular system. Here are 6 more reasons to work on balance:

  1. You start to lose balance with aging: your brain, your muscles, and your inner ear are all coordinating together to balance. If you don’t practice balance, the integration between these systems can decline over time, making it harder for you to stay upright with good posture. Practicing balance activities keeps everything working much more smoothly and prevents much of this age-related loss.
  2. You can help prevent falls: with better balance comes the ability to more quickly react to unexpected slips. Knowing that you are adept to react to sliding or uneven terrain can help with the confidence needed to leave the house in winter!
  3. Make your body do something different! As adults, we live in the forward/backward plane of movement, and don’t regularly do movements side-to-side or rotations. Over years, this can make our joints and muscles stiffer or tighter when we do have to get out of our usual positions. Balance exercises make our bodies react, engaging different muscles and working our joints in new ways.
  4. Balance can help you recover faster from injury: not only have balance drills and exercises been shown to help prevent injuries, research shows that balance exercises in rehab can help you recover faster from injuries in the leg and foot.