Targeting Triceps
I suppose they had a good reason to considering the workout I put them through:
Doing tricep push ups right after tricep pull-downs was killer!
(Source)
Follow the push ups with tricep kickbacks and I was definitely feeling the burn.
Something I find kind of odd is that fact that I like feeling the burn during upper body workouts, but feeling the burn during lower body workouts makes me feel way more fatigued. I can quickly bounce back from upper body burn whereas I require much more recovery time with lower body burn. The glutes, quads and hamstrings are much bigger muscles than dinky lil’ triceps and biceps though, so I guess this makes sense.
Breakfast
After a few days in a row of sweet breakfasts, I was ready for a savory breakfast.
I ate an egg sandwich made with two fried eggs, Colby jack cheese, raspberry jelly and a toasted Publix honey wheat English muffin.
Question of the Morning
- Do you prefer upper body or lower body strength workouts?
I definitely prefer upper body workouts and love working out my shoulders. My favorite, by far!
Definitely upper body – my lower body is super strong from spin class and the stepmill!
Claire @ Live and Love to Eat
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Emily @LivingLongfellow Reply:
January 10th, 2012 at 9:43 am
Raspberry jam with eggs. Interesting combo. I think i’ll give it a try.
Emily @LivingLongfellow
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jane Reply:
January 10th, 2012 at 5:54 pm
I was thinking that too. I’ve done the cheese and egg, but haven’t added the jam yet. I’m about to have breakfast and i want something warm so I might just try the jam with it today.
jane
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I prefer lower body, but I’m working on my upper! I have some work to do on my dinky arm muscles:)
Heidi @ Idlehide
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I hate working out my shoulders… yuck! I played softball for 17 years so my shoulders are pretty worn out to say the least. I’d have to say my favorite workout is hard core legs…squats, lunges, you name it I love it!
Becky @ Fit Chick on the Fly
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I always need to work on my triceps! It’s funny how weak my triceps are compared to my biceps.
Bee Goes Bananas
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That’s a hard question. I love working upper body because I want pretty arms but I feel like lower body workouts get my heart rate up more. It’s a toss up…I guess I like them both for different reasons.
Kelly
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I realized this morning that i REALLY have no idea what I’m doing with strength training, but I honestly want to improve bc i think it would make a huge difference in toning my body and improving fitness.. I need to print out all your strength training exercises you post!
Joelle (on a pink typewriter)
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Upper body for sure! Just the thought of leg work-outs make me fatigues. It’s mostly all a mental game for me though, I guess because the burn from a leg work-out is never forgotten
Mindy @ Clueless Nutrition
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Julie, can you put a post up on how you’re finding the results of changing to a split body workout (after you ran your half marathon) please. I am considering reducing my cardio and focusing on weight training more so would love to read how its working out for you!
khushboo
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peanutbutterfingers Reply:
January 10th, 2012 at 9:32 am
yes! it’s in the works!
and just FYI, i LOVE strength training 10x more than cardio and will always encourage everyone to make it a pivotal part of their workout routine.
peanutbutterfingers
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I always find tricep push-ups to be SO difficult when we do them at Body Pump!
I definitely prefer upper body workouts! I feel like my legs are all muscle, but no matter what I do, I don’t have quite the amount of definition I would like in my arms!
Erica @ For the Sake of Cake
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Can my answer be targeting both upper body and lower body at the same time!? Lunges + bicep curls, squats + shoulder raises, calf raises + tricep extensions, etc. Love!
Athena @ Fitness & Feta
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peanutbutterfingers Reply:
January 10th, 2012 at 9:32 am
yes! double the fun!
peanutbutterfingers
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I used to love lower body workouts, and now I totally dread them. Like you, I feel super fatigued afterwards, and not in the good way!
Hillary
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Sounds like a great workout! And OMG triceps pushups are my nemesis! My preference for upper vs lower body sort of depends on the day… I love the feeling of having a sore (in a good way) lower body because it makes me feel like I’ve worked really hard, but it can make running on the following days very difficult! Lately I’ve been loving working my shoulders the most, but I still adore lower body because I can move a lot more weight!
Angela @ Eat Spin Run Repeat
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That looks like a great workout! And I totally agree, I feel way more fatigued when I workout my lower body…gotta love all the big muscles we have there
. I actually like working my full body! I love the burn I feel when lifting haha.
Lindsay @ In Sweetness and In Health
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I’m the same way – sore shoulders during a workout makes me feel like a beast, but sore legs makes me feel like a wimp, so I quit sooner. I see quicker changes in my arms too, as opposed to my legs, so I’m always more inclined to do upper body strength workouts.
Faith @ For the Health of It
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I like working out my lower, because it’s stronger… but.. I love working out my upper, because it makes me FEEL stronger. There is nothing like doing an old-school chest press and feeling like Arnold!
SweatyGirl
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So strange…I feel like my legs are MUCH stronger than my upper body. However, leg work outs kill me so much more. Weird!
On another note…I have never tried overnight oats because, frankly, they sounded super gross! But after your post yesterday and reading the comments I did try them and OMG! I am loving every bite! My only question is, it seems to be a LOT of food! Do you eat it all in one sitting? It’s super filling so I was thinking I might save half for a late morning snack?
Karley
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peanutbutterfingers Reply:
January 10th, 2012 at 9:50 am
so glad you like them!! i do eat them all at once, but if it’s too much, definitely save some for a mid-morning snack! that’s a great idea!
peanutbutterfingers
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We do triceps pushups in BodyPump and it’s the hardest thing I have ever done. I can only manage to do about 2 – I just can’t do them! I love triceps dips though. That looks like an awesome triceps workout!
Heather H. @ Run Eat Play
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Funny you mention the recovery thing today. I was thinking the same thing during my spin class this morning. I love the feeling of working out my arms – the more of a burn the better, but with my legs, I still like the burn, but it’s just so much more intense. I know its because the muscles are just bigger but it’s crazy how different my entire body feels after both kinds of workouts.
Parita @ myinnershakti
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Hi, this is going to sound like a ridiculous question but how do you make those pretty little boxes for your workouts. New to blogging and I am attempting to put in boxes like that for workouts and lists of things and I am finding it challenging.
Brittany
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peanutbutterfingers Reply:
January 10th, 2012 at 9:50 am
i either make them in microsoft paint or excel and then “print screen” and copy them into paint!
peanutbutterfingers
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Ouch! THat is a killer workout! I love upper body work outs though
Lauren @ What Lauren Likes
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I prefer lower body. I feel like it is easier for me to get a little cardio out of it when it is lower body.
Have you ever done P90X? A lot of your workouts remind me of it. I a couple rounds of it and learned a lot of great workout moves that I still use (tricep pushups being one of them!).
Jackie @ Bringing Home the Bacon
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peanutbutterfingers Reply:
January 10th, 2012 at 10:32 am
i haven’t! i would love to try it though!
peanutbutterfingers
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I prefer upper body since I feel like I work my legs so much with running!
Katie @ Peace Love & Oats
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I know what you mean about feeling more fatigued when doing a leg workout versus an upper body workout! I feel like leg workouts get my heart pumping harder and require some more energy that doing say triceps pulldowns… I sure love them both though- feel the burn!
By the way, I finallyyyy tried the egg, cheese, jelly combo on a bagel thin a couple weeks ago and I am addicted! Keep up the good work- I love your blog! and I’m from Orlando btw
Have a great day!
Shelby
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peanutbutterfingers Reply:
January 10th, 2012 at 10:32 am
so glad you like it! they’re addicting!!
peanutbutterfingers
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So I LOVE my sweet & savory egg & jams… except my jams always rolls on down my fingers. *tragedy* But I still eat it after a hard workout!
I will be trying to tricep workout…. looks great!
Victoria Runs
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ouch! It’s going to be painful to brush your hair tomorrow!
I LOVE lower body workouts. I tend to push myself a lot more on legs/glutes days and always try to get jelly legs. I find it harder to push it on upper body because the muscles are smaller and I don’t feel like I have as much power packed in there.
Paula @ Lipstick and Lunges
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Upper body strength!! My lower body is already pretty fit and I like long/lean so I mostly focus on strength that includes upper & lower at the same time. The only bad thing about really hard core upper body workouts is how hard it is to type the next day! lol
Brittany *Sparkles*
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I loved doing both at the same time…bodypump!
alyssa – fashion fitness foodie
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I LOVE lower body–hello squats!! SO much fun.
I do love working the upper body too though–yes triceps are a small muscle group, so it feels the burn FAST! Love the BodyPUMP inspired workout
Annette @ EnjoyYourHealthyLife
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I have been doing Body Pump and although my arms will burn it is nothing compared to the burning going on in my legs! That class is awesome!
Jamie
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looks like an awesome upper body workout! i prefer upper body as well for the same reasons. lower body always wipes me out!
Ashley @ My Food ‘N’ Fitness Diaries
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I’m impressed with how well you can knock out the pushups…I feel like I am decently fit but I can only do a wimpy few (like…lowering myself maybe 3 inches) before I have to either switch to my knees or take a break. They are tough!
HRCK the Herald
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I love working upper body. I always feel so strong when I do! My shoulders are my favorite too, and they’re pretty toned so I should be focusing more on the other muscles!
Brittany @ GOtheXtraMile
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Julie,
I am wondering what is the reasoning behind doing 3 minutes of bicep curls? Is it to totally fatigue the muscle? And have you been seeing results from training this way? Sorry if you had a post explaining this but maybe you can point me towards the idea behind this?
And also, do you use weights (or resistance bands)?
Thank you!
Holly
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peanutbutterfingers Reply:
January 10th, 2012 at 10:31 am
i use weights (2 10-lb. dumbbells). i was inspired to do training this way after seeing results from bodypump which focuses on muscular endurance and works muscles to fatigue all the time and talking with a trainer at my gym. i loooove it! i’ve definitely seen more results training this way when compared with traditional 3 sets of 15 reps.
peanutbutterfingers
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Holly Reply:
January 10th, 2012 at 10:34 am
Thanks for the reply!
Holly
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That’s a tough one for me, I would say lower body but right now I am still sore from Friday’s lower body workout! haha
Lindsey
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totally agree about hating the lower body “burn”. Doing squats and lunches makes me feel sick to my stomach but I can push through arm exercises much longer.
Emilie @ Emilie’s Enjoyables
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I used to favor lower body but because of that my upper body got weak so I have been working that a little more and find I enjoy it better now I think!
Andrea @ Andrea Out Loud!
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I’d say I prefer upper body- I dread the thought of doing squats or lunges. Your workout looks tough!
By the way- I always read your morning posts while I’m eating breakfast, and inevitably they make me wish I was eating yours haha. Yesterday you inspired me to whip up a batch of overnight, and while I’m absolutely loving them right now, man that sandwich looks awesome.
Katy @ A Shot of Life
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Those triceps pushups are killer! I find upper body fatigue way easier to bounce back from as well. My arms are killing me today from a workout yesterday but that won’t stop me from working out later whereas if it were my legs, I’d probably scale back my workout or take a rest day.
Gina @ Running to the Kitchen
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I prefer to do lower body workouts. I run a lot, so my muscle strength in my legs is much better than in my arms. My new years goal is to start including more upper body workouts and I find them SO hard! Your workouts give me lots of ideas to pick from, thanks for sharing them!
Bethany @ Hello to the Good Life
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I need to start putting new exercises back into my routine. It will be a little while since I just restarted working out yesterday. I’m afraid of doing new exercises, though, without someone there to show me what to do. I need my own personal Jillian Michaels to follow me around the gym and tell me exactly what to do. Maybe one of these days I will be brave enough to try on my own!
Leslie @ Body Won’t Break
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I’m the opposite! I really enjoy working out my lower body, but dread doing my upper body. My arms/shoulders are so weak and most exercises leave me tired. I guess that’s all the more reason to keep working on them!
Tracy @ Tracy’s Treats
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Upper body workouts are wayyy better. I especially like strengthening my chest, it’s gotten really strong! I have to do legs today and am NOT looking forward to it…
Kara
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I much prefer upper body workouts, I feel so strong after! But I like the burn I feel the next day after a lower body workout, but there a pain for me to get through
@4loveofcarrots
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I prefer upper body workouts too. You feel more fatigued because your leg muscles are so much larger than your upper body muscles, therefore you burn more calories. That leads to the fatigue.
Hannah
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I love working my upper body – and I agree that it is much easier to bounce back from that burn that it is lower body. I teach zumba or cardio dance 5 nights a week, so my legs are always getting a workout, and I think that makes my actual leg workouts hurt that much more!
natalie @ southern fit foodie
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i had a sub at phys therapy yesterday. i’m there for the back but he throws in soe vanity muscle work for me and tris are part of that. the sub had me do presses but with my upper arms parallel to the floor rather than locked at my sides (still locked them….MUCH harder to do so though). it was a bit diff and def felt it.
cheryl
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Hi Julie, what are mac raises? Btw, made delicious overnight oats today, thanks!
Gina
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Oh man, I’m the total opposite haha. I feel like a wimp when I’m working out biceps and triceps, but I can do squats and lunges for days. I can kill it with a back and shoulders workout though!
Lena @ Fit on the Rocks
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I don’t think I can pick between upper body or lower body because I love doing them both. I do love working my triceps though. I always feel so good when I straighten my arm the following day after I work my triceps and my muscles are sore! Same goes with my glutes though! I love doing a superset of triceps pull downs and triceps overhead pulls on the cables 5 sets, followed by bench dips until failure! The burn feels so good!
Trainer Kjirsten @ Balanced Healthy Life
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it also takes a lot more oxygen to keep those lower body muscles going. I’m just getting into swimming as exercise and learning how hard it is to power those muscles with the right breathing… that’s probably why you feel more fatigued doing lower body is the use of oxygen.
Kim @ The Family Practice
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I did an Arm Pyramid this morning after HIIT and my arms were so tired I could barely blow dry my hair at the gym. Love it!
Mellissa
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For my part, my legs are killing me this morning. I barely even slept because I feel so stiff from yesterday workout… But I love it! I love when I feel my muscles, it means that I did something right. And I don’t care if it’s legs or arms, I like to do both.
Miriam
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I never thought about it, but lower body workouts fatigue me much more than upper body, too! I like lower body workouts, because my upper body isn’t very strong and I get frustrated! Which is why I should do more upper body workouts.
Rebecca @ Miss Magnolia Munches & Moves
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Definitely prefer the upper body burn. The lower fatigues me way more, too.
Christine @ Oatmeal in my Bowl
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Do you and Ryan do your strength training together or separate? I think I might do it more if I could get my fiancé on board with a buddy system.
Jessica @brighteyesandbushytales
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My upper body is so weak compared to my lower body.
Jemma @ Celery and Cupcakes
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I agree it’s easy to recover from upper body workouts. Sometimes I’ll work my legs so hard that I can’t even workout the next day.
Chelsa
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I go back and forth….sometimes I prefer upper body, sometimes I prefer lower body. It’s weird, sometimes I just really need to get energy out of my upper body. Like if I’ve been stressed, I feel like I have to do something upper body! I tend to hold stress and tension in my upper back, shoulder and neck, so on those days, it’s an upper. On days other days I lean more toward lower body. Probably because I’m most familiar with it.
Anna Crouch
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I am definitely similar with the upper/lower body. It also seems to be much easier to kill lower than upper (and feel it for DAYS later!)
Emily N
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I hate LUNGES and those tiny bodypump pulsing lunges.
Cat @Breakfast to Bed
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I definitely prefer upper body! I did one of your workouts recently and it was awesome! I also started doing 8 minute legs at the suggestion of my sisters and am loving that – it’s low impact but you can definitely feel the burn!
Rachel @ The Peach and The Pit
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Lower body! Only b/c I have noodle arms and have NO upper strength (which I would have If I worked on them more) LOL!
Amber
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just curious, do you use organic eggs or regular eggs with your breakfast sandwiches?
McKenzie
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I love upper body work outs so much more then lower body! Leg work outs just take it out of me so much more then arms!
Side note I have been thinking of trying your egg and jelly combo (not a huge cheese fan) and I finally bought Chia seeds loving over night oats right now!
Hilliary @Happily Ever Healthy
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I try to focus on more upper body stregth workouts since I do a lot of cardio and think that works my legs?! I do some leg machines but probs should do more…
Allison
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I love working out my upper body so much more than my lower body. Plus if I get my lower body sore than that’ll mess up my training for my race ha!
chelsea
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I do total body exercises, 3 days a week. I can only get to the gym 4 days a week, so the total body is every other day. The off day, I do strictly cardio, and some planks.
jennygirl
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I’d rather do lower body…but my upper body needs it more!
You’ve inspired my lunch choice.
Jodi @ Southern Flavored Life
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I prefer supersetting exercises, but if I had to choose one, I’d say upper body.
Jen @ Strides and Glides
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Do you have a link to more detailed descriptions of each of your arm workouts? I’ve just started training for yet another marathon, and while it won’t necessarily do me much good for running, I want to utilize my “rest days” by doing some arm toning at home.
Camels & Chocolate
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I think I like both equally, but if I had to choose I would say upper, because you can see the “pump” that your workout gives
Brittany @Little b’s healthy habits
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I prefer upper body! Arms and abs are my favorite. My knees are trashed though so most of the time I’m afraid of injuring them again so I baby my lower body.
Felicia @ Let’s Talk About…
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I like doing lower body more, but I like the way my upper body looks when I do it. Weird?
chelsey @ clean eating chelsey
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I love that you posted about a triceps workout! I need to work my upper arms and one of my New Year’s Resolutions is to get into weight training. It just seems so intimidating!
Elise
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I am with you girl! Lower body workouts always leave me feeling exhausted, while upper body workouts make me feel buff!
Katie for Life
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Your egg sandwiches always look so stinkin’ good!!
Maria
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I totally know what you mean about upper body routines! I enjoy that burn too, and it’s just so much fun to work them out. I think tricep is one of my fave parts to focus on because it can be so challenging.
Ellie@Fit for the soul
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this instructor once told me that the workouts/lifts you like the least are the ones your body needs the most…..hated her for it but I think it’s true…lower body lifting sucks
Marni
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I don’t think I could pick between liking upper or lower body strength training more. I have a lot harder time going all the way with upper body things…like if I’m doing overhead shoulder presses, by rep 10 (especially if I’m just moving up to a heavier weight) I’m usually lucky if I can extend my arms more than 45 degrees. I feel a lot more accomplished after those ones, but lower body ones are a little easier for me to do several sets of, so I kind of like them a lot as well. Though sometimes my knees get twingy after too many lunges or squats, and that’s no bueno. I really just love strength training in general haha.
Bethany @ Accidental Intentions
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I love doing arm exercises because you can actually see when you have improvement!
Rebecca @ Naturally Healthy and Gorgeous
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While I’m a cardio queen, when I do strength training I definitely prefer to work my arms. And it was way easier to recover from arm workouts because I use my legs a lot more. You can get up and move if just your arms are sore, but if your legs are sore, it’s much harder to do things!
Amber K
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I definitely prefer lower body work outs. I like that even though they are lower body, they really work other parts, like your core. Plus, I have a lot of lower body strength and zero upper body strength, so I really struggle there, but I’m working on it!
Sihomara
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I am always targeting lower body, def. have to work on making upper body a priority. thanks for posting such an awesome upper body tricep workout!
Stephanie @ afitbliss.com
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Tricep pushups are crazy.. i cannot!
Sarah
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I love the feeling I get after a good legs day, but I definitely love upper body workouts more
I feel like I recover better as well, and can push myself easier!
Jenn @ Lotus and Pie
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This looks like a fun workout…its hard to get Tris. Can’t wait to try it. Thanks.
Jeralyn
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I actually like working my lower body better but for whatever reason my body responds so much better to upper body workouts. I could probably do squats for days with no change in muscle definition but do one set of pushups and my guns are rockin’
Funny story – when I was in high school my dad and I were at the gym and he said “I’m going to give you some advice for the rest of your life – always focus on your triceps so you don’t have that waggly turkey arm some ladies get.” That was over 10 years ago and I still think about that every time I work my triceps. And thanks to him, my triceps are awesome. Definitely my favorite (and most developed) arm muscle.
Whitney @whitlikes fit
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I love your blog and all your Sadie pictures! I know that you sometimes give her chicken jerky, and you may have already heard that some of the jerky was making dogs sick, but I saw this on the news and thought I would pass it on! Just as a pre-caution!
http://vitals.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/12/28/9747728-chicken-jerky-treats-sicken-353-dogs-owners-report
Amber
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Sorry I meant to post this on today’s post…oops!
Amber
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