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!
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
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
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
Definitely prefer the upper body burn. The lower fatigues me way more, too.
Christine @ Oatmeal in my Bowl
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
My upper body is so weak compared to my lower body.
Jemma @ Celery and Cupcakes
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
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
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
I hate LUNGES and those tiny bodypump pulsing lunges.
Cat @Breakfast to Bed
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
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
just curious, do you use organic eggs or regular eggs with your breakfast sandwiches?
McKenzie
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
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
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
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
I’d rather do lower body…but my upper body needs it more!
You’ve inspired my lunch choice.
Jodi @ Southern Flavored Life
I prefer supersetting exercises, but if I had to choose one, I’d say upper body.
Jen @ Strides and Glides
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
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
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…
I like doing lower body more, but I like the way my upper body looks when I do it. Weird?
chelsey @ clean eating chelsey
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
I am with you girl! Lower body workouts always leave me feeling exhausted, while upper body workouts make me feel buff!
Katie for Life
Your egg sandwiches always look so stinkin’ good!!
Maria
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
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
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
I love doing arm exercises because you can actually see when you have improvement!
Rebecca @ Naturally Healthy and Gorgeous
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
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
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
Tricep pushups are crazy.. i cannot!
Sarah
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
This looks like a fun workout…its hard to get Tris. Can’t wait to try it. Thanks.
Jeralyn
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
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
Sorry I meant to post this on today’s post…oops!
Amber