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!
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Definitely upper body – my lower body is super strong from spin class and the stepmill!
Raspberry jam with eggs. Interesting combo. I think i’ll give it a try.
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.
I prefer lower body, but I’m working on my upper! I have some work to do on my dinky arm muscles:)
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!
I always need to work on my triceps! It’s funny how weak my triceps are compared to my biceps.
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.
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!
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 😉
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!
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.
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!
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!
yes! double the fun! 😀
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!
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!
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.
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.
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! 🙂
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?
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!
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!
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.
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.
i either make them in microsoft paint or excel and then “print screen” and copy them into paint!
Ouch! THat is a killer workout! I love upper body work outs though 🙂
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!).
i haven’t! i would love to try it though!
I prefer upper body since I feel like I work my legs so much with running!
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!
so glad you like it! they’re addicting!!
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!
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.
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
I loved doing both at the same time…bodypump!
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 🙂
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!
looks like an awesome upper body workout! i prefer upper body as well for the same reasons. lower body always wipes me out!
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!
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!
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!
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.
Thanks for the reply!
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
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.
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!
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. 🙂
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.
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!
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!
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!
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…
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
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.
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!
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.
Hi Julie, what are mac raises? Btw, made delicious overnight oats today, thanks!
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!
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! 🙂
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.