Back in October, I brought you a three-minute plank series that my boyfriend does at fire academy during some of his training sessions. I like it for two reasons: it doesn’t use any equipment and it includes exercises I’m familiar with. At the same time, though, it’s more challenging than you’d expect. That’s why I’m a fan of another bodyweight workout my boyfriend does as a firefighter that involves two moves you’ve definitely done (or at least seen) before: a push-up and a kneeling overhead shoulder press.
This circuit brings heat to your triceps, chest, and shoulders and is structured as a pyramid (or ladder). You do two push-ups and two kneeling overhead shoulder presses, then four, six, eight, 10, and 12. Once you hit 12 reps of each exercise, you go back down to 10, eight, six, four, and two reps. To make the workout even harder, don’t take any rest in between the exercises.
2-Move, Upper-Body Pyramid Workout
Directions: Before getting started make sure to warm up your upper body. Follow the pyramid structure for the two exercises, increasing by increments of two until you get to 12 reps, then decreasing by increments of two until you get back down to two reps. You’ll start with two reps of push-ups and two reps of presses. You can do this exact structure that my boyfriend does, or you can modify it to the 2-4-6-8 structure that I like, going up to eight reps instead. Make sure to cool down afterward (try these upper-body stretches).
- Push-up and kneeling overhead shoulder press: two reps
- Push-up and kneeling overhead shoulder press: four reps
- Push-up and kneeling overhead shoulder press: six reps
- Push-up and kneeling overhead shoulder press: eight reps
- Push-up and kneeling overhead shoulder press: 10 reps
- Push-up and kneeling overhead shoulder press: 12 reps
- Push-up and kneeling overhead shoulder press: 10 reps
- Push-up and kneeling overhead shoulder press: eight reps
- Push-up and kneeling overhead shoulder press: six reps
- Push-up and kneeling overhead shoulder press: four reps
- Push-up and kneeling overhead shoulder press: two reps
Continue reading to see instructions for and visuals of the two exercises. I hope this is the upper-body burn you were looking for! It sure is in my book.