Let's Talk About Our Muscles - Upper Bodyby Heather Long | More from this Blogger 13 Dec 2006 01:26 PM We talk about strength building and we talk about doing bicep curls and triceps presses, but we don't always talk about why we need to do these things and so let's take a few minutes to discuss our muscles themselves. We're going to focus on the upper body for now. Among the key muscle groups in our upper body are the:
If you are thinking gesundheit, don't worry. I felt the same way during my initial studies. But each of these muscle groups is important and you can do different exercises to strengthen these different muscles in your body. It helps to know what they are to help you build your workout plan. So without further ado, let's talk about these muscle groups. The deltoids wrap all around the tops of your arms. If you cup your hand on your shoulder, you get the ideal. The deltoids are what give you such a wide range of motion with your upper arms whether reaching up, reaching down, reaching back or reaching forward. You have rotator cuffs are a group of four muscles that are located beneath your shoulders and they support your shoulder joint in its range of motion. Your trapezius are a very large muscle group that is kite shaped and spans around across your upper back to the shoulders and down the center of your back. It's used when we do a lot of lifting and when we shrug. Your latissimus dorsi are actually the largest muscle group in your back and it runs the entire length of your back from the shoulders to the lower back along both sides. This is what lets you pull open doors or pull along a wagon and more. The rhomboids are a small group of muscles located at the center of your back and hidden under the trapezius. We don't hear a lot about the rhomboids, but they pull your shoulder blades together and they help you maintain proper posture. The erector spinae is the muscle group that runs along the length of your spine and helps you to maintain a straight spine. The pectorals are your chest muscles and if you place your hand over your heart, you've found them. They provide the strength for pushing and for hugging. Finally, your biceps are the muscles located on the front of your upper arms and they help you turn pages and pick things up. The triceps are the muscles located along the back of your upper arms and they do the opposite of what your biceps do, they help you push and they help you straighten your arm. The last muscle group is the forearm and they include your wrest extensors and flexors. They run from the elbow to the wrist and they help you bend your wrist and more. This is also the area that's affected by tendonitis and other damage from typing and writing if you do not keep both extensors and flexors in good shape. Understanding your muscles can help you to make the most of your workout and to stress specific exercises to keep the muscles that work together and in opposition to each other in good shape. We'll talk more about specific weight training for your upper body in future articles. Related Articles: Medicine Balls - Ideal For Home Workouts Personal Fitness - Make it Fit Your Personality 10 Reasons You Should Strength Train Learn more about Heather Long  Heather Long is 35 years old and currently lives in Wylie, Texas. She has been a freelance writer for six years. Her husband and she met while working together at America Online over ten years ago. Relevantfitness tags parenting | Kids | relationships | children | pregnancy | weight loss | ideas | holidays | family | Food User Comments No comments on this article yet. Be the first to comment! Discuss this article
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