These Challenges Will Enhance Your Upper-Body Workouts

If you are looking for a solid physical and mental challenge to add to your upper-body day, look no further. The following combination will not only push you mentally but help you build the right upper-body muscle stamina and core strength/endurance to handle any fitness test (pull-ups, push-ups, sit-ups, plank pose).

Check it out:

I recommend placing these two 10-minute challenges into a workout after you have done your weighted lifts, such as bench press, military press or pulldowns/rows. Think of this next section as a next-level push into more muscle stamina, core stability/strength and PT test prep.

You have already seen the Death by Push-ups 10-minute challenge in previous weeks. If you want to make this easier and more doable, you have to practice it regularly once a week at least. This first challenge works like this:

Get into the plank pose or up push-up position (leaning rest) for 10 minutes, but every minute on the minute (EMOM), you do 5-10 push-ups, depending on your abilities. You will find the movement of the push-up a "rest" of the isometric hold of the plank/leaning rest position, but also a mental challenge as the discomfort from this activity tends to slow down time to a crawl. It is actually easier to do with music or other people in a group together to help distract you from the time machine that the plank has on the human mind.

After "Death by Push-ups,” go for a mile run or a 10-minute bike or nonimpact cardio activity of your choice, just to shake out the arms and torso.

Next, try the newly created "Death by Pull-ups” but with flutter kicks instead of burpees for the next 10 minutes. This new take on the Pull-up EMOM looks like this:

Start doing flutter kicks, but every minute on the minute, do five pull-ups. Stay close to the pull-up bar so this transition to and from the flutter-kick position only takes up to 15 seconds max. Once again, pull-ups are a nice break from continuous flutter kicks, as you will soon discover in a few minutes.

Here is why the combination of these two 10-minute challenges work so well for both mental and physical preparation of max-rep PT tests:

1. Building the plank pose takes practice getting in that position. Many fitness tests still use plank/push-ups.
2. Building muscle stamina in pull-up, push-up and hip flexor muscles requires increasing the volume of those exercises. The EMOM is a great way to do that with small but fatiguing sets.
3. Flutter kicks are an excellent way to work the hip flexors, which, in turn, will help you with sit-ups, swimming, and swimming with fins.
4. You could try doing the pull-up EMOM with sit-ups if you prefer, but you may find that the increased volume for sit-ups may rub blisters on your butt bone or it is difficult to do a steady pace 10-minute, sit-up set.
5. Balancing out sit-ups/flutter kicks with plank poses is wise to help you focus on the entire core system, vs. just doing the front side of the core (abs/hip flexors) like many often do.
6. Finally, the mental challenge of a longer, constantly moving event is grueling and makes you consider quitting because it is uncomfortable. These exercises hit hard on easily fatigued muscles of the shoulders and hips, and this can challenge the resolve of many preparing to endure similar training in their futures.

If you cannot do these for 10 minutes, start out with smaller one- to two-minute sets and do push-ups/pull-ups every 30 seconds. Then build up to five minutes. Next thing you know, you can do the full 10-minute challenge of both.

Stew Smith is a former Navy SEAL and fitness author certified as a Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) with the National Strength and Conditioning Association. Visit his Fitness eBook store if you're looking to start a workout program to create a healthy lifestyle. Send your fitness questions to stew@stewsmith.com.

Want to Learn More About Military Life?

Whether you're thinking of joining the military, looking for fitness and basic training tips, or keeping up with military life and benefits, Military.com has you covered. Subscribe to Military.com to have military news, updates and resources delivered directly to your inbox.