I’ve been noticing lately that my shoulders and arms are getting a pretty good workout lugging around the big bags that I amass from a day of work, errands and exercise. But I still squeeze in a regular upper body strength workout a couple times each week because I don’t mind the “good burn” that comes from challenging my chest, back, shoulders and arms. Plus, giving your upper body a hard workout doesn’t affect your ability to climb stairs like some other exercises do :)

For this routine, you’ll need a weighted ball like a medicine ball (a basketball or even a dumbbell would do in a pinch), a stability ball or bench to lie on and a light-to-medium pair of dumbbells. Try to keep your butt up in line with your knees and shoulders during the chest ball pass and keep your back straight and shoulders down during the wrist rotation (apparently I need to work on my posture a bit too! What’s with that leaning back business?).

Do any of your daily activities give you a good workout?