Upper body Pilates: Strengthen And Sculpt Your Shoulders, Back And Arms
How pilates builds stable upper body strength without heavy free weights
Our modern screen heavy lifestyle creates a well known upper body muscle imbalance: our chest muscles grow tight and shortened, while our upper back, shoulder blade and rear shoulder muscles become weak and under used. Over weeks and months, this imbalance pulls our shoulders forward into rounded posture, creating neck pain, shoulder aches and upper back fatigue. Traditional arm workouts often focus only on biceps and triceps, ignoring the critical stabilizer muscles of the upper back.
Targeted sequences to reverse rounded shoulder posture and relieve shoulder tension
Upper body focused Pilates offers a perfect balanced solution. Using your own body weight or light resistance bands, you can complete movements that stretch tight chest muscles while building strength in your weak upper back stabilizers. Typical exercises include modified arm circles, back strengthening swan movements, chest opening stretches and resistance band pulls. All of these movements require you to keep your core stable while moving your arms, building full body coordination alongside upper body strength. Adding 10 minutes of upper body pilates work to the end of each workout session will steadily improve your posture and upper body comfort.
