John Cel D.

Bituin
HM21
Upper body strength is important to have because the upper body controls your ability to
perform everyday activities such as reaching, pulling, pushing and lifting. Having a strong upper
body improves your flexibility, mobility and range of motion. If your upper body strength
deteriorates as you age, you are more prone to injuries, disease and a diminished quality of life.
Upper Body Muscles

Your upper body is grouped into muscles with specific functions. You have muscles of
your hands, forearms, upper arm and shoulder. You also have muscles that connect
your limbs to your chest, torso and spinal column. Benefits of strength in these muscles
are a pleasing, healthy appearance and strong posture. More important, maintaining
strength in these muscles enables you to perform everyday and sports-related activities
at an optimal level and to minimize the muscle loss that comes with aging. Upper body
muscle strength can also help prevent injuries with activities that stress those muscles.

Upper Body Anatomy: Why It Is Important to Stay Strong

The muscles and joints of your hand primarily allow you to grasp and clench. Those
abilities allow you to perform fine motor skills. An inability to grasp would limit your
functionality significantly.

The muscles of your lower arm allow you to rotate your hands and to flex and extend
your hand, wrist and forearm. Muscles in your upper arm are also involved in some of
those motions. Those activities are important in pulling and pushing.

The muscles and joints of your shoulder allow you to move your arm in all directions.
Moving your arm away from your body, toward your body, over your head, behind your
back, toward your front and rotating your arm are controlled by your shoulder. Most
activities that you perform daily would be limited by an inability to perform those
functions.

The muscles that connect your upper limbs to your chest allow you to flex, rotate and
move your arms toward or away from your body. The muscles connecting your upper
limbs to your spinal column allow you to draw your shoulders up, down and back; to
extend and rotate your arms; and to draw your shoulder blades toward your back.

Upper Body Strengthening

To maintain mobility, flexibility, range of motion and strength, you need to maintain
upper body strength. Many options are available to you to maintain this strength,
including simple exercises you can learn from a book, a DVD or online, through
participation in strength training classes or with a personal trainer or physical therapist.
Always seek the advice of a professional for any specific questions related to your
personal health.