UPPER BODY STRENGHT *Gymnastics*

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Building your upper body is essential in every sport especially in gymnastics. Skills are much easier with a developed upper body. In this article, I will take you through how to build up your upper body.
The upper body starts from your waist down to your hands. Every single muscle is important when it comes to gymnastics. The major muscles of the upper body include:

The shoulders
The abdomen
The chest
The wrist.
We may have seen most male and female gymnasts with great upper body strength like; Simone Biles, Gabby Douglas, Jordyn Wieber, Sam Mikulak, Daniel Purvis, Kristian Thomas and Aly Raisman etc. The gymnasts use the strength generated from their upper body to their own advantage. Most skills from basic to advance are all centered on upper body strength. Great vaulters and tumblers have their upper body as one of their greatest asset and they maintain it daily. It takes disciple and hard work to build your upper body. The reasons why coaches do joke with their workout are majorly to improve strength because in gymnastics nowadays, the difficulty have a large role to play in an athlete’s score. I am yet to see an elite gymnast who does not have well built up abs. well, that is the first thing you should have if you want to become a successful gymnast.
HOW TO BUILD YOUR UPPER BODY
Building your upper body largely depends on the kind of exercise/ workout you do and how often. Let’s take a look at the relevant exercise that will build you up in less than a month. This exercise should be a daily routine to achieve a maximum result
Sit ups: sit ups builds up your abdominal muscles, in this case, you abdomen is able to withstand more shocks and resistance. Most of the skills in gymnastics (especially forward movements) require you to push through with your abdominal muscles.
Press ups / pushups: this strengthens your shoulders and chest. Your shoulders should be strong enough to absorb shocks and should have the ability to carry your body on a fast motion especially in backwards movements. You should have a well build chest; this is the center of your upper body and should be strong and fit.
There are other exercises that are great for upper body strength but if you can be consistent with these mentions above, you with surely start gaining abs in days. Other exercises include;
Handstands
Handstand press ups using the wall
Jumps: straight jumps, split jumps etc. just keep jumping
Squat jumps can also build up your waist and your upper body too

Note:
~consistency is the key. Try to do it every day
~ rest your body if you start experiencing muscle soreness
~ do lots of back handsprings if you can. Please do not force yourself into doing that.
~ discipline yourself; you can draw a time table to keep reminding yourself
~ set goals and reminders.
~ always remember its one step at a time