New Additions to My Strength Workout

My workout plan has the same overall scope but I have added some new things.

I am still working out almost every day: I try to put in at least 30 minutes but most times I want to do more than that. Running and biking are my main forms of cardio; I just got some new pedals/shoes for my road bike that I'm really liking now.

The things I have added are pretty simple, low-cost strength options. The main one is a pull-up bar. I got this one here:

It's from the people who make the "Perfect Push-up" and I have seen similar models on the market. This one was $30 but is a very high quality compared to the other removable bars that I have used. You can work out all kinds of different muscles using the pull up bar, here are some of the exercises that I do:

• Chin-ups - (This is where you grab the bar with the backs of your hands facing away from you.) You can place your hands inside the middle handles or just outside. When you go towards the middle, it works out your biceps more. Towards the outside, it works out your shoulders and upper back.
• Pull-ups - (Put your hands on the bar opposite the position of chin-ups.) The same principles above apply to these as well, I like to grab the bar on the far outside position and it really gets you shoulders and upper back.
• Grabbing the handles - This just tweaks the muscle groups and will let you totally burn out.
• As with my main strength plan, if you really want to burn your muscles, move slowly both up and down and you'll maximize you're workout time.

The other exercise is something that I saw watching a Crossfit thing on TV, it is the handstand push up. So all you do is do a handstand next to a wall and do a set of push ups in a shoulder press form. This will give you a good shoulder workout and get your balance and stabilizing muscles as well.

Couple these exercises with regular push-ups and you have a great upper body workout that you can use almost anywhere at any time.