The Benefits This Runner Got from a 30-Day Upper Body Program

Göran Winblad explains how one minor change in his training regimen resulted in increased upper body strength.

Göran Winblad, a YouTuber and physical therapist, says that he has eschewed other types of exercise for a long time. In a recent video on his channel, he chronicles his efforts to enhance his strength by performing upper body exercises for five minutes every day. Pushups and pullups are two bodyweight classics.

“I’m a runner, and I love to run, but I actually hate doing these kinds of exercises,” he said. “I see this as sort of an experiment to see what differences I can make to my upper body strength with so little training in just a month’s time.”

To “remove friction” and commit to this new goal, he builds a pullup bar in his home. Every day, Winblad does two sets of pullups and two sets of pushups, followed by band-assisted pulling exercises. On the first day, he can only do two pullups and ten pushups in a succession.

It takes two weeks for the five-minute upper body workout to become ingrained as a habit in his daily routine. “It feels natural, and I’ve really enjoyed taking this short break from work to just move my body for five minutes,” he said. “I seem to have got a bit stronger as well.”

Winblad can perform 10 consecutive pullup repetitions at the conclusion of 30 days. “I know that was probably terrible technique, but I pulled myself up there 10 times,” he said. “That was difficult… That was barely ten, and I’m not sure if the final one counts.”

While his pullups improved somewhat, Winblad discovered that his minor training increments translate to a significant improvement in his pushup ability, and he can now pump out 30 reps without breaking position.

“I think it’s a testament to how potent training is,” he said. “You don’t need to spend hours a day, doing a little bit is better than nothing.”