Your Arms Aren’t Weak: Rethinking Upper Body Strength from the Ground Up

“My arms are so weak.”
“I have no upper body strength.”
“I’ll never be able to do a push up.”

If you’ve ever said any of those things, you’re in good company. At Fitness Lying Down here in La Crosse, Wisconsin, we hear this from a lot of our clients—especially women who feel like their arms just can’t keep up.

But what if the problem isn’t actually your arm strength at all? What if your arms were never meant to be the strong part in the first place?

The Tree That Changed How We See Strength

Picture a tree in spring.

You see beautiful flowers and leaves at the ends of the branches. Maybe those flowers even turn into fruit. We all marvel at the colors and the growth that happens at the very edges of the tree.

But here’s the question: Did the branches create that fruit?

Of course not. The branches are important, but the real work happens in the roots and the trunk. The roots pull nutrients from the ground. The trunk carries that nourishment upward. The fruit and flowers are simply the visible result of a healthy system doing its job.

Now let’s take that same picture and apply it to your workouts.

Fruit, Branches, and the Real Source of Strength

In your training:

• The fruit = the visible exercise outcome — a kettlebell pressed overhead, a resistance band row, an Ultimate Sandbag power clean, a strong “ab workout” feeling.
• The branches = your arms and shoulders that carry and guide the weight.
• The trunk & roots = your feet, legs, hips, and core strength that actually generate and transfer the power.

When someone says, “My arms are weak,” what they’re usually feeling is the fruit—the end of the chain. But just like that tree, the fruit only exists because the roots and trunk are doing their job.

Why Your Arms “Feel Weak” During Upper Body Exercises

In most gyms, upper body strength is judged by what your arms can do—push-ups, bench presses, curls, overhead presses, you name it. If the arms get tired or the shoulders burn, we immediately assume we need more “arm work.”

At Fitness Lying Down, we take a different approach. We use the DVRT (Dynamic Variable Resistance Training) system to teach your body to work nose-to-toes, not in isolated pieces.

That means when you see someone:

• Pressing a kettlebell overhead
• Power cleaning an Ultimate Sandbag
• Pulling a resistance band into a row

…you’re not watching an “arm exercise.” You’re watching a whole-body conversation where the feet, legs, hips, and core send the message—and the arms simply deliver it.

So if your shoulders and arms are doing all the talking, something is missing from the conversation.

From “Arm Day” to Whole-Body Strength

Let’s go back to that tree.

Imagine trying to “fix” a tree’s fruit by doing surgery on the branches while completely ignoring the roots. Sounds silly, right?

Yet that’s exactly how many people train:

• Endless curls to fix “weak” arms
• More shoulder work to fix every pressing issue
• Crunches for days to build “core strength” while the feet and hips are asleep

Real, sustainable upper body strength doesn’t come from hammering your arms. It comes from teaching your body to:

• Use the feet to create a solid foundation
• Engage the legs and hips to generate power
• Connect the core so the whole system moves as one
• Let the arms and shoulders guide the weight, not muscle it around

When that happens, even your “ab workout” changes. Your core isn’t just something you feel when you lie on your back and crunch—it’s a living, breathing part of every press, row, hinge, and lunge.

How This Looks at Fitness Lying Down

In our personal training and group sessions in La Crosse, Wisconsin, we spend a lot of time helping clients:

• Find and feel their feet gripping the floor
• Stack their ribs over their hips
• Use breath to create stability
• Connect the hands and arms back into the lats and core

The result? Movements that used to feel like “all arms” suddenly feel smoother, stronger, and more controlled. Clients often say things like:

“I thought my arms were weak… turns out my body just wasn’t working together.”

That’s the magic of treating your body like the tree: once the roots and trunk are doing their job, the fruit takes care of itself.

Watch: Your Arms Aren’t the Problem

In this Strong Brew episode, Coach Cory breaks down this entire idea—tree metaphor and all— and shows you why your arms were never meant to carry the load alone.

Ready to Feel What Real Upper Body Strength Feels Like?

If you’re tired of feeling like your arms are holding you back, it might be time to stop blaming your branches and start strengthening your roots.

At Fitness Lying Down in La Crosse, Wisconsin, our 2-Week Immersion is the perfect way to experience smart, whole-body training for yourself—no ego lifting, no random “arm day,” and definitely no box jumps required.

You’ll learn how to:

• Build meaningful core strength that shows up in real life
• Train your upper body without wrecking your shoulders
• Use kettlebells, Ultimate Sandbags, and resistance bands safely and effectively
• Feel stronger from your feet to your fingertips

Start Your 2-Week Immersion at Fitness Lying Down

Discover how strong your “branches” can feel when your whole tree is doing the work.