Ok, so Track & Field conditioning starts this week and tryouts are in 2 or 3 weeks, however I alreay know that I'm going to make the team because I'm one of 2 returning pole vaulters from last year. Anyways last year I placed 1st at districts but didn't place at regionals because I starved myself to make weight (stupid, i know ) But this year i want to maximize my chances of placing at regional competition and moving onto state finals. So I've started working out every night to improve my upper body strength. However im not really following a schedule or anything just doing what ever comes to mind (with a single dumbell), which is about 100 curls with each arm, about 35-40 tricep extensions with each arm. 25-35 push ups, 35-50 sit ups, then i do something similar to a military press with each arm about 35-40 times. So really what I'm asking is what is a good way to maximize the amount of strength I gain from working out and what are some good workout routines for upper body strength?

-Thanks!

Pull-ups are the best exercise for upperbody strength, you can' t go wrong with pull-ups

Yeah I do about 20-30 of them when I work out in the shop, however thats rare since it's pretty cluttered up and hard to get to all of my weight benches and machines and what not.

Try goblet squats with the dumbell, and you can do calf raises too. I would honestly say get a gym membership and pay for a few sessions with a trainer, if I hadn't done that I probably would never have started working out.

Have you divided those repetitions into sets? If not, then that amount of repetitions will only make you better at enduring muscle strength. If you really want to get stronger you have to add weight to your exercises.
If you want to train maximum strength without gaining too much weight I recommend 1-4 reps with 80-100% of 1RM (1RM= the most you can lift once).
If you want gain a much muscle as possible I recommend 6-10 reps at 60-80% of 1 RM.
Any more reps that 15 per set is too much unless you want small but enduring muscles. Exercises without any added weight will also only contribute to enduring muscles, not stronger muscles, you need to constantly push yourself and add more weight to your exercises.

This is actually a set I use

• base 2 - Push-ups
  
• base 1 - Pull-ups
  
• base 2-4 - Sit-ups (full) + Bycicle crunches (for the sides)
  
• base 2-4 - Jumpies - Start in a squat position, on your toes. Jump. Land on your toes and slowly lower yourself into a squat again, while on your toes. Repeat. (calves and thighs . hands folded on the small of your back for balancing)
  
• Run on the fronts of your feet or do sprints

base # is for making different repetition sets, and having it established helps when you need to increase the reps.
Then do the set x3, x4, or x5 depending on strength vs endurance gain and time constraints. (larger reps with a smaller number of sets for str, opposite for end)

So you might do 3 sets of
20 push ups
10 pull ups
30 crunches x both types
40 jumpies

Alternate the work-out days with the running-conditioning days. And, if you are working out consistently through the week, try to take a day off for recovery.
Pull-ups are not entirely necessary but if you end up cutting them then add the base to your push-ups

I always found working out to be easier without having to use equipment.
It also helps prevent unbalancing your strength, as well as increasing all around muscle coordination.
[] None of this post was for addressing the things that tandeg added, just a personal routine and rational.

Whats the weight of that dumbbell? It sounds like it might be too light, and if thats the case then ditch it because 100 curls with a 5lb weight won't build muscle. If you want to get stronger without getting bigger you need to really push/pull some serious weight. There are two parts to strength the muscle and the nervous system, you can get stronger by either increasing muscle mass or by using what mass you do have more efficiently. To build muscle you need to destroy the muscle fibers and allow them to heal bigger and stronger, this means pushing yourself on every workout, taking very short breaks, until you hit muscle failure; then taking enough time off (for that particular muscle) so that your body can heal. The importance of diet is profound in this case. The opposite routine is to do each rep perfectly, as soon as your muscles are to tired to do a perfect rep stop. As a pole vaulter you should already be familiar with this concept. When you practice your pole vault you can keep going as long as your doing it right, but if you're too tired to even hang onto the pole and keep falling short then the extra runs aren't going to help, they actually hurt you in the long run as your brain tells your muscles that the last run you did was the one that got it right, so make sure that last run is as perfect as your first. Treat your workout this same way, don't push yourself to muscle failure and take longer breaks. I know many people who spread their workout throughout the day, one set when the get up, the next after breakfast, another right before lunch ect.

Also I'm with schnell olfy on the use of equipment, while I do use weights the majority of my exercises are bodyweight. The biggest (certainly not the heaviest) piece of equipment I use is a pullup bar, I have it hanging in the doorway of my laundry room and I always do a few pullups with every load of laundry.

Yeah I two sets of 40 and a set of 20 with a 10lb dumbbell, however if i rummage through my shop i can find my interchangeable ones that you can add weight to.

Thanks for all the advice guys!

So this is what im thinking right now of the top of my head,

3 sets of 10 with a 25lb dumbbell
2 sets of 20-30 pushups
2 sets of 30-40 sit ups (used to be able to do 570 something but i got out of shape )
2 sets of 10 tricep extensions
2 set of 15 of the military press things i do since i need those muscles strong to push off the pole

I already do all of my endurance/leg strength stuff at track, had to do 5 sets of half mile indian runs and then 300m sprints today. So is there anything I need to add to that? Cant do pull ups because the only bar i have is on my workout bench in the shop.

day one.........nothing i just dont feel like working out that day, maybe tomorrow.

day two........groceries......some of those bags get pretty heavy when you have milk and stuff

day three.......i start to get ready to go to the gym........but i just saw a new mod come out on nexus.

day four......its crappy outside.......maybe tomorrow

day five....still crappy and i shovelled so that it my exercise

day six....i made it to the gym, but between the hot chicks i was ogling and some random people i was talking to i didnt get past my bench presses

day seven.....are you nuts im not working out today, i drank like a sailor last night.

Like others have said, do more weight for strength. Less weight with more reps is for endurance. And if you want to become explosive with your strength it's good to train for that too. Like do the resistance part of the exercise as fast as you can with good form, and exhale as you're doing it. Though training for explosiveness might be a little bit different because you might have to keep the weight light enough to keep training that way, so mix it up.

looks fine by me, but just one last thing to add.

3 sets minimum really. You can do two, probably to the same effect, but I have always heard the first set should work but not strain, second set should be exerting, third set should be difficult to finish.
Otherwise that regiment will strengthening the whole body. Good set up.