The Best Upper-Body Workouts to Do at the Gym

No matter your fitness goals, having strong arms, a powerful chest, and defined shoulders will always be in style. Adding some upper-body exercises to your routine will help you fill out your shirt sleeves, strengthen your core, and increase your overall musculature. In this blog post, we’ll share some of the best upper-body workouts to do at the gym.

Incorporate the Intended Audience into the output.

The audience for this blog post is people who want to tone their upper bodies and/or build muscle mass.

Rep ranges

If you want to build strength, size or muscular endurance you’ll need to pick the correct rep range for your upper body exercises. Building muscle and strength training require different rep ranges to achieve your goals. If your goal is muscle growth your rep range should be 6-8, if your goal is strength training your rep range should be 3-5 reps and if your goal is muscular endurance your range should be 12 of more. Building muscle can be done with all the rep ranges but the 6-8 range is typical for body builders. Keep these reps in mind during your upper body workout.

Planning your upper body workout

When it comes to upper body workouts, there are a few key things to keep in mind in order to make the most of your time and effort. First, it’s important to focus on compound exercises that work multiple muscle groups at once. This will help you to build strength more efficiently. Second, be sure to include a variety of exercises in your routine, as this will help to ensure that all of the muscles in your upper body are getting worked. Finally, don’t forget to warm up and cool down properly before and after your workout; this will help reduce the risk of injury and make your workout more effective overall. By following these simple tips, you can maximize your upper body workout routine for maximum results.

Make sure to plan your days out. A lot of people like to spilt their upper body workout into a muscle group. One day might be shoulder day and the other day might be chest day. Many people will add isolation exercises on to the upper body workout routine.

Resistance training frequency is one of the ways to progress the upper body routine. Adding more overall volume over a week can help with muscle hypertrophy and muscle strength. Some people will do 2 days a week in the gym with a workout that focuses on the entire body. Others may do upper body day, lower body day, upper body workout, lower body workout days. You do a workout split with a chest day, arm day, leg day and shoulder day. It’s important to plan in major upper body muscles to get the most out of the upper body workouts.

Upper body exercises

When you’re planning your upper body workout routines it’s important to set a goal. If your goal is strength training you’ll want to have upper body exercises like bench press and shoulder press. Both of these compound movements will help build strength. Other exercises on upper body days may include exercises that focus on the upper back, upper arms and other isolation exercises. If your goal is building muscle doing some exercises in isolation can be a great complement to compound exercises.

Here’s some of our favorite upper body workouts.

Seated Cable Rows

This exercise works your lats, traps, and rear delts. Sit with your knees slightly bent and lean forward from the hips until your back is at a 45-degree angle from your thighs. Using a wide grip, hold the handles of the low pulley cable row machine. Brace your abs and squeeze your shoulder blades together as you row the weight back towards your hips. Pause for a count of one, then slowly return to the starting position and repeat.

If you want to work the upper back gram a pull up bar or a D handle wide bar. The bar should be shoulder height and hands should be shoulder width apart. Pull the bar back toward the chest muscles.

If you want to work on muscle imbalances try doing on arm a time. I like to add this to my upper body workout routine because it helps even out the strength on each side of the upper body.

Chest Press

This exercise works your pecs, front delts, and triceps. Adjust the seat of a bench press machine so that when you lie down on it, your eyes are level with the handles of the weight stack. Grasp the handles and exhale as you press them straight up over your chest until your arms are fully extended but not locked out at the elbow joints. Pause for a count of one at the top of the lift, then inhale as you lower back down to the starting position and repeat. If you don’t have access to a weight machine, you can also do this exercise using a pair of dumbbells.

Bench press

The bench press is a compound exercise that targets the pectoralis major, front deltoid, and tricep. To properly execute the bench press, start by lying flat on a weight bench with your feet planted firmly on the ground. Grab a barbell with your hands shoulder-width apart and arch your back so that there is a slight gap between your lower back and the bench. Keeping your elbows close to your body, slowly lower the barbell until it touches your chest. Then, press the barbell back up to the starting position. Remember to exhale as you press the barbell up and inhale as you lower it down.

Pull ups

The pull up is a great test of upper body strength. The resistance in this movement comes from your body weight. This upper body workout focuses more on lats and rear delts more than the chin up. This exercise works your lats, traps, rhomboids, rear delts, biceps, and core muscles. Hang from a pull-up bar using an overhand grip that’s slightly wider than shoulder width apart (a). From here, pull yourself up until your chin is over the bar (b). Pause for one second at the top of lift before lowering yourself back down until your arms are fully extended (c). Repeat for reps according to desired number of sets and reps. If you can’t perform unassisted pull-ups , use an assisted pull-up machine or have someone spot you by holding onto both of your feet as you lift yourself up. Just be sure that they’re providing enough resistance so that you’re still getting a challenging workout but not so much resistance that they’re doing most of the work for you!

Chin ups

Chin ups are one of the most effective exercises for developing upper body strength. They target the biceps and back muscles, both of which are essential for a variety of activities. In order to perform a chin up, start by grabbing the bar with an overhand grip. Your hands should be shoulder-width apart and your palms should be facing away from you. From there, pull yourself up until your chin is over the bar. Lower yourself back down to the starting position and repeat. You don’t want the arms fully extended at rest because it can put pressure on the joint. Chin ups can be performed with a variety of grips, but the traditional underhand grip is often the most effective. With practice, you’ll be able to build the strength necessary to perform multiple chin ups in a row.

Barbell bent over row

The barbell bent over row is a great exercise for developing strength and muscle mass in the back. To do this exercise, start by standing with your feet shoulder width apart and your knees slightly bent. Bend at the hips and lower your torso until it is nearly parallel to the floor. Grip the barbell with your hands shoulder width apart, and row the barbell up to your chest, keeping your elbows close to your body. Lower the barbell back to the starting position and repeat for reps. Remember to keep your back straight and avoid rounding your shoulders as you row the barbell up. This exercise can be performed with heavy weights for low reps or lighter weights for higher reps. Give the barbell bent over row a try and see how it can help you build a strong and muscular back. Rows are a must in your upper body workout routine.

Barbell shoulder press

A barbell shoulder press is a great way to work your deltoids, and it can be done either sitting or standing. This is one of the compound exercises that can help boost hormones like testosterone and HGH. To start, put your feet hip width apart, hold the barbell at shoulder level with your palms facing out. Then, press the barbell overhead until your arms are straight. Keeping your elbows tucked to minimize energy leakage from the joints. Be sure to exhale as you press the barbell overhead. Lower the barbell back to shoulder level and repeat. Remember to keep your core engaged and your back straight throughout the movement. If you’re new to this exercise, it’s always a good idea to start with lighter weights and increase the weight as you get stronger. If you want to focus on strength keep the reps between 3-5 reps. If you want to work on muscular endurance aim for 12 and up. If your goal is size (hypertrophy) aim for 6-8 reps.

If you have shoulder problems try doing the overhead press with a machine. Lifting weights on a machine is ok. If you use the machine for a month and feel beer you should be able to move to the barbell overhead press. The machine overhead press will more the same shoulder muscles as the barbell press. The difference with the barbell is that it requires shoulder stability.

Best upper body workout

I’ve been a personal trainer for about 11 years and I think that doing a workout with compound movements as the foundation of the program is key to success. These types of lifts work entire muscle groups at once which can save a lot of time and allow a greater load on the body. For example you might only be able to curl 30 lbs in each hand but you can dumbbell row 80lbs. This will allow a higher load on the bicep allowing the bicep to grow more muscle mass. Picking an upper body exercise that covers at least three muscles will give the best upper body workout.

Multiple joint workouts will work multiple muscles at once and can help develop the abdominal muscles because the body has to stabilize the weight being lifted. Also multi joint movements may promote more muscle growth and lean muscle mass. This is due to the increase in testosterone and HGH production from lifting heavy things.

Conclusion

There you have it—three excellent upper body exercises to add to your workout routine! Remember to focus on form first and foremost in order to avoid injuries down the road; once you’ve perfected your form with light weights , then you can begin adding additional weight in small increments until you find a challenging yet comfortable working weight . As always , listen to your body and stop immediately if something doesn’t feel right . Happy lifting!

If you’re looking for a custom workout try a free personal training session.