“Upper body exercises, like lower body exercises, are essential for maintaining a healthy body. Being diligent in your workout routine and creating an effective exercise plan will help you achieve your goals more efficiently. It’s best to incorporate at least one exercise from each category into your plan, starting with movements you can perform with proper form. For example, if you’re not yet able to perform a deadlift safely, begin with an alternative exercise that targets similar muscles. Deadlifts, while effective, are also one of the exercises most commonly associated with injury when done incorrectly. Tracking your progress and planning your sets and reps is key to staying on course. These exercises primarily target the muscle group listed, although they may also engage other parts of your body.
Shoulder Exercises
There are many types of shoulder presses you can do, as you will find in many workouts. When performing shoulder presses, you should choose a weight that isn’t too easy but also not too difficult to lift, especially if you are new to exercise. You should be able to push the weight from your shoulders for ten reps in sets of at least three. There are several options for shoulder presses, and different exercise tools target various areas of the shoulders, making them more or less effective. You can use a machine, dumbbells, a barbell, or perform a landmine shoulder press.
For shoulder shrugs, you should select a weight that is too heavy to curl but light enough to hold for at least 30 seconds. This exercise is one of the best for promoting muscle growth in the shoulders. Hold the weight and roll your shoulders fifteen times forward, ten times upward (as if you’re shrugging in confusion), and twenty times backward—completing at least three sets. You may take breaks if your grip weakens, but you should aim to complete the full three sets of 15, 10, and 20 repetitions.
Handstand push-ups can be very challenging. In most cases, you need to progress through easier exercises before attempting them. However, they are highly effective for rapidly increasing shoulder strength.
Other excellent shoulder exercises include lateral raises, front raises, reverse pec deck, reverse cable flys, face pulls, and band external rotations. For lateral and front raises, you hold weights and lift your arms to the sides or forward. Another variation involves lying face down on a bench and lifting weights from behind to target the rear delts. For face pulls, you pull a cable toward your face to engage the upper back and shoulder muscles.
Chest and Triceps
You can lift weights above your head as if pulling a rope. Another effective triceps exercise is triceps extensions using a cable machine. To perform this, grab the cable and extend your arms with controlled speed. Use a manageable weight—something lighter than what you would typically curl—and increase the weight by five pounds per set. Aim for 20 reps per set for at least three sets, following proper form. This exercise can also be done using a rope attachment to target the triceps from different angles.
There are multiple variations of the bench press. One of the best is the incline dumbbell bench press, which targets the upper chest more effectively than the flat bench press. You can also perform the traditional barbell bench press and explore push-up variations for additional endurance training. An excellent way to improve chest and triceps endurance is by testing how many push-ups you can complete in 2 to 5 minutes every few days.
Skull crushers, also known as Barbell Lying Triceps Extensions, are a fantastic exercise for isolating the triceps. To perform them, lie on a bench, hold a barbell (or dumbbells) with an overhand grip, and lower it slowly toward your forehead. Then, extend your arms to push the weight back up.
Back & Biceps & Lats
The TRX Inverted Row is a great bodyweight exercise that helps build upper-body strength and improve posture. It mimics an upside-down push-up but engages the lats, traps, rear delts, and arms, making it an excellent movement for progressing toward unassisted pull-ups. To perform it, grab the TRX straps or a bar, lean back with arms extended, pull yourself toward the anchor point using your back and arms, and lower yourself in a controlled manner.
Rows are highly effective for back development and come in various forms. Single-arm dumbbell rows build unilateral strength and muscle balance, while bent-over rows (using a barbell or dumbbells) are among the best exercises for developing overall back thickness. Machine rows provide more stability and controlled movement, while seated cable rows target the middle back and help improve posture.
For bodyweight strength, pull-ups and chin-ups are unbeatable, working the entire upper body and improving grip strength. Roman chair hyperextensions focus on the lower back and strengthen the posterior chain. Lat pulldowns target the upper back, aiding in pull-up progression and overall back width.
The deadlift is one of the most powerful full-body exercises, engaging the lower and upper back, legs, and core for overall strength. The Superman exercise, a bodyweight movement, improves spinal and lower-back health by activating deep stabilizing muscles.
Finally, curls—including barbell, dumbbell, hammer, and cable variations—are excellent for arm development, helping strengthen the biceps while complementing pulling exercises.
Abs
One of the most effective exercises for core strength is the ab crunch. To perform it, lie on your back, lift your feet off the ground (never letting them touch), and try to reach your toes. Start with 10 reps for 3 sets, and as you gain strength, increase the repetitions and add weights for extra difficulty.
You can also do sit-ups and crunches, though they are well known for causing tailbone discomfort. To avoid this, use a special bench or hang from a bar and curl your body up. As you progress, you can incorporate weights to make the exercise more challenging.
Another great movement involves placing your hands behind you and kicking your legs forward quickly, which engages your lower abs.
You can also perform the bicycle crunch, where you lie on your back and mimic the motion of riding a bicycle. Another variation is the candlestick exercise, where you lift your legs straight up with your toes pointed toward the ceiling.
For obliques, lie on your back and quickly reach for your ankles, engaging the side abs. Russian twists are another excellent option—sit on your bottom, balance with your legs elevated, and twist side-to-side, incorporating weights if you need more difficulty. Alternatively, you can use the twist machine and perform reps that way.
