My favorite upper body workouts

About 3 days a week, I will complete strength training workouts. One of those days I will focus a little heavier on arms and upper body. 

I will be honest with you: I used to prefer upper body! Mainly because I became less sore than with my lower body workouts. Then realized I needed to increase my weights to make it worth my while. 

But Upper body is still my favorite. 

What does Upper Body Include:

Upper body does not just include arms (biceps and triceps), it also means shoulders, chest and upper back. When including these muscle groups, you can get a great mixture and not make one muscle group overly tired.

I am going to let you in on a little secret: I used to HATE choosing my own workouts. I mean I do it every day at work for my patients and it was the last thing I wanted to do when I got home. So, I decided to figure out an easy system of choosing my strength training for the day.

Creating Your Workout for the Day!

When I choose a workout to do for that day, I go through a list of exercises and pick out 6 of them. I will also insert 2 core exercises, so I get core done almost every day that strengthening is being performed.

After choosing the 8 total exercises, I will put them into supersets or groups of 2 exercises, alternating between the 2. I will typically perform 10 repetitions of one exercise then 10 repetitions of the next exercise. Then repeat until 3 sets of each one is completed. I will go through all 8 activities in this way.

I will also make sure that the 8 exercises are all different and work varying muscles. For example: Bicep curls and shoulder press or skull crushers and lateral raises. 

Now here are my favorite Upper Body exercises to mix and match in my workouts. I also have listed the area that the exercise will strengthen so you can mix it up the way you prefer:

My Favorite:

• Bicep curls (arms)

• Shoulder press (shoulders)

• Lateral raises (shoulders)

• Bent over rows (upper back)

• Skull crushers (triceps)

• Push-ups (upper back or triceps) 

• Curl and press (arms and shoulders)

• Chest press (chest)

• Chest Flys (chest)

These are exercises that are easily performed at home with a dumbbell or even body weight (with the push-ups). Which is a big reason why these are my favorites. I do not want to go the gym where you have to wait to use the machines or free weights. 

All of these exercises also have variations that can be performed to make them more difficult, but they are a great start for everyone. Get whatever weight you feel comfortable using and get in a good workout!