The arm, chest and back muscles, along with the shoulders, make up the majority of our upper-body muscle mass and are important for how our bodies look and function. For men and women, having well-developed upper body muscles can enhance performance for a wide variety of sports and activities. To make selecting the right exercises easier here are 10 each for the arms, chest and back that are effective, accessible and widely available.
1) Arm exercises
The arm muscles, made up of your biceps at the front of your upper arm and your triceps at the back, are responsible for bending and straightening your elbow joint, respectively. They can be trained using a variety of exercises but should be worked equally to ensure an even development of these eye-catching muscles. Having better-toned, stronger or larger arms is the goal of many exercisers and can enhance any figure or physique.
Barbell bicep curls
Dumbbell bicep curls
Preacher bench curls
Concentration curls
Pulley curls
Lying barbell tricep extensions
Lying dumbbell tricep extensions
Tricep pulley push downs
Dumbbell tricep kickbacks
Close grip bench presses
2) Chest exercises
Located on the upper front of the torso, the pectoralis major muscles, or pecs, are responsible for flexing your shoulder forward horizontally and also drawing your arm towards the midline of your body from shoulder height. Both men and women can benefit from well-developed chest muscles and they are also important for many sports, especially those that involve punching or throwing. There are a wide variety of exercises to choose from when working the chest.
Barbell bench press
Dumbbell bench press
Incline bench press (barbell or dumbbell)
Decline bench press (barbell or dumbbell)
Dumbbell flies (flat, incline or decline position)
Cable crossovers
Parallel bar dips
Pushups
Chest press machine
Pec fly machine
3) Back exercises
The upper back consists of the latisimus dorsi, located on the sides of your torso, the rhomboids, which lay between your shoulder blades, and your upper trapezius, which runs up from the top of your shoulders to the base of your skull. These muscles have a variety of functions including drawing your arm backward, pulling your shoulders back and shrugging your shoulders up towards your ears. Keeping your back muscles strong can contribute to maintaining good posture and are vital for sports such as rock climbing, canoeing and wind surfing.
Lat pull downs
Chin ups
Pull ups
Seated cable rows
T-bar rows
Bent over barbell rows -- narrow grip
Bent over rows -- wide grip
Bent over dumbbell rows
Dumbbell shrugs
Dumbbell pullovers
To get the most out of your upper body training, select two to three exercises per muscle group and perform eight to 20 repetitions per exercise, resting 60 to 90 seconds between sets and making sure you warm up before and cool down after exercising.
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