Full Upper Body Workouts

Upper body training should incorporate multiple muscle groups and should emphasize on movement rather than muscles, according to Rodney Corn of PTA Global. If you go to most gyms, you will see that many exercises modalities such as weights and machines train one body part at a time in a seated position. In the real world, when you play sports or other activities, you move in various directions at different speeds and use multiple body parts at once.

Push-ups and Pull-ups

These two classic calisthenics works your entire body and requires you to have a strong and stable core, or trunk and hips, to do the exercises.
There are many variations for each exercise. For push-ups, you can place your hands or feet close together or apart. You can also place one hand toward the top of your head and the other toward your ribs.
For pull-ups, you can use an overhand or underhand grip. If you cannot do a regular pull-up, you can use a bar from a Smith machine and place it about two to three feet off the ground. Grab the bar and crawl under it, placing your chest beneath the bar. Place your feet hip-distance apart and push your hips up the entire time.
For these two exercises, you can do a superset, which requires you do one set of each exercise. In the second and third sets, you can modify each exercise by changing your hand or feet positions. This method increases your muscular endurance and fat-burning potential.

Squat Press

This exercise trains core stability while working on all your shoulder and arm muscles. You can use dumbbells, barbells or kettlebells.
Stand with your feet hip-distance apart and hold two weights in each hand at your sides. Exhale and curl your arms with your knuckles facing out and your elbows at your sides. Then press the weights overhead with your arm extended. Lower the weights and reverse the movement. Keep your spine tall at all times.
When doing the exercise, do the movement smoothly without pausing between the curl and press to produce a more fluid movement.

Power Chop/Lift

The power chop and lift require you to use your entire body to move across your body from a high position to a low position. To do a power chop, hook a rubber tubing to the highest setting on a cable machine or onto a pull-up bar. Grab the handles and stand with your left shoulder toward the point of attachment. Then pull the band diagonally down and across your body, turning your torso and left hip. As you work both sides, note if one side of your body is stronger or more coordinated than the other. If one side is weaker, do an extra power chop on that side.
The power lift is the opposite movement of the chop where you move across your body from a low position to a high position. Set the cable column's attachment to the lowest level. Grab the handles and stand with your left shoulder toward the hook. Then pull diagonally up and across your body, turning your torso and left hip. Again, check to see if one side is weaker and less coordinated than the other. Do both the chop and lift with no rest between sets.