Upper-body muscles are grouped into four main categories: chest, shoulders, back and arms. These muscles perform all of the upper-body functions throughout daily life; from pouring milk to flossing and brushing your teeth. Building all of these muscles takes patience, persistence and dedication in and out of the gym. Each muscle has multiple sections in itself that must be exercised through isolation movements, and each major muscle group must be worked equally and in concert with others to ensure muscular balance.
At the Gym
Step 1
Perform flat-bench dumbbell presses. Grab two medium to heavy dumbbells, sit at the end of a flat bench and rest the dumbbells on your knees, one in each hand. Lie back onto the bench and bring the dumbbells up to the level of your chest. Push, or press, the dumbbells up into the air, keeping them in line with your chest. Have a spotter help you with the first repetition. Do three to five sets of eight to 15 repetitions.
Step 2
Perform preacher curls. Rack a curling bar with a medium amount of weight and grip it with hands at shoulder width. Sit at the preacher curl machine and allow your armpits to rest against the top portion of the padding. When curling, do not allow your elbow to fully extend and lock on the way down. Do three sets of 10 to 15 repetitions.
Step 3
Perform military presses. Grab two medium dumbbells, sit in a chair and hold the dumbbells, on in each hand, at the level of your ears. Push them up above your head until your arms are fully extended, then return them to ear level. Have a spotter help you with the first repetition. Do three to five sets of eight to 15 repetitions.
Step 4
Perform seated lat pulldowns. Put a medium to heavy amount of weight on the stack. Grip the bar on the outermost handles and arch your back slightly. Pull the bar down to the front of your chest and hold for one full second, then return the weight. Do three to five sets of eight to 15 repetitions.
Step 5
Perform skull-crushers. Rack a triceps bar with medium weight, sit on a flat weight bench and rest the bar on your legs. Grip the bar at shoulder width and lean back onto the bench. Hold the bar straight out toward the ceiling while pointing your elbows at your hips. Bend your elbows and bring the weight down until it is almost touching your forehead, then re-extend your arms. Make sure to keep your elbows pointing at your hips the entire time. Do three sets of 10 to 15 repetitions.
Outside the Gym
Step 1
Eat large amounts of protein. Protein is the main ingredient that feeds muscle growth. A study conducted at the University of Western Ontario in 2000 showed that to obtain maximum muscle growth, active people should eat as much as 1.6 to 1.8 grams of protein daily per every kilogram of body weight.
Step 2
Space your workouts out for each muscle group. Muscles need time to recover between workouts, and sometimes that can take as much as seven days. If you get back in the gym too early, you can stunt your muscle growth and increase your chance of injury. Everybody recovers a little bit differently, so spend the first couple weeks taking note of how long it takes each individual muscle group to lose the soreness and get back to 100 percent.
Step 3
Mix up your exercises. If you keep up the same routines for an extended period of time, your muscles will adjust to the movements and stop growing. This is called a growth plateau and it happens to even the most well trained athletes. The best ways to break through plateaus is to mix up your exercises. Try some new movements, or change how much weight or the numbers of repetitions you use.
Tips and Warnings
- Consult your doctor before beginning any new exercise or diet regimen. Use a spotter for for power-lifting movements. It's always best to have someone there just in case. A weightlifting injury can be fatal.
- Never start out using more weight than you are used to. This can lead to jerking your body during the exercise to compensate for not being strong enough to lift the weight, and straining or tearing a muscle in the process.
Things You'll Need
- Dumbbells
- Barbell
- Curling bar
- Bench press
- Triceps bar
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