Your muscles grow in response to trauma. To build muscle mass, you need to continually traumatize your muscles enough to trigger your body to compensate for the stress by adding new tissue. You don't need an expensive gym membership or equipment to bulk up your upper body. With a set of dumbbells and resistance bands, you can work your chest, arms and shoulders from your living room.
Lifting for Muscle Mass
Muscle growth, or hypertrophy, requires higher resistance with fewer repetitions. Start with three to six sets of six to 12 repetitions, and make sure to use enough resistance to fully fatigue your muscles by the final repetition. If you can finish your last set of 12 repetitions while maintaining proper form, hold your resistance bands closer to the center or choose a heavier dumbbell to continue seeing progress.
Chest Exercises
Pushups are one of the simplest ways to build your chest muscles from home, especially if you're just starting out. Begin with your hands flat on the floor directly below your shoulders with your head, back and legs forming a straight line. Maintain this line as you bend your elbows and lower your body until your chin or chest touches in the floor. Start from your knees if you're not strong enough to perform a full pushup. To add resistance to your chest workout, lie with the small of your back on an exercise ball with a dumbbell in each hand. Begin with your hands facing each other and your arms extended above your chest. Bring the dumbbells out to your sides until they are level with your shoulders, hold and return to the starting position.
Arm Exercises
To build mass in your biceps, stand on the center of a resistance band and hold each end of the band in one hand. To add additional resistance, hold a dumbbell in each hand as well. Keep your back straight and your shoulders pulled down and back as you curl your hands up toward your shoulders. Squeeze the biceps muscles at the top before lowering your hands. Work the opposing triceps muscles with triceps extensions. Place your right knee and hand flat on a bench and hold a dumbbell in your left hand. Lean forward at your waist until your back is nearly parallel with the floor, and start with your left arm extended and aligned with your body. Slowly bend your elbow, bringing the dumbbell toward your shoulder. Extend it back to the starting position, squeezing the triceps muscle as you go. Repeat with the other arm.
Shoulder Exercises
Build shoulder muscle mass with two exercises you can perform from nearly the same position. Stand on the center of a resistance band with a handle and a dumbbell in each hand. Bring your hands to your shoulders so your palms are facing forward and your elbows are bent to a 90-degree angle. Slowly extend both arms above your head to perform a shoulder press. Return to the starting position. Lower your arms to your sides to get into the starting position for lateral raises. Keeping your arms straight, lift the dumbbells out to either side of your body until your hands are level with your shoulders. Lower your arms back to the starting position.
References
- University of New Mexico: How Do Muscles Grow?; Young Sub Kwon, M.S. and Len Kravitz, Ph.D.
- American Council on Exercise: When Strength Training, Is it Better to Do More Reps with Lighter Weights or Fewer Reps with Heavier Weights?; Jessica Matthews
- "Fitness" Magazine: Get Slim Without the Gym -- Upper-Body Toners; July/August 2009
- Georgia State University: Upper Body Strength Training Exercises
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