Strengthening your upper body is crucial for developing and maintaining a strong, muscular physique. While many body-weight resistance exercises exist for developing multiple upper-body muscle groups, free weights are beneficial for muscular progression. Work your back, arms, shoulders and chest with a combination of barbell and dumbbell exercises to work your target muscle group while providing strength training for secondary muscle groups as well.
Chest
Begin your upper body workout with bench presses. You may perform this exercise with a barbell or with two dumbbells on a flat weight bench. Move on to inclined and declined chest presses to work your upper and lower pectoral muscles. Incline the bench to a 45- to 60-degree angle for inclined chest presses and decline the back of the bench 45 degrees for declined presses. Like the bench press, either of these exercises may be performed with a barbell or two dumbbells. Finish your chest-strengthening workout with flat and inclined flyes, in which you use two dumbbells, being sure to keep your arms slightly bent and elbows pointing away from your body. Perform three sets of eight to 10 repetitions of each chest exercise.
Arms
Work your triceps with close-grip bench presses, in which you grip the barbell at shoulder-width on a flat weight bench. Couple this exercise with triceps kickbacks, slightly bending at the knees and waist while holding a dumbbell in each hand. Finish your triceps workout with triceps extensions, in which you sit on the edge of a weight bench holding a dumbbell behind your head with both hands.
For your biceps, begin with dumbbell biceps curls and hammer curls. During biceps curls, keep your palms facing up and bring the dumbbell to your shoulders. Hammer curls require you to keep your palms facing your body throughout the exercise. With either of these exercises, you may use both arms at once, or alternate arms during repetitions. Perform three sets of 10 to 12 repetitions of all arm exercises.
Shoulders
Begin your shoulder-strengthening workout with military presses. Use dumbbells to perform this exercise while standing or sitting with your back straight on the edge of a weight bench. Move on to front raises and side raises to complete your shoulder workout. Use two dumbbells for each of these exercises, bringing the weight out in front of your body with straight arms for front raises and bending your arms slightly and keeping the weights between your front and sides for side raises. Perform three sets of 10 repetitions of each shoulder exercise.
Back
Begin your back-strengthening workout with bent-over rows. You may use either a barbell or two dumbbells to complete this exercise. Keep your body bent at the waist and your legs slightly bent for the duration of this exercise. Perform barbell deadlifts next, keeping your arms straight and bending at the hips throughout the exercise. Finish your back workout with shrugs, using either a barbell or two dumbbells. Perform three sets of eight to 10 repetitions of each back-strengthening exercise.
Abdominals
No upper body workout is complete without performing several abdomen-strengthening exercises. Strong abdominal muscles help support your back muscles during exercise and help prevent injuries to your core muscles. Hold a dumbbell to your chest and perform three sets of 15 traditional crunches to work your central abdominal muscles. Target your lower abdomen by placing a dumbbell between your feet and completing three sets of 15 repetitions of vertical crunches, in which you lie on your back and push your straightened legs into the air.
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