Upper body strength is important for everyday activities like carrying a baby or picking up a suitcase. When creating an upper body routine, you need to know what muscles you want to work out and what equipment you want to use. For beginners and even advanced weightlifters, choosing the right exercises is another important step in the process. For the best workouts, configuring your upper body routine is advance is crucial so you can be mentally and physically prepared for the challenge.
Muscles
The key to creating an effective full upper-body routine is to target all of the major muscle groups. You'll need to work your lats, which are located in your back; and your pecs, which are located in your chest area. Your lats are the biggest muscles in your upper body, while your pectoral muscles are typically the second largest. You also need to work the muscles in your arm as well. These include your deltoid muscles, which are located right over the shoulder joint. These muscles also include your biceps, which are located on the front of your upper arm; and your triceps, which are located on the back of your upper arm.
Equipment
The American College of Sports Medicine advocates using free weights, such as dumbbells, to maximize the effect of resistance training on functional strength. Using a pair of dumbbells will allow you to get an effective full upper-body workout and doesn't require a lot of space. Dumbbells are not suitable for all individuals because of the coordination and stabilization strength required to control them. Exercise machines are suitable for beginners because they restrict your range of motion, which helps to guide you through the exercise.
Exercise Selection
Exercise selection is one of the most difficult parts of creating any exercise routine. Knowing at least one basic exercise for each body part is a great place to start. For your chest, you can perform dumbbell flies. You can target your lats with dumbbell rows. The shoulders can be targeted with a military press. You can target your triceps with triceps kickbacks and work your biceps with curls. Perform the exercises that work the biggest muscle groups at the start of your routine and save the smaller muscle-group work for the end.
Structure
Your routine should be structured into three distinct segments. Begin with a 10-minute warm-up to get blood flowing to the muscles and loosen them up. For an upper body routine, 10 minutes of light boxing is ideal. This should be followed by the actual lifting portion of your routine as you perform the exercises you've planned for that particular workout. The final phase of your routine should consist of a 10-minute cool-down. During the cool-down, you should stretch every major muscle group of your upper body.
References
- "NSCA's Essentials of Personal Training"; Roger Earle and Thomas Baechle; 2003
- "ACSM's Resources for the Personal Trainer"; American College of Sports Medicine; 2007
- "NASM Essentials of Personal Fitness Training"; National Academy of Sports Medicine; April 2007
- West Valley College: Upper Body Muscles
- American College of Sports Medicine: Selecting and Effectively Using Free Weights
- American Council on Exercise: Free Weights vs. Strength Training Equipment
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