Upper body strength is an important asset to have when it comes to daily activities like shoveling snow, stacking wood and throwing hay bales. It is also crucial for contact sports like football and ice hockey. To build upper body strength, you want to focus on the muscles that compose it. This includes the chest, shoulders, back, triceps and biceps. Compound exercises are your best bet as they recruit a maximal amount of muscle fibers.
Step 1
Press a barbell to work your chest. Lie face up on a bench and grab the bar with a wide grip. Push it off the supports and hold it directly above you. Slowly lower the bar down until it lightly touches your chest, then push it back up.
Step 2
Sit in a workout chair to do shoulder presses. Hold dumbbells in your hands st shoulder height with your palms facing forward. Keep your back flat on the backrest and push the weights above your head in an arcing motion. Stop when they are an inch apart, slowly lower them back to shoulder height and repeat.
Step 3
Execute a set of bent-over rows to target your back. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and hold the dumbbells in front of your body with your hands facing your thighs. Bend at the hips until your back is at a 60-degree angle to your legs, and let your arms hang straight down. Pull the weights up toward your stomach and squeeze your shoulder blades together. Lower the weights back down and repeat. Make sure you maintain a straight back throughout the exercise.
Step 4
Align two benches side by side and slightly wider apart than the length of your legs to target your triceps. Grab the edge of one bench with your hands and place your heels up on the other one. Slowly lower your body down by bending your elbows. Stop when your upper arms are parallel to the floor and push yourself back up. Squeeze for a second and repeat.
Step 5
Curl a barbell to work your biceps. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and rest a barbell against your thighs with an underhand, shoulder-width grip. Keep your back straight and upper arms tight against your sides as you bend your elbows and lift the bar up toward your chest. Squeeze for a second, slowly lower it back to the starting point and repeat.
Tips and Warnings
- Perform four or five sets of 10 to 12 reps with the heaviest weights you can lift. Work your upper body every three days.
Things You'll Need
- 2 benches
- Barbell
- Dumbbells
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