The main muscles of the upper body include the pecs, deltoids, traps, latissimus dorsi, biceps and triceps. To put it into simpler terms, these are the muscles of the chest, shoulders, back and arms. If you are trying to fill up your shirt with muscle by building your upper body, you can do it through specific weight-training exercises. Not only will this be more aesthetically gratifying, it can also improve your functional performance in daily activities.
Step 1
Lie on a bench to do chest presses. Hold dumbbells straight above you with your palms facing forward. Lower the weights down to your sides by bending your elbows. Stop when you feel a strong contraction in your chest and push the weights back up until they are an inch apart.
Step 2
Press a barbell over your head to do military presses that work your shoulders. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and hold the barbell at chest height with your hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart. Push the bar straight above you until your arms are just short of locking (completely straight). Hold for a couple of seconds, then slowly lower the barbell back to your chest and repeat.
Step 3
Execute a set of lat pulldowns to target your back. Sit on the seat of a lat pulldown machine with the thigh pad pressed firmly into your thighs. Reach up and grab the bar with a wide grip and lean back slightly. Pull the bar down in front of your body until it is at chest height. Hold for a couple of seconds, then slowly let it go back to the top point and repeat. Do not sway back and forth and maintain a straight back throughout the exercise.
Step 4
Perform a set of close-grip chest presses to work your triceps. Lie on the bench and grab the bar with a shoulder-width grip. Push it off the supports and hold it directly above you for a couple of seconds. Slowly lower the bar down until it lightly touches your chest and push it back up. Keep your arms in close to your sides while doing this exercise.
Step 5
Grab a hold of a pull-up bar to do close-grip chin-ups. This exercise will work your biceps. Grasp the bar with your hands eight to 12 inches apart in an underhand grip. Bend your knees and cross your lower legs behind your body. Pull your body up until your chest is at the height of the bar. Slowly lower yourself back down and repeat.
Tips and Warnings
- Perform four to five sets of 10 to 12 reps for every exercise and do them in the order they appear. Work out with these exercises every three days.
Things You'll Need
- Bench
- Dumbbells
- Barbell
- Pull-up bar
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