Upper body exercises are a great way to strengthen your back, shoulders, and arms and even help prevent sagging breasts.
Women have less upper body strength, approximately 50% less than their lower body. Women only have 10% of the testosterone levels of men.
This means if you’re planning to be a bodybuilder as a woman. You’ll have to do more upper body exercises, compared to a man.
A lot of people focus on lower body exercises and while strong legs are great.
Upper body exercises are crucial. If you ignore your chest, back shoulders and arms, you’re missing out on some amazing fitness benefits.
Amazing Benefits of Full Upper Body Workouts
Improve your posture
Having a strong back is amazing for your posture. A good upper body exercise routine will help straighten and firm up your back.
This greatly improves how you carry yourself therein improving your confidence.
- Upper Body Exercises Reduce the Risk of Injury
Your Arms, Chest, back and shoulder muscles are your body’s first line of defense against injury.
Regular chest and shoulder workouts can help lower the risk of musculoskeletal injuries or at least reduce its severity.
Strong Muscles will enhance your workouts
One of the best parts of upper body exercises is that it improves your workout efficiency.
The more you perform upper body workout for strength. The more resistance you have towards other exercises.
Protect your Bones
The more you use a bone the stronger it gets. Regular upper body exercises improve the strength of your bones. Note: This is most important as you get older.
OK, now that you know what you’re getting into and why. Let’s take a look at Upper body exercises you can do at home:
12 Best Full Upper Body Exercises for Women at Home
What You’ll Need for These workouts are:
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1. Planking
Let’s start out with an upper body workout done at home with no equipment.
This upper body exercise works on your abdominal muscles, lower back, shoulders, and even glutes.
Believe me, it’s more than a social media gamic. When you add this to the upper body workout routine.
There’s how to go about this upper body exercise:
- Start by going on your knees
- Bend your elbows
- Place your forearms on the floor
- Bend your hands to form a small triangle with your hands and elbows.
- Stretch out your legs and straighten it
- Balance yourself on your forearms and toes.
- Once balanced, ensure your bum is at the same level with the rest of your body.
- You should be at a straight line from the top of your head to the feet.
- Make sure you prevent your back from moving out of place.
- Main this position for some time.
- Start from 6 secs and build up to 30 seconds
Note: If this upper body exercise proves too difficult to try keeping your knees on the floor and move forward for balance
2. Criss Cross
Criss Cross is a challenging upper body exercise that strengthens your abs, and lower back while conditioning your entire core to be more stable.
Performing this chest and shoulder workout at home will be a great start to your journey for a stronger upper body and a flat belly.
The key to this exercise is to maintain your imprint.
Ok! New term, “Imprint” is the ability to utilize your lower abdominal muscles to slowly press your lower back on the ground and maintain stability with your leg.
There’s how to go about this upper body exercise:
- Lie down on your back
- Place your hands behind your head
- Slightly raise the tops of your shoulder blades off the ground
- Raise up your leg from the ground,
- Ensure your leg is straight
- Lift one foot off the floor as you bend your waist
- Move your right knee in towards your left shoulder
- Maintain this position for 2 seconds
- Bend to the other side and repeat once
- Repeat these movements 8 to 12 times.
3. Standing Chop and Lift
Ok! This time you’ll need a mini-stability ball for this upper body exercise.
The movement and weight shifts work on your waist, oblique, lower back, glutes and even legs.
But above all else, it’s a great arm workout.
There’s how to go about this upper body exercise:
- Stand up straight
- Keep your feet slightly apart
- Hold a dumbbell on both your palms
- Keep your hands straight in front of your chest
- Lower your hands toward your left knee
- Go down to your left foot slightly bending your knees and back
- Swing your hands up over your head
- Return down back to your left foot a
- Repeat this movement
- Switch legs and repeat.
- Perform these movements several times.
4. Wall Squats
Though this exercise is primarily for your lower body. If done correctly it has also worked on your upper body.
It has the advantage of being an upper body workout at home with no equipment. It works on your abs, hamstrings, and adductors.
When you perform this upper body exercise you’ll quickly notice tighter glutes, hamstrings, and quads.
There’s how to go about this upper body exercise:
- Stand up straight
- Rest your back against a wall
- Place your feet slightly apart, about shoulder width apart.
- Squat down and hold the position.
- Keep your shoulders firmly on the wall.
- Make sure you can feel the burn in your abs and shoulder.
- Repeat squats 12 to 15 times.
- Return to a standing position and Repeat.
5. Chin-Up
Chin-Ups are mostly considered one of those upper body exercises for men and a wonderful arm workout.
It works on your biceps, triceps, shoulders, lats, chest, abs, and oblique.
There’s how to go about this upper body exercise:
- Stand straight underneath a bar or rod.
- Hold the bar, with the palms facing you, and arms shoulder-width apart.
- Engage your core, soften the knees, cross your legs, and hang from the bar.
- Pull yourself up. Till your chin reaches the bar or rod.
- Without swinging, slowly come back down and gently place your feet on the floor.
- Repeat this 5 times. Gradually increase the number of chin-ups you do.
6. Pushups
Welcome to the ultimate chest and shoulder workout. It also works on your triceps, biceps, and arms.
This is probably the most popular upper body exercise on this list.
It’s not a good calorie burning exercise but push-ups are perfect for toning your upper body with a proven track record.
There’s how to go about this upper body exercise:
- Firmly place your hands on the floor
- Stretch out your legs
- Lift your body and stabilize on your hands and toes.
- Lower your body, bending your elbows.
- Push your body up
- Repeat 10-15 reps
7. Incline Push-Up
This variation of push-ups is as effective as doing chin-ups when it comes to working on your biceps, triceps, shoulders, lats, chest, abs, and oblique.
But what’s really great about this upper body exercise it that you can do this with no equipment.
All you need is a bench or some kind of elevation from the floor.
You’re advised to start with a high elevation and work your way up to lower elevations.
There’s how to go about this upper body exercise:
- Place your palms first on the edge of the bench.
- Keep your hands slightly apart.
- Stretch your legs out.
- Maintain a straight back
- Firm up your elbows
- Lower your body by bending your elbows.
- Release the bench
- Return to an upright standing position
- Repeat these movements
8. Dumbbell Punches
Yes! This is an upper body workout with dumbbells. It’s a largely considered a quality warm-up exercise that gets your body in the mood for some muscle flexing.
But it is a great upper body exercise in its own right.
It works on your arms, biceps and is a great upper body exercise for strength.
It is also a wonderful cardio exercise nicely tucked into an upper body exercise routine.
There’s how to go about this upper body exercise:
- Get a pair on dumbbells
- Hold one in each hand
- Pull them in from the sides towards your shoulders.
- Make sure your elbows are sticking out on both sides,
- Literally, punch out a double by stretching out your elbow.
- Alternative in both hands repeating these movements for at least 2 minutes.
9. Bent Over front Raise
If you’re interested in getting a nice sexy back, then this is the upper body exercise for you.
This upper body exercise tones your arms work on the upper and lower back shoulders, chest, biceps, and triceps.
There’s how to go about this upper body exercise:
- Stand up straight
- Place a dumbbell at each side
- Bend down into a squat position
- Pick up a dumbbell and hold one on each hand
- Then raise your body back up without bending your back
- Stretch your hands straight in front of your chest.
- Raise your hands above your head.
- Ensure your posture is unchanged and keep your elbows straight.
- Lower your hands and repeat these movements at least 12 times.
10. Bent Over Lateral Raise
This is an effective chest workout at home that tightens your upper back and tones your triceps.
You’ll need a pair of dumbbells and a couple of stretches if you’re going to add this to your upper body workout routine.
There’s how to go about this upper body exercise:
- Stand up straight with your back stretched
- Stretch your hands up then, relax.
- Place a dumbbell on both sides of your body.
- Bend your knees, squat down without bending your back
- Pick up a dumbbell on each hand.
- Stretch out your hands forward in front of your chest.
- Spread your hands from side to side.
- Bend your elbows in. Such that you move the dumbbells fall towards your shoulders.
- Spread your hands out
- Repeat this movement at least 12 times.
11. Triceps Kickbacks
This is an upper body exercise that targets the fat pockets accumulated around the triceps.
You’ll also need a pair of dumbbells and a couple of stretches if you’re going to add this to your upper body workout routine.
There’s how to go about triceps:
- Hold a dumbbell on both hands
- Stand up straight
- Stretch your right leg forward, and bend your knee a bit.
- Place most on your weight on your right foot.
- Ensure your right leg straight.
- Slightly lend forward
- Put your right hand on your right knee.
- Bend your left hand and point your elbow out.
- Kick your left hand back by stretching your elbow out.
- Pull your hand back up.
- Repeat these movements at least 12 times.
12. Renegade Rows with Dumbbells
This is an upper body exercise with slightly more advanced than most of the upper body workout routines on this list.
Much like the name implies you will need a pair of dumbbells.
Though beginners can perform this without the dumbbell which would be renegade rows.
But if you’re a beginner with a vision. Perform this upper body exercise with dumbbells but on your knees to make it a bit less challenging.
There’s how to go about renegade rows with dumbbells:
- Hold a dumbbell on each hand.
- Get on all fours like you’re going to perform push-ups.
- Raise up a dumbbell holding hand and slightly swing your body to the side.
- Drop your dumbbell wielding on the floor
- Lift the alternate hand and swing your body to the opposite side.
- Repeat these movements at least 15 times.
The best part of this routine is that you can do all 12 at home with little to no equipment. But yes you’ll most likely need a dumbbell.
There’s why you should invest in a pair of dumbbells beyond just upper body exercises:
- They give you a better and more complete workout routine.
- Provide more challenge to your muscles
- Help you build up your strength
- Works great with cardio exercises
- Help balance your body.
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- Chest Workout Routine for Men; Best 11 Workouts for Ripped Bigger Chest
- 11 Chest Exercises to Lift Sagging Breasts and Tighten Boobs at Home
Warning, performing any or all these upper body exercises on a regular basis may result in compliments from random people along the street, at school, work or at the movies.
Yes, even in the dark, people will notice your amazing body.
