Strength Training — Upper Body

There are lots of benefits to strength training! My favorite – it boosts your metabolism! Strength training also makes you stronger, helps you with proper body mechanics, and overall improves your health.

My upper body used to be my least favorite part of my body. Yeah, I know we should love our whole bodies, but truth be told, I used to hate wearing tank tops. And if I wasn’t going to be able to have rock hard abs in my 30s (hello, 2 C-sections), I at least wanted to feel good in a tank top.

At the end of 2018, I started to go to the gym and lift weights consistently. I found that if I move my body, I feel better mentally and physically.

I typically lift weights 3 days a week, but I move my body every day.

For weights, I do one upper body day, one lower body day, and one full body day — usually on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. 

Are you ready to get started?

You don’t have to go to the gym to lift weights. All I recommend is a set of free weights at home to start. I like this set from Amazon that has different weights to choose from. If you are just getting started, choose the lowest pounds to start. I use these 10-pound weights at home for some exercises. 

When I am doing my upper body workout at home, I choose 6-8 exercises from the list below. I do each exercise for 10-12 reps and repeat it 3 times. For example I may choose the following exercises: shoulder press, upright row, hammer curl, tricep extension, bent over row, and chest press. Do each exercise once for 10-12 reps and then repeat for 3 rounds. I often times need different weights for different exercises. I can increase my weights on bicep curls, but I need to decrease them on a reverse fly. The last 1-2 reps should be challenging. If you are just beginning, you may need to decrease reps and rounds to start. 

Here is a list of the upper body exercises I routinely do. I have a video of each move over on my instagram (@angiebgrubbs) on my workout highlight!

Shoulders:
Shoulder press
Front raise
Lateral raise
Reverse fly
Upright row

Biceps:
Standing dumbbell curl
Hammer curl
Reverse curl
Bicep curl with static hold

Triceps:
Standing tricep extension
Tricep dips with chair
Lying dumbbell tricep extension
Tricep kickback

Back:
Bent over row
Reverse fly

Chest:
Chest press
Dumbbell fly

Make sure you are using proper form doing each exercise. If you aren’t using proper form, you risk injuring yourself. 

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