When it comes to strength training, ladies have a tendency to give the lower body the most attention. And we get it. That little black dress looks infinitely better with sculpted quads. However, it's essential to not neglect the upper body, as it too can make a sleeveless dress look phenomenal.
We promise strength training your upper body will not make you appear bulky or manly. On the contrary, nothing looks better than sculpted arms, a toned chest, and a sleek back. Plus, there are numerous benefits beyond looking amazing.
It’s totally fine if the lower body is your favorite, but please don’t forget to give your upper body muscles some love too. You’ll love what happens.
This post will discuss all things upper body, including:
- Upper body anatomy
- Benefits of upper body strength
- Best diet practices for a toned upper body
- 12 best upper body exercises for women
- Programming tips for upper body workouts
- The best upper body workouts for women (a gym and at-home version!)
Anatomy of the Upper Body Muscles
The upper body includes the chest, back, shoulders, and arms. Your core is on the upper half of your body, but training it falls under the core muscles category. Your abdominal muscles will be active in many of the upper body exercises featured in this post, but they won't be the primary focus.
Back muscles:
Including the lats, traps, rhomboids, and erector spinae, your back muscles are essential for upper body strength, pulling movements, core stability, and good posture.
- Erector Spinae: The erector spinae is a group of 3 muscles. The spinalis, longissimus, and iliocostalis run from the bottom of your spine up to your neck on each side of your spine. They play an important role in stabilizing the spine and are responsible for lateral flexion/extension and extension of your spine. You can strengthen them with deadlifts and bent-over rows.
- Latissimus Dorsi: The lats are the largest muscle in your whole upper body, so they deserve some extra attention. This wing-like muscle originates on the thoracic spine, lower ribs, and pelvis and inserts into the humerus. It handles moving your arm when your torso is fixed and works with the shoulders and arms during many athletic movements. The lats love pulling exercises like chin-ups, pull-downs, single-arm rows, and pullovers.
- Trapezius: This flat trapezoid-shaped muscle sits on top of your shoulders. Starting at the base of your skull and continuing down to your thoracic spine and scapula, this muscle group includes the upper, middle, and lower traps, which are responsible for any movement the scapula makes. Everything from deadlifts, farmer walks, shrugs, rows. and face pulls activate your traps.
- Rhomboids: This small muscle starts at the base of your neck and attaches to your shoulder blades, where its main job is stabilizing your shoulders and bringing your shoulder blades back. Rhomboids can be trained with bigger movements like pull-ups, T-bar rows, and seated rows.
Chest muscles:
The pec major and pec minor are essential for pushing movements and a toned upper body, so don't neglect your chest workouts!
- Pectoralis Major: The biggest muscle of your chest lies underneath your breast. It has two heads and is attached to the humerus, clavicle, ribs, and sternum. Since the pec major has two heads, it likes slightly different movements for each. Bench presses and dips do the job for the sternocostal head. Low-to-high cable flies and the incline dumbbell bench press work great for the clavicular head.
- Pectoralis Minor: This smaller triangle-shaped muscle is somewhat hidden underneath the pec major. The pec minor plays a significant role in breathing and works to pull the shoulder blades down and spread them apart. This supporting muscle can be a little tougher to target, but chest dips are a great option due to the shoulders being tucked down during the movement.
Shoulder muscles:
The delts sit on top of the arm and have three heads that control the shoulder in any direction it moves. This includes movements like pushing, pulling, shoulder rotation, and stabilizing the shoulder during lifts.
- Anterior Deltoid: This head sits on the front of the shoulder and functions during forward flexion and horizontal adduction. Pressing movements like a push-up, overhead press, and bench press work the anterior deltoid.
- Lateral Deltoid: This muscle is located on the sides of your shoulders and is responsible for moving your arm away from your body during movements like lateral raises and Arnold presses. It functions to move your arms to the back of your body during exercises like chest flys and band pull aparts.
- Posterior Deltoid: This delt muscle sits on the back of the shoulder. It is often undertrained since it’s not a mirror muscle, but it is extremely important. Any of these dumbbell rear delt exercises will ensure this muscle is activated.
Arm Muscles:
No upper body workout is complete without paying attention to the beloved arm muscles: bis and tris.
- Triceps: The triceps makes up 2/3 of your arm and has three different heads. You can hit each head by including close-grip bench presses, rope press downs, and overhead extensions in your routine. The triceps runs down the entire backside of your arm and inserts into your elbow. It works to extend your elbow and assists with shoulder stability and extension.
- Biceps: Everyone’s favorite mirror muscle has two heads and is located on the front of your arm. Since the bis insert into the radius and work with your forearm, they are responsible for supinating the forearm, flexing your elbow, and assisting with shoulder flexion. The biceps like exercises like dumbbell curls, EZ bar preacher curls, and chin-ups.
Why Should Women Train Their Upper Body?
Everyone needs to train their upper body! Women who strength train and include upper body exercises in their routine have less body fat, better body composition, and more muscle1.
It’s that simple! Strength training means training your entire body as a whole. Sure, we will all have different things we like more than others, but avoiding certain body parts or whole areas will lead to serious muscle imbalances and leave progress on the table.
There is no reason to avoid the upper body, and you will see nothing but benefits from adding it to your program.
Benefits of Upper Body Workouts
There's no shortage of benefits when it comes to giving your upper body some love. Here's why upper body workouts are great.
1. Improve body image:
Understandably, some women may worry that focusing on building muscle will lead to them being too muscular, but that's not the case. It is, in fact, tough to gain muscle. Otherwise, everyone at the gym would be jacked like Arnold.
Not only will strength training not turn you into a massive monster, but building and toning your muscles through strength training will improve your body image2. Seeing your body transform before your eyes is extremely rewarding and will help build confidence.
2. Prevent the risk of osteoporosis and sarcopenia:
Women tend to have a higher risk of osteoporosis as they get older, and strength training has been shown to decrease this risk3. Not only does it ensure your bones are strong, but it also helps fight sarcopenia, which is the loss of muscle as you age. This is why it's essential to have a workout program that targets your entire body.
3. Burn more calories:
Weight lifting strengthens bones, builds muscle, and helps your body burn more calories. Your body uses more calories to support muscle than it does for fat. This means you do not want to skip upper body days. Otherwise, you'll miss out on building muscle for half of your body, as well as the extra calorie burn that comes with it.
4. Improve posture:
These days, almost everyone suffers from poor posture and rounded shoulders. We sit all day at work, in the car, and on the couch at home. Training your upper body will strengthen the important posture muscles that fight this and help keep you upright. Women will also appreciate upper body exercises for their breast lifting abilities.
5. More strength for lower body lifts:
Increasing strength in your upper body will directly increase your favorite lower body exercises like squats and deadlifts. Strong back muscles can help stabilize your upper body during these movements allowing you to lift more weight, resulting in more gains for your booty and legs.
Best Diet Practices For a Toned Upper Body
It’s best to put the idea of one perfect diet out of your mind. The best practices are concepts that help guide how you are eating to help you meet your goals. Figuring out how many calories your body burns using a simple basal metabolic rate calculator is a great start. You can increase that number by 200 to 500 calories if you are trying to build muscle or decrease it by that amount if you are trying to lean out.
Honesty and accountability are crucial, so track everything you eat. Start with small increases or decreases in your total and adjust by tracking what you eat during the week. It takes some trial and error, but if you are consistent, it will work. Lastly, start tracking your macronutrients and aim for .75 grams of protein per pound of body weight as a starting point.
These weight loss tips for women will also help you get (and stay) on track.
12 Best Upper Body Exercises For Women
A mix of bodyweight exercises, dumbbell and barbell moves, and gym equipment, there are plenty of versatile exercises here that your upper body will love.
1. Close grip barbell bench press:
The close grip bench press is just as much for women as it is for men. It gets the nod over the regular bench press for its ability to build the triceps and upper chest muscles. Close grip dumbbell bench presses are another great option if a barbell isn't available to you. This push exercise works multiple muscles, including the pecs, triceps, and anterior deltoids.
How to do the Close Grip Barbell Bench Press:
- Lying flat on your bench, reach up and grab the bar directly in line with your shoulders, with an overhand grip (palms facing down).
- Lift the bar off the rack and bring it over your chest. Keep your elbows close to your sides at a slightly less than 45-degree angle as you lower the bar toward your rib cage.
- Press the weight back to the starting position, finishing with the triceps locking out the elbow, and straight upper arms.
2. Assisted dips:
Another push exercise that gets serious results by working multiple muscles, dips build the chest, triceps, and shoulders. Make sure not to let your shoulders round forward. And once you build up your strength, switch to bodyweight dips to challenge yourself.
Doing close grip bench presses and these dips will develop some seriously sexy toned triceps, and it also saves you time by requiring you to do fewer isolation exercises.
How to do Assisted Dips:
- Kneel on the dip machine with your torso forward after choosing enough assistance weight. Grab the handles. Start with your elbows slightly bent and close to your sides but not pinched against you.
- Keep a tight grip, pushing your hands into the handles, and let your body weight push the machine down. Keep your knees slightly bent. Lower until your arms are at or near a 90-degree angle.
- Drive through your triceps to lock out your arms and bring your body back to the starting position.
3. Pause push-ups:
This classic bodyweight exercise is tried and true for building the pecs, shoulders, and triceps. There are countless push-up variations, but this one focuses on pausing at the most challenging position to build a strong upper body.
How to do Pause Push Ups:
- Set up a plank position on your hands with your hands just outside shoulder width. Your back should be flat and your feet 6 inches apart. Keep your feet hip distance apart.
- Keep your back flat and core tight as you bend your elbows at a 45-degree angle to your body and lower until your chest is close to the ground. Pause here, maintaining tension for 3 seconds
- Press yourself back to the starting position by straightening your elbows.
4. Close grip lat pull downs:
Our first vertical pulling motion targets the lats as well as the biceps. This exercise can also build the strength required to achieve your first chin-up.
How to do Close Grip Lat Pull Downs:
- Attach a bar to the cable machine, and reach up and grab it after sitting down with your knees bent.
- With your arms fully extended, tuck your shoulders down and slowly drive your elbows down close to your sides as you pull the bar. You can lean back a bit but don’t overdo it.
- Pull until the bar is near your collarbone and slowly let the weight come back up overhead, resisting the pull and keeping your shoulders down.
5. Bird dog dumbbell row:
This challenging core exercise is a single-arm dumbbell row variation that hits the lats, biceps, erector spinae, and oblique sling, which includes the glutes and core muscles. It is a more advanced single-arm row, but if you start light and focus on control, you’ll progress in no time.
How to do the Bird Dog Dumbbell Row:
- Set up on all fours on a bench with your dumbbell. Your hands should be directly under your shoulders, and your knees under your hips.
- Grab the weight with your right hand and bring it off to the side of the bench, keeping your shoulders in line. Keep your back flat and extend your left leg until it’s straight back and in line with your body.
- Maintain this position and pull your elbow back toward your hip until your arm is at a 90-degree angle. Slowly lower down, keeping your entire body still, and repeat.
6. Farmer's walk:
Not just for farmers, this exercise is as simple as it gets with an incredible upside for total body strength and beautifully toned arms. Carry heavy weights and walk. That's it. The farmer's walk will build the traps, lats, shoulders, arms, and core.
How to do the Farmer's Walk:
- Pick a distance of around 20-30 yards and choose a set of heavy dumbbells or kettlebells.
- Stand tall, holding the dumbbells at your sides, off your hips, like you are trying to create space between your armpits. Slowly walk, keeping your posture as upright and as balanced as possible.
- If you finish the distance and feel you could walk much further, increase the weight.
7. Seated Arnold Press:
The Arnold press will sculpt all three heads of your delts and target the triceps, whereas a standard shoulder press mainly hits only the front and lateral heads. Go slow and controlled, as this will also help build shoulder stability.
How to do the Seated Arnold Press:
- Grab your weights and sit down on a bench. Plant your feet and set your upper body in an upright posture
- Bring the weights up in front of your mouth with your palms facing you and your dumbbells close together.
- Push the weights up as you twist your wrists and turn your palms to face away from you. As you press up, they will travel outside your shoulders as if you were pressing a barbell until you finish overhead with your arms straight.
- Slowly lower the weights down, reversing the motion. Lower the dumbbells to the sides like you are making a 90-degree angle with your arms and then twist to come back in front of your face.
8. Band pull-aparts:
Pull-aparts are a fantastic posture-correcting exercise that targets your traps, rhomboids, and rear delts. Perform this move, and your upper back muscles will thank you.
How to do Band Pull-Aparts:
- Grab a band and hold it out in front of you in line with your shoulders while standing tall. Keep your feet hip width apart.
- Pull the band apart while squeezing your fist tight and keeping your back flat. Pull out to the sides by squeezing your shoulder blades together until your arms are straight out to each of your sides.
- Slowly bring the band back and repeat, maintaining good posture.
9. TRX Inverted rows:
Our final upper body strength training back exercise ensures everything on the backside is strong enough to support the muscles on the front of your body. Trust us, nothing leads to a better positive body image than a strong and well-balanced upper body.
This horizontal bodyweight pull gets all the back muscles and the biceps. You can change your angle to increase the difficulty or make it easier. While we've included a TRX variation, you can also use a barbell or smith machine as well.
To perform this move with a barbell, rack the barbell at around waist level, lie under the bar, facing it. Grab it with an overhand grip, slowly lowering yourself up and down.
How to do TRX Inverted Rows:
- Start by holding the handles with your palms facing each other.
- Lean back, so you're looking upward at the straps' anchor point. Continue leaning back until your arms are fully straight, the TRX straps are tight, and your body is in a straight line.
- Bend your elbows to pull yourself upward, closer to the anchor point. Keep your body in a straight line.
- Briefly pause before lowering yourself back to the starting position. Repeat.
10. Incline bench dumbbell biceps curl:
A bicep isolation exercise we love is the incline dumbbell curl. It gets bonus points for helping strengthen the biceps to help with pulling exercises.
How to do the Incline Bench Dumbbell Biceps Curl:
- Set up a bench at a 45-degree angle and sit down while holding your dumbbells.
- As you lay back on the bench, let your arms hang down at your sides until your arms are straight. Tightly grip the dumbbells and flex your elbow, bringing the dumbbells up toward your shoulders.
- Once fully shortened and flexed, slowly lower back down until your arms are straight. Make sure to keep your back flat on the bench.
11. Dumbbell concentration curl:
This bicep exercise is perfect for an upper body strength workout and allows you to lock your body into position to avoid momentum. The concentration curl also allows you to even out each side as you work one bicep at a time.
How to do the Dumbbell Concentration Curl:
- Sit down on a bench and rest your right elbow against the inside of your right thigh while holding a dumbbell. Lean forward to allow the arm to hang down straight as your leg supports it.
- Flex your elbow and curl the weight toward your shoulder, slowly focusing on squeezing the bicep. Slowly lower down and repeat.
12. Standing overhead tricep extensions:
Even though the close grip bench and dips do a great job of hitting the triceps, they do not target the muscle in the overhead position. A great isolation exercise, the tricep extension ensures no head is missed when building the back of your arms. Keep your core engaged the entire time to get some ab work in as well.
How to do Standing Overhead Triceps Extensions:
- Grab a dumbbell and stand in an upright position with feet hip-width apart. Both hands should hold the dumbbell's flat part with the bottom hanging down.
- Extend your arms up overhead while keeping a flat back. Bend the elbows slowly, lowering the weight down behind your head.
- Extend your elbow using your triceps to bring the weight back overhead.
Programming Tips for Upper Body Workouts
If you are new to upper body training, don’t worry if you don’t complete every set on the first try. Work up to getting through the workout no matter what weights you are using, and progress until you can complete the required set volume.
If you are more seasoned, you can immediately focus on progressively overloading the weights weekly to achieve muscle hypertrophy. If you didn’t quite hit the number of reps, focus on getting it next week. If you got it easily, add some weight.
You can follow this program as long as you see results. Just continue challenging yourself to progress each week. This could mean increasing your reps, sets, or weight. You may want to consider a different workout split down the road, as some variety will help keep your workouts fresh and exciting.
The Best Upper Body Workout For Women
To ensure you get the optimal upper body volume, perform both sessions one time each week. Spread them out so your muscles have time to recover between sessions. Progressive overload each week and you will build upper body strength and muscle.
Session A:
|
Exercise |
Sets |
Reps |
|
Band Pull-Aparts |
2 |
20 |
|
Pause Push-Ups (3-second pause) |
2 |
6 |
|
Close Grip Bench Press |
3 |
8 |
|
Seated Arnold Press |
2 |
12 |
|
Bird Dog Row |
2 |
8 |
|
Inverted Bodyweight Row |
2 |
Fail |
|
Incline Bench Bicep Curls |
2 |
12 |
Session B:
|
Exercise |
Sets |
Reps |
|
Band Pull-Aparts |
2 |
20 |
|
Assisted Dips |
3 |
10 |
|
Overhead Tricep Extensions |
2 |
15 |
|
Close Grip Pull Downs |
3 |
8 |
|
Farmer's Walk |
4 |
20 yards |
|
DB Concentration Curl |
2 |
12 |
Best Upper Body At-Home Workout For Women
The upper body exercises can be scaled to be done at home. Some of the gym exercises have been swapped with a similar variation you can do at home. If you have lighter weights, you may need to increase the reps or slow down the tempo of the exercise.
|
Exercise |
Sets |
Reps |
|
Band Pull-Aparts |
2 |
20 |
|
Neutral Grip Dumbbell Floor Press |
3 |
15 |
|
Arnold Press |
2 |
20 |
|
Band Seated Row |
2 |
20 |
|
Bird Dog Row |
3 |
8 |
|
Pause Push-Ups |
2 |
6 |
|
Farmer's Walk March In Place |
3 |
1 minute |
Ladies, it’s time to put this program to use and start transforming your upper body. No matter your starting point, remember that progressive overload is essential for muscle hypertrophy, so keep challenging yourself and getting stronger, and the results will come.
Related:
- The Best Shoulder Workout For Women
- 12 Best Back Exercises Women Can Use to Build Muscle
- The Best Arm Workouts For Women To Build Muscle
Prepare to maximize your gains with our exclusive 12-week hypertrophy training program. Choose between a 4 or 5 day training split and gain 2-12 pounds of muscle over 90 days...
References:
- Burrup R, Tucker LA, Le Cheminant JD, Bailey BW. Strength training and body composition in middle-aged women. The Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness. 2017;58(1-2). doi:10.23736/s0022-4707.17.06706-8
- Tucker LA, Mortell R. Comparison of the Effects of Walking and Weight Training Programs on Body Image in Middle-Aged Women: An Experimental Study. American Journal of Health Promotion. 1993;8(1):34-42. doi:10.4278/0890-1171-8.1.3
- Kelley GA, Kelley KS, Tran ZV. Resistance Training and Bone Mineral Density in Women: A Meta-Analysis of Controlled Trials. American Journal of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation. 2001;80(1):65-77. Accessed May 12, 2022. https://ift.tt/Tk5lK9E
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