An upper body workout is any workout that involves training most or all of the muscle groups of the upper body. This includes:<ul><li>Chest</li><li>Back</li><li>Shoulders</li><li>Biceps</li><li>Triceps</li></ul>While not required, upper body workouts are most often done as part of an upper/lower routine , which involves training the entire upper body on certain days and the entire lower body on others.

What Is An Upper Body Workout?

Here’s what the 4-day and 3-day versions of this split look like:<h3>The 4-Day Upper/Lower Split</h3><ol><li>Monday: Upper Body</li><li>Tuesday: Lower Body</li><li>Wednesday: off</li><li>Thursday: Upper Body</li><li>Friday: Lower Body</li><li>Saturday: off</li><li>Sunday: off</li></ol><h3>The 3-Day Upper/Lower Split</h3>Week 1<ol><li>Monday: Upper Body</li><li>Tuesday: off</li><li>Wednesday: Lower Body</li><li>Thursday: off</li><li>Friday: Upper Body</li><li>Saturday: off</li><li>Sunday: off</li></ol>Week 2<ol><li>Monday: Lower Body</li><li>Tuesday: off</li><li>Wednesday: Upper Body</li><li>Thursday: off</li><li>Friday: Lower Body</li><li>Saturday: off</li><li>Sunday: off</li></ol>

Workout Schedule

The vast majority of upper body exercises will fall into one of the following six categories:<ol><li>Horizontal Pushing</li><li>Horizontal Pulling</li><li>Vertical Pushing</li><li>Vertical Pulling</li><li>Elbow Flexion</li><li>Elbow Extension</li></ol>Why should you care about any of this? Two reasons:<ul><li>Effectiveness</li><li> Designing a workout with these six categories in mind will help ensure that every upper body muscle group is being trained, and you’re using each available <a href="https://www.aworkoutroutine.com/movement-patterns/">movement plane </a> to do so.</li><li>Injury Prevention And Balance</li><li> Designing things this way also helps to keep everything balanced around the joints </li></ul>

Upper Body Exercises: The 6 Categories

A horizontal pushing exercise is any movement in which the weight is being pushed out in front of you so that it’s traveling away from your torso in a horizontal plane. Most chest exercises  fit into this category. For example:<ul><li>Bench Press</li><li>Incline Bench Press</li><li>Decline Bench Press</li><li>Flat/Incline/Decline Chest Press Machine</li><li>Push-Ups</li><li>Dumbbell/Cable/Machine Flyes</li></ul>

1. Horizontal Pushing Exercises

A horizontal pulling exercise is any movement in which the weight is being pulled in towards your torso from out in front of you in a horizontal plane. Most back “rowing” exercises  fit into this category. For example:<ul><li>Bent Over Barbell Rows</li><li>Bent Over Dumbbell Rows</li><li>Seated Cable Rows</li><li>T-Bar Rows</li><li>Chest Supported Rows</li><li>Inverted Rows</li><li>Various Machine Rows</li><li>Various Rear Delt Exercises</li></ul>(Note: Even though the rear delts are a part of the shoulder, they fit best in the horizontal pulling category with these types of back movements).

2. Horizontal Pulling Exercises

A vertical pushing exercise is any movement in which the weight is being pushed upwards in relation to your torso in a vertical plane. Most shoulder exercises  fit into this category. For example:<ul><li>Barbell Shoulder Press</li><li>Dumbbell Shoulder Press</li><li>Machine Shoulder Press</li><li>Lateral Raises</li><li>Front Raises</li></ul>(Note: Lateral raises and front raises are technically not “pushing” movements, but they still fit best in this category. “Vertical raising” movements would be more accurate.)

3. Vertical Pushing Exercises

A vertical pulling exercise is any movement in which the weight is being pulled down towards your torso in a vertical plane. Most back “pull-up/pull-down” exercises  fit into this category. For example:<ul><li>Pull-Ups</li><li>Chin-Ups</li><li>Lat Pull-Downs</li></ul>

4. Vertical Pulling Exercises

An elbow flexion exercise is any movement in which the weight is being pulled towards your torso strictly as a result of flexing at the elbow. Most biceps curling exercises  fit into this category. For example:<ul><li>Barbell Curls</li><li>Dumbbell Curls</li><li>Cable Curls</li><li>Preacher Curls</li><li>Hammer Curls</li></ul>

5. Elbow Flexion Exercises

An elbow extension exercise is any movement in which the weight is being moved away from your torso strictly as a result of extending at the elbow. Most triceps extension exercises  fit into this category. For example:<ul><li>Triceps Pushdowns</li><li>Overhead Dumbbell Extensions</li><li>Skull Crushers</li><li>Triceps Kickbacks</li></ul>

6. Elbow Extension Exercises

A complete guide to designing the best upper body workout routine, including which exercises to do, how many sets/reps, and 5 free sample programs.

The Best Upper Body Workout Routine And Exercises

Pedroluis Polanco Jr