Most of the upper body workouts are intense and difficult. Being a beginner does not mean that you don’t have to do upper body workout for beginners. There are several upper body workouts that you can do excellently. Upper body workouts are good in bodybuilding and strengthening your muscles.
As such, a beginner can strengthen his or her upper body muscles by doing simple workouts such as push-ups, goblet squats, bicep curls, and more. As a beginner, you have to start with lighter weights and introduce your body to heavyweights later. Chest press, deadlift, shoulder presses, and barbell bent-over row are some of the lighter weights exercises that are good for beginners. As much as they are beginners, they have to do exercises that strengthen biceps, arms, shoulders, back and other upper body features.
6 Best Upper Body Workout For Beginners.
1. Modified Push-Ups.
There are many variations of pushups that beginners can try out at the gym to gradually introduce their bodies to upper body exercises. Push-ups workout targets the chest. Therefore, if you are looking for a chest workout, any variation of push-ups is ideal. Modified push-ups are just a push-ups variation that is easy but effective and challenging. You can do many reps as much as you can.
Firstly position your knees and hands. Put your hands forward but wider than your shoulders. Your hands must be in line with your shoulders by your side. The position must flatten your back. Your knees must be close to each other with your legs crossed and elevated.
Secondly, bend your elbows to lower yourself. That is a push-up position and you have to go down. However, as a beginner, you might fail to lower your body. As such don’t beat up yourself but try your best to do the modified push-ups in the right way. Therefore, make sure that you are not using your chin to go down first. Rather, ensure the alignment of your head and neck.
The push-ups might appear as less challenging but don’t be surprised to fail to do them. If you fail, just draw your hands backward to reduce the weight from the upper body. Push-ups are good for strengthening your chest. In addition to that, they build your core strength, arms, and the back. As such, you can try other push-ups variations. Interestingly, push-ups are a beginner chest workout that can be done at home.
2. Goblet Squats Upper Body Workouts.
Goblet squats are a variation of squats. Interestingly, this exercise is good for working your entire body. As such your entire core, arms, glutes can be strengthened through the goblet squat. Goblet squats are also easy but a bit challenging. Mind you, you will be holding a weight with your hands. You can do as many reps as you can to challenge your body.
To do one rep properly, start by positioning your feet. Make sure that there is a hip-width distance between them. They hold the weight with both hands drawing it closer to your chest. Then lower your body by bending your knees. Make sure you keep the chest high with a tight core. Your weight must be in your heels and then push through the heels to go the start position.
3. Biceps Curls Upper Body Workouts.
The biceps curl is one of the easiest kinds of upper body workout at home kind of exercise. Noteworthy, there are many variations of biceps curls. You can use various tools such as dumbbells, cable machines, kettlebells, and many other weight tools. If you want to do upper body HIIT workout, you can consider bicep curls.
To do bicep curls you will need weight tool. Start by positioning yourself in a good posture to avoid injuries. Holding the dumbbells or any weight tool of your choice; stand up with your feet wide apart in a shoulder-width distance. When you are in the right position, lift up your arms at the same time.
You can lift hem up to reach your shoulders but keep them closer to your body. Your elbows must be pointing downwards. Then lower your hands down to be by your hips. Repeat the moves up to 12 times or more. You can alternate moving up and down your hands. There are many variations that you can try such as doing biceps curl while seated.
4. Chest Press Workouts.
If you are targeting your chest and arms, you should consider doing chest press exercises. The exercise is good for triceps, pectorals, and more. Additionally, it strengthens bones, burns calories, builds muscles, and more. This is good as an upper body fat burning workout.
There are many variations of chest press. You will need dumbbells and a bench to do the exercises. However, you can even do the exercise lying down on the floor. Noteworthy, you must choose the right size of dumbbell that can allow you to do several reps as a beginner. After being in form, you can increase the weight of dumbbells to challenge your body.
To do the one rep of chest press, start by lying down on your back. Hold the dumbbells with your hands. Raise your arms and make sure your elbows shape a 90-degree corner on the floor. Then lift the dumbbells up straightening your arms. Lower your arms to the starting spot. Do at least 15 reps.
5. Deadlift: Stiff Leg Deadlift Workouts.
This is one of the best exercises for building muscles and strength. In addition, deadlift exercises the entire body. As such you can use it to strengthen your legs, hamstrings, back, shoulders, arms, glutes, and more. It has also many variations that you can choose from. However, it is best to start with the standard deadlift before doing other variations. You can use a barbell or dumbbells.
To do the basic deadlift using the dumbbells, you can start by positioning your body. Make sure that your feet are in a hip-width apart distance. Hold dumbbells in a way that they are in front of your thighs. Then bend your knees to lower your body pushing your butt backward. Lower your body to touch your feet with your hands. Then bring your body up to the starting position. You can do 8 or more reps.
6. Barbell Bent-Over Row Workouts.
Most of the upper body exercises focus on bodybuilding and strengthening muscles. The barbell bent-over row is one of the best exercises for building muscles. In addition, the exercise benefits the body’s mid-back muscles, upper back muscles, rhomboids and other muscles.
To do the barbell bent-over row, stand on your feet with a shoulder-width gap in between them. Your feet can be under the barbell then bend your knees. Grip the bar and pull it up to the chest. Then put it down. It is a matter of picking and dropping the barbell but it must be done in the correct way.
Final Thoughts
Beginners can do upper body workouts. They are good for strengthening shoulders, arms, biceps, rhomboids, middle back muscles, and more. As such, beginners should not be afraid of the upper body exercises.
They can do them at home or at the gym. However, as beginners, they should start doing easy but challenging exercises. For instance, they can do modified pushups, goblets squats, barbell bent-over row, deadlift, chest press, and many other exercises.
Which upper-body workouts would you recommend for beginners? Why?
Thank you for sharing this with us all here. To be very honest, I really appreciate all you have shared here with us. Being able to master and build our upper body requires proper discipline and being able to pay attention to details here. Honestly, I like all you have shared and I hopefully hope that I will be ale to try this myself too. Thanks
Yes, I like to share with you and try to keep a smart your body. Thanks for comment
Hello there, thanks for sharing this awesome article I know it would be of great help to the public as it has been of help to me…I have been doing body workout for a very long time now and and must tell you the upper body is very significant and it takes great amount of devotion to train this particular region.
Sure, it is a more important upper body workout to be the smart and strength of the body. I recommend these to get effective results. Thanks for your comments.
Hello there! This is an amazing review you have got here. I’m sure this will help others who will come across it as its helping me at the moment. For me, I will like to focus more on the Goblet squats basically it has to do with the whole body. Thank you very much for sharing this with me.
Yes, if you are more like for goblet squat, that OK. you can get effective results. Thanks your comment
I have been staying at home since the quarantine started. And I have realized the importance of exercising now that I do less physical activity (staying in the house, I don’t need to walk long distances to have everything done). I didn’t know I could do squats for upper body workouts (I love doing squats).