Seven Exercises You Can Do at Home

When I first started training in the gym, the upper body seemed extremely complicated. There were muscles running in all different directions doing all sorts of different things. But in reality, the upper body does only two things: It pushes and it pulls. (For previous columns on putting on muscle, go to week one, or week two)

We’ll start with “compound” exercises that work several muscles at once. The squat, which we learned last week, is a compound exercise for the lower body. Pushing exercises are compound exercises for the chest, while pulling movements are compound exercises for the upper back. After that, depending on your time and energy, you can stop or continue with “isolation” exercises for specific muscles of the shoulders and arms.

Do all your exercises in front of the mirror and watch your form carefully. And breathe while you do these exercises! Exhale on the part of the exercise that feels harder and inhale on the part that feels easier. But the most important thing is to keep breathing!

Dumbbell Chest Press
Here’s your pushing exercise for the chest. For this exercise, using no weight at all is usually a bit too light, even for first-timers, so start with one or two-pound dumbbells. If you don’t have dumbbells, use small soup cans. (Just make sure they’re the same weight!) Sit on the end of a bench and hold your weights on your hips; then, keeping the hands and weights on your hips, roll back onto the bench.

“Split” Your Workouts Does it seem intimidating, or time-consuming, or both, to do a full-body strength workout every time you lift? Well, you don’t have to. Many people choose to do “splits,” in which they work their legs one day and the upper body the next. This gives them time to fit in a cardio (aerobic) workout as well.

If you don’t have a bench, not to worry; you can do this exercise on the floor. Just place the weights within reach and then lie down carefully on your back. Now position your arms and hands so that you look like you’re doing an upside-down pushup (which is exactly what this exercise is). In other words, stick your upper arms straight out to the sides from your shoulders, keep your elbows level with your shoulders, and bend the elbows at a 90-degree angle with your palms facing away from you. If you’re on a bench, don’t let your elbows drop below shoulder height; if you’re on the floor, don’t let your arms rest on the floor. This is your starting position.

Now press the hands up and together, straightening the arms to their full length without hyperextending (“locking”) the elbows. When the arms are fully extended, your hands should meet over your breastbone (sternum). Return to the starting position and repeat. When you’re done, if you’re on a bench, park the weights on your hips again and rock your body until you can roll back up to a seated position. If you’re on the floor, set the weights aside and sit up carefully (the safest way to do this is to roll onto your side and use your hands to help push yourself up). Never sit up holding the weights in the air; it’s bad for your lower back!

Dumbbell Back Rows
Now for your pulling exercise, which works the upper back. Like the chest presses, it’s better to do these with light weights rather than none at all. Sit on a chair with your feet close together on the floor. Keeping a straight back, bend forward from the hips until your upper back faces the ceiling rather than the wall behind you. (But don’t round your back; move the entire torso as one unit.) With a weight in each hand, let your hands dangle outside your knees with your palms facing your sides. This is your starting position. Now, keeping the elbows close to the body, pull the elbows back and up as far as you can, squeezing the shoulder blades together. Keep the palms facing each other and the elbows close to the sides. Imagine that you have paint on the inner surfaces of your elbows and that you are trying to smear your shirt with it. Lower slowly to the starting position and repeat.

Just Do it....All of It Can you do cardio work and weights on the same day? Sure, although I don’t recommend it until after you’ve been lifting for a week or two because you’ll be tired. Which should you do first? I prefer to lift first because after a cardio session I’m too tired to maintain correct lifting technique. But some people like to use their cardio work to warm up for their strength work. Try it both ways and see which works best for you.

Congratulations! You’ve just worked all the upper-body muscles. If you wish to continue, here are some “isolations” to help tone specific muscles.

Shoulders
Try all these shoulder exercises without weights to begin with. If they feel too easy, and if you don’t feel any sensation of strain in the shoulders when you do them, you can add one-pound weights. If your shoulders aren’t sure they like these movements, don’t add weights right away.

• Overhead (military) presses: These work the front of the shoulder. Stand with your feet about shoulder-width apart with your knees slightly flexed. Stand tall (use that mirror!). Hold your arms out to the sides at shoulder height. Then bend your elbows at a 90-degree angle. Your palms should be facing front. Tilt your forearms and hands slightly forward rather than pointing them straight up. This is your starting position. Now press the hands up, slightly forward (that is, not straight up overhead) and together, simultaneously straightening the arms to their full length without hyperextending (“locking”) the elbows. When your arms are fully extended, the hands should meet in a position just above the top of your field of vision. Return to the starting position. Repeat.
  
  Alternative, Front raises: If the overhead press bothers your shoulders, try this one instead. Start in the same position, but hold your arms down in front of you with the palms facing the body. Keeping the arms straight, but without locking the elbows, raise the arms to the front, stopping just above shoulder height, keeping your palms down. Hold, then slowly lower. Repeat.
  
  
• Lateral (side) raises: These work the middle of the shoulder. Step forward on one foot so that you are leaning at a slight angle with the middle of your shoulder facing the ceiling. The body should be straight, i.e. not bent at the waist. Start with your arms straight down, palms in. Now raise your arms to the sides, keeping them straight, until they reach shoulder height, palms still facing the floor. Lower slowly and repeat. You’ll look kind of like a large bird slowly flapping its wings. If you feel any shoulder strain, just do one arm at a time (but be careful to stay straight; don’t lean away from the working arm; that’s cheating). You can also do this exercise with bent elbows if the straight-arm version is too challenging at first.