We have made it to the advanced phase! You might be really excited for this upper body workout routine, or really not. Some people really like upper body day, and some people feel weak and really hate it. But, they are necessary nonetheless. This workout is circuits! You want to keep moving through the entire workout (little rest) and you should be finished in 30 minutes or less. This at home upper body workout routine is designed to keep your heart rate moving up and down, while forcing your muscles to work during the resting periods. The heart rate fluctuations are going to keep the body guessing and burn optimal calories (check out my blog post on different exercises for fat loss). And pushing the muscles to their limits while giving your heart/lungs a break are going to fully fatigue you and break down muscle tissues to build lean muscle! There is always science behind my madness, and all the workouts I create are designed to change your physique and get you feeling more confident than ever!
Table of Contents
• 10 uneven pushups
• 15 tricep dips
• 20 mountain climbers
• 10 diamond pushups
• 15 plank T’s
• 10 wide pushups
• :15 low plank hold
• 20 fast in/in/out/out
• 10 archer pushups
• 15 burpees
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Uneven pushups
Pushups are an old exercise, but have several different modifications for them to make them more exciting!
Form: Start from your toes, and place your right hand slightly in front of the left. Do half of your repetitions here, and then switch your hands so that your left hand is now in front and do the rest of your repetitions. This just puts stress on the muscle at a different angle. Keep your core tight and your back flat, going as far down as you can!
Modifications: Drop down to your knees and perform your repetitions there! To make things harder, you can separate your hands further apart!
Tricep dips
These can be performed on the floor, or on a bench/chair. Working those triceps that kick in during all pushing movements.
Form: Think “elbows in and push through hands.” If you are doing them on the floor, you want to keep your hips up and drop down as far as you can. If you are using a chair or bench, keep your knees bent and your butt close to the bench as you lower yourself down and push through those hands. DO NOT USE YOUR HIPS TO HELP PULL YOU UP.
Modifications: Doing them on the floor is the easiest option. To make things harder you can straighten your legs instead of bending them, but you can also had a weight to your hips to make it more difficult.
Mountain climbers
A great exercise that not only works your upper body, but also your core!
Form: High plank position with your wrists under your shoulders, back flat and core tight; one at a time bring your knee up to your chest, and then jump and switch feet. There are a few different medications here, but just make sure you are using your core to pull your knees to our chest.
Modifications: You can either slowly bring one knee towards the chest and replace it before switching, you can add a hop as you switch feet (keeping the foot off the ground when it comes towards your chest) or you can keep both feet on the floor and jump and switch. Do whatever works for you, but make sure it is challenging!
Diamond pushups
MORE PUSHUP VARIATIONS
Form: We all know the pushup form, but this time I want you to make the shape of a diamond with your hands. This is going to help target the triceps. That means you also want to try and keep your elbows in a little closer to your body to help change that angle of the muscle!
Modifications: As always, dropping down to your knee during a pushing motion is going to make things easier for you! You can also spread your hands out a little bit if having them touching is too difficult, As far as making it more challenging, just having your hands together and increasing your range of motion!
Plank T’s
This one can be simple, but also a real burner for both the shoulders and the core!
Form: Starting in a pushup position (wrists under shoulders and back flat), shift your weight into one arm and raise the other up to the ceiling (making a T with your arms). You can also shift your feet and make them a bit wider so you have more stability.
Modifications: You can try to drop down to your knees for this one, but it is going to make the twisting a little difficult, so just be careful as to not make any movements that are going to compromise your core and low back. Add some dumbbells in for a little bit of an extra burn!
Wide pushups
This type of pushup is going to really target the chest muscles instead of the arms/shoulders!
Form: Hands out wide (as in wrists are NOT under your shoulders) and your fingers pointing outwards. This is going to out extra tension and STRETCH on that pectoral muscle! Make sure you make full range of motion, if this angle hurts your wrists or shoulders, just change the angle a little bit!
Modifications: As I always say, dropping down to your knees is the number one way to make things easier! Not sure you would WANT to make these harder, but you can by increasing range of motion, increasing reps, or even picking one foot up off the ground!
Low plank hold
This is just the hardest version of a plank (that keeps all limbs on ground) also known as : by the Yogis!
Form: In a high plank position (wrists under shoulders, back flat) you want to lower yourself down about halfway to the floor and hold it!
Modifications: You can drop to your knees, but also feel free to hold for a few seconds and then drop down and rest before getting back into it! This is NOT easy! If you do wish to make it harder, you can add some time onto the repetition!
Fast Hands (out/out/in/in)
This is just an exercise to get your heart pumping.
Form: In our favorite pushup position, we are “walking” our hands out/out/in/in. You can move as quickly or as slowly as you wish, but make sure you keep your core tight and don’t let those hips shift side to side too much.
Modifications: Knees is the best option! Increasing your hands”step” length is going to make things harder for you!
Archer pushups
Probably the most difficult pushup variation I have ever done.
Form: First of all, you’re probably going to want to be on your knees to REALLY do these correctly! The goal is to only lower/push yourself up with one arm, the other one is just there for support! So put your weight in one arm and lower down (other arm is straighter with no weight on it) and then push yourself up. Keep switching arms. This has a bit of a rotation in it as well, so make sure your core is tight and you are really angling yourself toward one arm!
Modifications: Not sure there is an easier way to do these, so just take your time! Make things harder by going up onto your toes making sure your range of motion is stellar!
Burpees
The best and worst exercise of all time.
Form: Core tight and make sure there is a purpose behind each movement. Movement goes as: hands to floor, jump back, just forward, jump up. Core is tight the entire time and you are jumping all the way back to a high plank position and then back in towards your hands.
Modifications: You can elevate your hands on a bench or chair to make things a little bit easier. You can also take the jumps out and just step back in and out. To make things harder you can add a pushup at the bottom, some mountain climbers or plank jacks as well.
Simple warmup and cool down for todays upper body workout routine at home!
Warm-up:
◊ Arm circles forward
◊ Arm circles backwards
◊ Arm swings forward/backwards (scissors)
◊ Arm swings right/left (open/close)
◊ Walkouts
Cool Down:
◊ Open book stretch
◊ Doorframe chest stretch
◊ Wall assisted lat stretch
◊ Arm crossover rhomboid stretch
DONE and DUSTED! Another great workout in the books! And if you are interested, I am running a FREE 4 week challenge! Workouts and Facebook accountability provided! These will be the workouts I am doing for 4 weeks, and I want you to join me! Sign up below! Challenge will start June 4 (but you can complete workouts whenever you want)!
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