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Workout · 2 ready-made sessions

Upper body workout

Two upper body workouts for chest, back, shoulders and arms — a gym session and a dumbbell-only session.

An upper body workout pairs pushing and pulling: a press and a row, an overhead press and a pulldown, then arms. Pairing opposite movements as supersets halves the session without losing any work.

Upper body workout

Push, pull, push, pull, then arms.

  1. Barbell Bench Press
    Sets
    3
    Reps
    6–8
    Rest
    2–3 min
  2. Barbell Bent Over Row
    Sets
    3
    Reps
    6–8
    Rest
    2 min
  3. Dumbbell Seated Shoulder Press
    Sets
    3
    Reps
    8–10
    Rest
    2 min
  4. Lat Pulldown
    Sets
    3
    Reps
    10–12
    Rest
    90 s
  5. Bicep Curl
    Sets
    2
    Reps
    10–12
    Rest
    60 s
  6. Cable Pushdown
    Sets
    2
    Reps
    10–12
    Rest
    60 s

Dumbbell upper body workout

The same structure with dumbbells and a bench.

  1. Dumbbell Bench Press
    Sets
    3
    Reps
    8–10
    Rest
    2 min
  2. Dumbbell One Arm Bent-over Row
    Sets
    3
    Reps
    8–12 each side
    Rest
    90 s
  3. Dumbbell Seated Shoulder Press
    Sets
    3
    Reps
    8–10
    Rest
    90 s
  4. Dumbbell Pullover
    Sets
    3
    Reps
    10–12
    Rest
    60 s
  5. Dumbbell Hammer Curl
    Sets
    2
    Reps
    12
    Rest
    60 s
  6. Dumbbell Seated Triceps Extension
    Sets
    2
    Reps
    12
    Rest
    60 s

Can’t do one of these?

Machine taken or training somewhere else? Each of these has substitutes that work the same muscles.

Tips

  • Superset each push with the pull after it, and rest after the pair.
  • Keep the number of pushing and pulling sets about equal, for the health of your shoulders.
  • On a four-day upper/lower split, make one upper day heavier (5–8 reps) and the other lighter (10–15).

Run this workout in SPLYT

Every exercise here is in SPLYT’s library. Save the workout as a template, log your sets on iPhone or Apple Watch, and next time your weights are already filled in from what you lifted.

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Exercises to swap in

Every one links to step-by-step instructions and a demonstration. Swap any of them into the workouts above.

Questions

What is an upper body workout?

A session that trains the chest, back, shoulders and arms together, usually half of an upper/lower split.

How many times a week should I do upper body?

Twice, on an upper/lower split, so every upper-body muscle gets trained twice a week.

More workouts

Fit it into a weekly split

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