Upper Body Strength Workout: Back and Shoulders

This is an upper body strength workout that mainly works your back and shoulders. All strength workouts are best when done with compound exercises.

Only compound exercises are done to work the back and shoulders. You finish off with some arms as accessory work and core as a finisher. This workout can be done in 45-75 minutes depending on how much you actually do.

The Upper Body Strength Workout

• Duration: 45-75 minutes
• Sets: 5 per exercise

1. Pull Ups – 5 x 6-12
2. BB Bent-Over Rows – 5 x 6-12
3. BB/DB Military – 5 x 6-12

Accessory Work – Superset

• Sets: 4
• Reps: 6-12

1. DB Bicep Curls – 4 x 6-12
2. DB Tricep Kickbacks – 4 x 6-12

Core Finisher

• Sets: 1-3
• Reps: 20 reps
• Rest: 20 seconds rest per exercise

1. Bent-Knee Crunches
2. Reverse Crunches
3. Russian Twist

The Benefits of Compound Exercises

Compound exercises work multiple muscle groups. When you do more of them, you can get many benefits for your body:

• Work more muscles in less time: when you have little time to exercise, incorporating compound exercises ensure you get more done in less time.
• Gain more muscle mass: the exercising of multiple muscles means more muscle growth potential.
• Improve strength: compound exercises improve your strength
• Burn more calories: the activation of multiple muscles means more energy expenditure in one exercise than isolated exercises. This can lead to having a calorie deficit and fat loss.

The Challenges of Compound Exercises

The multiple muscles moving in the compound exercises affects many joints, ligaments and tendons, which can lead to injury. It is important to have a perfect form when doing any compound exercise, because of the high risk of injury.

Focus on Mind-Muscle Connection

Mind muscle connection is the concentration placed on the muscle being trained. This focus improves the activity in the muscle. You should try focusing on it throughout the movement, from contraction to relaxation again.

This can make the upper body strength workout more effective in helping you build muscle.

The Importance of Nutrition

Whether you’re looking to build muscle or lose fat, your nutrition is of utmost importance. If you’re looking to build muscle, eat more calories than you burn for the best results. If you’re looking to lose fat, you must eat less calories than you burn all the time.

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