Become stronger and build more muscle definition in the arms, shoulders, chest, and upper back while also increasing your range of motion and flexibility in the process. This 4-week program features 3 intense workouts each week using various approaches to strength training to challenge and condition the upper body.
Who is this program for?
This program is a good fit for those who want to become stronger, build more muscle definition, and increase functionality in their upper body. Maintaining proper form is required to lift weights safely, so along the way you’ll also naturally improve posture and how you carry yourself. Strength training of any kind builds lean muscle which requires more work for the body to maintain. This increases energy expenditure and resting metabolic rate, bringing about a reduction in body fat.
What to expect
You'll be completing a variety of training approaches including supersets, giant sets, single sets (bored easily/no repeats), bodyweight, circuits, burnouts, and more. There are no repeat workouts in this program, so you’ll see a fresh workout each new day. Workout time ranges from 25-51 minutes, with the average workout being about 42 minutes. Every workout has a warm-up and cool-down built in for you to follow, but as always, tune into your body and add in more if you need it or repeat the included warm-ups or cool-downs a second time.
The muscles of the core are a natural extension of the upper body. Due to this, you will notice some core work sprinkled into some of the workouts. The caliber of strength we have in our upper region is dependent upon our core stability and posture, so you will most likely begin to notice changes in your midsection as well.
Many days will feature an optional 'extra credit' video if you want/have time to complete it. Some days it will provide an add-on workout challenge and other days it will be a stretching or mobility workout. With that, you'll see the difficulty range from 1–4. The main workouts will be level 3 or 4 while some of the extra credit routines that consist of mobility and stretching work will be a 1 or 2.
Equipment
The only equipment needed is a variety of dumbbell selections and a mat.
Your trainers
This program features exclusive FB Plus videos from Erica, Tasha, Daniel, Kelli, Amanda, Nicole, Kayla and Aly. This program was built by Erica.
Please Note:
Combining this plan with other programs: This program has three scheduled workouts per week, all of which intensively target the upper body. This means that you will not want to do any additional workouts targeting the upper body (extra workouts for these muscle groups may actually hinder your progress). Strength workouts for the lower body and core muscles would be ideal for 2 other training sessions a week, and activities like running, walking, swimming, hiking, biking, yoga, organized sports, low-impact cardio, stretching, etc, would also be great options for those 2 free days each week. You can easily pair this program with our 4-Week Butt & Thigh Programs: FB Booty, FB Booty Round 2, FB Booty Round 3. Or, to further target the core, you can use this program with our 4-Week Programs focused on the midsection: FB Abs, FB Abs Round 2, FB Abs Round 3. You can certainly pair this with another Fitness Blender Program, though our more intensive plans that target all of the muscle groups (total body oriented) may be overkill in combination with this program because they already work the upper body.