Good at home upper body workouts that don’t use any equipment at all are hard to come by, largely because they are difficult to properly develop with smart balance in terms of how the muscles are engaged. This particular routine targets all of the muscles and also encourages not only range of motion but also muscle and overall body awareness.
The difficulty of this routine is 100% dependent on what you put into it, which is what makes it an interesting workout for both beginners and advanced exercisers. It’s easy to limp your way through a workout, and that’s especially true when you are working “against yourself” to create the challenge. Do your best to stay present throughout each of these active intervals, pushing yourself and making sure to challenge yourself. Squeeze your muscles, contract your muscles - not just the ones we’re targeting today, but also your thighs, your butt, your calves and abs - focus and get comfortable and familiar with the tension and burning in the muscles when you are putting physical effort into both creating, and slowing down or stopping a motion. We have another workout video like this one from a while back that is just as sneakily challenging, also without any equipment at all.
Some of the most challenging workouts are ones that initially look so deceptively simple and easy. If you focus on pushing yourself through these exercises, you’re likely to find that this is one of those sleeper workouts that ends up leaving you with surprisingly sore muscles.
Workout Structure:
45 Seconds on, 15 seconds off, twice through for each group
Four groups of three
Modifications for dumbbells and for people with no equipment at all (optional exercise mat)
Warm up not included; strongly recommended
Cooldown included
Printable At Home Upper Body Workout + Abs Exercises
- Traveling Push Ups - Targets: chest and core
- Traveling Rows - Targets: upper back and shoulders
- Abs: Leg Drop Crunches - Targets: core, thighs
- Bicep Curls - Targets: Biceps, or the front of the upper arms
- Tricep Dips - Targets: Triceps, or the backs of the upper arms
- Abs: Get Up Toe Touches - Targets: the entire core (abs, lower back, obliques), glutes, thighs, upper body
Water Break
- Pike Push Ups - Targets: shoulders, biceps/triceps
- Pulldowns - Targets: shoulders, upper back
- Abs: Prone Plank Kick & Dip - Targets: core, triceps, shoulders, thighs, glutes
- Arm Circles - shoulders
- Walk Down + Up Down - Targets: arms, shoulders, core
- Abs: 3 Way Crunch Pulses (3 pulses; side, center, side) - Targets: entire core
6 Minute Cooldown
There is no warm up on this video; we highly recommend warming up prior to working out in order to be able to safely push yourself during your workout, and to prevent potentially avoidable injuries and strains. Here's one of our many warm up videos: Wake Up Call Cardio Workout - Calorie Burning Warm Up Cardio for Energy