How to Build Muscle in Your Upper Body

To build muscle in your upper body, you need to target your chest and back muscles. Balancing out these two muscle chains is important if you want to get the result of coordinated and complete muscular development. FizzUp, your muscle-building program, takes these priorities into account to create a personalized fitness training program for you.

Easily develop your chest muscles

A no-equipment strength training program enables you to effectively build your chest muscles using a variety of exercises such as push-ups, burpees and bench dips. By working different muscles in your chest, you’ll build specific muscles such as your pecs, shoulders and abs.

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Change your workout protocol on a regular basis

To get results, your program should help you make progress by having you do repetitions of a specific exercise, then after two to three weeks of working out, you should start doing other exercises so that you can work different muscles. You need to work on your ability to engage several muscles at the same in your upper body in order to get results. Doing push-ups relentlessly without changing how you do them or trying to beat your repetition maximum won’t help you make progress. That’s why changing up your workout protocol is a must.

Your muscle-building program should give you new exercises to try so that you can make progress exponentially. For instance, there are many variations of push-ups that work different parts of your pecs. Traditional or decline push-ups strengthen the pectoralis major, which makes up the upper and middle part of the pecs, whereas wide-grip push-ups work the pectoralis minor. Diamond push-ups work the inner part of the pectorals around the sternum not only to get you attractive results, but to also strengthen your triceps. This push-up variation is recommended for push-up pros.

Strengthen your abdominals

Bodyweight exercises have the advantage of making muscles work synergistically. Dips sculpt your pecs, develop your deltoids and work your abdominals. You’ll tone your stomach and strengthen your core on an everyday basis, which improves your chest posture. Contracting your abdominals during each series of exercises will also help you strengthen them. That’s how you’ll get a uniform musculature in your upper body.

Easily develop your back muscles

To build muscle in your upper body, there are some impressive bodyweight exercises that can either add to or replace pull-ups, for example.

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A must-do exercise

As an exercise that works your entire upper body, pull-ups help you do two things at once: building muscles in both your back and your pecs. They tone not only your back muscles, but also your arms, forearms and pecs! You’ll work these muscles synergistically when they contract, for total muscle strengthening. They sculpt the “V-shape,” often sought after by men.

If you do this exercise with a supinated grip, also known as chin-ups, you’ll target the latissimus dorsi and biceps as you stimulate the pectoralis major. This exercise is generally easier to do. If you do this exercise with a pronated grip, also known as pull-ups, you’ll target your back muscles and your latissimus dorsi, the lower part of the trapezius and the teres major.

Are you a beginner? Remember to breathe normally as you do the exercise! Inhale as you go down and exhale as you come up. Breathing rhythmically will make the exercise less painful so that you can give it your all.

Two impressive exercises

Want to build muscle in your upper body using some alternative exercises? The Arlaud movement is an excellent alternative to pull-ups and chin-ups. To do this exercise, lie down on your stomach, as if you were doing the breaststroke on your living room floor. It’s very effective in correcting rounded shoulders due to sitting for long periods of time. It’s also great for relieving back pain. Rhomboids, trapezius and deltoids… this impressive exercise works them all!

The rower is another exercise you can do if you want to develop your latissimus dorsi, trapezius and deltoids. But don’t mix it up with the exercises like the rowing crunch. This exercise strengthens your muscles in a variety of ways. Like the Arlaud movement, it straightens up your shoulders and eliminates back pain. Pull your legs toward you as they act as dead weight to effectively work your arms and back muscles.

Reach your goal with fizzup

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Work out now!

FizzUp, the most downloaded fitness app in France in 2016, will help you build muscle in your upper body using a personalized program that takes your goal into account and adapts the workout content to suit your physical ability. An evaluation at the beginning of each level determines your current fitness level and tells you how much progress you can make. Follow the trainer’s advice and leave the rest to him. Your program is complete with progressive levels that use a variety of muscle-building exercises such as push-ups, dips, the rower and the Arlaud movement. All you have to do now is give them a try to see how they can effectively get you visible results in just six weeks. Workouts are only 20 minutes long and are scheduled every other day. After several years of research and development with specialists in fitness training program personalization, trainers and scientists, the FizzUp program offers you a varied, motivating and, above all, effective muscle-building program. That’s why it’s the only online fitness training service that’s recognized by the French Ministry of Higher Education and Research.

Just leave it to your FizzUp trainer! Try our programs to build muscle in your upper body. You’ll build strength and power that will make all the difference during your future workouts.

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