Upper Body Workout

Today we have an upper body workout. Make sure you're using a good form for all exercises, including push-ups! Do each move for 10 reps followed by a 15-second rest. Repeat 3 times  

External Rotation with resistance band 

For this workout, we’re starting with external rotations of the shoulder. This exercise is a good warm-up for an upper-body workout. External Rotations engage the muscles in your rotator cuff: supraspinatus muscle, the infraspinatus muscle, teres minor muscle, and the subscapularis muscle 

These muscles are used in a lot of upper body exercises so it’s beneficial to warm them up beforehand. 

Knee Push-ups 

For this workout, we chose to do push-ups with our knees on the ground because we could do more reps without compromising form. If you can do standard push-ups, go for it! 

Push-ups are a very common exercise but they are oftentimes performed with poor form. Proper form is important for preventing injury and maximizing results. One major point to keep in mind is making sure your body stays straight/flat throughout the push-up. You don’t want your legs touching the ground before your chest or your chest rising up before your legs. You want to keep that strong plank form.  

Tricep Dips 

This is an easy bodyweight exercise that targets your triceps- the muscles that run on the backside of your upper arm. In the Upper Body Workout video, we did tricep dips on a short bench but you can always use your couch or even do them on the ground.  

To do a tricep dip, you start with your hands shoulder-width apart either on the ground or elevated on a bench or chair. Your legs can be bent or straight out in front of you. Slowly bend your elbows to lower your body toward the floor. Stop when your elbows are at about a 90-degree angle. From here, push against the ground or the chair to straighten your elbows.  

  Lat-pull down with resistance band 

As the name suggests, the lat pull-down targets your “Lats” (Latissimus Dorsi), the muscle across the middle of your back. In the gym, there’s usually a machine you can use for lat pulldowns but we used resistance bands for this workout.  

To do lat pulldowns with resistance bands, start with a band around your hands and your arms extended upward. Slowly pull the band to your chest while squeezing your shoulder blades together. The rep is complete when your elbows are completely bent. Slowly return your arms to the starting position. When doing lat pulldowns, focus on engaging your back muscles. Imagine your shoulder blades touching. You don’t want your forearms doing the work. Perform this move slowly to focus on working the targeted muscle, rather than using momentum to move through the exercise.  

 Bicep curl with resistance band  

Stand in the middle of the resistance band and hold each handle of the band. Your palms should be facing upward when you pull upwards, to target your biceps. Standing tall with your core engaged and your elbows tight to the side of your body, pull up on the band. After bending at the elbow completely, slowly straighten your arms back down. Be careful not to arch your back when pulling up on the bands. As for all exercises, focus on form to prevent injury and maximize benefits.  

*Please listen to your body!! Adjust this workout to fit your body and your level of comfort. aminoVITAL is not responsible for any injury.