What is the Single Best Upper Body Exercise?

[ThatGuy]

Never do dead lifts heavy in the high rep range. Your lower back muscles will weaken before your hamstring/ glutes.

If you're not exausted after 6 reps, you need to increase the weight load.

 

[Nicola]



Never do dead lifts heavy in the high rep range. Your lower back muscles will weaken before your hamstring/ glutes.

If you're not exausted after 6 reps, you need to increase the weight load.

Scary.

Heavy is a relative term. A heavy 10 rep set is what 80% your 1rm. A heavy 5rm is closer to 90%. They would both be "heavy".

If you can't tell your form is breaking down on a 10 rep set then there is no chance you won't make the same mistake with a 5 rep set. The idea a person should be working closer to 1rm to avoid injury is

 

[Nicola]



I would go for the deadlift.
Done with enough weight to let it be hard to do 12 reps - Then to 20 - And be totally exhausted after.
Next best would be bench press - Heavy.
Best regards
Michael Morales

Which sounds like breathing deadlifts. If done hard they will certainly wipe a person out.

 

[the_drizzle]

1. Squat
2. Dead lift

If you want a stronger/bigger upper body, then you need to be squatting.

Dead lifts are also good.

 

[deburn]



It's rather funny to see so many in this thread trashing pullups. Will you get bigger in size if you do a lot of pullups? Probably not much bigger. But will you get stronger? Yes. Absolutely. Will you look cut? With some serious work ... probably.

I do nothing but cardio (running, cycling, etc) and pullups. My typical pullup workout ranges from 40-75 reps spread out over 2-5 sets. here is a video of a set of pullups I did today. I concentrate on dead hang pullups, varying the grip distance by set. Dead hang meaning your body is near stand still between reps.

I can say very definitively that you can look absolutely ripped with just this workout combination (cardio exercise + pullups).

Are there other more effective ways to look ripped? Yeah, I'm sure there are. Rock climbing comes to mind.

But with very minimal effort and almost no time at all in the gym, I can achieve my goals. Which is what I want.

Do you have a recommendation on a pull up bar?

 

[Pennglock]



1. Squat
2. Dead lift

If you want a stronger/bigger upper body, then you need to be squatting.

Dead lifts are also good.

Dude, Im all about squats, but lets be real. They hit the abs and lower back isometrically, but the real strength added is from the hips down.

 

[fuji]

+1

If all I do is squat, my upper body is not gonna grow a significant amount. Yes my lower back and abs will get stronger, but my chest, shoulders and arms aren't getting any bigger.

 

[furo]



Do you have a recommendation on a pull up bar?

Not really. I found mine at the local Big 5 Sporting Goods store iirc

 

[threeleggeddog]

The best single upper body exercise is going to be equivalent to the best total body exercise. I know some members have questioned squats/dl's as "upper body exercises", but your body chemistry is going to respond best to the increased power requirements from the compound total body exercise, thus enhancing the results on your upper body. Weight training is only partly about stressing individual muscle groups. It also involves shifting your blood chemistry for effective recovery. Therefore, continually doing isolated upper body lifts is going to unnecessarily strain your muscles without adequate recovery, unless you're using supplements to shift your body chemistry (note however, that pull-ups/bench press press are NOT isolated, but do not nearly deliver the same chemistry-altering impact as deadlifts/squats).


Deadlifts are an easy win as the best, single movement compound exercise (though most people do not keep their abs tight enough, which minimizes the total-body workout benefit). If you're in a bind for time (and you want a brutal 10 minute workout ), try Burpee-Pull-ups. Essentially a Burpee-Pull-up is a combination of a Burpee and a Pull-Up. a) Position yourself under a pull-up bar. 1) Do a Burpee. 2) on the jump simultaneously do a pull-up. 3) Land on your feet and repeat. After about 15 of these, you're going to be breathing hard. You can alternate your hand position on the pull-up each jump to increase endurance and maximize the amount of muscle groups used.

Upper body muscles conditioned: Chest (burpee), abs (everything - especially the burpee if you keep your core tight), traps (pull-up), biceps (chin-up), upper and lower back (both), triceps (burpee - but try to keep your hands somewhat close on the burpee push-up). That's about every core upper body group in one 10 minute workout (plus, you get you get a killer cardio workout and improve your jump).

 

[furo]



Essentially a Burpee-Pull-up is a combination of a Burpee and a Pull-Up. a) Position yourself under a pull-up bar. 1) Do a Burpee. 2) on the jump simultaneously do a pull-up. 3) Land on your feet and repeat. After about 15 of these, you're going to be breathing hard.

Well that depends on your level of fitness. I can do 15 without breathing too hard, although I will admit it's a great workout.

 

[hazelnice]

I done setup and push up exercise for that! but usually i do it with sprint.