The chest and triceps workout works the pectoralis major, anterior deltoids (front of the shoulders), triceps, and core muscles hard.

This upper body workout uses five movements to work these muscle groups and strengthens the upper body alongside your usual strength program or class. You can adjust the time limit to suit you, and best of all, you can modify it to your experience level.

We love using barbells for upper body strength training, but a pair of the best adjustable dumbbells will do the trick. Bookmark this one.

Building strength and toning muscles requires a consistent, balanced diet, adequate protein intake, a regular and progressive exercise routine, and sleep and stress management (what we call recovery).

Furthermore, much science teaches that NEAT (an acronym for Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis) accounts for the majority of daily calorie consumption. Basically, the more you stand and walk around, the more you increase your metabolism and burn more calories than, say, a single HIIT workout or strength program.

However, one workout will not shred your muscles or cause you to gain weight instantly, but you can consistently attack the program and make progress.

So let's shelve the burpees and try the following moves for the chest and triceps instead.

Dead hangs work the core and arms, including the forearms, biceps, triceps, shoulders, and back muscles (latissimus dorsi and trapezius). It also works the shoulders and grip strength. Dead hangs do not require the muscles to be flexed or stretched; instead, they use isometric contractions.

Methods:

The chest press works the pectoralis major, anterior deltoids, triceps, and trunk muscles and muscles in a pushing motion. The hollow hold position requires full-body contraction and develops core stability and strength. Click here to learn how to do the hollow hold and bench press.

Triceps extensions build arm tension and tightness, strengthening the muscles that support pushing movements like the chest press.

Methods:

Increase range of motion in the lower part of the push-up. This is a progression designed to build muscle and strength by increasing the amount of time the muscles are under tension. Since this variation requires greater muscle strength and mobility, approach it with the knees down until you can do it without knees.

Using dumbbells, create a deficiency by raising both hands.

Methods:

The Arnold press stimulates all three shoulder heads: anterior, lateral, and posterior deltoid. It also works the chest and triceps as well as the overhead press. Here are the details on how to do the Arnold Press and why I like Arnie's signature move.

How to:

It's all about pushing power with these five moves, but for a well-rounded upper body session, I recommend combining them with a three-move back and biceps workout.

Upper body exercises should be performed as EMOMs (one exercise per minute), aiming for 8-12 reps per exercise, leaving 10-15 seconds before the next minute begins, and ending with 4 rounds, for a total of 20 minutes of training. Adjust the weight to your ability so that the last few reps are near failure.

Triceps extensions are often saved for the last section of the workout because they exhaust the small muscles that support larger lifts such as push-ups and bench presses. In these 20-minute circuits, choose lighter weights for isolation exercises and heavier weights for movements that use multiple muscle complexes, such as chest presses and Arnold presses. [41] [42] This is a day to push the chest and triceps hard.