12+ Upper Body Workout For Women At Home

Push-ups are one of the best upper body exercises for women since they are easy to learn, and they do not require any equipment. It offers workout benefits to the chest, shoulders, triceps, and core muscles and assists in developing these particular groups of muscles.

Doing regular push-ups helps with correcting bad posture, enhances cardiovascular endurance, and plays a role in weight loss.

How To Do:

• Engage your abs and glutes to stabilize your body.
• Bend all your elbows and then lower your chest to the floor.
• Using stomach muscles, lift the head and the upper trunk to return to the original position.
• Breathe in during the descent, breathe out during the ascent, allowing the arms to bend in the process.
• Maintain the positional line of your body still for the whole time.

Floor tricep dips are another effective bodyweight exercise that can build muscles in the back side of the upper arm region, commonly referred to as the triceps. This exercise is very versatile and can be done anywhere, including your home.

It assists in strengthening the triceps, which is a good thing for women, as most women consider their triceps to be a problem area. These regular floor tricep dips can help one gain well-toned arms and better upper body strength.

How To Do:

• Stand with feet far apart, with a distance approximately equal to two arm's lengths.
• Put your palms flat on the ground by your side, close to your hips.
• Slide your butt off the floor, keeping your arms on the ground to support your weight.
• Bring your elbows down to bend your body until it is at a 90-degree angle with the ground.
• Return to the standing position where you began.
• Repeat for 10-15 reps.

The bicep curl is a traditional workout that involves lifting weights using your two hands toward your shoulder level, thus developing the biceps brachii muscle. This muscle is capable of flexing the elbow joint and supinating the forearm.

Be sure to work your core constantly during the performance of the exercise and avoid using negligent swings. Dumbbells, resistance bands, or any form of weight can be used to perform bicep curls when a barbell is not available.

How To Do:

• Position yourself with feet shoulder-width apart and knees somewhat flexed.
• Grab a pair of dumbbells just above the chest level so that the palms of your hands face horizontally.
• Avoid having your elbows extend beyond the width of your shoulders.
• Flex the wrists upwards towards the shoulders with the upper arms being stationary.
• Stop momentarily at the peak of the motion.
• Gradually return the weights to the initial position.

One of the principal advantages of plank rises is that this exercise improves endurance so that seemingly challenging tasks become easier to accomplish. They also help to balance the body evenly and coordinate movements.

Plank rises are a wonderful chest exercise that people can easily do without leaving the house. This exercise targets the basic muscles that include the shoulder and arm, as well as the body muscles in the belly.

How To Do:

• Position your hands flat on the floor at a distance that is about the breadth of your shoulders.
• Try to contract your muscles and keep the straight position of your body.
• Raise your lifted hand to the ceiling and try to rotate your belly.
• Go down, return to the plank position, and then do the exercise on the opposite side.
• Proceed in changing the sides of the body as planned for the required repetitions.

As you begin the dumbbell shoulder press, it is important to maintain a tucked-in belly and avoid coming out with the lower back during exercise. This basic yet highly charged motion involves your shoulders, an area of the body that you need for good posture and lifting of objects.

The other advantage of the dumbbell shoulder press exercise is that it can be made flexible to offer challenges depending on the difficulty level of the exerciser. First, it could be done with lighter weights and then heavier versions as the person gets used to it.

How To Do:

• Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart with a dumbbell in each hand raised close to your shoulders.
• Bring the weight to the locked position, pressing it over your head.
• Gradually bring the weights back to the initial position.
• Repeat for 10-15 reps, 2-3 sets.

This is one of the simplest exercises that specifically targets the chest, shoulders, and arms. With this exercise, you will be able to develop your upper body muscles without necessarily going to the gym. They involve throwing punches with each arm for a particular period without changing the intensity at which the punches are thrown.

This movement also targets your abs, thus making it a whole-body workout. Also, this upper body women workout helps reduce stress and improve mood.

How To Do:

• Stand tall with your feet inclined at shoulder width.
• Bend your knees back with your abs tightened.
• Raise your arms to shoulder level while flexing your fists.
• Swing your right hand with the fist and withdraw it; do the same with the left.
• Keep alternating the punches for between 30 seconds and one whole minute.
• Don’t forget to take a deep breath.

These are effective plank modifications that work the core, shoulders, and arms. In this exercise, the sole aim is to raise one hand at a time to touch the opposite shoulder without changing the position of the body during the plank.

The benefits of plank shoulder taps are flexibility of the spine, better stability of the core muscles, improved upper body posture, and prevention of lower back pains.

How To Do:

• Let your hands rest on your shoulders and keep your back straight.
• Raise left hand to touch right shoulder, then lower.
• Raise the right hand to touch the left shoulder and retreat to the starting position.
• Gently continue tapping each shoulder in a manner that the hips remain parallel to the ground.
• There should be 15-20 taps on each side and 3-4 sets with 30-second intervals between sets.

This exercise eliminates the involvement of the elbow flexors and focuses on the triceps brachii muscle, which is needed for arm extension. This stretch aims at strengthening and stabilizing the shoulder joint, which would increase the effectiveness of other upper-body exercises.

This is one of the most effective upper body workouts for women that can be done without heavy equipment.

How To Do:

• One should stand with the feet abreast and a slightly wider dumbbell in each hand.
• Crouch at the hip joint while maintaining abdominal muscle stiffness.
• Make sure that your elbows are kept stiff to the sides of the body at 90-degree angles.
• Extend your arms to the back, squeezing your triceps.
• Take about 8 to 10 seconds to relax back down to the starting position.
• Repeat with the rest of the reps as many times as the sets required.

The bent-over row movements involve mostly the latissimus dorsi, rhomboids, trapezius, and posterior deltoids. It also targets the biceps and muscles at the abdomen, making it a useful all-round women upper body workout.

As is the case with most back exercises, the exercise enables one to avoid poor posture, especially caused by sitting for a long time. This movement pattern resembles walking and other daily undertakings and enhances strength as well as simplifies daily chores.

How To Do:

• Begin the exercise with your feet shoulder-width apart and holding dumbbells.
• Bend at the hips, maintain your spine's neutral position, and bend your knees.
• Dumbbells should hang with palms facing in.
• Bend the core and keep the back forward.
• Flare dumbbells up, bend the elbows and squeeze the shoulder blades.
• Stop at the top; slowly lower yourself down with control.
• Repeat for desired reps.

Wall push-ups have several advantages. They can be done by beginners, and practically anywhere. This type of exercise is highly recommended for beginners, people with some health issues, or those who do not like intensive exercises with weights.

Plus, they do not strain your joints, meaning they are good for people with joint pains. The throwing of weight on the wall also helps in strengthening the muscles in your stomach and therefore helps in improving one's stability as well as posture.

How To Do:

• Stand at a distance of the length of an arm, feet shoulder-width apart.
• Place your palms against the wall at a shoulder-width distance.
• Maintain torso rigidity.
• Bend the elbows so that the chest touches the wall. Push back to start.
• Repeat 10-15 times.

This bodyweight workout is probably the best upper-body workout for women. It focuses on the back, glutes, and hamstrings. Named Superman because it looks like the flying pose of your favorite superhero, it's a great way of building chest strength while correcting posture.

It is better to do the exercise often since it will prevent back pain by helping to build the muscles around the spinal area.

How To Do:

• Lie face down on the floor with your arms extended in front of you and legs straight behind you.
• Sustain the muscles of your abdomen and glute.
• At the same time, bring your arms, chest, and legs in parallel to the floor while maintaining a neutral spine.
• Then, try to pause for 2-3 seconds while you are holding your back muscles to feel some tension.
• Return slowly to the original position, gradually bringing down the weights.

The chest press exercise is one of the most commonly performed women upper body exercises. The main focus is the chest muscles in combination with the shoulder and triceps muscles.

This workout can be done on a machine, with weights, or with rubber tubes. However, doing it with a machine or using weights that are lighter in some way minimizes the chances of an individual getting injured, hence making it suitable for first-timers.

How To Do:

• Place yourself on a chest press machine or lie on a bench holding dumbbells in each hand.
• Ensure that the feet are on the ground and the back is to be straight against the bench.
• Hold the weights at chest level with the elbows curved at 90 degrees.
• Take the weights up to the extent that your arms are fully stretched but your elbows should not be straight.
• Gradually bring the weights down to the initial position by placing them on the chest again.

Lateral raises can be counted among the best exercises designed to work your shoulders, especially the middle part of the deltoid muscle. Lifting weights out to the sides can therefore help develop capacity, correct bad posture, and flaunt shaped and carved muscles.

They are best done 2-3 times per week to get the full benefits. To avoid injury, it is recommended to use a lighter load initially and slowly build up intensity while maintaining the right form.

How To Do:

• Hold one dumbbell in each of your hands with palms facing down.
• Suck in your stomach and keep your spine upright.
• Slowly bring the weights up to the sides till the arm section lies parallel to the floor.
• Lower the weights slowly to the initial position before releasing them.

Hey ladies! If you have not been giving your upper body the workout it needs, you should include these aforementioned exercises in your routine. An upper-body workout will offer you positive results on your overall health and physical condition.

You need to dispel the absolute lie that one can only get muscular by lifting weights in the gym. Most of the time, unless you wish to train like a professional bodybuilder, you are not going to end up really big. 

These exercises are particularly suitable for giving your upper body the lean, well-toned, and feminine figure that most women desire. Here are some significance of upper body workout for a woman:

• It assists in picking up and moving massive loads with relative simplicity.
• Tightens muscles that help hold your spine, thus preventing cases of slouching.
• Working muscles contribute to making the body look better and thus enhance the confidence of an individual.
• It makes bones stronger, thus minimizing the possibility of developing osteoporosis.
• Muscle mass boosts your metabolism rate, meaning you will be able to burn more calories.

There are a few categories of women who might need to stay clear or simply modify certain upper body exercises. It is advisable to exercise caution when exercising the upper body, especially if one is pregnant or has recently given birth.

Some exercises that exert major pressure on the abdominal area, for instance, push-ups from the floor, may not be comfortable. However, there are a lot of low-impact variations too, such as wall pushups or pushups on your knees.

Health is always a sensitive issue, and you should always consult your doctor first. If you have any injuries or conditions that impact your shoulders, elbows, or wrists, it is wisest to avoid them.