Upper Body Push Day

Written By: Chrisl2324

Published on: Jul/22/2023

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This is a common upper body push day that I've done many times in the past. It includes a few common compound exercises for the chest and shoulders and a few standard isolation exercises to hit the triceps and medial deltoids as well. Give it try!


Warm-Up

On days like this where I like to go pretty heavy on the main movements, I usually only warm up by walking at a moderate pace on the treadmill for 5-10 minutes. You can put the treadmill at a slight incline as well if you prefer.


Main Workout

  1. Incline Bench Press - I almost always choose to use the incline bench when working on chest because it has been shown to have a greater impact on the stimulation of the upper pecs when compared to the flat and decline bench press (1). This area is important, because, when built up, it provides a powerful look that many people lack since incline press work is typically neglected. I want you start off with just the bar, performing 8 -10 reps focusing purely on form. Make sure your scapula is retracted and that your triceps are not flared when performing the exercise. Up the weight to about 50% of your max and perform 5 reps. The final warm-up set should be 3 reps at about 65% of your max and then you're ready to go. For the main work sets, I want you to perform them in reverse pyramid style so that you can get the heaviest weight possible in the beginning without fatigue from doing too many sets prior. Perform 3 work sets, first one being 3-5 reps, second one being 6-8 reps, and the final one being 10-12 reps. Make sure to lower the poundage on all sets and to rest about one minute in between. This may seem like a short rest-period, but the accumulation of volume within a short period of time will lead to a greater growth hormone stimulus (2).
  2. Clean and Press - Following the three work sets of incline bench, I go right into the clean and press. Now by this point, you will be fairly tired from the bench work, but you have to push through. Use the same warm-up scheme and then rest about 2-3 minutes before you start the work sets. I chose the clean and press as the main shoulder movement because it is more intense than the standard overhead press and because it provides more full-body stimulation, causing it to be more of a max-effort exercise. Numerous studies have shown this to increase muscle growth (3). For the work sets, perform them in the exact manner as the incline bench movement. This will be exhausting, trust me.
  3. Chest Dips - Next comes the famous chest dip, which can be a killer exercise to hit both the pecs and the triceps, as well as the anterior delts. If you want to get really crazy, you can do them weighted like I usually do. But if not, aim to perform 4 sets of 8-10 reps. Make sure to lean forward to stimulate the chest more and to spread your pecs at the bottom of the movement for a better stretch.
  4. Side Deltoid Raises - These are a must have in any shoulder workout since they focus on building the width of your shoulder to give you the sought-after V-taper that most people are chasing. I like to do these with the rest-pause technique since it allows you to attain a lot of volume with a heavier weight than you would be able to with straight sets. I'll do an article later on that technique, but for now just know that you basically perform an exercise almost to failure, rest for a very short interval, and then perform it again, and then once more, each time coming close to failure. This is very effective at stimulating muscle growth (4). Perform 4 sets using the rest-pause technique. The number of reps is up to you.
  5. Rope Pushdown - To isolate the triceps near the end of the workout, I prefer to use the rope pushdown as opposed to other variations. This attachment hits all three tricep heads and is a great finisher for the workout. Perform 4 sets of 8-12 reps.
  6. Chest Press Machine - Now that you're sufficiently exhausted, head over to the chest press machine to finish off your chest. Choose a moderate weight and perform 2 - 3 burn-out set until failure. This should give you a great pump for the end of the workout.
  7. Row Machine - For cooldown, I like to go on the row machine and row at a moderate pace for 5 - 10 minutes.


Although it's only 6 exercises in total, this workout will be intense if you are lifting at a high enough intensity. I've used this routine many times throughout my fitness journey and have gotten some great results out of it. I hope you enjoy it!


References

  1. Lauver JD, Cayot TE, Scheuermann BW. Influence of bench angle on upper extremity muscular activation during bench press exercise. Eur J Sport Sci. 2016;16(3):309-16. doi: 10.1080/17461391.2015.1022605. Epub 2015 Mar 23. PMID: 25799093.
  2.  de Salles BF, Simão R, Miranda F, Novaes Jda S, Lemos A, Willardson JM. Rest interval between sets in strength training. Sports Med. 2009;39(9):765-77. doi: 10.2165/11315230-000000000-00000. PMID: 19691365.
  3. Mangine GT, Hoffman JR, Gonzalez AM, Townsend JR, Wells AJ, Jajtner AR, Beyer KS, Boone CH, Miramonti AA, Wang R, LaMonica MB, Fukuda DH, Ratamess NA, Stout JR. The effect of training volume and intensity on improvements in muscular strength and size in resistance-trained men. Physiol Rep. 2015 Aug;3(8):e12472. doi: 10.14814/phy2.12472. PMID: 26272733; PMCID: PMC4562558.
  4. Prestes J, A Tibana R, de Araujo Sousa E, da Cunha Nascimento D, de Oliveira Rocha P, F Camarço N, Frade de Sousa NM, Willardson JM. Strength and Muscular Adaptations After 6 Weeks of Rest-Pause vs. Traditional Multiple-Sets Resistance Training in Trained Subjects. J Strength Cond Res. 2019 Jul;33 Suppl 1:S113-S121. doi: 10.1519/JSC.0000000000001923. PMID: 28617715

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