When aiming to build maximum upper body muscle, it’s easy to fall back on the usual suspects – bench press, bicep curls, push-ups – you know, the traditional ‘go-tos’. However, doing the same thing on repeat can get a little dull, which is why it’s nice to sprinkle in a few new exercises now and again to freshen things up. But how do you introduce variety without sacrificing your muscle gains?
Thankfully, Exercise Scientist, Dr. Milo Wolf, has shared some of his favourite underrated, science-backed upper body exercises in a YouTube video, that he says he doesn’t see “nearly enough people doing”. Now, that doesn’t mean scrap your entire workout plan and start doing all of these instead. But, like we mentioned, if you’re looking to slot in a few new additions to your upper body routine that will actually deliver results, you may want to consider these.
1. Single-arm dumbbell preacher curl
While incline and Bayesian curls stretch the biceps in a lengthened position, Dr. Wolf reminds us not to forget about preacher curls. Although they work the biceps in a more shortened position, research shows preacher curls better develop the distal part of the biceps — the area closest to your elbow – which can create a fuller, more balanced looking bicep. “I also find single arm dumbbell preacher close very easy to push close to failure,” he adds – and we all know, the closer to failure you can go the more muscle growth.
2. Side-lying dumbbell raise
It’s not just Dr. Wolf who rates this exercise for bigger delts, but Arnold Schwarzenegger also gives it the seal of approval – and agrees that he rarely sees people doing them anymore. “By lying down you’re flipping the lateral raise by 90 degrees, making it more challenging in the lengthened position and easier in the shortened position,” says Dr. Wolf. Arnie also adds that this move will deliver "a fantastic deltoid pump". However, don’t be disheartened if you have to reach for much lighter weights – these are tougher than you think!
3. Dumbbell flyes
Dr. Wolf claims this is “one of the most underdone chest exercises for hypertrophy”. While many tend to favor cable crossovers or the pec deck machine for isolating the chest, he points out that this move typically provides a deeper stretch than either of these exercises. “The dumbbell flye also allows you to depress your scapula without restricting range of motion, which further increases the stretch on the pecs,” he adds. Dr. Wolf says aim anywhere between 10-30 reps for a powerful pec pump.
4. Dips
“If you can get deep on the dip it provides a substantial loaded stretch on the triceps, front delts, and the lower and upper chest as well,” says Dr. Wolf. Fellow exercise scientist, Dr. Pak Androulakis-Korakakis, also highly rates it, claiming it to be one of the two only exercises you need to build upper body muscle. What’s better is that it requires minimal equipment, no setup time, and it can be easily progressed by adding additional weight.
5. Dumbbell pull-over
Not only is the dumbbell pull-over an amazing lat builder, it also works your chest and triceps. Similar to the dips, pull-overs require minimal equipment – just a single dumbbell and a weight bench – and time to set up. “On average, it’s going to train your lats at longer muscle lengths in a stretch position compared to the cable pull over,” says Dr. Wolf. He doesn’t recommend ditching your lat pull downs and bent-over rows just for this, but it’s a nice addition to these.
