How to start building upper-body strength at home—no equipment necessary
When you’re a beginner, bodyweight is best
You don’t need lots of weights or access to a gym to start building upper-body strength. In fact, your own bodyweight is one of the best ways to get started, especially if you’re new to exercise.
“For beginners, the biggest bang-for-your-buck upper-body exercises are going to involve mostly weight-bearing [moves],” explains physical therapist and strength and conditioning specialist Nicholas Rolnick, who is the founder of The Human Performance Mechanic in Manhattan.
“This is because bodyweight exercises require strong co-contraction and stability, which can produce a significant stimulus to improve muscle strength,” he says.
Here are Rolnick’s top three moves to get started with.
1. Plank
Sets: 1 Time: 1min
How to do it:
- Get on your hands and knees with your wrists directly underneath your shoulders.
- Extend your legs behind you so you’re supported on your hands and the balls of your feet, with your feet hip-width apart, and your body in a straight line from your head to your heels.
- Brace your core and squeeze your glutes.
- Focus on pushing the floor away, keeping your back in a straight line and neck neutral.
- Breathe steadily and aim to hold for one minute.
Trainer tip: If you are unable to hold the plank position, stay on your knees and build up to holding it for one minute before transitioning to full plank.
2. Knee push-up
Sets: 3 Reps: 3-5
How to do it:
- Get on your hands and knees with your hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart and walk them forward until your body forms a straight line from head to knees.
- Place a yoga block or rolled-up towel under the chest as a target to lower to.
- Brace your core and tuck your pelvis.
- Bend your elbows to lower your chest to the target, keeping your elbows close to your body.
- Pause for two to three seconds before pushing back up, keeping your elbows tucked.
Trainer tip: If you can’t press back up yet, just lower slowly, focusing on building strength in the lowering phase first, or revert to these modified push-ups.
3. Prone swimmers
Sets: 3 Reps: 5
How to do it:
- Lie face down with your arms by your sides, palms facing up and your forehead resting on your exercise mat.
- Lift your arms as high off the floor as you can, sweeping them out to the sides in line with your shoulders and rotating your arms so your thumbs point straight up.
- Continue sweeping the arms forward until they're extended straight ahead, palms facing, then rest them on the floor.
- Lift your arms again and reverse the movement back to your sides, keeping your hands off the floor throughout.
Trainer tip: If the full movement feels challenging, break it down to perform five to 10 lifts in each position, starting with arms by your sides, in line with your shoulders and then finally pointing forward.
