Ready to work your upper body?
Join Coach Neesha for an awesome strength building workout today that targets your shoulders, back, chest, and biceps with an added cardio blast to really get your heart pumping!
Coach Neesha is a NASM Certified Personal Trainer and a Team Betty Rocker Coach.
In today’s workout, you can expect cardio-intensive moves like jack variations to get your heart rate up (with low impact options) plus strengthening moves like push-ups, shoulder presses and bicep curls to sculpt lean muscle!
Increasing the health and strength of our muscle tissue is beneficial for many reasons, like supporting immune function, more efficient fat burning, joint support and more.
Resistance training will not only make you stronger, but you’ll sleep better (1), experience cardiovascular health (2), and greater mental health (3). You will reap those benefits when you train in balance with rest and recovery, prioritize getting to bed on time, eating whole foods, and managing stress.
This workout is a great one to do from home or in the gym with simple equipment like dumbbells, or you could use any weighted objects you have around the house like water jugs, laundry jugs or anything you can easily hold onto.
Join Coach Neesha and let’s get right to it!
One-off workouts are great, but having a plan to follow is even better! Take a 30-day Challenge in Rock Your Life and have workouts like this formatted into a plan to follow!
Upper Body Sculpt
Click to expand and see all workout move descriptionsEquipment: Weighted Objects (water bottles, dumbbells, household objects), Optional Elevated Surface
Format: Perform each move for the prescribed time and repetitions and repeat for 3 rounds
Superset 1
Move 1: Slow Burpees with Double Push Ups (10)
- Begin standing with your core engaged and chest up tall.
- Bend your knees and plant your hands on the floor or mat in front of you (hands stacked below shoulders) and jump or step your feet back into a tall plank position, keeping your core engaged.
- In this tall plank position, perform 2 push ups by lowering yourself down toward the mat, bending your elbows and keeping your shoulders away from your ears.
- From your tall plank position, jump or step your feet back into your hands and come back to standing, loading your weight in your heels and repeat.
- MOD: Perform this on an elevated surface or from the floor and drop to a kneeling position for your push ups.
- Check out my Push-up Progression Tutorial for tips on perfecting form and building strength!
Move 2: Biceps Curls (8-12)
- Begin standing with your core engaged, chest up, shoulders rolled back and down as if you were standing against a wall, and holding your weighted objects with your palms facing in front of you.
- Keeping the upper arms stationary, perform a bicep curl with both arms by curling the weights up to your shoulder while contracting your biceps.
- Reverse the movement to return to your starting position and repeat.
Move 3: Wide Grip Rows (8-12)
- Begin standing with your core engaged, chest up, shoulders rolled back, and weights in hand.
- Hinge forward at the waist to be at 45 degrees, and engage between your shoulders, so they’re not rounding forward, allowing your dumbbells to hang beneath your chest and keeping your gaze neutral.
- Keeping your ears away from your shoulders, pull the weights out to the sides so your elbows and shoulders are in a line and wrists are directly below your elbows and squeeze your back muscles like you’re pinching the base of your shoulder blades together.
- Slowly return to center and repeat.
Move 4: Seal Jacks (0:30)
- Start standing with feet together and arms extended straight out at chest level.
- Simultaneously jump your feet out wide as you open your arms out wide to stretch your chest
- Jump your feet and arms back together in the center, returning to your starting position and repeat.
- MOD: Take out the jump and simply step your feet out one at a time while bringing your arms out to your sides.
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Click here to try it for yourself!
Superset 2
Move 1: Shoulder Press Jacks (0:30)
- Start standing with feet together and your arms upright in a goal post position at a 90 degree angle, pulling your shoulders back and down.
- Jump your feet out wide as you press your arms straight up while maintaining an active back.
- Jump your feet back together as you bring your arms back down to your starting position and repeat.
- Really focus on keeping your shoulder blades pulling back through the whole movement.
- MOD: Take out the jump and simply step your feet out one at a time while pressing your arms overhead.
Move 2: 2 Way Raises (8-12)
- Stand with your core engaged, chest up, shoulders rolled back, and weights in hand.
- Keeping your ribcage down and core engaged, raise the weights straight up in front of your body for a front raise, ending with your palms facing the ground.
- Slowly bring the weights back down with control and then lift both arms out to the side, maintaining a slight bend in the elbows and leading with your elbows rather than your wrists.
- Bring our weights back to your sides and repeat the front raise to lateral raise.
Move 3: Shoulder Presses (8-12)
- Begin standing with one weight in each hand with your arms up in a goal post position, arms at 90 degrees.
- Keeping your shoulders pulled back and down and your core engaged, drive the weights straight up overhead.
- Slowly bring them back to your starting position and repeat.
Move 4: Chair Sit Row to Kickback (8-12)
- Starting with your feet together, core engaged and shoulders rolled back, sink your hips back and down slightly as if you were going to sit in a chair.
- From here, draw your elbows in close to your rib cage holding the weights by your side.
- Kick your arms back behind you for a tricep kickback.
- Return to your hanging position and repeat.
Way to show up for yourself today! Check in and let me and Coach Neesha know how you liked the workout – we love hearing from you!
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- Kovaceniv A, et al. “The effect of resistance exercise on sleep: A systematic review of randomized controlled trials”. Sleep Medicine Reviews. Web. June 2018. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28919335
- Wayne L. Westcott. “Resistance training is medicine: effects of strength training on health”. Current Sports Medicine Report.Web. 2012 Jul. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22777332
- Strickland, Justin C, and Mark A Smith. “The anxiolytic effects of resistance exercise.” Frontiers in psychology. Web. July 2014. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4090891/