18: Upper Body Basics | Work Your Ams, Back, Shoulders, & CORE using OPTIONAL Weights & Mini Bands!

Hey everybody, I'm Amy from BodyFit by Amy. And this is your upper body basics workout. In this workout I'll be working with dumbbells, the occasional kettlebell and a mini loop band. If you have those, we will use them. Otherwise just use what is available to you. We'll be working all of the upper body so arms, back, shoulders, chest and your core. And we'll be going through your basic movement patterns along with lots of different options to work to your fitness level. Are you ready? Let's do it. Let's start just by getting our bodies warm. Just move your feet, pump your arms. We are going to be keeping this warm. Up short we will get some mobility. We will get most importantly the blood flowing, the body ready to move our body's core temperature up and a little bit of mobility and movement prep before we add these weights. So you will notice behind me, let's roll those shoulders that I have some weights. I have my 10 and 15 pound dumbbells, I have my 26 pounds kettle bell and I have a mini band and a bench. Don't worry if you don't have all of that available to you. Let's take it right here. Big deep breath in, big stretch and down. If you don't have all of that, that is okay. If you want to keep it body weight or if you want to just do a set of dumbbells that works. If you have a few of these, keep them close by. The bench I'll just be using so I can be a little higher and show you. Let's take it flat back down and round it up. But certainly the things on the can also be done just on the floor or in a standing position. So the way it works today, let's hold it under here. Roll those shoulders is we are going to have three quick circuits where we're focusing on an upper body pull, an upper body push and then some together. Let's roll those hips. Even though we are not getting the lower body today, you can go ahead and open that up and then let's take it nice and wide and just take those arms out. And what we are doing today we will start with a body weight version of an exercise and within that sometimes you can think of it as a mobility or more of a warm up. Then we will take it to a weighted version. Let's take the arms up and down as again we open up the hips. Then we will finish with a mini band or another body weight. Now if you don't have the mini band, I'll Give you an option to do it with the weights. And if you don't have that, if you don't have weights, you can just keep it all body weight. Let's take it right here. Hands up. Hinge it down just like that. Bring it all the way up and back. So we get that hinge as we get that work through the upper body, right through here and here. And if you can, we're gonna take it back to that high plank or down on the knees. So you feel free to take this on the wall if this is better for you, or take it on your knees. We're gonna do a little child's pose. Up to all fours or child's pos up to that plank just to get that stretch through the arms. And then get the core fired up and ready to go. Right through here. Up. And then let's do a little opening up to the side so you can keep the knee down, or you can take it from that high plank to that side plank. All right, we are getting it done with this workout today. Again, body weight weighted and band. And then beyond that, guess what, guys? It is a no repeat workout. Go ahead and make your way back up to your feet, back up to standing. Take your time. Walk it back slowly. Roll it up. So no repeat workout, but again, giving you these basics of how you can get upper body pull, upper body push, core engagement as we take it through these basic movement patterns, but with different modalities. So body weight resistance with the band, and then weight and resistance with those weights right here. All right, team, so we are starting with just your body weight. Cross those knees right here. We're gonna come into that hinge position. This first circuit is gonna focus on upper body pull. So we're gonna come here. Go ahead and watch me here, hinging here. And we're gonna take those thumbs up. We're gonna do a reverse staying in that hinge, and then a raise here to here at the end. We'll add a few little pulses. So core engaged. Hinge it here. Thumbs up, palms here. Here we go. Up and up. So nice flat back. I want you to think about pulling those shoulder blades together. We're using those thumbs as a little guide of where we can go squeezing in the back. And this is a great mobility exercise. This is a great way to get some body weight. Upper pull when a lot of times in those no equipment workouts, we do a lot of push. So just squeeze. Yes. Hold it here. We're gonna go five pulse. Four, three, two, one. Take it up. To the front. Five, four, three, two, one. Shake it out. Pretty basic, right? But we felt those shoulders. You felt your back. You felt that pull. Now we're going to take it to our classic favorite upper body pull. Maybe it's just my favorite two dumbbells, if you got them. Roll those shoulders. You're hinging. We're pulling up into a row. You can stagger if you need to. Let's do it. Elbows up. So same idea. We're in that hinge position. This time we're just pulling one angle. So elbows coming up. Pull the weights towards your hips. And again, if you feel like you need to stagger or maybe you need to place the knee on something, that can be really helpful if you're feeling it in that low back. Otherwise, let's keep it right here. And breathe. Squeeze. 10 seconds. Right here. Squeezing in the back. These are strong muscles. Posture, muscles. 3, 2, 1. Bend your knees to set those weights down. If you have a band, take a band. If you don't have a band, hang on to those weights and you're just going to do an alternate pull. If you have a band, we're bringing it up, grabbing it here. We're gonna pull down. Alternating pull down, squeeze one and then the other out in front. Core engaged. Here we go. You could also do this with weights, but it would be more of a push than a pull with weights. So if you got the weights, I want you just to alternate and pull from here. Squeeze and squeeze. Right, so you're still feeling those back muscles. If your band is a little bit lighter, grip a little tighter. Create that tension. It's out in front. Core is engaged. Making sure we're not arching. Pull the elbow down by your side. I feel it, and I hope you are too. We got five, four, three, two, one. Shake it out. Set that to the side. So we're going to keep with our upper body pull. We're going to take it to some punches. So we're back to body weight. We're gonna punch jabs and jabs. Halfway through, we're gonna go uppers, uppers. So as we come back, we're getting the pull. As we come up, we're getting the pull. Join me here. Here we go. So you could start slow. You can keep it nice and easy, but think punch, pull back, punch, pull back, squeezing those back muscles. If you want to pick up the pace a little bit. Totally up to you. If you want to get a little more cardio and get a little more twist for the core core. Anytime. I'm working core and curl. I have to really think about it. Let's take it uppers. So upper. Upper. It's that pull, that bicep curl position. And again, if you want to go here, Just getting body weight right. 5, 4, 3, 2, and breathe. Stretch it out. Now we're gonna grab weights. Probably something light to medium or medium to heavy. I'm gonna take. Actually, I'm gonna try my 15s, but we're gonna do a regular bicep curl. They starts to get heavy, which mine might. Let's go. We can alternate. So grab those weights. Regular bicep curl. Here we go. Up and out. So I've been trying to challenge myself more on weights. If you are new to this, if you're a beginner, you just stick to what works for you. And if you're like me and you're gonna get to that halfway point and this might feel a little heavy, you can always take it one at a time. I'm gonna go as long as I can with two, and then at this point, I'm starting to lose form, so I'm gonna alternate. Or I can always drop down to those tens. Right? Here we go. We got five seconds. I'm glad I challenged myself, though. And if you're. If you've been working out for a while, I encourage you to do the same at up. Relax. All right, team, so last one here, we're gonna have that band again, and we're gonna do a banded row into a banded curl. So I'm gonna have you put it here. Now, again, if you don't have weight or if you don't have a band, you can do weights. You're gonna row, you're gonna curl. Now, as we row, I want you to keep that tension here. Squeeze in the back. And as we curl, I want you to turn the PA palms up and keep that tension here. So you're always keeping the tension in the back and the shoulders, but it's your row and curl motion again. You can do weights, you can do band, but keep the tension. Here we go. Squeeze. Bring it up. Squeeze. Pushing out, pulling the shoulder blades. Squeeze in the biceps, right? We're also getting a little hinge, so we're getting a little low back. With this. We love. This is harder than it looks, right? And because we're just doing band, that's why we put it at the end. Muscles are already a little fatigued in these pull motions, right? Burn. Bring it up. Ah. Five seconds to go. Three, two, one. Oh, man. You guys, my biceps are on fire, but I'm feeling the back and shoulders. Two, let's set that to the side. You can do some little reach backs to open it up. If you take those thumbs to the back, that'll stretch out the biceps, but also through the back and shoulders. All right, so we are going to our next round, which is upper body push. But let's give ourselves a little breather with some water first. All right, quick sip of water. Some of those tend to get your heart rate up a little more, especially if you're lifting heavy. Otherwise, don't worry about it. We're focusing on form, strength, sculpt, upper body basics. All right, team, so I'm gonna grab my bench for a few of these, but you don't have to use it. If you have it available to you, it's a good option. Starting with body weight, we're going to start with our plank press. Now, maybe you've done this before. It's a down, down, up, up. You can do it on the mat with me. Knees or toes, you can take it onto the wall, or you could be elevated on something. That's also a great option, but join me here. The idea is down, down, up, up, down, down, up, up. So we're getting all of that upper body push while we get the core working as well. Join me here. Knees or toes? Here we go. Down, down, up, up. I want you to take this nice and slow, and I want you to really think about the core. Now, yes, we're getting push with that upper body, but I want you to also think that you're pulling up and in with that core. Not sucking in or holding your breath, but you're staying lifted as you're tight through the quads, through the glutes, through the back. So your core is working really hard in this as well. Remember, you can always be on the knees or elevated or on the wall. This should get your heart pumping just a bit. I know it's getting mine. 3, 2, 1. Stretch it back. All right, team, so that was our body weight, right? Kicking it off strong. Way harder than just that. Fly and race. Right, so now we're down on our back. Now we're going to do a bench press or a lying press. You can do this on the front floor. It does not matter if you have a bench. Grab those weights, meet me down on your back. Let's take this here. Core is engaged. Feet can be flat on the floor, and if you're down on the mat, you're taking it here. We're bringing it down At a slight angle. Not straight out, not straight in. Split the difference. Press up and in. Keep that core engaged. Here we go. So it's your lying press. Upper body push. Now, we think of this as a chest press. Often I call it that, right, because those are our big muscles that are working. But we're also getting all those other upper body push. We're getting the back of the arms, the triceps, we're getting our shoulders. And you probably still feel that core from that plank press we just did. We love it. Right down and up. If you have the bench, you can get those elbows a little lower. If you're on the floor, you're just going right down to the floor and that's okay. 3, 2, 1. And relax. Meet me back down on the mat. And if you have the band, we're gonna grab the band. Here's what we got, team. We're going into a plank, but we're gonna have the band here. We're going to move those hands out and in. So you're going to feel again, shoulders and upper body, but focus on that core. You can be knees or toes. You can be on the wall or elevated, but join me here. Hands are nice and wide. We're just going out. In, out, in. No push up. Just bring it up. So keeping that tension lift up in that core. In three, in, two, one. Here we go. Out to the side. Back in, out and in. If you feel like you're starting to lose form in that core, take it down to the knees. You can be elevated on the knees and still at that angle, or you can be all fours. If you're feeling really good about it and you want something a little different, go forward and back and then out and in, side to side, making sure you're maintaining that tension. So you're keeping the tension in the band, not having that band loosey goosey in the middle, tight the entire time. Yes. Three, two, one. Boom. Stretch it back. Oh, man. You guys. I know. Again, this is a lot of upper push. Here is what we've got. We're gonna have a right side, left side on this with our triceps. So body weight, we're gonna come into a side plank. So you can be up on the knees or up on the toes. I'm going to turn into it. I'm going to do a little tricep push and I'm going to open it up. You can also just do that with your up your body on the ground, but if you can be lifted at least on the knees, we're going there. 30 seconds each side, side plank, tricep push. In three, two, one, push. And here, if your wrists need a little break, just hold the side plank. We can still get the core. Your triceps have a lot more coming, so don't worry. You're still going to get them. So watch as I come in, my elbow pushes to the back, and I push up through that tricep again. If you need the knee, you're still gonna get the work through the core, get the work through the upper body. 3, 2, 1. Swing those legs around to the other side. We got the same thing here. Down, push, bring it up. Knees or toes, we got core, we got obliques, we got triceps. Here we go. So I wanted this to be an upper body workout, but of course, within that core is a part of your upper body, right or lower body, whichever way you want to look at it, it is everything. But I wanted most of the things that we're doing for core to really engage the arms as well. Like this. Again, if you need that knee, turn into it. Little push. Three, two, one, burn. All right, so get a little stretch through that. Now we're going to take it with one or two dumbbells, an overhead tricep. You can either sit straight on the floor, you can stand, or you can be with me. I'm going to come up and sit on the bench, but I want you to be engaged in the core. Elbows in, up and down. We're back to 40 seconds on this one. I'm gonna try with these two dumbbells, and we'll see how it goes. Here we go. Behind the head and straight up again. You can be seated on the floor. Can be seated on the bench. Burn as I get tired. I can alternate from here, but that gets a little tricky, so I'm going to switch it to one weight between two hands. That's a really great option, especially if your triceps are burning like mine. I mean, it's okay if they're burning, but if you're starting to lose form, I want you to really readjust. We got five seconds to go. Three, two, one. Oh, I know. Team. All right, so set those weights to the side if you have that band. Last thing for tries. I know it's a lot, but here's what we got. We're gonna take it. Where's my band? If you don't have a band, you're gonna do a dumbbell. We're gonna do a kickback. All right. If you do have a band, we're gonna go here, and we're gonna do a little push down. If you want to do a little tap with it, sometimes that helps me have a good rhythm. We're gonna go 30 and 30. I know they're burning. And if you're a beginner and you need to just take this body weight, that is okay. But this hand is going to hold it at the top. This hand is going to push tricep extension. 3, 2, 1. Down and up again. You don't have to do the tap back, but for me, it's really helpful for me to get a little rhythm and to have thinking everything going towards the back. Resist it on the way up. You can just be here or again with that dumbbell. Oh, my triceps are burning. I think that's what we're going to feel tomorrow. Do you notice that also your bicep is working? Your shoulders are working to stabilize. Everything is tight. Yes, team. I know. Breathe, relax. Shake it out. We're gonna get the same thing on the other side. Burn. Upper body basics. But the way we're structuring it is gonna really get those muscles working hard. So again, if you're new to this, if you're getting back into it, do not stress. If you're feeling the burn. I'm feeling the burn. But you can always just focus on the motion, focus on the form. Let's get set. Here we go. You can also grip like this. Sometimes a flat hand helps me really get focus on that push, keeping my core engaged as well. Yes, team, five seconds right here. Boom. Three, two, one. And relax. Shake that out. Big circles with those arms. I know. Body weight, weights, band. It is all challenging, and that's what I want you to get from this workout. So that way, if you're somewhere and you don't have equipment. Oh, hey, I'm gonna do that side plank with that tricep push. Oh, I just have my band. I'm gonna do that. Let's grab some water. One more circuit. Cheers, y'. All. All right, this one, we're going for it. We're combining some things together, some upper and core. We're getting it with some standing, some seated. Getting it all done. Join me for this last round. Let's get that upper body working. All right, team, so we had upper pull, upper push. Now we want to add a little more of that rotation. So the first thing that we're going to do with body weight is we're just going to take it to a seated knee or a standing knee cross. All Right, So no weight, but I want you to get those hands in tight. And we're going to get some standing core along with cardio. That's our little warm up. Then we're gonna take it with a gorilla row with our kettle bell. So here we go, team. Core engaged in three. We got 40 seconds of just body weight. Knee cross. Two, one. You can keep it nice and slow. You can keep it low if you want to. Just get the rotation without the knees. If you want to add more upper reach, pull and cross. But let's get that rotation. Yes. Now we're not going super fast. Even though your heart rate's probably getting up a bit, it's not about cardio. It's about the muscles engaging as we twist. Getting the core. If you're not twisting too much, just keep it to a range of motion. That's good for you. And breathe. All right, now we're going to take it to what we call a gorilla row. So I'm going to pick my heavy kettlebell. You can go kettlebell or dumbbell. Now, if it doesn't feel good for you to be reaching from the floor, you can just switch the weight in the hands. But what we're going to get is that weight in the center. And then I'm going to turn my hand. It's going here to here. And then I'm switching again. If you need to take it with a dumbbell, you can just switch in between. Let's get it done. 40 seconds. Wrap that core. We're back in that hinge position. I know we're feeling it. And let's get it done in 3, 2, 1. So again, we're switching up our angles. We're getting a little movement through the wrist, through the elbow, through the shoulder. But we're also getting that heavy weight. When we pull from the floor, we have to get a little lower so we increase our mobility. We have to pull from the floor so it's a little more of that strength as we're going through. Keep that core engaged right here. Boom. Yes. Ha. Three, two, one. And relax. All right, team, meet me on the mat with this band. Now, here's what we've got. We're gonna go back to that pull down that we did, but we're gonna add a little rotation for our core. If you want to keep it standing, you can take it here. Otherwise, join me here. We're gonna go back and up. Here we go. Now, if you still want to be seated but you this bothers your back or it's Too much. Just sit up nice and tall. You're still going to get the core engagement even if you're standing. But let's take it back. Pull the elbow towards your hip. You can get this body weight, too. But notice what we did. We did that standing knee cross, so we were focused on core and rotation. We did that gorilla row, so we're focused on that upper body pull. Now we put them together, right? Rotation and core. We got three, two, one. Relax. Upper pull. Now let's get a little upper push. So we're going to go flat back to that plank position. This is called an extended plank. Now, it is challenging, so if you want to do this on the wall or with your hands on a bench, that works, too. Or stay on your knees. But watch me here. I'm gonna walk those hands out in front as far as I can and walk them back. Then I'm gonna walk them out to the side as far as I can and walk them back. If you are a beginner, I want you to see stay on those knees. You're still going to feel the core or take it elevated core engage. 3, 2, 1. Walk it out as far as you can go and still stay up. Then use your core and use your upper push to walk it back in out to the side. This one's harder for me. Again, you can be on the knees if that's a better option for you. I'd rather you prioritize them the movement than being on your toes. You can, of course, just hold a plank, but we really want this movement as we go. Feel the difference. Feel that core working really hard. And then all of those upper body muscles. One more out to the side and in. Relax. Stretch it out. So notice when we did that band. That's. That was a little prep for that. That's a tough one. Great job, team. All right, now we're gonna get upper body push. We're gonna combine the triceps and that regular press. It's a close grip press. You can be down on the mat with me. I'm gonna go one kettlebell, but you can also do one or two dumbbells. We're just going straight up, straight down. I'm gonna come up on the bench so you can see me a little better. Grab that heavy weight or two heavy weights. And we're going straight up. You're going to feel the back of the arms. Feel like those triceps. Really got it good in the last round. But let's get upper push and core. Here we go. Straight up and down right here. Yes. Think about your core just being engaging, just stabilizing as you move, move through. As you push that weight or those two weights away from your body. Core is engaged, stabilizing, helping you move through this movement pattern and breathe. Yes. We are so close to the end of this workout, so hang with me. 3, 2, 1. Set that weight to the side. You can stay on your mat. Last move, team. If you have the band, we're gonna do a banded bicycle, so the band is at our feet. If you don't have the band, you can take it here. Or being on the mat is not right for you. Just take it standing. So band at your feet. We're adding some resistance for the core, and then we're going side to side. Let's finish it strong. 40 seconds. Wrap that core, tuck the pelvis. It is not right for. For you. Again, take it standing or body weight. 3, 2, 1. Here we go. Being on the bench adds another layer of balance, so make sure that you're safe and you're taking it nice and slow as we. If you have the band, it's not just here to here, right? We're gonna push, we're gonna pull, we're gonna push, we're gonna pull. We're adding that rotation right here. I wanted this last one just to be core because we have worked a lot, right? We've worked a lot of upper push, upper pull. Those arms are going to be feeling it tomorrow. Let's get 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Relax. Hug those knees in. Catch your breath, team. Hug them in. Wherever you are, you can just get a little stretch, and then just take those arms over your head, and you can do that little arm circle just right through there. I originally had it planned where we would have a bonus move of a row, a curl, a press. But listen, we've done enough of all of it. I think we're feeling it. Could add that in if you wanted. Slow. Come up onto your feet. We'll get a few little upper body stretches from here. I would love to hear from you in the comments. Let's take them straight up. Big stretch. Let me know how you're feeling. I know for me, I'm really feeling those triceps, but we covered it all. Different angles, different ways of getting upper pull and upper push and rotation and core stability. Right. As well as core flexion and extension. Take those arms in front. We used weight, we used resistance, and we just use plain old body weight. So I want to hear from you. Did you feel it? How are those arms Feeling and maybe how you feel tomorrow or the next day. Right? Reach behind if you can, grab those. That'll help you open up the chest. If you can't, no big deal. It's a kind of a tough mobility thing, but just take it right through here. Here, let's take that arm across. Pull it in. So you're just going here to here, and then just roll through that wrist so we get a little stretch. We're keeping this cool down pretty short, so make sure you get some stretches on your own here to here. Roll it through. And of course, make sure you're working in that mobility and flexibility into your daily routine, your weekly routine. If you have a wall available to you, put that hand on the wall and look over your shoulder. If you don't, just stretch it back. You don't have to actually be on the wall, but the wall helps. Look over your shoulder. So you're getting your wrist, you're getting your bicep, you're getting your shoulder, your chest, head and neck all the way through. Such a great stretch. If you can work it throughout your day. Stand up from your desk, take a little stretch. Break other side. You can just put it back or on the wall. Flat hand, look over your shoulder. I know we need that. Thank you so much for joining me today. Upper body basics. Maybe it was easy for you, maybe it was challenging, Maybe somewhere in between. Either way, we're focusing on form, we're focusing on variety, different modalities to get that upper body working. And of course, with all of it, we're keeping our body moving, getting our heart rate up, and getting those muscles working hard. Shake it out right here. Thank you for being here today. Let's get one big, deep breath in and out. You did it. That was your Upper Body basics workout. Great job, everybody.