upper body workout

4 Week Upper Body Workout Plan

Looking for the best way fast and gain some real muscle in less than a month? Well, look no further because fortunately for you we have the best upper body workout plan compiled in this article. In just four weeks and 16 sessions your body will be pushed to its maximum. Be prepared to do something new and get out of your comfort zone while attempting this challenge for amazing results at the end.

The road to getting the perfect body isn’t an especially easy one, but this workout plan is made in a way to always keep you on your toes and try something different every two days.

Basically, with four sessions a week – two dedicated to working on your chest and back directly and two working on your arms, all the while mixed with high-intensity weight workouts that will help you shed excess body fat while gaining muscle mass.

The upper body workout program

For the full radical transformation to be realized it’s of great importance that this training program is followed exactly as it is the next 28 days. Specifically designed to target the major muscle groups, particularly your chest and back – since it’s an upper body workout, it will drastically change the way you look.

Finally, here’s how the plan works: it’s comprised of four sessions per week for four weeks, preferably done in order on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, that way you have some break between strenuous sessions.

Now let’s get into a bit more detail of what the sessions entail. On Monday the focus is put on the chest and the back area, Wednesday sessions target legs and shoulders, on Friday the target is once again the chest and triceps, and finally the Saturday session’s emphasis is on the back and biceps.

Through direct and indirect work on the major upper body muscles twice per week you will stimulate your muscles into growing larger in size rather quickly, also due to the increase in training volume.

Onto the practical part. Every workout in this plan is made up of five moves. Those moves are divided into two parts: the first two moves which form a superset and the last three moves that make a tri-set.

In the first part you need to do the reps and have a rest period for move 1A followed by move 1B and repeat until all sets have been fully completed. Afterwards do the exercises 2A, 2B and 2C in the same way repeating until all sets are completed.

While doing this workout by this particular method you’ll find yourself spending more time working rather than resting per session. This is not only great for muscle stimulation, as it keeps the muscles stimulated for longer, but it also boosts the fat burning by keeping your heart rate high during the session.

Time under tension

We mentioned before that by increasing the amount of time that you’re working each session not only benefits muscle stimulation but fat burn as well. To do this successfully you need to have full control over your body during every session – keeping each rep smooth and controlled is key so that your muscles do all the work and move through the full range of motion. You will lift for 1 second (the concentric phase) and lower the weigh slowly, in a controlled manner for 2 seconds. 

Warming up

For weight heavy workouts it’s absolutely recommended to get a good warm up going before you even attempt to lift anything. Not only is it good for reducing muscle soreness after a tough workout, it also will help you reap the maximum benefits of lifting swiftly and efficiently, instead of dragging yourself through the first couple of sets unproductively and not finishing anything properly in the way it was intended.

Let’s get something clear, for muscle building the basic five minutes of warmup on the treadmill is impractical, even more so for building muscle in the upper body. For the workout to be successful you need to warm up the muscles you’re actually going to be using.

The best warm up intended for this type of workout is one where you do a variety of many dynamic stretches that activate the muscles all over your body, preparing them for what is ahead. Afterwards finish up by doing some warm ups that are specific to some exercises. You can do so by examining the exercises you have in your plan and doing prep that targets those exact muscle groups. The easiest way to do this is to do a one or two sets of each using a lighter weight than usual.

Finally, here is the list of exercises that are a part of the upper body workout plan:

Upper-Body Workout 1: Chest and Back

1A Bench press – Sets 5 Reps 8

1B Bent-over row – Sets 5 Reps 8

2A Chin-up – Sets 3 Reps 6

2B Dumbbell flye – Sets 3 Reps 8

2C Close stance push-ups -Sets 3 Reps 12

 

Upper-Body Workout 2 (with some legs included): Legs and Shoulders

1A Back squat– Sets 5 Reps 8

1B Overhead press -Sets 5 Reps 8

2A Dumbbell Lunges -Sets 3 Reps 8 each side

2B Rear Lateral Raises -Sets 3 Reps 10

2C Lateral raise – Sets 3 Reps 12

 

Upper-Body Workout 3: Chest and Triceps

1A Bench press Sets 5 Reps 8

1B Seated dumbbell overhead press – Sets 5 Reps 8

2A Hammer-grip dumbbell bench press – Sets 3 Reps 6

2B Cable triceps extension – Sets 3 Reps 10

2C Diamond push-up – Sets 3 Reps 12

 

Upper-Body Workout 4: Back and Biceps

1A Pull-up Sets 5 Reps 8

1B Reverse-grip bent-over row Sets 3 Reps 8

2A Chin-up Sets 3 Reps 6

2B  Barbell biceps curl – Sets 5 Reps 8

2C Cable curl Sets 3 Reps 12

Diet guidelines

It goes without saying that to get that amount of lean muscle definition an emphasis must be put not only on the working out part, but on your diet as well. A diet rich in protein is crucial to ensure that after workouts your muscles repair and rebuild properly.

To achieve the best possible results a healthy balanced diet must be followed, so not only should you consume protein, but also consume enough carbs to give you enough energy to complete your workouts. That means that you should at the very least eat three to four portions of fruits and vegetables daily and a large portion of complex carbs like potatoes or brown rice after the workout,  for that amount of carbs to be reached.

If you’re trying to build muscle efficiently, a diet consisting of 1g-1.5g  of protein per pound of bodyweight every day is the best way to go. Although, not everyone has the time to prepare their food and ensure it has the right amount of protein for the body, so even though it’s best to consume it through foods such as snacks or meals, you can substitute some of those for protein supplements.


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