An Upper-Body Warm-Up to Prep Your Back, Shoulders, and Chest for Your Workout
Looking for a great upper-body warm-up to do before your next back, shoulder, or chest workout? We have you covered, with a straightforward, five-move routine that will activate the right muscles and mobilize the correct joints so you can have the best upper-body strength workout possible.
A good upper-body warm-up—like the one below—doesn’t rely on heavy weights. Instead, it uses just your bodyweight and/or resistance bands to create tension in the muscles in your back, chest, and shoulders, ACE-certified personal trainer Tasheon Chillous, CPT, coach and personal trainer at Ascent Fitness in Tacoma, Washington, tells SELF. This tension then prepares your muscles to push or pull heavier weights during your actual workout, helping to increase the effectiveness of your workout and reduce your risk of injury in the process.
A solid upper-body warm-up also increases your range of motion and thus allows you to perform movements in your workout in their full extent. This, in turn, boosts the strengthening benefits of your workout. Lastly, a good upper-body warm-up challenges your heart rate and activates your core and muscles around your spine.
“We do a lot with our legs in our general day-to-day,” says Chillous—from running to walking to climbing a flight of stairs. “But we don’t often turn on our core or lower back.” That can be a problem, since your core and lower back are important muscle groups that affect the functioning of your upper (and lower) halves. After all, you need a strong core to help you perform upper-body exercises like the overhead press and the row, since your core muscles help keep you stable and transfer power to heft that weight. With this upper-body warm-up, which Chillous created for SELF, you can turn on these vital muscles and then reap the rewards in your upper-body strength workout.
As for when you should do an upper-body warm-up? The answer is simple: Before any type of upper-half strength routine, says Chillous. Getting into such a habit will help reduce your risk of injury and ensure you’re prepared for the workout to come.
This warm-up, which you can easily do at home, is designed to fire up your shoulders, back, and chest ahead of a strength workout. But because this warm-up has a good dose of core work too, you could also use it for core activation, says Chillous.
Feeling ready to kick-start your workout with a great upper-body warm-up? Keep scrolling for everything you need to know.
The Workout
What you need: An exercise mat for comfort and a medium-strength resistance band for the pull-apart.
Exercises
- Pull-apart
- Incline push-up
- Thread the needle
- Squat thrust
- Bear hold
Directions
- Do each move for the designated number of reps or time. Move from one move to the next without resting in between moves. (Of course, if you feel your form begin to falter, take a short rest and start again with fresh form.) After you’ve completed all five exercises in the circuit, rest about 10 seconds, then repeat the circuit one to two more times for two to three rounds total.
Bands We Like:
Demoing the moves below are Hejira Nitoto (GIF 1), a mom of six and a certified personal trainer and fitness-apparel-line owner based in Los Angeles; Amanda Wheeler (GIF 2), a certified strength and conditioning specialist and cofounder of Formation Strength; Shauna Harrison (GIFs 3 and 5), a Bay Area–based trainer, yogi, public health academic, advocate, and columnist for SELF; and Cookie Janee (GIF 4), a background investigator and security forces specialist in the Air Force Reserve.
Meiko ArquillosPull-Apart
- Stand with your feet hip-width apart. Hold one end of a resistance band in each hand.
- Raise your arms straight in front to shoulder height, palms down, with your hands about six inches apart. The band should have a small amount of tension but not be taut.
- Now pull the band apart, extending your arms wide to each side until your upper body is in a T position, keeping your hands at the same height. Pause for 2 seconds when the band is fully extended.
- Return your arms to center. That’s 1 rep.
- Do 6 to 10 reps.
This move helps warm up your upper back and rotator cuff muscles, while also providing some mobility work for your chest and shoulders, says Chillous. It’s great for beginners and more advanced exercisers, she adds.
Katie ThompsonIncline Push-Up
- Get into a high plank with your hands on a box, bench, or step, or against a counter. Keep your palms flat, hands shoulder-width apart, and shoulders stacked directly above your wrists. Extend your legs behind you, feet hip-width apart. Engage your core and glutes.
- Bend your elbows and lower your chest to the bench.
- Push through the palms of your hands to straighten your arms. That's 1 rep.
- Do 6 to 10 reps.
This move works your pectoral muscles (especially your lower chest) and your core, says Chillous. It’s a push-up regression, which means it's less challenging than a regular push-up. The more elevated your upper body is, the easier it will be.
Kelsey McClellanThread the Needle
- Start in a tabletop position with your shoulders stacked directly over your wrists and hips over your knees.
- Reach your right arm underneath your left and across your body with your palm facing up.
- Bend your left elbow as you gently lean into your right side; you should feel a stretch in the back of your right shoulder.
- Hold this pose for 1 breath; that’s 1 rep. Do 5 reps, then switch sides and repeat.
This stretch helps release tension in your neck, shoulders, and upper back and increases mobility in your thoracic spine, making you ready to move with less tightness in those areas, says Chillous.
Squat Thrust
- Stand with your feet hip-width apart, core engaged, and hands at your sides.
- Squat and place your hands on the floor so that they're about shoulder-width apart.
- Jump your feet back to come into a high plank position.
- Jump your feet back in toward your hands, and stand. That's 1 rep.
- Do 6 to 10 reps, engaging your core and glutes throughout.
This burpee modification warms up your shoulders and also provides a dose of cardio, which gets your heart rate up for your workout, says Chillous. Make it easier by walking your feet in and out from your hands instead of jumping them. You can also place your palms against a counter and then perform squat thrusts by jumping your feet in and out from there.
Kelsey McClellanBear Hold
- Get into an all-fours position with your wrists under your shoulders and knees directly under your hips.
- Tuck your toes and lift your knees a few inches off the floor so that you feel your core engage. Your back should be flat, and your weight evenly distributed on your hands and toes.
- Hold for 5 to 25 seconds.
A plank variation, this move fires up your spine, shoulders, deep core muscles, and core stabilizers, says Chillous.
Related:
