
When it comes to strength training, women's bodies react very differently to weights than men's bodies. Lifting weights helps men gain muscle mass, whereas it helps women get toned and strong. While many women believe that if they lift weights, they will become bulkier, muscle building, in reality, necessitates a high level of testosterone in the body. Testosterone is the male sex hormone, and the female body produces it in smaller amounts. .
So, if you are a woman who is new to weightlifting or looking for ways to get ripped, here are five upper body exercises to try.
Lat Pull-down
The back is one of the biggest muscles in our upper body, so you must begin with the back, followed by the other small muscle groups. There is no better exercise for developing a big and strong back than the lat pull-down. Why is the lat pull-down best? Firstly, it is a compound movement, which means it works more than two muscle groups at the same time. When you do a lat pull-down, you work your back muscles, biceps, and traps. Second, as the name implies, lat pull-down is best at targeting the lats muscles, also known as Latissimus dorsi, and it is one of the largest muscles in our back, so training them makes our back appear wider. Lastly, if you are unable to perform pull-ups, it is an excellent alternative to that as well.
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Bench Press
Because the back is a pulling muscle, the next muscle you should perform must be a pushing muscle, such as the chest. The chest consists of two major muscle groups, pectoralis major and minor, and bench press helps target both. When you perform a bench press, your shoulder and triceps muscles are also worked, which means you can target all the push muscles, with just one exercise. When you perform a bench press, your shoulder and triceps muscles are also worked, which means you can target all the push muscles with just one exercise. Bench press can be done with both dumbbells and barbells, but using dumbbells allows for a better mind-muscle connection.
Military Press
Do you want to improve your upper body strength? Military press is an exercise you should include in your routine. The military press primarily targets your deltoids, or shoulder muscles. Military press training aids in both muscle gain and fat loss. The only thing to remember is that before performing this movement, you should properly warm up your delts because the shoulder is the muscle that is worked in every other exercise, making it injury prone. So, whatever shoulder exercise you do, make sure to stretch and get the blood flowing in your delts.
Triceps Pushdown
Struggling with weak arms? You are probably not taking your triceps seriously. Many people think that in order to grow big arms, they need to train their biceps. However, in reality, the triceps are bigger muscles than biceps, and having strong triceps makes your arm look broader. The triceps consist of three heads, and triceps pushdown helps hit all the heads.
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Bicep Curls
Bicep curls are a great old-school exercise for making your biceps look ripped. The biceps comprise two muscles, and performing bicep curls help target the area. The best part about this exercise is that it also targets your forearm muscles.
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