The majority of us don’t have hours to train in the gym, but does that mean you can’t build some serious upper-body muscle? Absolutely not. In fact, you don’t need to waste time grinding through endless sets of 10 different exercises.
According to Sports Scientist, Dr. Pak Androulakis-Korakakis, you just need two exercises to build upper body muscle – and no, the bench press isn’t one of them. In fact, neither requires a barbell or even dumbbells.
“These two exercises are like the squat and the deadlift, but for your upper body,” he says in his video. He also adds that you can superset them too, which is ideal if you’re even more tight on time. What are they? Chin-ups and dips.
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“With these two exercises, you tick a lot of boxes: chest, front delts, triceps, biceps, upper back (to an extent), back and forearms,” he explains. The fact that you need minimal kit for both which is a bonus too.
Let’s break down each exercise in more detail…
Chin-ups
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Dr Pak says chin-ups are the greatest of all time exercises and “one of the simplest ways to get a bigger back and biceps”. What’s even better is that they require no set-up time – as all you need is a pull-up bar – and are pretty straightforward when it comes to execution: simply grab the bar with a supinated grip (palms facing towards you) or neutral grip (palms inwards), and pull yourself up.
They can also be progressively overloaded too, which is one of the key principles for building muscle. So, even if you become a master at chin-ups, there are ways in which you can make them harder, such as adding a weight belt, wearing a weighted vest, slowing down the eccentric, etc., to help you progress.
If you’re still struggling to master your first chin-up you can use a resistance band for assistance, and focus on vertical pulling exercises, like the lat pull-down, horizontal rowing movements, like the dumbbell/barbell rows, and negative chin-ups.
How to do chin-ups:
- Grab the pull up bar with an underhand grip (palms facing you), your hands shoulder-width apart and lift your feet off the ground, so that you’re hanging freely from the bar
- Draw your elbows down towards your pockets to pull yourself up and your chin over the bar
- Pause here for a second then, with control, extend the elbows to lower yourself back towards the ground
Dips
(Image credit: Shutterstock)
Dips are another classic upper exercise that’ll work your chest, triceps, and front delts. “You can get an amazing stretch on them and absolutely annihilate your triceps and your entire chest,” says Dr Pak.
Similar to the chin-ups, you can easily progress dips once you’re able to smash out numerous bodyweight reps, using the same methods – slowing down the eccentric, using a weight belt or wearing a weighted vest.
“You can try different grips, different hand positions, different torso angles to slightly emphasise the chest more or your triceps more or just feel comfortable,” adds Dr Pak.
To nail the technique, he advises leaning your torso slightly forward and keeping your elbows relatively close to your body.
How to:
- Grab the dip bars with a neutral grip (your palms facing inwards), your arms extended straight, and your torso leaning slightly forwards
- Bending at the elbows, lower your body down towards the floor as far as you can comfortably go, whilst keeping them tucked close to your body (if you can get your elbows to a 90-degree angle, great, if not, don’t worry, you can work up to this over time)
- Pause at the bottom for a second, then squeeze your triceps and extend your arms so that they return to your straight starting position
