If you walk into a CrossFit box, there's minimal equipment. You'll see a few cardio machines like rowers and bikes, but mostly you'll find weights. We're talking barbells, plates, kettlebells, medicine balls, and dumbbells — there are a whole lot of intense workouts involving strength training.
Not only has my upper body completely transformed from two and a half years of CrossFit, but my yoga arm balances and inversions have also gotten way easier to nail, and I can carry at least six huge bags of groceries from the car to my front door (that's the true test of strength!). In order to carve my arms and shoulders, these are the upper-body exercises I do every week.
Start in a plank position with your arms and legs straight, shoulders above your wrists.
Take a breath in, and as you exhale, bend your elbows out behind you and lower your chest toward the ground. Stop as soon as your shoulders are in line with your elbows. Inhale to straighten the arms. This counts as one rep.
Hold a dumbbell in each hand just above the shoulders, palms facing in.
Straighten the arms above you.
Bend the elbows coming back to the starting position to complete one rep.
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Dumbbell Thrusters
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Stand with your legs just slightly wider than hip-distance apart, arms raised to shoulder height with elbows bent, holding weights by your ears.
Bend your knees as if you were sitting in a chair, keeping weight on your heels.
Press the dumbbells overhead as you straighten your knees to return to standing.
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Burpees
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Lower into a crouching squat with your hands on the floor.
Do a squat thrust by jumping your feet back into a plank position.
Do one basic push-up, bending the elbows and then straightening back to a plank.
Jump the feet forward to the hands, and come into a squat.
Do an explosive jump straight up, getting as much height as you can.
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Elbow Plank
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Start on the floor, resting on your forearms and knees.
Step your feet out one at a time, coming into a plank position.
Contract your abs to prevent your booty from sticking up or sinking. Your spine should be parallel to the floor, with your abs pulling toward the ceiling.
Hold for as long as you can. Aim for 20 to 30 seconds in the beginning, and work your way up to one minute as you get stronger.
Place your hands one leg length away from the wall.
Step your feet on the wall so your shoulders are stacked over the wrists and your hips over your shoulders, with the legs parallel to the floor.
Hold for five to 60 seconds.
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TRX or Ring Rows
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Stand with your feet hip distance apart, holding a TRX handle or ring in each hand, palms facing each other. If you don't have either, you can do this exercise using the edge of a sturdy table or a low bar.
Walk your feet forward until your body is at a 45-degree angle to the floor, arms fully extended, and your body in one straight line. To make this harder, walk your feet further forward so your shoulders are even closer to the ground. The advanced version of this would be to have the body almost parallel to the floor. To make it easier, walk your feet back so your shoulders are farther away fro the ground.
Holding the core stable and the legs straight with either the feet or heels planted on the floor, bend the elbows behind you, keeping them close to the body, pulling the chest toward the hands.
Straighten the arms to lower the torso, completing one rep.
Place a large resistance band securely around a pull-up bar. A band with more resistance will provide you with more assistance/momentum to pull yourself up.
Stand on a stable object (a bench will work), and grip the pull-up bar. With one hand, place the band around the arch of your shoe. Fully extend the banded leg.
With a neutral spine and your abs engaged, pull yourself up. The band will provide you with momentum to lift your body up. Lower back down to the starting position.
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Ball Slams
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Stand with your feet shoulder-width distant apart with the medicine ball on the floor in front of you.
Squat down and pick up the medicine ball, keeping your head up and trying not to round the spine.
Stand up, lifting the medicine ball above your head, fully extending the arms straight above you.
Forcefully slam the ball down on the floor as hard as you can. If the ball is light enough, catch the ball as it bounces slightly off the floor.
Stand in front of a wall and kick up into handstand, resting your heels against the wall.
Take a few steps to the right with the hands, then a few steps to the left.
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Plank Dumbbell Row
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Start in a plank position with your legs wider than hip-width distance; the wider stance makes you more stable. Hold onto your dumbbells, keeping your wrist locked to protect the joint.
With your core tight and your glutes engaged, exhale, stabilizing your torso as you lift your right elbow to row; feel your right scapula sliding toward your spine as you bend your elbow up toward the ceiling.
Keeping your neck long and energized, return the weight to the ground.
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Man Maker Burpee
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Start with a wide stance, toes slightly pointed out.
Lower into a deep squat, grabbing your free weights with your hands.
Walk or jump your feet back into plank position. Optional: do a push-up.
From plank position, begin your row: with your core tight and your glutes engaged, exhale, stabilizing your torso as you lift your right elbow to row. Feel your right scapula sliding toward your spine as you bend your elbow up toward the ceiling.
Keeping your neck long and energized, return the weight to the ground, and repeat the movement on your left side.
Jump your feet back in toward the hands, drop your hips toward the ground, and lift your chest.
In a squat, curl your weights into the chest, and stand.
Do an overhead press by extending your arms above your head, weights in hand. Carefully lower the weights to the starting position.
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Wall Ball
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Stand in front of a wall holding your med ball with both hands in front of your chest.
Squat down low with your hips below your knees. As you straighten your legs, throw the ball up to a specific spot on the wall or a target, about eight to 10 feet from the floor. You want to use the power of your lower body to propel the ball up, coming onto the balls of your feet.
Keep your arms extended, ready to catch the ball after it bounces off the wall. This counts as one rep.
Place your hands six or so inches away from the edge of a wall.
Kick your feet up, press the top of your head against the wall, and move your legs away. This will get your body in the correct alignment with your hips and shoulders stacked.
Hold for five to 30 seconds to complete the rep.
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Triceps Dips
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Position your hands shoulder-width apart on a secured bench or stable chair.
Slide your butt off the front of the bench with your legs extended out in front of you.
Straighten your arms, keeping a little bend in your elbows to keep tension on your triceps and off your elbow joints.
Slowly bend your elbows to lower your body toward the floor until your elbows are at about a 90-degree angle. Be sure to keep your back close to the bench.
Once you reach the bottom of the movement, press down into the bench to straighten your elbows, returning to the starting position. This completes one rep.
Keep your shoulders down as you lower and raise your body. You can bend your legs to modify this exercise.
Begin standing with a 10-pound dumbbell on each side of your body. If this is too heavy and you find that your form is incorrect, use lighter weights.
Holding onto the dumbbells, lower down and perform a burpee. If this is too much pressure on your hands or wrists, you can set the dumbbells down in front of you for this part. If you're a beginner, you can perform a modified burpee.
With control, push your body off of the ground as you simultaneously pick up the dumbbells. Be sure to keep your core engaged and your spine in a neutral position when pushing yourself off the ground.
Standing tall with your core engaged, bend your arms and hold the dumbbells on or slightly above your shoulders and lower down into a squat. As you stand up, push both dumbbells overhead.
Grab a set of dumbbells, and sit on a flat workout bench.
With one dumbbell in each hand resting on your thighs, lie back onto the bench.
Hold the dumbbells above your chest, shoulder-width apart, creating a 90-degree angle between your upper arm and forearm. Palms should be facing forward.
Exhale as you push the dumbbells up, fully extending your arms. Hold for one second.
Inhale and lower the dumbbells to the sides of your chest with control.
This counts as one rep.
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Overhead Squat
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Stand with your feet slightly wider than hip-width distance apart and toes pointed slightly outward, holding a barbell (or dumbbell) on your shoulders. Your hands should be wide.
Raise the barbell overhead, keeping your arms straight.
Sit back into your squat, bending your knees to 90 degrees while keeping your elbows straight.
Straighten your legs to standing, keeping the weight overhead, to complete one rep.
