While abs and glutes workouts may get a bit more attention on social media these days, it’s equally important to show your upper body some love. That’s because building upper-body strength can help improve your posture, support mobility, reduce injury risk, allow you to more easily tackle everyday tasks (think: carrying groceries to lifting something heavy off a high shelf), and generally support your health and well-being.
Keep in mind, “upper body” is a pretty broad category, which includes all the muscles in your chest, back, and shoulders. We’re talking muscles like your trapezius, rhomboids, deltoids, latissimus dorsi, pectorals, rotator cuff, biceps, triceps, and more.
A solid upper- body workout will include exercises that work a wide range of those muscle groups. Or, breaking up your upper- body days to focus on chest and back, then arms and shoulders, is another great way to make sure you’re hitting all the important muscles. And, while we love a good bodyweight routine, adding a dumbbell to the mix can be a great way to build strength and muscle.
To help you get started, we’ve rounded up the nine best dumbbell upper- body exercises. Our recommendation: choose five exercises below, then complete three sets of eight to 12 reps of each.
