Upper Body Strength with Core: Build chest, back, shoulder and core strength

What's up, guys? It's Patrice, fitnessblender. com. And today, I have an upper body strength plus core workout in just 20 minutes. We're going to start with a quick warmup before we jump into our work. The first block of work is going to be our chest and our back. So, you want to think a little bit heavier in terms of your weight selection. The second block of work is going to focus mainly on our shoulders, triceps, and biceps. So, you want to go a little bit lighter for that. I will guide you along the way, but always listen to your body and do what works best for you. I'm excited for this one. Go ahead and get everything you need and join me on the mat. Want to help us continue creating free workouts? Join FitnessBlender channel membership on YouTube for exclusive access to all of our workouts, plus our five, 10, and 30-day challenges. Or join FB Plus membership at fitnessblender. com for unlimited access to all of our workouts, training programs, plus member only content at the best price. All righty, guys. We're going to go ahead and get started in our warmup in just a second. It is a short warmup, so if you need more time, please pause and take the time you need. Let's go. Hit my timer. Shake it out. We are going to start with some arm circles. I want to get some big arm circles in here. I just feel like that that'll feel good today. Let's go. We're here for just a couple of minutes. Just warming up the body. We're going to be doing a pretty spicy but quick workout, which is exciting. No real repeats, I think. So, that's also exciting. We're going to get down on the ground for a kneeling chest opener. Oh yeah, my shoulders. All right, let's go. So, knees under the hips, hands underneath the shoulders. Bring one of your hands behind your finger or fingertips behind the ears. Open up towards the ceiling and come back down. Try to connect that elbow to that wrist and rinse and repeat. Good work, guys. We're going to switch sides, obviously. All right, same thing on the other side. Fingertips behind the ears. You're going to open that chest and elbow up to the ceiling. Connect that elbow down towards your wrist. Take your time. Focus on that opening of your chest. That should feel really good, especially if you're a tin man like me right now. All right, let's go ahead and go into a little up dog to down dog. So, fingertips next to your chest. Go ahead and push yourself up. Look up towards the ceiling. And then push your booty up and back. Go at your own pace. So, you're going to go ahead and give me that up dog, looking up, and then push back into a down dog. Really feeling that stretch. All right, guys. Shake it out. We're going to go into our first block of work. We're going to be doing our dumbbell chest press. So, something a little heavier. I'm using 25 lbs per hand. You're going to be on your back. Breathe. We got this. All right. So, back nice and flat. Elbows are between your shoulders and your ribs. You're pushing the weights up above your chest. Coming down with control. Up and down. Give me a slight tap with those triceps. And come right back up. Coming up. We have a lat pull over with just one of the weights. Good work, guys. Quick shake out. Grab one of the weights. We're going right back down. We're going to pull this weight up and above our head. Okay. So, push that weight up above your chest. And then you're going to go ahead and pull this weight carefully above your head. Try to keep your lower back nice and flat. Use control. You're engaging those lats as you come up.

Good work. We have a weighted dead bug coming up. All right. So, same thing. We're going to push this weight above our chest and then we're going to kick our legs out into a dead bug. Okay. I will show you. Push the weight up. Knees in tabletop. One leg comes out, comes back in. head, neck, and shoulder come up off the mat for a little bit more of a challenge. You can also pull the weight back behind your head if you have control. Try to keep your back nice and flat on the mat. Good work, guys. Your core will shake. That's normal. Good. Neutral grip chest press. So, both of your dumbbells, you're going to have them palms facing each other. Let's go. So, elbows close to you, palms facing each other. You can actually even kiss the weights together or you can keep them apart, but you're pushing back up above your chest and coming back down. Your lower back continues to stay nice and flush to the mat. All right, quick shake out. You can switch out your weights if you need to. We're going to go into our bent over row. I would recommend sticking with some heavy weights. So, I'm sticking with mine. If at any point you need to pause and get another set, you do you. All right. Bent over row. Your legs are going to be underneath. Sorry, your feet underneath your hips. What am I saying? You're going to row the weights up and back. Okay, join me. Let's go. So, go ahead. and feet underneath the hips. You're hinging. You're looking ahead of you about 2 feet. You're rowing up and back. Take care of that neck. Don't look up. Don't curl it down. Nice two feet ahead of you is what I'm looking for. We're going to go into a kneeling row. Coming up. Good. Both weights come down. You're in that quadriped again. Hands underneath the shoulders. Core nice and tight. You're rowing on a kneeling position. So up and back. Once again, try to keep your back nice and flat. You have seven. All right, guys. We're going to stand up for a standing overhead march. I'm going to use one weight. Bring it up above your head. You're marching it out. Good. Bring that knee up to that hip. Stabilize yourself. You have seven. We're going to go into an oblique crunch. Standing. Good. I have my weight in my right hand, fingertips behind my left ear. I will tell you when to switch sides. All right, you're dragging the weight down your side. You're feeling that in

your oblique, and you're coming back up. Breathe, guys. All right, switch sides quickly. So, left hand has the bell, right fingertips behind the ears. Good job, guys. Go get a sip of water. Join me back on the mat for a second block of work. You will need lighter weights for that. I'm going to be using a set of 15 lb dumbbells. All right, guys. Welcome back. We're going to go ahead and get started in our second block of work. You just need one set of medium moderate dumbbells. I'm going to be using a set of 15 lbs. We're going to start on the floor with the Z press. So, this is going to target our shoulders. You want to keep your legs nice and wide. You're going to keep your weights up at your shoulders, neutral grip, and push up above your head. Okay, get yourself ready. Shake it out. All right, guys. Let's get started. So, weights come up to your shoulders. You're going to go ahead and have a nice established base. You're going to push up above your head and come down with control. Up and down. Good job, guys. Make sure you maintain that control. Your upper body is doing most of the work because you're not relying on your lower body whatsoever right now, which is very exciting. Coming up, we have some weighted crunches. So, we're going to be down on the mat with one weight. All right, good. Shake it out. You're going to be down on the mat, one weight. So, you're going to go ahead bring the weight up, punch it up above your chest. Your back is nice and flat. You're going to give me a crunch and come down. If you want to go ahead and give me a nice wider base, come up sit up. That's allowed, too. If you're doing the crunch, pretend like you have a string coming from the ceiling into your chest, pulling you, keeping that neck facing towards the ceiling. Don't put too much strain on it. We have a tricep extension on deck. Good work. All right, one or both weights. Choose your own adventure. We're going to go ahead and punch the weight up above our head. Clasp it. You're going to bring those elbows close to your head. Bring the weight up and down. Take your time. Squeeze your booty just to maintain a nice solid foundation. Use those triceps to bring the weight back up. We have weighted leg lifts on deck. So, we're going to be back down on the mat. It reminds me of musical chairs a little bit. You get up, you get down. All right, let's go ahead and come on back. You're going to punch the weight up above your chest. Bring those legs up and lower them down. If your back starts to bow, go ahead and go down as far as you can with good control and come back up. Make sure your lower back is pressed into the mat. If you want, head, neck, and shoulders can come up. You can bring it down for a little bit more of a challenge. You will feel that shake. Good job, guys. We have kneeling lateral raises. So, with both of the weights, you're going to bring them out to your shoulder

height. Okay? If that's too tough, do one at a time. Breathe with me, guys. Once again, kneeling takes a little bit of that motion from your lower body out of it, so you're not cheating as much. Not saying you would ever cheat. Let's go. Slight bend in the elbow. You're bringing those weights up to your shoulders. Coming back down with control, guys. Good work. We have a kneeling wood chop coming up. Good. So, we have our right leg out. Left leg is kneeling. You have the weight clasped. You're coming down behind your leg, pulling back up. So, you're going around and over your shoulder. You're going to feel this in your obliques. So, it's like you're picking up the wood. You're putting up top, I guess, or chopping it up. Putting it up top. Don't worry, we're going to do the other side after this next exercise. All right. Kneeling bicep curls. So arms come close to your body. Give me a curl. One or both. Both is harder. Unilateral is easier. So curl it up and come down. Keeping those elbows nice and tight. You're squeezing that bicep at the top. It's okay, guys. We're almost there. We have that wood chop on deck on the other side. No, I didn't forget about it. How dare you? All right, so left leg comes out, right leg is down. Both of your hands are on the weight. You're reaching down. You're pulling up. Down and up. Use your core. You're also engaging your shoulders. Your obliques are loving this. All right, guys. Last thing. One minute of bicycles and we're done. So, let's get back down on the mat. Tabletop position. Your knee comes in. Opposite knee, opposite elbow. Try to bring that knee towards your armpit though. Lifting your head, neck, and shoulders up. Go at your own pace. If you want to pick up the pace, now's the time. 15. Good work, guys. Let's go into a chest opener. We are all done. Clasp those hands behind your back, behind your booty, actually. Pull on them. So, it opens up that chest nice and open. And breathe.

How did that feel? The nice thing about workouts like this is if you're short on time, they're perfect. But also, if you want to repeat it, that's great because then you just kind of add on to your strength, your stamina. Let's go ahead and get into a cross body shoulder stretch. Bring one of your arms over. We're going to switch sides anyway. It doesn't matter which arm you start with. We all know I'm a big fan of triceps, but if you're short in time, if you're traveling, whatever it is, this has hit basically everything upper body wise. So, you're welcome. All right, switch sides. Plus, you get a little fun core in there. Can never be mad about some core All right, guys. Let me know how you feel. Let me know if you like the core. Little sneaky core moves that I put in here. All right, we're going to go into a little spinal twist. All right, let's sit back down on our butt. One leg over the other. You're going to push that leg towards you. You're going to be twisting simultaneously, looking over your shoulder. Really feeling that stretch. Switch sides. If you need more time to stretch, guys, please take the time that you need. This is a short, quick workout, but you are welcome to continue stretching. All righty, friends. You did it. I'm so proud of you. As usual, your workout is officially complete. Let me know what you think. Hope you have a great rest of your day and I'll see you soon.