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.
Bicep Curl Muscle Area: Arms Chest Press Muscle Area: Chest, Shoulders, Arms Front-Lateral Raise Muscle Area: Shoulder Reverse Fly Muscle Area: Back, Shoulder Shoulder Press Muscle Area: Shoulder, Chest, Back Single-Arm Row Muscle Ar.