A New Look at Bill Phillips’ Upper Body Workout

At my fitness center in Golden, Colorado we have numerous exercise machines, and even though we have been open for years, they’re all virtually brand new. That’s because they’re hardly ever used. We have dozens of dumbbells and they’ve each been lifted over 10,000 times. Free weight dumbbells are a very smart choice, especially for those of us over 40 who need to be careful not to put unnecessary stress on tendons and ligaments during the workout. Dumbbells give us the leeway to find the right groove, where the muscles work hard and the connective tissue isn’t damaged in the process of getting stronger. Dumbbells also work more stabilizer muscles than machines, and you can find them at virtually any fitness center – even while traveling. My home gym is a workout bench and dumbbells.

Once you learn the basic free-weight exercises for the major muscles of the upper and lower body, you can use these for life. The whole idea that muscles need a novel stimulus to adapt has been misinterpreted over the years to think that muscles need completely different exercise. It doesn’t need variety as much as they need intensity. The adaptations are caused by overload. If you have a habit of working out in a comfort zone, you can go from one workout to the next; one set of exercises to the next and still not create any novel stimulus. The important thing is to learn how to workout hard and push yourself out of your comfort zone. In Body-for-LIFE I called this the High Point Training Technique — in a nutshell it means pushing yourself during the workout — giving it your very best effort and then reaching down deep inside and giving it even more.

Following my recommended workout will make your muscles get stronger, help you burn fat faster because your metabolism goes up (for as much as 30 to 40 hours after your workout), improve your cardio-pulmonary health, help your heart get stronger, and even give your brain more energy!

The keys to tapping into all these benefits and more is to do weight lifting in intense intervals where we work hard for a couple minutes then rest two minutes, then work, rest, work, rest, and work, rest again. We want to get our heart rate up to 90% to 95% of our estimated cardiac maximum (220 minus our age: for me that means I am aiming for about 160 heart beats per minutes at the end of my work sets–then I rest for a couple minutes until my pulse comes down to about 120).

On my 5-25 Upper Body Workout I do the 5 exercises shown in this blog. I do 10 reps of each set. I do one set right after the other, with no rest. After I complete 10 repetitions of all 5 exercises, I wait a couple minutes (this is just enough time for a training partner to go through their 5 sets if you’re working out with somebody) and then I repeat all 5 exercises for a total of 5 times.

With this ‘5-25 Intense Interval Strength Training’ workout I can stick with the same weight for all 5 sets (as opposed to ‘pyramiding’ or increasing weight for each set as we did with Body-for-LIFE). The way 5-25 is designed we reach ‘progressive resistance overload’ (needed for positive muscle adaptations) through fatiguing the muscles more with each set. By your 5th set of 10 reps for each muscle group your muscles will be thoroughly cooked, and that is good!

Upper Body Workout

1. Incline Dumbbell Bench Press — 10 Reps
2. Iron-Cross Raise — 10 Reps
3. Dumbbell Rowing — 10 Reps
4. Standing Dumbbell Curls — 10 Reps
5. Dumbbell Triceps Extension — 10 Reps

+ This upper body workout can be done with alternate exercises for each muscle group. For example: barbell bench press, followed by dumbbell shoulder press, then wide grip lat pull downs, preacher bicep curls, triceps push downs. At my Transformation Center I like to teach people how to do the whole routine with just dumbbells and a bench as many of them workout at home after leaving my Transformation Camp. For those who workout at a commercial gym, they can choose different exercises as shown above. Some people like to change the exercises up every 4 to 6 weeks and that can help them stay mentally stimulated by the workouts and perhaps offer some physiological benefit as well. I stick with the same exercises shown in this blog month after month, and I continue to get excellent results. I keep my workouts very simple — the key for me is hitting a high level of intensity during the lifts.

+ People who have been successful with my 12-week programs over the years are those who take the time to think through and plan their workouts ahead of time. Below is an example exercise worksheet that I give people at my fitness center — it allows them to plan and record information about their workouts. They make notes before and after each workout. When their records show that they can consistently complete 10 reps of a certain weight with good form, I recommend they increase the weight approximately 5 lbs. for their next workout. Make a note of anything you can think of which you can do better for your next workout, and you’ll be constantly improving.

Incline Dumbbell Bench Press

Starting Position: Sit on the edge of an incline bench. Pick up a dumbbell with each hand, place them on your thighs, and then one at a time position them at the base of your shoulders. Lean back, get firmly situated on the bench and you’re ready to go.

The Exercise: Press the weights up to a point over your upper chest and hold them there for a count of one. Then, inhale deeply as you lower the weights to the starting position. Hold the weights in the bottom position for a quick count of one, and then exhale as you drive them back up. Lock your elbows in the top position.

Tip 1: Don’t set your bench at too steep of an incline, or you’ll work your shoulders more than your chest. The incline should be about a 35 to 45 degree angle.

 Iron Cross Side Raise

Starting Position: Stand upright, with your feet about shoulder width apart and your arms at your sides. Hold a dumbbell in each hand, your palms facing your hips.

The Exercise: Keeping your arms straight, lift the weights out and up to the sides until they are about level with your chin, and hold them there for a count of one. From this position, lower them slowly back to your sides. It’s important to keep your palms turned downward as you lift the dumbbells so your shoulders, rather than your biceps, do the work.

Tip 1: Don’t lean back and “swing” the weights up. Lift them straight out to your sides until they are almost directly out from your shoulders. In the top position it looks almost like a gymnast doing an iron cross on the rings.

Tip 2: Don’t lean your torso forward and bring the dumbbells down in front of your body. Instead let the weights down at your sides.

Dumbbell Rowing

Starting Position: With a dumbbell in each hand and your feet shoulder width apart, bend forward at the waist so your upper body is parallel with the floor. Let your arms hang straight down, palms facing each other. This is a great exercise for the latissimus dorsi muscles of the back as well as the rhomboid, trapezius, and rear deltoid. All the muscles in the legs have to work on this one as well.

The Exercise: Pull the dumbbells up, concentrating on getting the elbows as high as they can go. After you’ve rowed the dumbbells up as far as you can, slowly lower them to the starting position.

Tip 1: Resist the temptation to lift your torso up as you raise the dumbbells — try to keep your back flat and your torso parallel to the ground.

Standing Dumbbell Curls

Starting Position: Stand with your feet shoulder width apart, and your arms extended down at your sides. Hold the dumbbells with your palms facing forward, keep your chin up, chest out, and shoulders back.

The Exercise: Take a deep breath, then curl the weights up towards the shoulders in an  arc. Exhale as you lift the weights (on exertion). During the curl, keep your upper arms and torso still — there will be some movement but avoid swinging the weights up (a very common mistake). Let your biceps do the work. Then, lower the dumbbells slowly to the starting point.

Tip 1: Don’t lean back or forward as you lower the weights. This reduces the amount of work the biceps are getting.

Dumbbell Triceps Extensions

Starting Point: Stand with your feet shoulder with apart and your knees slightly bent. Grasp one end of a dumbbell with both hands (palms up), and raise it above your head.

The Exercise: Bend your arms and slowly lower the dumbbell behind your head. Keep your elbows relatively close to your head and pointed straight up throughout the exercise to keep the focus on your triceps. Lower the weight until you feel a stretch in your triceps, hold for a count of one, then press the weight back up, following an arc so you don’t bonk the back of your head. Keep lifting until your arms are locked out and the dumbbell is again directly over your head.

Tip 1: Don’t hold the dumbbell like a sandwich. Place your palms so they face the inside end plate of the dumbbell, with your index fingers and thumbs touching.

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Notice: I’ll give detailed instruction on how to do the lower body workout this week here on my blog at http://www.BillPhillipsNews.com