Ready for an efficient workout to construct your upper body by making a more sculpted chest and a more muscular back? Rethink your training week and step away from the standard workout split.

Training chest and back in the identical session allows you to use agonist-antagonist supersets — a high-dollar term for exercise pairings that hit opposite sides of your body with zero rest in-between.

Credit: Anton Romanov / Shutterstock

By deleting the remainder interval, these supersets assist you to get a number of training achieved in less time. Higher yet, they’re less prone to impair exercise performance in comparison with supersets targeting the identical muscle groups. (1)

So buckle up, grab the plan, and get to work hitting nearly every part above your hips using a handful of high intensity, highly focused movements.

Chest and Back Workout

Meet Your Chest and Back Muscles

In his prime, massive and full pectoral muscles were amongst Arnold Schwarzenegger’s most impressive attributes. Arnold’s chest had size and symmetry — attributes that are key to a well-developed chest. Not only will lifters with bodybuilding goals must perform chest exercises with sufficient intensity, but they may also need to make sure all areas of the chest are adequately targeted. 

Pectoralis major, probably the most outstanding chest muscle, has two or three functional “subregions.” The sternocostal head is the most important portion and it’s effectively trained during horizontal adduction exercises equivalent to horizontal chest presses and flyes. (2)(3)(4) The upper-most a part of the pec major, termed the clavicular head, is emphasized with shoulder flexion exercises and incline presses. (2)(3)(4)(5)

Less often discussed, but relevant to any lifter training for a top physique, is the inferior-most portion of the pecs — the lower costal fibers and abdominal fibers. These fibers pull your arms down from the overhead position, as in pulldowns and pullovers. (2)

Credit: Merrick Lincoln, DPT, CSCS / YouTube

A powerful back has three key qualities: breadth or width, thickness, and definition. While the latter can only be achieved by reaching sufficiently low levels of body fat, developing all qualities will depend on robust muscle growth, or “hypertrophy,” of the back muscles. Major aesthetic back muscles include the latissimus dorsi, middle- and lower trapezius, and rhomboids. 

In bodybuilding, the muscles of the back are trained during vertical and horizontal pulling movements, together with a slew of single-joint accessory exercises. Perhaps counterintuitively, narrow-grip pulldowns and rows are likely to promote back width, while wide-grip horizontal pulling tends to advertise back thickness. (2) This workout builds each.

The Ultimate Chest and Back Workout

This double-duty routine incorporates free weights and machines, programs supersets and traditional sets, and leans into tension and “the pump” to construct the last word upper body. It matches perfectly into either a chest and back/legs/shoulders and arms split or an upper/lower workout split. It may also be useful in a more classic “one body part per day” split when a missed workout necessitates doubling up.

Neutral-Grip Lat Pulldown

The neutral-grip lat pulldown is a joint-friendly back-builder. It principally trains your latissimus dorsi — the muscle accountable for back width. The rhomboids of your mid-back, the muscles behind the shoulders (such your posterior deltoids and teres major), and even the lower portion of your pectoralis major (“costal fibers”) may also contribute to the movement. (2)

From the deep stretch when your arms are overhead to the height contraction when your upper arms are pinned against the edges of your ribcage, the neutral-grip lat pulldown trains the goal muscles through a spread of motion unmatched by most other back exercises. Since your lower body is locked into the machine, the exercise can be loaded heavily. Starting the workout with a heavy, full range of motion exercise sets the tone for the workout.

• Find out how to Do it: Sit at a lat pulldown station using a grip attachment with parallel handles. Secure your thighs under the roller pads and barely lean back at your hips. Initiate the pulldown by drawing your shoulder blades downward as you bring your elbows toward the edges of your ribcage. Return to the starting position with arms outstretched overhead.
• Sets and Reps: 3 x 8-12
• Rest Time: No rest before moving to the subsequent exercise.

Advantages of the Neutral-Grip Lat Pulldown

• The exercise trains the back through large arcs of motion on the shoulder joint proper (glenohumeral joint) and shoulder girdle (scapulothoracic joint). Importantly, pulldowns train the latissimus dorsi at long muscle lengths, which can enhance muscle gain. (6)
• The neutral grip tends to be well-tolerated by lifters with banged-up shoulders or elbows. 
• This multi-joint back exercise largely spares the muscles that might be trained within the chest press, the second exercise of this superset.

Machine Chest Press

Provided your gym is just not too busy and the lat pulldown station and chest press machines aren’t on opposite sides of the power, plan to superset pulldowns with machine chest presses. If you happen to’re training in a public gym and are concerned about occupying two machines directly, give the machine you might be departing a fast wipe down and carry your things with you as a substitute of leaving them to “claim” he equipment. It will give a non-verbal cue to anyone waiting to “work in.”

Sure, if someone does work in, it’ll slow your workout, however it’s the decent thing to do in a shared public space. Nine times out of ten, the machine might be empty while you return. 

Machine chest presses are available many designs — seated, lying, plate-loaded, cable stack-loaded, etc. Ideally, locate one which feels comfortable and provides a stretch across your shoulders in the underside position. Even though it could also be acceptable to substitute the barbell bench press for the machine movement, you’ll need a trained spotter for the free weight version. Furthermore, most lifters are more comfortable pushing high-effort sets — sets that approach and even reach failure — on a “self-spotting” chest press machine. 

• Find out how to Do it: Adjust the seat and starting handle position in order that your elbows and hands naturally track at roughly nipple-height at the underside position. If the seat is just too high (or when you are positioned too high up the bench on a lying chest press machine), it’s going to feel like a decline press. If the seat is just too low (or you might be positioned too far down the bench on a lying version), your elbows might be flared out at or near shoulder-height. Despite the fact that you’re not performing a competition-style barbell bench press, you need to still establish an arched mid-back position to facilitate greater chest tension. Lift your sternum and pull your shoulder blades together and toward your glutes. Press the handles until your elbows reach lockout. Lower with control to a tolerable stretch across your chest and the fronts of your shoulders.
• Sets and Reps: 3 x 8-12
• Rest Time: Rest two to 3 minutes before repeating the previous exercise.

Advantages of the Machine Chest Press

• Machine chest press may offer more targeted chest training in comparison with free-weight variations. This is probably going as a consequence of the soundness offered by the equipment, because the machine bench press has shown reduced lateral deltoid and triceps muscle activity and equivalent pectoralis major activity in comparison with the barbell bench press. (4) Nevertheless, these findings weren’t replicated in a recent similar study. (7)
• It’s a machine-based exercise, which enables relatively heavy loading and high-effort sets without requiring a spotter. (7)

Machine Wide Row

Wide rows, traditionally performed with an overhand grip spaced wider than the shoulders, goal the mid-back and back of the shoulders. As such, wide rows are an ideal exercise for back “thickness.”

Chest-supported machines, specifically, allow for greater concentrate on the goal muscles and reduced systemic demand (i.e. less fatigue), since the lifter is just not required to keep up an unsupported forward-bent posture. (8) Wide rows may additionally be performed on a chest-supported T-bar row machine or using free weights along with your trunk supported on an incline bench.

• Find out how to Do it: Set the seat height so the support pad makes contact along with your lower chest and the handles are slightly below shoulder-height. Lean into the pad to make sure your hips are barely behind your chest. Grab the handles with an overhand grip. It’s best to must stretch to achieve the handles — if not, adjust the chest support or start position of the handles. Initiate the row by drawing your shoulder blades together and driving your elbows to the edges. Your elbows should track barely below shoulder height, not tuck toward your body or flare above shoulder-height. Return to the starting position, allowing the machine to tug your arms forward and stretch your mid back.
• Sets and Reps: 3 x 12-16
• Rest Time: No rest before moving to the subsequent exercise.

Advantages of the Machine Wide Row

• This rowing variation has a good stimulus-to-fatigue, meaning support from the machine reduces the necessity for activity in non-target musculature. (8)
• When appropriately arrange, the machine wide row applies a profound stretch to the mid-back and shoulders, increasing range of motion of the exercise and potentially enhancing hypertrophy.

Machine Kelso Shrug

Not all muscle groups targeted by multi-joint (compound) exercises are trained equally. Some muscles are hammered, while others are left relatively unscathed. For instance, when using rows to focus on your mid-back, your shoulder muscles (e.g. posterior deltoid) may fatigue during wide rows, while muscles of the mid-back (e.g. middle trapezius and rhomboids) will not be trained to their potential. 

Advanced training techniques equivalent to pre- and post- exhaustion could also be useful to handle inequitable training stimuli amongst agonist muscles during multi-joint exercise. Pre-exhaustion places an isolation exercise immediately before a compound exercise with no rest. Although bodybuilding pioneers like Arthur Jones tended to advertise pre-exhaustion methods, the research on this strategy is somewhat lackluster. (9) At best, lifters accomplish equivalent training volume and experience similar strength gain in comparison with performing the isolation exercise and compound exercise as traditional straight sets. (10) At worst, trainees may lose repetitions throughout the compound exercise as a consequence of fatigue. (11) 

Fortunately, a related technique called post-exhaustion avoids the key downside of pre-exhaustion. Post-exhaustion uses compound supersets in a particular way. A multi-joint exercise is straight away followed by an isolation exercise for a similar goal muscle(s). 

Paul Kelso, an writer and powerlifting analyst, promoted post-exhaustion training for thickening the upper back by utilizing a sequence of rows and Kelso shrugs, his namesake exercise. Kelso shrugs may additionally be performed on a chest-supported T-bar row machine or using free-weights with trunk supported on an incline bench.

• Find out how to Do it: Kelso shrugs involve isolated retracting (“drawing together”) the shoulder blades. While they might be performed with free weights while bent over or supported on an incline bench, performing Kelso Shrugs on a row machine with chest support means that you can higher isolate the goal muscles — your middle trapezius and rhomboids. Using a large, overhand grips on the row machine, begin along with your arms outstretched in front of you. It’s best to feel a profound stretch because the machine draws your arms and shoulder blades forward. With little to no elbow bend and absolutely no rowing, squeeze your shoulder blades together, drawing the handles barely closer to your body. Although your mid-back may arch or extend barely as you draw your shoulder blades together, don’t drive this motion by pushing your chest into the pad. Concentrate on using your middle trapezius and rhomboids. Pause momentarily, then allow the machine to slowly draw your shoulder blades apart.
• Sets and Reps: 3 x 8-12
• Rest Time: Rest two to 2 and a half minutes before repeating the previous exercise.

Advantages of the Machine Kelso Shrug

• This unique shrug variation hits the mid-back in relative isolation, allowing for extra training volume, especially when performed as a post-exhaustion technique following a rowing exercise.
• Kelso shrugs have a comparatively easy exercise setup and minimal systemic fatigue.
• The exercise builds strength and control of the shoulder blades, which can promote overall shoulder health. (12)

Incline Dumbbell Flye Press

Muscles are stronger during eccentric contractions, which usually occur throughout the lowering phase of an exercise. One technique that exploits this phenomenon by increasing the intensity of the exercise throughout the eccentric phase is named eccentric accentuated training. (13) The flye press is an easy eccentric accentuated exercise, easily arrange using an adjustable bench and a pair of dumbbells. 

While any incline press biases the upper chest, the incline dumbbell flye press packs an additional punch by accentuating the eccentric contraction of the clavicular head of pectoralis major. (3)(4)(5)(13) Due to this fact, this exercise serves to enrich other chest exercises present in this workout, which are likely to bias the lower muscle fibers of the chest.

• Find out how to Do it: Set an adjustable bench to the 45-degree incline position. Lay on the bench and set your shoulder blades together so that they lie flat against the pad. Begin with the dumbbells just outside the front of your chest and press them vertically until your elbows are nearly straight. Keeping slight elbow flexion, allow the dumbbells to drift apart. Proceed to lower the dumbbells until you’re feeling a robust stretch across the front of your chest. Bend your elbows to return the dumbbells to the beginning position before pressing to the highest to repeat the sequence for extra repetitions.
• Sets and Reps: 3 x 8 to 12
• Rest Time: Rest one and a half to 2 minutes between sets.

Advantages of the Incline Dumbbell Flye Press

• The exercise is eccentric accentuated, meaning demand on chest is larger throughout the lowering phase, which can enhance strength development and hypertrophy. (13)(14)
• Using an incline bench promotes upper chest — pectoralis major clavicular head — activity and development. (3)(4)(5)

Bar Dip

Dips are typically performed using a dedicated dip station or a sturdy dip attachment on an influence rack. The handles of the dip station or dip attachment are sometimes parallel or diverge barely from parallel — a feature that results in numerous training stimulus and exercise technique in comparison with traditional body weight bench dips. (15) 

In comparison with triceps-focused bench dips, that are performed with the heels of hands supported by the long fringe of a bench, bar dips show greater pectoralis major muscle activity. (15) Also in comparison with bench dips, bar dips require less shoulder hyperextension. (15) Since loaded shoulder hyperextension may be hard on the shoulders, dips could also be higher tolerated by lifters with known shoulder issues. (15)(16)

Bar dips are easy adapt to beginner strength-levels via the usage of the lower body or an elastic band for assistance. They may be made tougher by adding weight to a dip belt. Effective and versatile, the bar dip is an ideal exercise for constructing the mid- and lower chest.

• Find out how to Do it: In case your dip station or attachment has diverging handles, select a grip width comfortable on your shoulders. Begin in the highest position along with your elbows locked out and your hands on the bars under your shoulders supporting your weight. Your hips should drift barely backward as you lower your body, allowing your elbows to flex and your upper arms to increase barely behind you. In the underside position, achieve a stretch across the front of your chest. Pause momentarily before pushing back to the highest.
• Sets and Reps: 2 x 8-12
• Rest Time: No rest before moving to the subsequent exercise.

Advantages of the Bar Dip

• The dip trains your pectoralis major, pectoralis minor, triceps brachii, and lower trapezius. Your latissimus dorsi, serratus anterior, and the posterior rotator cuff may additionally be lively, serving as stabilizing roles. (15)
• Your chest experiences a “loaded stretch” in the underside of the bar dip, which can promote accelerated muscle growth. (14)
• High-effort sets of dips may further bias your pectoralis major, as increased muscle activity has been shown when sets are taken toward failure. (17)

Standing Cable Pullover

Because the name implies, pullovers involve drawing a resistance over the body from high-to-low. Although typically regarded as back exercises, pullover variations equivalent to the dumbbell pullover and cable pullover train your back and chest. (2)(18)

The cable pullover has a rather different resistance curve than free weight versions, because the lifter experiences maximum resistance when their arms are perpendicular to the cable relatively than perpendicular to the vertical line of gravity. (19) This feature makes the cable pullover more conducive to high repetition, “pump work” style sets. 

Cable resistance also enables the exercise to be performed standing, a variation sometimes called a straight-arm pushdown or pulldown. If you happen to’re in search of a high-tension solution to shine off your upper body workout, don’t skip the standing cable pullover.

• Find out how to Do it: Grab a straight bar cable attachment with a double-overhand grip, with hands placed wider than your shoulders. Hinge barely forward on the hips and lift your chest. Along with your arms outstretched overhead, pull the bar toward your thighs. Once the bar contacts your thighs, control the movement back to the beginning position. Keep your elbows straight but not locked throughout the movement.
• Sets and Reps: 2 x 16-20
• Rest Time: Rest two to 3 minutes before repeating the previous exercise.

Advantages of the Standing Cable Pullover

• Pullovers train the back and chest together. (18)
• The resistance profile of the cable pullover applies substantial resistance when the latissimus dorsi is stretched, which can enhance muscle gain. (6)(19)
• The focused tension of the exercise tends to advertise an ideal lat pump sensation.

Find out how to Warm-up for Your Chest and Back Workout

Traditional warm-ups begin with a brief bout of cardiovascular activity to boost body temperature, increase respiration rate, and improve overall circulation, followed by more specific movements and mobilizations to arrange the body for the workout ahead. With a considerable chest and back workout ahead of you, cardio followed by a multi-exercise specific warm-up may feel daunting. 

Relatively than skip the warm-up altogether, try a high-volume warm-up as a substitute. High-volume warm-ups include long sets of high repetition, light resistance and/or body weight exercises performed in circuit fashion.

The advantages of high-volume warm-ups are just like traditional warm-ups. They physiologically and mentally prepare your body for the workout, but they’ve the additional advantage of additional reps for muscle groups that might be targeted within the upcoming workout and for muscle groups that may benefit from additional training volume (including specific weaknesses you might need to handle). 

Perform 20 to 30 repetitions of every of the next exercises as a circuit — take no rest between each exercise set. Rest 30 seconds between circuits. Repeat all the circuit two or 3 times.

• Band Face Pull: Stand facing a light-weight resistance loop anchored at chin-height. With arms outstretched in front of your body, grasp the loop leaving a length of resistance band barely wider than your neck between your hands. Keeping your chest up and your body stationary, draw the resistance band toward your brow by concurrently performing a high row with shoulder external rotation — Your elbows should track at or above shoulder-height, and your wrists should travel higher than your elbows. When the band reaches or nearly reaches your brow, reverse the movement and return to the starting position. 

• Elevated Push-up: Begin along with your hands elevated on a bench or Roman chair/back extension and your feet on the ground. Perform a push-up by pressing your body up and away from the support surface until your elbows are straight. Your push-up should resemble a “moving plank,” along with your trunk and legs moving together as a unit. Lower until your chest touches or nearly touches the support surface.

• Dynamic 45-Degree Back Extension: Arrange a 45-degree Roman chair so the highest of the pad is slightly below your beltline. Lay along with your thighs supported by the pad and your feet on the footplate of the machine. As you lower your torso toward the ground, intentionally allow your spine to round. As you raise your torso toward the ceiling, intentionally extend (“arch”) your spine throughout the movement. This movement requires minimal movement from the hip joints.

Here’s the deal: Some lifters train their back extensor muscles (the “fins” of muscle that lie on either side of the spine) on leg day with exercises like deadlifts, good mornings, and hyperextensions. Other lifters place these exercises with their back training. The jury is out on which practice is “best,” but one thing is evident — most lifters will profit from more low back training. 

Outside of powerlifters who’ve adopted the reverse hyper machine, and those that still use old style back extension machines, few lifters intentionally perform dynamic back extensor training — exercises that intentionally train the back extensors through an appreciable range of motion. If you happen to are recent to flexion- and extension-based low back exercises, the dynamic 45-degree back extension is an excellent place to start out, but you might need to cut back the repetition goal until you’re accustomed to the direct work.

Jacked from Front to Back

Nineteen sets in total, this formidable workout hits all major parts of your chest and back. Remember to take two or three “work-up sets” per exercise to groove your technique and discover a difficult weight for the goal repetition range (“work-up sets” don’t count toward set total). Altogether, plan to be within the gym a bit over an hour accomplishing greater than most do in two separate workouts. 

References

1. Weakley, J. J., et al. (2020). The results of superset configuration on kinetic, kinematic, and perceived exertion within the barbell bench press. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 34(1), 65-72.
2. Ackland, D. C., Pak, P., Richardson, M., & Pandy, M. G. (2008). Moment arms of the muscles crossing the anatomical shoulder. Journal of Anatomy, 213(4), 383-390.
3. dos Santos Albarello, et al. (2022). Non-uniform excitation of pectoralis major induced by changes in bench press inclination results in uneven variations within the cross-sectional area measured by panoramic ultrasonography. Journal of Electromyography and Kinesiology, 67, 102722.
4. Coratella, G., et al. (2020). Specific prime movers’ excitation during free-weight bench press variations and chest press machine in competitive bodybuilders. European Journal of Sport Science, 20(5), 571-579.
5. Lee, H. M. (2019). Force direction and arm position affect contribution of clavicular and sternal parts of pectoralis major muscle during muscle strength testing. Journal of Hand Therapy, 32(1), 71-79.
6. Ottinger, C. R., et al. (2022). Muscle hypertrophy response to range of motion in strength training: a novel approach to understanding the findings. Strength & Conditioning Journal, 10-1519.
7. Muyor, J. M., Rodríguez-Ridao, D., & Oliva-Lozano, J. M. (2023). Comparison of Muscle Activity between the Horizontal Bench Press and the Seated Chest Press Exercises Using Several Grips. Journal of Human Kinetics, 87, 23.
8. García-Jaén, M., et al. (2021). Electromyographical responses of the lumbar, dorsal and shoulder musculature throughout the bent-over row exercise: a comparison between standing and bench postures (a preliminary study). Journal of Physical Education and Sport, 21(4), 1871-1877.
9. Trindade, T. B., et al. (2022). Pre-exhaustion training, a narrative review of the acute responses and chronic adaptations. International Journal of Exercise Science, 15(3), 507.
10. Fisher, J. P., et al. (2014). The results of pre-exhaustion, exercise order, and rest intervals in a full-body resistance training intervention. Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism, 39(11), 1265-1270.
11. Vilaça-Alves, et al. (2014). Effects of pre-exhausting the biceps brachii muscle on the performance of the front lat pull-down exercise using different handgrip positions. Journal of Human Kinetics, 42(1), 157-163.
12. Sciascia, A., & Kibler, W. B. (2022). Current views of scapular dyskinesis and its possible clinical relevance. International Journal of Sports Physical Therapy, 17(2), 117.
13. Walker, S., et al. (2016). Greater strength gains after training with accentuated eccentric than traditional isoinertial loads in already strength-trained men. Frontiers in Physiology, 7, 149.
14. Wackerhage, H., et al. (2019). Stimuli and sensors that initiate skeletal muscle hypertrophy following resistance exercise. Journal of Applied Physiology, 136, 30-43.
15. McKenzie, A., et al. (2022). Bench, Bar, and Ring Dips: Do Kinematics and Muscle Activity Differ?. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(20), 13211.
16. McKenzie, A. K., et al. (2021). Glenohumeral Extension and the Dip: Considerations for the Strength and Conditioning Skilled. Strength & Conditioning Journal, 43(1), 93-100.
17. McKenzie, A., et al. (2022). Fatigue increases muscle activations but doesn’t change maximal joint angles throughout the bar dip. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(21), 14390.
18. Muyor, J. M., López-Miñarro, P. A., & Alacid, F. (2022). Comparison of electromyographic activity during barbell pullover and straight arm pulldown exercises. Applied Sciences, 12(21), 11138.
19. Schütz, P., et al. (2022). Chest exercises: movement and loading of shoulder, elbow and wrist joints. Sports, 10(2), 19.

Featured Image: Ground Picture / Shutterstock