Ultimate Upper Body Calisthenics Workout For Beginners

Quick and Effective Upper Body Calisthenics Workout for  Beginners

Upper Body Calisthenics Workout for  Beginners

We’ve got a quick and effective calisthenics upper body workout designed specifically for beginners as part of our full hour-long series. This routine will help you to build muscle, gain strength, and improve coordination, all essential for progressing in calisthenics. And when I say beginner, we really mean beginner. Just through beginner-friendly exercises at all. I’ll guide you through step by step to help you build the control and coordination to foundational calisthenics exercises like bodyweight pull-ups and dips.

Can You Build Upper Body with Calisthenics?

Yes, calisthenics is highly effective for building upper body strength and muscle. Exercises like push-ups, pull-ups, dips, and inverted rows target the chest, shoulders, back, and arms, helping to develop a strong, muscular upper body.

How to Start with Upper Body Calisthenics Exercise

Upper Body Calisthenics Exercise

1. Master Basic Exercises: Begin with fundamental moves like push-ups, pull-ups (or assisted pull-ups), dips, and inverted rows to target key upper body muscles.

2. Progress Gradually: Increase reps or sets over time, and introduce harder variations as you get stronger (e.g., archer push-ups or decline push-ups).

3. Train Consistently: Aim for 2-4 days per week of upper body workouts, focusing on form and gradually increasing intensity.

Benefits of Calisthenics for Upper Body

Calisthenics helps build both strength and endurance by utilizing bodyweight exercises that engage multiple muscle groups. With progressive overload and proper recovery, you can achieve significant muscle growth, improving both aesthetics and functional strength.

Workout Overview: 10 Exercises in 50 Minutes Targeting Upper Body Strength

In this workout, we'll be doing ten exercises in about 50 minutes, targeting the chest, shoulders, arms, and back while performing all key movement patterns like horizontal and vertical pushing and pulling. We'll be doing a sets and reps style of training, so you can just follow along with me. And to switch things up, I will show harder variations for those looking for a challenge while I'm explaining the easier fabrications in more detail so everyone can keep up no matter your level. All you need is the floor and a bar at around chest height. Or rings that you can pull from. Make sure to properly warm up and grab some water. And let's get started with this routine.

Exercise 1: Scapula Pull-Up for Beginners

So the first exercise of this workout is going to be the scapula pull-up. So we're going to need this Australian pull-up bar. Actually, the parallel bars for this first exercise. This is a really important exercise to gain strength and range of motion in the scapular area. So what you're going to do, grab the bars straight arms, walk forward. From here, straight body, activate your core and your glutes. And now try to retract your scapula. So bring your shoulder blades together and move back down with control. We're going to do this for ten repetitions. Are you ready? Let's go. That's one. Two. Really nice and easy. Three. Four. Little hold with each repetition. Five. Just nice and controlled. Six. Keep that core activated. Seven. Eight. Come on, let's do nine. And the last one? Ten. All right. This is also a very good warm-up exercise.

Exercise 2: Scapular Push-Ups for Calisthenics Beginners

So the next one is going to be the scapular push-ups. So we're going to do the exact same exercise, but on the opposite side. So we're going to stand in a straight arm plank position. Arms are straight, elbows are locked in. From here, you're going to sink into your shoulder blades and press into the floor while creating a rounded upper back. Ten reps again. Are you ready? Let's do this. Sink in your shoulders. That's one. Keep your body straight. Two. Three. So this is a really neglected exercise in calisthenics, but really, really important. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Come on. Last two. Nine. And bang! All right. Good job.

Exercise 3: Australian Pull-Up for Strength

So these first two exercises were quite easy. Now we're going to do some dynamic work. So the next exercise is going to be the Australian pull-up. Of course, for this exercise, we're going to need this bar again. I'm showing the easy variations today. So this height is actually perfect. It's not too difficult. If you want more of a challenge, you can just lower the bar. So with this exercise, grab the bar at shoulder width, step forward, stand on your heels, and again, retract the scapula. Straight arms, elbows locked in, core activated, and bring the bar towards your chest while retracting your scapula. That's one. We're going to do 12 repetitions. Okay, so that's a great exercise for your back muscles.

Exercise 4: Incline Push-Up for Chest and Shoulders

Now we're going to move on to the incline push-up. For this, I'm going to use this tire over here. But if you're training from home, you can also use a chair or a bench, whatever. So with this exercise, the incline push-up, we obviously work the chest and the shoulders. So stand in a straight line like this. Arms are straight and set shoulder-width apart. And from here, bring your chest towards the tire or your object, fully press out 12 repetitions again. Are you ready? Let's go. That's one. Two. Three. Four. Five. And of course, you can also do regular push-ups. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Come on. Ten. Let's do 11. Twelve. Okay, now let's make it a little harder, but still manageable.

Exercise 5: Leg Assisted Pull-Up (Jackknife Pull-Up) for Beginners

So we’re going to move back here and do the leg-assisted pull-up, or also known as the jackknife pull-up. It's a really nice exercise to get the hang of the pull-up motion. So you're going to grab the bar a little wider than shoulder width apart. And now just make a squat, like a deep squat. Bring one foot up in the air. And now pull yourself up while really using your back muscles. That's really important. So don't make the move by doing a squat, but really pull. So we're going to do ten repetitions. Let's get ready. Here we go. One. Two. Three. So this is a nice way to also train your vertical pulling strength.

Exercise 6: Bench Dip for Vertical Pushing Strength

Now let's do another pushing exercise, actually a vertical pushing exercise. As we just did a horizontal pushing exercise with the incline push-up, now we're going to do the bench dip. So I'm going to use this tire again. You can use your chair if you train at home. So just sit on the object, place your hands next to you, and make sure that your hand palm is on the edge of the object right here. Walk a little bit forward, and now dip down until you have a 90-degree angle in your elbows and push back up. Okay, come on, ten repetitions. Are you ready? Let's do this. One. All the way up. 90-degree angle and up again. Three. Four. Five. And again, really use your chest and your shoulder muscles to push yourself up.

Exercise 7: Pike Dynamic Lean for Shoulder Strength

So now we did a lot of chest work and back work. Now we’re going to work our shoulders. For this exercise, we just worked the front delts. Now we're going to work the rear delts, which is actually often neglected in calisthenics. A good bodyweight exercise that you can do from home without any equipment is the reverse plank pulls. So you're going to sit on the floor like this. Place your hands next to you. Move back down. Make sure your shoulders are off the floor. And now really push into the floor with straight arms and bring yourself up. Make sure you get your shoulders off the ground by pushing into the ground. So don’t do a crunch because then you work your abs, but really focus on pushing into the floor. Okay, ten repetitions.

Exercise 8: Reverse Plank Pulls for Rear Delts

Now we’ve worked our main upper body muscles—our shoulders, our chest, our back. So now let's finish this training with some isolation work for our biceps and triceps. So let’s get back down here to the Australian pull-up bar. And we’re going to do the supine Australian pull-up. So with our hands and fingers facing towards us. Grab the bar with an underhand grip. A little smaller than shoulder width apart, so we can target the biceps more. Walk forward, and now bring the bar towards your chest and go back down. Twelve repetitions.

Exercise 9: Triceps Floor Extension for Beginners

Okay, guys, let's move on to the final exercise of this workout, which is going to be the tricep floor extension to work our triceps. So let's get back down to the floor. And as I’m showing the easy variations, I’m doing this on my knees. So I can also explain how you should do this properly on your knees. So bring your hands in front of you. And now we’re going to move our elbows towards the floor. But a big mistake that I see a lot of people doing is having their knees too close to their hands. So they’re actually just doing this. Now you’re not working your triceps. You need to bring your knees a little bit further away so you actually lean on your hands, push your hips forward, activate your glutes and your core, and now bring your elbows in and back down towards the floor. And now you probably will feel your triceps. Okay. Are you ready? Twelve repetitions in three, two, one. Let’s go. One. Two. Three. For the more experienced ones, you can just also do this in a plank position. Four. Five. Six. Halfway. Seven. Eight. Nine. Come on. Ten. Eleven. Last one. Twelve.

Conclusion: Upper Body Calisthenics Workout for Beginners

All right, great job! So you just finished a really effective upper body workout in which we targeted…

FAQs on Building Upper Body Strength with Calisthenics

1. Can You Build an Upper Body with Calisthenics?

Yes, calisthenics is an effective way to build upper body strength and muscle using bodyweight exercises like push-ups, pull-ups, and dips.

2. What Exercise is Best for the Upper Body?

Push-ups, pull-ups, dips, and inverted rows are some of the best exercises for targeting and strengthening the upper body.

3. Is Calisthenics Enough for Building Upper Body Strength?

Yes, calisthenics is enough for building upper body strength. With proper progression and intensity, bodyweight exercises can promote muscle growth and strength.

4. Can a Beginner Start Calisthenics?

Absolutely! Beginners can start calisthenics with modified exercises and gradually progress to more challenging movements as strength improves.

5. How to Build Upper Body Strength with Calisthenics?

Focus on mastering basic exercises like push-ups, pull-ups, and dips. Increase intensity over time through more reps, sets, or variations, and train consistently to see steady improvement.