1-Hour Upper Body Workout: How To Create The Perfect Plan For Your Goals

Whether you are an athlete or not, upper body strength is essential for everyday life. 

Enhancing strength in this part of the body facilitates day-to-day activities. 

Upper body strength contributes to weight loss, promotes good posture, enhances bone and muscle mass, and improves athletic performance in sports that require upper body strength, as well as in sprinting and jumping activities (1, 2).

Adding a 1-hour upper body workout routine to your weekly exercise regimen can be a great way to enhance muscular strength and mass in this area, which can help you achieve these benefits. But how does one create a good upper body workout routine?

Read on to learn how to make an effective routine, how often to do this workout routine per week, and more.

What Is A Complete 1-Hour Upper Body Workout Plan Or Routine?

A complete 1-hour upper body workout at home or in the gym targets all the muscles in the upper body – i.e., muscles in the chest, back, shoulders, triceps, and biceps – in a single 60-minute session.

This workout differs from a 1-hour split upper-body routine, which divides your upper-body workout into separate sessions. I.e., unlike a complete routine that targets all upper body muscles at once, a split routine will focus on pushing muscles (chest, shoulders, triceps) in one 60-minute session and pulling muscles (back, biceps) in another.

Are 1-Hour Workouts Effective?

Yes, they are. For overall good health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that adults engage in moderately intense exercise at least 150 minutes a week. This duration often translates to 30 minutes of exercise 5 days a week (3).

This recommendation, however, is a guideline. For greater benefits, experts recommend exceeding the recommended 150 minutes a week of moderate-intensity activity (3). From these statements, a well-structured 1-hour workout plan can be just as effective, if not more effective, than a simple 30-minute exercise routine.

How To Structure An Effective 1-Hour Upper Body Workout No Equipment Routine

A good upper-body workout routine should help improve muscle mass, build muscle strength, and support balanced development of all upper-body muscles. 

Here is what an effective routine should look like:

Step 1: Warm Up – 10 Minutes

Whether using weights in your upper body routine or not, warming up is an essential step that we can’t overlook.

• Not only does it help you mentally get into the workout zone
• Warm-ups also improve blood and oxygen circulation to your muscles, warming them up and preparing them for the movements you’ll be performing throughout the workout session (4, 5).

Some exercises and dynamic stretches that you can do as a warmup before starting the main workout include:

• Arm circles
• Inchworms
• Bear hold
• Arm swings
• Shoulder rolls
• Cat-cow pose
• Band pull-apart
• Thread the needle stretch

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Step 2: Main Workout – 30 to 45 Minutes

Once your body and muscles are warm and ready to go, dive into the central part of the upper body workout. As mentioned above, a complete 1-hour upper body workout for mass or even improved health should target all the muscle groups in the upper body.

Here are some easy, beginner-friendly exercises that will target all these muscle groups:

• Chest exercises: Wall push-ups, knee push-ups, and incline push-ups
• Back Exercises: Bird-dog, resistance band rows, superman, planks, and wall angels
• Shoulder exercises: Downward dog to plank, lateral raises (with bodyweight or resistance bands), plank-shoulder taps, and bear crawls
• Biceps: Chin-ups, resistance band bicep curls, pull-ups, and inchworms
• Triceps: Chair or bench tricep dips, close-grip push-ups on knees, bodyweight tricep extensions, and walking planks.

Some Tips For Success

1. Start with 1 set of 5-8 repetitions per exercise. If you still have time on the clock, do another set of each workout. For planks, try holding the position for 20-30 seconds and focus on controlling your breathing throughout the hold.
2. Rest as much as needed. Exercise is challenging, regardless of your level of fitness. It is, however, much harder for beginners who lack the strength, endurance, cardiovascular fitness, and even balance to do most workouts. Take as much time as you need between workout sets to gather your strength and breath before moving on to the next set or exercise.
3. Focus on form. Bad form not only reduces the effectiveness of the workouts, but it can also result in injury. Instead of rushing through the workout, do it slowly and focus on maintaining and improving your form.

Step 3: Cool Down – 15 to 20 Minutes

Once you’ve completed the workout, take some time to relax and stretch your muscles. 

These cool-down stretches can help reduce the amount of muscle soreness experienced the next day, decrease the risk of fainting, and lower the risk of injury (6, 7). 

Some good static stretches to do after this workout include:

• Wrist circles
• Tricep stretch
• Child’s pose
• Cat-cow stretch
• Cross-body shoulder stretch

Points To Note

1. To increase resistance in your exercise routine, consider opting for a 1-hour upper-body workout with dumbbells instead. The extra weight from the dumbbells helps add more resistance, which challenges your muscles more effectively, aiding in increased overall calorie burn and muscle breakdown. This effect ultimately leads to faster weight loss and a greater potential for muscle growth.
2. A 1-hour upper body workout with weights increases your risk of injury in comparison to a bodyweight routine due to the added resistance. Before picking up those weights, especially the heavyweights, ensure that you have mastered the form of whichever exercise you plan on doing.

Read more: Military Calisthenics Workout: Building Strength, Endurance, and Agility with Bodyweight Exercises

Is 1 Hour Enough To Build Muscle?

Yes, it is. As long as you or a trainer structures your workout well enough to target all the major muscles and allow them to recover properly, you will eventually see muscle growth results. Aside from exercising to target the specific muscle you want to build, you should also practice progressive overload to stimulate muscle growth.

This progression practice is an exercise principle that requires the individual to gradually increase the demands placed on the body during exercise to promote continued strength and muscle growth. 

Progressive overload occurs through:

1. Increasing the weight of the weights used during the workout
2. Increasing workout reps or sets
3. Increasing workout duration
4. Doing more challenging variations of the same exercise. E.g., moving from knee push-ups to standard push-ups, then plate-loaded push-ups, archer push-ups, handstand push-ups, etc.

Progressive overload not only aids in muscle growth but also enhances endurance and can help prevent weight loss or a plateau in muscle-building.

How Long Should An Upper Body Workout Take?

There is no one-size-fits-all answer to this question. Workout duration depends on individual circumstances, such as their level of endurance, schedule, fitness goals, health, and age. 

However, most traditional weightlifting sessions for the average person last between 45 and 60 minutes, with longer duration sessions lasting about 90 minutes.

If you prefer full-body workouts without weights, try this 1-hour calisthenics workout.

How Many Calories Does A 1-Hour Upper Body Workout Burn?

It depends on the individual. According to research and experts, several factors, including age, sex, body composition, weight, activity level, and genetics, influence calorie burn. Due to this, it is challenging to provide a specific number to accurately estimate the calories a person will burn with each workout (8, 9).

If you’d like to track calories burned per workout, we suggest:

• Using a reputable app to log your workouts, it can estimate the number of calories you burn during exercise.
• Fitness accessories, such as watches, are also a great way to track calorie burn during a workout session. These wearables will take your heart rate and general body composition into account when calculating your calories burned for an individual workout.

Whether you’re looking to simply pep up your fitness routine, jazz up your diet with mouth-watering low-calorie recipes or want to get your act together and significantly drop that number on your scale – BetterMe: Health Coaching app has got you covered! Improve your body and revamp your life!

What Is An Explosive 1-Hour Upper Body Workout?

This type of exercise routine focuses on generating maximum force in a short period, emphasizing power and speed in movements. Some ways that you can make your 1-hour upper body workout routine more explosive include:

• Using plyometric movements: These exercises involve powerful movements with rapid muscle contractions. Some examples include wall-off push-ups, explosive incline push-ups, and clap push-ups.
• Switch to faster reps: Rather than slow and controlled movements, use faster reps.
• Do your workouts in a HIIT style: This means high-intensity interval training (short bursts of exercise at maximum intensity) with short rest periods between sets.

Read more: Killer Gym Back and Bicep Workout for a Strong Upper Body

Is It OK To Do Upper Body Every Day?

No, it is not. Whether you are training your upper body for improved muscle mass, strength, endurance, or fat loss, experts don’t recommend exercising this body part daily. At most, you should stick to upper-body workouts no more than 3 times a week. 

Going beyond this can lead to overtraining syndrome, increased risk of injury from overused muscles, as well as muscular imbalances.

Check out this article for tips on how to make a balanced upper-body workout schedule.

Frequently Asked Questions

• Can I exercise my upper body 4 times a week?

No, you should not. As mentioned above, the recommended frequency for exercising your upper body is 3 times a week. More than that, it increases the risk of overuse injuries, muscle imbalance, and overtraining syndrome.

• Do upper body workouts burn calories?

Yes, they do. Any type of physical activity burns calories, including upper-body, lower-body, or full-body exercises, as well as running, dancing, and Pilates, making it an effective tool for weight loss and maintenance.

• How many squats to burn 1000 calories?

As previously mentioned, calorie burn is reliant on many individual factors, which makes it incredibly challenging to accurately predict how many squat reps every individual needs to do to burn 1000 calories. Additionally, it is generally better to design your workouts around multiple exercises rather than just picking one and attempting as many reps as possible.

• How to tell if you are building muscle?

Using a body composition scale is one of the most effective ways to determine if you are building muscle or not. The scale measures body fat percentage, providing insight into how well your workout routine is going.

Other signs that your muscle mass is increasing include visible muscle growth, such as more defined abs, biceps, and quads, as well as improved athletic performance, where previously heavy weights feel lighter and you can train for more extended periods.

The Bottom Line

A 1-hour upper body workout can help you reduce body fat and increase lean muscle mass, but only when it’s structured correctly. You also need to eat healthily and be consistent with your routine to see results. We hope this article has shed light on how to create a solid plan for achieving your goals.