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10-Minute Upper Body Workout for Women

By: Lindsey Bomgren, CPT | May 21, 2024

Build upper body strength and toned arms with this 10-Minute Upper Body Workout for Women! This workout routine consists of the five best upper body exercises for women, combined in an effective rep-drop workout format. This is a complete upper body workout, targeting the biceps, triceps, back, chest and shoulders in just 10 minutes.

Jump To Workout

Simple strength training is exactly how I would describe this upper body workout for women.

It’s not complicated, but it is extremely effective. Five of the best upper body exercises for women are combined in a quick strength training session – hitting every muscle in the upper body in just ten minutes.

The rep drop format (decreasing the number of repetitions of an exercise performed with each additional set) found in today’s workout is particularly beneficial if your goal is muscular hypertrophy, or muscle growth.

I like this method of structuring workouts because it allows us to continue reaching for our heavy weights – even as our muscles fatigue.

Knock this out in a quick 10 minutes, or add it onto your favorite ab workout, like this lower ab workout for women.

two women performing skull crushers as example of best upper body workout for women

10-Minute Upper Body Workout for Women

Build upper body strength and definition with these upper body exercises for women.

A complete arm workout targeting every muscle group in the upper body: the biceps, triceps, back, shoulders and chest.

Add dumbbell arm workouts like this one to your home strength training program 1-2 times per week to build and maintain strength.

Workout Instructions:

Follow along with the guided Upper Body Workout for Women on YouTube, led by certified personal trainer, Lindsey Bomgren. 

Your Workout Looks Like This:

  • 5 Upper Body Exercises For Women
  • Rep Drop Format (decrease the number of reps you perform for each upper body exercise as you move through the workout)
  • Repeat x4 Drop Sets (performing 12 reps during the first set, then decreasing to 10 reps, 8 reps, and 6 reps)

Workout Equipment:

Medium Pair of Dumbbells. I recommend between 5-25 lbs depending on your fitness level. We used 15 and 20 lb dumbbells in today’s workout.

two women performing a back row as example of upper body exercise for women

Prefer to Watch On YouTube?

youtube icon Arm Workout

Workout Outline

  1. Bicep Curls
  2. Arnold Press
  3. Back Rows
  4. Push Ups
  5. Skull Crushers

5 Upper Body Exercises for Women

Bicep Curl

Targets: The long (outer) and short (inner) heads of the bicep muscles (upper arms).

One of the most famous bicep exercises for a reason – the standard bicep curl builds definition in the upper arms.

two women performing bicep curls as part of best upper body workout for women

How To Do Bicep Curls

  1. Start with feet hip-width apart and core engaged. Hold one dumbbell in each hand at your sides, palms facing outward (underhand grip or supine curl).
  2. Shoulders out of the ears and shoulder blades pulled down towards the hips.
  3. Keeping your elbows in line with, or slightly in front of, your body squeeze your bicep muscle to curl the weights up to shoulder height as you exhale.
  4. With control, slowly lower the dumbbells back down to return to the starting position and repeat.

Arnold Press

Targets: All three heads of the deltoids, also known as your shoulder muscles.

The added rotation means this shoulder exercise hits the top of your arms from all angles.

two women performing arnold presses as part of best upper body workout for women

How To Do Arnold Presses

  1. Stand tall, feet shoulder-width apart. Start with a pair of dumbbells directly in front of your face at eye level (overhand grip, palms face your body).
  2. Keep a slight bend in your knees, and be sure to engage your core and squeeze your glutes (to protect your low back) as you ‘goalpost’ your arms by turning the palms out so they’re facing away from your face; elbows parallel to shoulders.
  3. Then exhale as you perform an overhead shoulder press, pushing the weights up, locking out your elbows (biceps by ears), arms straight overhead.
  4. Slowly lower the weights back down to the starting position, rotating your palms back in towards your face, and repeat.

Modification: Alternate arms, performing just one side at a time.

Back Row

Targets: Latissimus dorsi (or lats; the largest back muscle known for its large, flat “V” shape).

Back exercises are commonly under trained by women, but so important for functional strength.

two women performing back rows as example of best upper body exercises for women

How To Do Narrow Grip Back Rows

  1. Stand with your feet hip-width apart, knees slightly bent. Grip a set of dumbbells, palms facing in towards each other (narrow grip)
  2. Hinge at the hips until your chest is parallel to the floor, neutral spine (neck in line with your spine, flat back, and belly button and rib cage pulled in). 
  3. Pull the weights back towards your hips, stopping when your left and right elbow come in line with your torso. Feel your shoulder blades squeeze together.
  4. Control the dumbbells back down to the starting position. 

Push Up

Targets: Chest, shoulders, triceps, back, abs and core muscles.

Push ups are one of the most effective chest exercises for women using just your body weight.

two women performing push ups as example of best upper body exercises for women

How To Do Push Ups

  1. Start in a high plank position with your shoulders stacked over your wrists, weight evenly distributed amongst all 10 fingers. Pull your kneecaps up towards your belly, feet hip-width apart.
  2. Hold this plank position, maintaining a straight line with your torso, gaze slightly in front of you.
  3. Slowly lower your chest down towards the mat as your elbows fall about 6 inches away from your body.
  4. Once at the bottom of your push up, exhale as you push back up into high plank, returning to the starting position.

Modification: Perform chest presses or push ups from an incline if standard push ups don’t feel good.

Skull Crusher

Targets: All three heads of the tricep muscle (lateral head, medial head, and long head).

One of the best tricep exercises for women. Lying tricep extensions (skull crushers) take any potential weight bearing stress off your back so you can really focus on working the back of your arms.

two women performing skull crushers as part of best upper body workout for women

How To Do Skull Crushers

  1. Lie flat on the ground or on a bench or stability ball; knees bent and feet flat on the floor.
  2. Hold a dumbbell in each hand and extend your arms, dumbbells stacked over shoulders.
  3. Bending at the elbows, slowly lower the dumbbells towards your head (just bending at the elbows, lowering the dumbbells towards your temples).
  4. Pause at the bottom, then squeeze through the back of your arms to straighten your elbows, press the dumbbells back overhead and returning to the starting position.

Upper Body Workout for Women FAQs

What are the Best Upper Body Exercises for Women?

The most effective upper body workouts focus on compound exercises that engage multiple muscles in the upper body at once. For example, upper body weight training routines for women should include both ‘push exercises‘ (targeting the chest, shoulders and triceps) and ‘pull exercises‘ (targeting the back and biceps).

How Should A Woman Train Their Upper Body?

Women should be strength training their upper body muscles. Dumbbell exercises are effective at building strength in every muscle in the upper body. If your goal is to improve definition in your arms, reach for heavy weights. You’ll know you chose the right weight if the last 2-3 reps in a set are challenging to complete with proper form (The American Council on Exercise).

How Long Does It Take To Get Toned Arms?

This depends on how often you are training arms and at what intensity. If you are lifting challenging weights and following a well-rounded strength training program, you can expect to feel a change after 4-8 weeks of consistent lifting.

What Are The Benefits Of Upper Body Workouts for Women?

A strong upper body helps improve posture, makes everyday tasks easier, and can give your other workouts a boost! The chest and back are some of your largest muscle groups. HIIT workouts and circuit training often involve these large muscle groups, so keeping them strong will make your other workouts better, too!

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Pin This Workout: 5 Best Upper Body Exercises for Women

woman flexing as part of upper body workout for women

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13 comments

  1. The old 10-minute arm workout was my first workout ever with you, Lindsey!! I loved it! This one has a few changes, and I am curious…why do you switch to the narrow row, and why do you leave out the 4 reps on the end(instead of 12, 10, 8, 6, 4; it is now 12, 10, 8, 6)? I love this re-do, and I love Rachel! Thanks so much, ladies! It is definitely quick and effective; I just upped my weights again!

    • Hi Katy! So glad you love this workout (and it was the first one you did with us)!! To answer your questions: 1) Narrow row because a lot of people complain of lower back pain when doing bent over back rows, and the narrow row keeps the weights more at the sides of the body taking less stress off the back — thus, making this workout more approachable to all fitness levels. 2) Left off the 4 reps because I wanted to stay true to time and you might notice I’m using 15-20lb weights in this workout vs the 10lbs I was using in the original workout — so just going heavier and a bit slower and needed to cut off the 4 reps to keep it true to 10 mins! Glad you love this workout! Keep up the great work! -Lindsey

  3. Fantastic workout! I love your enthusiasm, you push us to the max 🙂 I managed to do it all with my 12 lbs. dumbbells, next time I’ll try 15 lbs. Thanks so much, Lindsey!

  4. You are amazing!! Your workouts are awesome and you are so eager to share! I’m grateful to have stumbled across your Instagram profile, I will be sweating and growing muscle with the aid of your videos, so thank you so much!!

  6. Hi, love this…can you make a 5 best lower body with same format as well as 5 best core. This is so simplistic and easy to follow. Question; do you perform exercise 1 for 12,10,8,6,4 count back to back then move to exercise 2 or is this done more in circuit style 12 of each then 10 of each, etc

  7. Just did this workout at home and it was great!
    Need to get my arms toned for summer 2019.
    Xo,
    Amy R.

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