Upper Body Gym Workout for Women Beginners

The perfect upper body routine for new gym girls

_{👉 Overwhelmed at the gym?}

📌 Pin this to follow step-by-step during your workout!

If you’ve ever walked into the gym wanting to work your upper body… and then immediately felt overwhelmed by all the machines, random exercises, and “where do I even start?” energy — this is for you.

Think of this as your big sister gym plan. Simple, structured, and actually effective — no guessing, no wandering around, no wasting your time.

We’re hitting everything upper: back, chest, shoulders, biceps, and triceps, using a mix of dumbbells and the cable machine so you can build real strength and see muscle definition. And yes, we’re working in that hypertrophy rep range (don’t let the word scare you — it just means we’re training in a way that helps your muscles grow).

You don’t need to be advanced. You don’t need to be perfect. You just need to show up, follow this, and give it your best effort.

I’ll walk you through exactly what to do — so you can walk into the gym feeling confident instead of confused… and leave knowing you actually did something that’s going to get you results.

Equipment

• Dumbbells
• Bench
• Cable Station

Exercise Terms to Know

• Rep: the performance of the exercise motion once, from the initial lifting portion all the way
• Set: the performance of an exercise for the prescribed number of repetitions before stopping to rest. Please rest for 20 seconds to 1 minute between each set.
• *Next to each exercise you will see the reps and sets listed like this: # of Sets x # of Reps
• Superset: Perform 2 exercises one after the other without rest in between. After you perform both exercises, then you rest for 20 seconds to 1 minute.

Picking the Appropriate Weight Size

The weight size you select should be the weight that you can use to perform the whole set with good form and still feel like you have two additional reps left in the tank at the end.

If you feel like you could pump out another 10 reps, the weight isn’t challenging enough for you. You need to go heavier!

If you feel like you’re failing on the last rep of every set or barely making it through all the reps prescribed, the weight is too heavy and you’re probably sacrificing form. We don’t want to over or under train the muscle.

Initially, picking the right weight right off the bat will feel a little harder, and that’s okay!

At the beginning, I suggest performing a couple of warm up sets to get a feel for what weights feel appropriate for the reps prescribed. Keep going heavier until you find the weight that fits the above description (2 extra reps still left in the tank but not much more.)

Exercise Instructions

Dumbbell Double Arm Bent Over Row

1. Hold a dumbbell in each hand at your sides with arms fully extended.
2. Bend over at the waist while keeping the back flat. Activate the core to protect the spine. Keep your head and neck in line with your back throughout the movement.
3. With arms fully extended beneath your shoulders, retract your shoulder blades and bend the elbows to pull the dumbbells to the sides of your waist.
4. Slowly lower the dumbbells back to the starting position.

Dumbbell Bench Press

1. Lie on your back on a flat bench, holding two dumbbells at arms length over your chest. 
2. Rotate your wrists so that the thumb sides of your hands are closer together than the pinky sides. (Think about holding a steering wheel at 10 and 2 o clock.Your hands are angled.)
3. Slowly lower the weights down to your chest, keeping the elbows tucked. (In other words, don't flare the elbows out directly to either side of your shoulders.)
4. Press the weights back up to the starting position using your chest muscles. 

Dumbbell Crush Press

1. Lie back on a flat exercise bench holding two heavy dumbbells on your chest, palms facing one another.
2. Press the dumbbells together in the center of your chest (this is your starting position).
3. Keeping the dumbbells pressed together, slowly push them to arm’s length over your chest. Pause for a moment, squeezing your chest muscles.
4. Slowly reverse the movement, returning to the starting position.

Seated Single Arm Cable Row

1. Sit upright on the seated cable row bench. With the single handle attachment connected to the cable, hold the attachment in one hand with an overhand grip (palm down) and your arm straight out in front of you.
2. Pull the handle toward the side of your hip.As you do so, rotate your grip from overhand (palm down) to neutral (palm facing inward.) Do not allow the torso to rotate as you row. 
3. Slowly return to the starting position. Perform all reps on one side. Then, switch to the other side.

Dumbbell Hammer Curl

1. Stand up straight with arms hanging at your sides and dumbbells in both hands, palms facing in.
2. Curl the weight in each hand up toward your shoulder, keeping your palms faced inwards at all times.
3. Pause at the top of the lift and then slowly lower the weights back to the starting position. 

Dumbbell Shoulder Press

1. Stand up straight with both dumbbells positioned to either side of your head. Your upper arms should be parallel to the floor.
2. Point your elbows forward at a slight angle rather than flared out directly next to your shoulders. This will protect the shoulders.
3. Activate the core to protect your lower back throughout the movement. Do not allow the back to arch as you perform the exercise. Keep the back flat throughout.
4. Press dumbbells upwards until arms are extended overhead.
5. Slowly lower the dumbbells back to the starting position.

Reverse Grip Cable Tricep Pushdown

1. Set up the pulley so that it is above your head. Attach the straight bar attachment to the cable. 
2. Face the cable station and hold the straight bar with both hands, using an underhand grip (palms up.) Keep a soft bend in your knees and sit your hips back slightly.
3. Tuck your elbows against your sides. With your upper arms stationary against your sides, lower the straight bar by extending your forearms until your arms are fully extended. 
4. Pause at the bottom and slowly return to the starting position.

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