One upper body exercise

[Al Doggity]

What 1 exercise do you think would build the best upper body if it was the only exercise your workouts consisted of?
I know a lot of people would reflexively say "deadlift". Many of you know how i feel about the deadlift. I have never heard of anyone building an impressive physique using only deadlifts.

I have seen many people make significant gains with workouts focused on one of several other exercises, though: pushups, pullups, bench press, even bicep curls.

IMO, pullups/ chinups would give you the most complete upper body.

[ratherbebig]

wheel of pain.

[robcguns]

Dips and pull ups need two,then cardio for legs.

Or else just dips if only one is possible.

[Pray_4_War]

Dips

[Al Doggity]

Dips and pull ups need two,then cardio for legs.

Or else just dips if only one is possible.

Only one is possible. IMO, if you get two, you can have dozens of push/pull combinations that will give you a total workout and complete physique.

[funk51]

dips were known as the upper body squat. you should do a tri-set= dips + chins+ pushups 3 sets of 12 reps rest a minute or two between sets.

[BB]

Technically, it's considered a single exercise -

.

[IRON CROSS]

Dips

YES, Gironda dips !.

[Al Doggity]

Well, dips seem to be the consensus.   

No doubt a great exercise.

I actually did have a period where my workouts were pretty much just dips, biceps curls and a lot of lower body exercises.

I will say this in opposition to dips. I have a much more noticeable upper body taper when I'm doing a lot of pull /chin ups. There's a few physique/classic guys that train at my gym and a couple of them do bodyweight bar exercises almost every workout.  And their lats are borderline ridiculous for their bodytypes.

So, as great as dips are, if I was thinking about building the widest back possible, along with maximizing as much other stuff as possible, I would probably stick with chins/pulls.

[Thin Lizzy]

Military presses starting with the bar on the floor.

[Grape Ape]

I actually did have a period

Tranny outed

[jude2]

Dips

Yep.

[Irongrip400]

Dips hurt my back for whatever reason. It’s not a low back exercise but on occasion I get the twinge/pinch in my lower back while doing them. Also hurts the part of my palm near my pinky.

[Thin Lizzy]

Dips hurt my back for whatever reason. It’s not a low back exercise but on occasion I get the twinge/pinch in my lower back while doing them. Also hurts the part of my palm near my pinky.

 The problem with dips as well as pull-ups is that you have to use your entire body weight without any warm up. You can get away with this when you’re young but as you get older it won’t end well. You wouldn’t do a first set of lat pull downs on the machine with 200 pounds.

[IroNat]

Military press or push press.

[BB]

I wanted to go with a clean and press variation too, but clean before the press would break this stipulation -


"Only one is possible. IMO, if you get two, you can have dozens of push/pull combinations that will give you a total workout and complete physique."

Otherwise, yeah, some version of the C and P is the best answer, in my opinion.

[Royalty]

Military presses starting with the bar on the floor.

Yes. Good answer

[Grape Ape]

The problem with dips as well as pull-ups is that you have to use your entire body weight without any warm up. You can get away with this when you’re young but as you get older it won’t end well. You wouldn’t do a first set of lat pull downs on the machine with 200 pounds.

Very good point.  Never thought of it that way.

I think they stress my shoulder too much.  I have had a CM of each collarbone cut off.  I used to do three plates for reps on this, now, I think there are better alternatives.

[Al Doggity]

I wanted to go with a clean and press variation too, but clean before the press would break this stipulation -


"Only one is possible. IMO, if you get two, you can have dozens of push/pull combinations that will give you a total workout and complete physique."

Otherwise, yeah, some version of the C and P is the best answer, in my opinion.

If one rep contains both the push and pull movement, it falls within the scope of the guidelines.  

The problem with dips as well as pull-ups is that you have to use your entire body weight without any warm up. You can get away with this when you’re young but as you get older it won’t end well. You wouldn’t do a first set of lat pull downs on the machine with 200 pounds.

Good point, but you actually can do warm up sets of both exercises to a certain degree. There are assisted dip and pull up stations ofc. (Even though I suspect majority getbig would claim otherwise, those things are not reserved for bitches and  pussies.  Especially pull up station. And I should know. I read somewhere that I just had my period.)

  You can also do bench dips (for the purposes of this discussion, close variations fall within the stipulations) with your knees bent like you're sitting in a chair. That decreases the resistance a lot and you can work yourself up to full bodyweight.

[Powerlift66]

dips were known as the upper body squat. you should do a tri-set= dips + chins+ pushups 3 sets of 12 reps rest a minute or two between sets.

Great advices Funk!

[Powerlift66]

Technically, it's considered a single exercise -

.

Hopefully just joking here. 

[ratherbebig]

one upper body exercise? tittyfuck.

[Humble Narcissist]

Only one upper body exercise?  Pushups.

Pushups and pullups with all variations would be superior.  A complete upper body can be built with just these 2 exercises.  Add bodyweight squats for legs.

[loco]

Push ups.

You can do them anywhere, with no need for equipment.  Works the pecs, tris, delts, and core.  It's safe for, and actually strengthens, your rotator cuff.

[mazrim]

Bench (db or bar). Can do all sorts of variants. Can also still look good by developing your chest.

Not a fan of dips unless it is high reps.