Women rarely pay special attention to their upper bodies and invest most of their efforts in the acquisition of sexy legs. A major contributing factor to this choice is the stereotype that men should have big upper bodies whereas women have to focus on the legs. Well, this belief is garbage, and here’s how to develop a strong upper body as a girl.

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1.Do Push-ups and Dips

One of the most effective and convenient upper body exercises is the basic push-up. It will build your triceps, front deltoids and chest while also testing your core strength.

If you are not strong enough to do the classic version, perform knee push-ups and build up.

Once you can do 3×20 regular push-ups, you are ready for more advanced exercises such as the dip.

It may surprise those of you used to download beach body videos, but I am not talking about bench dips. Bench dips suck. They may pump your triceps but will destroy your shoulders in the process. 

Don’t be afraid of regular dips. If you are able to do 3×20 push-ups with good form, you will get at least a few dips on the parallel bars. That alone is an accomplishment that many girls don’t ever bother to achieve.

Once you are at that level, there are many programs that you can follow to increase your dip numbers.

You can try the good old volume method which works like this:

• determine the work sets by dividing your maximum number of dips in a set by 2 (e.g., if you can do 2 dips, your work sets will be made of one repetition.)

• do as many sets as you can with good form in 20-40 minutes;

• take as much rest as you need between sets;

As you get used to that workout, start to increase the number of reps per set. Before you know it, you will be doing sets of 5.

Congratulations, you are now stronger than 90% of the girls you are ever likely to meet.

2.Do Pull-ups and Horizontal rows

The push-up and the dip will take care of the front, but you need to add exercises for your back to avoid muscle imbalances and poor posture.

Pull-ups and the horizontal rows are a good choice. They will develop your back, biceps and posterior shoulder girdle.

Start with the horizontal row and build up to a regular pull-up. You can find a more detailed post on how to do that here.