Is it possible to have good upper body workouts without weights? Can you build muscle and burn fat just as well as you could using equipment in the gym? Is it possible to get a good physique using just your own bodyweight as resistance? Well let's get into it so you can start writing your own body weight workouts.

Are you considering upper body workouts without weights?

Well I hope you are! You can do a fantastic full body workout without weights if you know some good exercises and you can get some great results too. When trying to come up with the exercises to add to your routine there are some things you need to consider.

Just like with regular gym routines you need to structure your workouts so you don't exhaust certain muscles too soon. If you are targeting your chest in your workout, you don't want to tire out your triceps or anterior deltoid (the front of your shoulders) too soon as they assist you with the best exercises that work your chest. These are known as compound exercises.

What are compound exercises?

Compound exercises are exercises that use more than one joint movement. For example, a shoulder press is a compound exercise because you are using your shoulder joint and elbow. An isolation exercise is an exercise that uses only one joint movement. An example of this is a lateral raise. You are only using your shoulder joint for this exercise as you are keeping your arms straight. But both target the same muscle... The lateral deltoid (the side of your shoulders).

With Compound exercises you can lift heavier weights, or use more of your own bodyweight, because you have extra muscles assisting you in the movement. Heavier weights means a great strain, a greater strains mean great gains.

Building a great physique with your own bodyweight... Can it be done?

One of the best examples of a bodyweight exercise that excels far beyond any barbell or dumbbell exercise is... The Pull Up.

There is no greater exercise to workout your back than doing pull ups. If you struggle to do pull ups you can do different variations like negative pull ups or australian pull ups until you have gotten to the point where you can do regular pull ups. There are loads of videos online that can show you how to get to that point but it my eyes negative pull ups are the best way to get started.

If you want to get started I'd recommend doing 3 sets of 5 negative pull ups. Lower yourself as slow as possible each rep to get the most of the exercise for a minimum of 2 seconds per rep. Repeat this workout 3 times a week increasing the reps by 1 each time you complete the workout successfully. It should look like this:

• Monday: set 1 - 5 reps, set 2 - 5 reps, set 3 - 5 reps
• Wednesday: set 1 - 6 reps, set 2 - 5 reps, set 3 - 5 reps
• Friday: set 1 - 6 reps, set 2 - 6 reps, set 3 - 5 reps

Build muscle and burn fat just as well, if not better, than the gym

Performing bodyweight exercises can lead to great fat loss gains because you can keep your metabolism revved up by doing exercises with very little rest in between sets. This can be done quicker than when in the gym because you don't have any machines or barbells to set up... You just get on with the exercise.

If you wanted to do a full body workout without weights you can do it very quickly and see fantastic gains in fat loss and muscle gain. You can even spice things up by doing a mix of gym based and bodyweight exercises. You can write a great chest workout routine if you wanted to mix it up by doing both, but you can get the best upper bodyweight workout just using your own bodyweight for resistance.