5 Crossfit Upper Body Workouts To Build Muscle, Size And Strength
Crossfit is a multi discipline sport that requires its athletes to be good at numerous physical skills. Whether it be lifting, sprinting, swimming, gymnastics, bike riding or any endurance event, your upper body strength can be a limiting factor if you don’t have the right amount of muscle and strength. You can get really proficient with your lower body training but remember, your body is its own system and without equal upper body strength, your performance potential will be limited.
Upper body strength is involved in everything “crossfit” especially when athletes often focus on their leg training. Give these 5 upper body workouts to build muscle, size and strength.
Crossfit upper body "bodybuilding" workout
Ignoring muscle hypertrophy is often the limiting factor in crossfit athletes. This upper body workout is primarily focused on volume for muscle growth.
Barbell bench press 4 sets of 6-8-10-12 reps
Seated dumbbell shoulder press-5 sets of 5 reps
Incline dumbbell chest press-4 sets of 8 reps
Superset with
Incline dumbbell curls-4 sets of 6-8-10-12 reps
Wide grip lat pull down-3 sets of 8 reps. Drop set on the last set for 10 reps.
Seated cable row-3 sets of 12 reps
Superset with
Cable side raise-3 sets of 8 reps.
There is a lot of volume in this workout. To delay fatigue and increase recovery, I suggest supplementing with The Physique Formula BCAAS with stevia.
Crossfit Upper Body Strength Endurance
20 AMRAP. 10 reps per exercise. Perform as many rounds as possible.
Push Ups
Dumbbell or Kettlebell shoulder Press
Dips or overhead triceps extensions
Crossfire Upper Body Strength WOD JT
21-15-9
Handstand Push Ups
Ring Dips
Pushups (or incline dumbbell chest press)
This is more of an endurance based workout so I'd suggest consuming of of The Physique Formula pre workout without artificial sweeteners about 45 minutes prior to the workout.
Crossfit Upper Body Strength Workout-Lats
Why the primary lat focus? By building the upper back muscles we can increase our strength potential in the heavier movements such as deadlifts and snatches.
Pul ups 4 sets of 8 reps
Bodyweight barbell bench press-5 sets of max reps
Barbell Push Press-5 sets of max reps
Standing reverse curls- 5 sets of 5 reps
Superset with
Standing french press-5 sets of reps
Superset with
Heavy barbell holds-5 sets of 30 seconds.
Crossfit Upper Body Strength Endurance
25 minute AMREP-Perform as many reps as possible per set before moving onto the next movement.
Pull Ups
Push Ups
50 cal row
Dumbbell Power clean
Supplement Suggestion: Take 5 grams of our sugar free creatine monohydrate before your workout to increase strength potential.
I suggest you pick one workout and stick with it for 6 weeks maximum with the workout performed a minimum of once per week.