Do Pullups & Pushups Work Every Muscle in the Upper Body?

[camelopardalis]

livestrong.com/article/540591-do-pullups-pushups-work-every-muscle-in-the-upper-body

This article on livestrong indicates that the following exercises work all the muscles in the upper body:

pushups
pullups
front raises
reverse fly
wrist curls
neck extension

Sorry. I'm not able to post a proper link.

I am a newbie and it seems strange to me that all muscles can be hit by very few exercises. But if true, it vastly simplifies a workout plan.

What do you guys think?

[FeelTheFear]

Some exercises technically hit a lot of muscles, but not to the point that they are going to increase in size. For example bench press hits the pecs mostly with the triceps and some delts assisting. But you would be stupid to not to do tricep and front delt exercises along with bench, since it MAINLY hits the chest. And benching alone isn't going to bring your triceps/delts close enough to failure to give you the maximum amount of hypertrophy/strength

(this is assuming you dont have a muscular imbalance. If you have weak triceps compared to your chest then it can actually be a good tricep workout [it is for me personally])

[Zooty]

lol

doing just those exercises will get you nowhere fast, no sufficient tricep work, no trap work either.

[IDrinkBloodLOL]

Lower back. That is all.

[camelopardalis]

lol

doing just those exercises will get you nowhere fast, no sufficient tricep work, no trap work either.

Don't pushups work the triceps and pullups the traps?

[ShenSierra]

I have always thought of pushups and chinups as the kings of upper body development. They compliment each other. Pushups build your pushing muscles; primarily shoulders, chest and triceps. Chinups build your pulling muscles; back and biceps. In fact, bodyweight exercises have always formed the core of my workouts, and everything else is in addition to. These two exercises alone will build a pretty decent upper body. But for complete development, you've got to hit your muscles from other angles. For example, pushups will build the pushing portions of your triceps, but to really fill out those triceps, you've got to include triceps extensions, pushdowns, and triceps curls. Pushups will build the front portions of your shoulders, but to really fill them out, you've got to add rear delt lifts, laterals, and presses. And so on.

[camelopardalis]

Some exercises technically hit a lot of muscles, but not to the point that they are going to increase in size. For example bench press hits the pecs mostly with the triceps and some delts assisting. But you would be stupid to not to do tricep and front delt exercises along with bench, since it MAINLY hits the chest. And benching alone isn't going to bring your triceps/delts close enough to failure to give you the maximum amount of hypertrophy/strength

(this is assuming you dont have a muscular imbalance. If you have weak triceps compared to your chest then it can actually be a good tricep workout [it is for me personally])

Thanks. I need to hear this. I do a lot of pushups and pullups as the basis of my upper body exercise. What would you recommend as a program to supplement both. I don't go to the gym and only have dumbbells at home.

I ride my bike 80-100 miles a week, so I am not planning on adding too much additional leg work.

I'm 5'11" and 170 lbs. I only want to add maybe 5 lbs of muscle.

[k9pit]

livestrong.com/article/540591-do-pullups-pushups-work-every-muscle-in-the-upper-body

This article on livestrong indicates that the following exercises work all the muscles in the upper body:

pushups
pullups
front raises
reverse fly
wrist curls
neck extension

Sorry. I'm not able to post a proper link.

I am a newbie and it seems strange to me that all muscles can be hit by very few exercises. But if true, it vastly simplifies a workout plan.

What do you guys think?

Taking under consideration stabilization, likely so. But the load affecting that time under tension of said stabilization isn't likely gonna be enough to cause much hypertrophy.
Those last 4 movements that you listed typically won't allow enough weight to be moved to cause much hypertrophy either. In my opinion, as a beginner I think you'd be better served sticking to the basic moves (rows and presses for upper body and closed chained lower body movements(i.e., squat, leg press, etc)) in which you can activate those muscles under heavier loads if your goal is strength or hypertrophy/body"building".
There's nothing wrong about those 4 moves per say, but in my opinion, they are moreso "icing on the cake" moves than anything.

[GeneralSerpant]

As said in below quote, a great deal of muscles are active between all of these exercises, but will not make all the muscles grow in particular.

Another thing is that there are 3 shoulder heads, and only two of them are being worked between your raises and flies. The lateral deltoid isn't being worked much at all between them and the rest of the exercises.

The muscles I can think of that aren't getting worked specifically are the trapezius, the serratus anterior, the rhomboids, erector spinae, core (abs, hip-flexors, obliques) and of course, the lateral deltoid.

Shrugs will work the upper-trapezius,
DB/Barbell Rows will work the rhomboids and lower-trapezius,
Shoulder Presses will work the serratus anterior,
back-extensions will work the erector-spinae,
sit-ups, crunches, and various twists and bends will work the core,
lateral raises and upright-rows will work the lateral deltoid.

Taking under consideration stabilization, likely so. But the load affecting that time under tension of said stabilization isn't likely gonna be enough to cause much hypertrophy.
Those last 4 movements that you listed typically won't allow enough weight to be moved to cause much hypertrophy either. In my opinion, as a beginner I think you'd be better served sticking to the basic moves (rows and presses for upper body and closed chained lower body movements(i.e., squat, leg press, etc)) in which you can activate those muscles under heavier loads if your goal is strength or hypertrophy/body"building".
There's nothing wrong about those 4 moves per say, but in my opinion, they are moreso "icing on the cake" moves than anything.

[camelopardalis]

The muscles I can think of that aren't getting worked specifically are the trapezius, the serratus anterior, the rhomboids, erector spinae, core (abs, hip-flexors, obliques) and of course, the lateral deltoid.

Shrugs will work the upper-trapezius,
DB/Barbell Rows will work the rhomboids and lower-trapezius,
Shoulder Presses will work the serratus anterior,
back-extensions will work the erector-spinae,
sit-ups, crunches, and various twists and bends will work the core,
lateral raises and upright-rows will work the lateral deltoid.

Thank you.

These are principally the exercises that I enjoy doing in addition to the pullups and pushups. Except for the back extensions which I would like to do but do not have equipment for.

[thunderchild]

i have always thought of pushups and chinups as the kings of upper body development. They compliment each other. Pushups build your pushing muscles; primarily shoulders, chest and triceps. Chinups build your pulling muscles; back and biceps. In fact, bodyweight exercises have always formed the core of my workouts, and everything else is in addition to. These two exercises alone will build a pretty decent upper body. But for complete development, you've got to hit your muscles from other angles. For example, pushups will build the pushing portions of your triceps, but to really fill out those triceps, you've got to include triceps extensions, pushdowns, and triceps curls. Pushups will build the front portions of your shoulders, but to really fill them out, you've got to add rear delt lifts, laterals, and presses. And so on.

this ^^^^

[gashcader]

need some legs. make sure you do them reverse flies too

[camelopardalis]

need some legs. make sure you do them reverse flies too

Do I still need to hit the legs? I already bike 80-100 miles a week. I also do dumbbell squats about once a week, 4x12 but I'm not sure if it's necessary.

[gashcader]

cycling won't build up your legs. if your at home, dumbbell squats about twice a week is a good start yes, your cycling should help you recover.

[camelopardalis]

cycling won't build up your legs. if your at home, dumbbell squats about twice a week is a good start yes, your cycling should help you recover.

Don't underestimate biking for legs. I have huge calves and decent upper legs and glutes.

[gashcader]

i'm not underestimating biking for some level of leg hypertrophy, but it won't get you that far, and it certainly wouldnt give you leg strength. olympic cyclists do very heavy squatting for more power during cycling. granted you cycle for endurance. but squatting will only help with those tough hill climbs.

[camelopardalis]

i'm not underestimating biking for some level of leg hypertrophy, but it won't get you that far, and it certainly wouldnt give you leg strength. olympic cyclists do very heavy squatting for more power during cycling. granted you cycle for endurance. but squatting will only help with those tough hill climbs.

Thank you for this advice. I will do as you say and include at least two days of squatting per week on my workouts. It does hurt good but am quite sore when I do my rides. Hopefully, the soreness goes away after a few weeks.

[GeneralSerpant]

Shoulder Presses will work the serratus anterior,

You're wrong, Shoulder Raises work the serratus anterior. You're supposed to do the range of motion like a shrug, but you press upward on an incline bench.

[poloralphloren]

You're wrong, Shoulder Raises work the serratus anterior. You're supposed to do the range of motion like a shrug, but you press upward on an incline bench.

Haha, like the disagreeing with yourself, but shoulder presses do work the serratus anterior: http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/...taryPress.html

To the OP: Those exercises will work the whole upper body technically, just as jumping jacks probably do too, but that's not the same as working on strength and size for each individual muscle productively. Personally, I'd say stick with big compound movements and pick up the slack with iso's on the muscles that need further work.

[GeneralSerpant]

Haha, like the disagreeing with yourself, but shoulder presses do work the serratus anterior: http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/...taryPress.html

I've been doing shoulder presses for 25 years and my serratus has not grown.