8 Tips to Build an Upper Body Like Instagram Sensation Sergi Constance
Size, striations, and separation—chase this trinity of upper-body traits with this rundown of expert-crafted techniques to build a physique worthy of Instagram fame.
This is not a misprint: It’s time to start getting ready for the beach (and all the pictures you’re going to take on the beach). Sure, parts of the country are still buried in snow and warm temps are still a couple of months away. But is it ever really too early to start contemplating your grand reveal for summer? We contend it is not. And not just because we’re M&F, either. The reality is that appreciable upper-body development—the kind being showcased here by Spanish IFBB physique pro Sergi Constance—takes time to cultivate. So why not start today? This arsenal of tips and workouts does not necessarily represent the foundation of said aesthetic but rather a toolbox that you can draw from to start taking your upper-body training to the next level.
Click through for eight tactics to build a herculean upper body.
8 Tips to Build an Upper Body Like Instagram Sensation Sergi Constance
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1 of 8
Per Bernal
Triset Training for Deltoids
Over time, years of pressing heavy weight can cause impingement, strained rotator cuffs, and reduced mobility, according to Justin Grinnell, C.S.C.S. (mystateoffitness.com). But that doesn’t mean that you can’t still build appreciable shoulder muscle. “You don’t need to totally take a break from the muscle-building game,” Grinnell says. “Try the dumbbell three-way shoulder tree. This workout will hammer all three heads of the deltoid without killing your joints.”
The Shoulder Smash
Triset:Rear-Delt Dumbbell RaiseDumbbell Lateral RaiseDumbbell Front-Delt Raise*Select a weight you can handle for 10 to 12 reps on your first set of rear-delt raises. Perform 10 reps of each exercise in the order listed, without rest. After 10 reps of each exercise, rest 30 seconds, then repeat the process for 9 reps of each move and rest 30 seconds. Continue the pattern, descending by 1 rep, down to 6 reps.
2 of 8
Per Bernal
Wider, Faster
Wider delts are the starting point for a tapered, sun-ready physique. But many a gymgoer misses the mark with these (relatively) smaller muscles, according to Brandon Smitley, M.S., C.S.C.S. (brandonsmitley.com).“My trainees struggle to feel their delts during lateral raises,” he says. Smitley offers these mind-muscle cues to get the most out of your medial deltoid training.
3 of 8
Per Bernal
Rear-Delt Upgrades
When it comes to building serious, eye-popping delts, Smitley goes on to say: “The upper back and rear delts really make your shoulders appear wider and thicker and help ll out your shirt. Here are some additional ideas to help further your gains.Smitley says…Don’t be afraid to use higher rep ranges. The rear delts are more of a slower-twitch and fatigue-resistant muscle group, so they respond very well to high reps. Try getting in 100 total reps, or 15 to 30 reps per set, before moving on to the next exercise.When using the reverse pec deck, remain upright with good posture. This will allow for a better mind- muscle connection.Try to keep your shoulders pulled back and down toward your butt. This will prevent your upper traps from taking over, so that your rear delts take the brunt of the work.
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Per Bernal
Upper-Body Cardio
Picking things up and putting them down is the basis for all things hypertrophy, but incorporating new and more challenging stimuli is the key to long-term change. Perhaps that’s why torso-driven cardio exercises, such as battling ropes and sledgehammer swings, are becoming increasingly popular. One 2013 study published in the Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research showed that an interval sesh with battling ropes provided metabolic bene ts akin to sprint training. But if you’ve ever tussled with the ropes, you also know that they tend to set your arms, delts, and even your midsection ablaze and provide a killer pump when needed (which is, like, always). Jose Antonio, Ph.D., C.S.C.S.—the CEO and co-founder of the International Society of Sports Nutrition (theissn.org)—suggests 10 sets of a 2-to-1 work-to-rest ratio of 60 seconds on followed by 30 seconds of rest for any and all upper-body cardio. This kind of high-output work will provide a welcome respite from treadmill-driven cardio while engaging multiple muscle fiber types in your upper-body musculature.
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Per Bernal
Rest-Pause
“If you want to see new gains in your upper body, add rest-pauses to your sets,” says Brett Hoebel, author of The 20-Minute Body.Without a dissertation on biochemistry, phosphagen—your body’s main fuel source for explosive, quick-burst movements like lifting and sprinting—gets used up fairly quickly. Happily, it replenishes within 15 to 25 seconds, albeit not to the same levels as when you began your set. You can train rest-pause exclusively, but if you prefer to simply dabble, you can also use your body’s rapid replenishment of explosive fuel as a post-failure strategy.“After you reach failure on your set, take 20 seconds of rest, then squeeze out one to three more reps to completely tap your muscle fibers,” Hoebel says. “Repeat this process four to five more times to accumulate more work in a single session.”
6 of 8
Per Bernal
Controlled Press
To the dude who loosely loads his plates on the bar so we know he’s pressing 315 pounds, and then reracks the weight after his set with all the grace of the Hulk on meth—we hear you. But can you control that 315?Josh Bryant, M.S., C.S.C.S., author of Jailhouse Strong (joshstrength.com), is a huge advocate of maximizing your gains by working smarter, not harder. Use this method to drastically increase time under tension, all in “just” three sets of six.“As you lower the weight from full extension, stop a quarter of the way down and pause for three seconds,” Bryant says. “Stop again three-quarters of the way down and pause for another three seconds. Keep tension on your pecs as the handles approach your chest. Then nish the assault by pushing the bar back up as forcefully as you can.”The payoff comes in the form of greater time under tension. “The overload is hellacious,” says Bryant, a former national powerlifting champ. “Over the six repetitions, you’ll pause for a total of 36 seconds.”
7 of 8
Per Bernal
Power Tri’s
We have examined your steady diet of pressdowns and kickbacks and found it wanting. What your triceps need is a little power.“A lot of lifters have underdeveloped long heads of their triceps, which keeps them from achieving that horseshoe appearance,” says powerlifter Greg Nuckols (strongerbyscience.com). “This is because the long head tends to be recruited last in movements that involve nothing more than elbow extension.”The solution, Nuckols says, is to add a pullover element to the standard skull crusher: “Lower the bar toward your forehead as you would with regular skull crushers and continue to lower it down behind your head with your elbows still bent. Then press, or extend it back to a lockout position, all in one motion.”
8 of 8
Per Bernal
Take a Number
One good way to increase your pullup performance—and, consequently, the size and quality of your lats—is to hit the pullup bar. And only the pullup bar…for an unseemly number of reps.A good target for a pullup novice is 100. Keeping in mind that this will be the only work you put in for your back all week, park yourself at the bar and complete as many sets to failure as it takes to reach 100 reps, resting no more than 60 seconds between sets. This may mean multiple sets of only one or two reps. Once you hit 100, perform two to three negative reps where you “jump” yourself into position at the fully contracted position and take seven to 10 seconds to lower yourself on each rep.Not a novice? No worries. Choose the number of pullups you can do to failure, then multiply that number by 10. Then, find a good masseuse.Pro Tip: If you do decide to take on this or any other pullup-driven challenge, it’s important to know how to pull to get the most out of each rep. Lee Boyce, C.P.T. (leeboycetraining.com), offers the following words of wisdom for getting to the bar. “For pullups, arch your back,” he says. “Most people are taught the hollow-body cue, which doesn’t make biomechanical sense when you think about the way the shoulder blades act on the thoracic spine. If you want to make your back muscles shorten, your thoracic region needs to extend during the lift—there’s no way around it. Try engaging the abs less and focusing on retracting the shoulder blades as you come up, and you’ll engage your lats much more.”
Over time, years of pressing heavy weight can cause impingement, strained rotator cuffs, and reduced mobility, according to Justin Grinnell, C.S.C.S. (mystateoffitness.com). But that doesn’t mean that you can’t still build appreciable shoulder muscle. “You don’t need to totally take a break from the muscle-building game,” Grinnell says. “Try the dumbbell three-way shoulder tree. This workout will hammer all three heads of the deltoid without killing your joints.”
The Shoulder Smash
Triset:
Rear-Delt Dumbbell Raise
Dumbbell Lateral Raise
Dumbbell Front-Delt Raise
*Select a weight you can handle for 10 to 12 reps on your first set of rear-delt raises. Perform 10 reps of each exercise in the order listed, without rest. After 10 reps of each exercise, rest 30 seconds, then repeat the process for 9 reps of each move and rest 30 seconds. Continue the pattern, descending by 1 rep, down to 6 reps.
Wider, Faster
Wider delts are the starting point for a tapered, sun-ready physique. But many a gymgoer misses the mark with these (relatively) smaller muscles, according to Brandon Smitley, M.S., C.S.C.S. (brandonsmitley.com).
“My trainees struggle to feel their delts during lateral raises,” he says. Smitley offers these mind-muscle cues to get the most out of your medial deltoid training.
Rear-Delt Upgrades
When it comes to building serious, eye-popping delts, Smitley goes on to say: “The upper back and rear delts really make your shoulders appear wider and thicker and help ll out your shirt. Here are some additional ideas to help further your gains.
Smitley says…
Don’t be afraid to use higher rep ranges. The rear delts are more of a slower-twitch and fatigue-resistant muscle group, so they respond very well to high reps. Try getting in 100 total reps, or 15 to 30 reps per set, before moving on to the next exercise.
When using the reverse pec deck, remain upright with good posture. This will allow for a better mind- muscle connection.
Try to keep your shoulders pulled back and down toward your butt. This will prevent your upper traps from taking over, so that your rear delts take the brunt of the work.
Upper-Body Cardio
Picking things up and putting them down is the basis for all things hypertrophy, but incorporating new and more challenging stimuli is the key to long-term change. Perhaps that’s why torso-driven cardio exercises, such as battling ropes and sledgehammer swings, are becoming increasingly popular. One 2013 study published in the Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research showed that an interval sesh with battling ropes provided metabolic bene ts akin to sprint training. But if you’ve ever tussled with the ropes, you also know that they tend to set your arms, delts, and even your midsection ablaze and provide a killer pump when needed (which is, like, always). Jose Antonio, Ph.D., C.S.C.S.—the CEO and co-founder of the International Society of Sports Nutrition (theissn.org)—suggests 10 sets of a 2-to-1 work-to-rest ratio of 60 seconds on followed by 30 seconds of rest for any and all upper-body cardio. This kind of high-output work will provide a welcome respite from treadmill-driven cardio while engaging multiple muscle fiber types in your upper-body musculature.
Rest-Pause
“If you want to see new gains in your upper body, add rest-pauses to your sets,” says Brett Hoebel, author of The 20-Minute Body.
Without a dissertation on biochemistry, phosphagen—your body’s main fuel source for explosive, quick-burst movements like lifting and sprinting—gets used up fairly quickly. Happily, it replenishes within 15 to 25 seconds, albeit not to the same levels as when you began your set. You can train rest-pause exclusively, but if you prefer to simply dabble, you can also use your body’s rapid replenishment of explosive fuel as a post-failure strategy.
“After you reach failure on your set, take 20 seconds of rest, then squeeze out one to three more reps to completely tap your muscle fibers,” Hoebel says. “Repeat this process four to five more times to accumulate more work in a single session.”
Controlled Press
To the dude who loosely loads his plates on the bar so we know he’s pressing 315 pounds, and then reracks the weight after his set with all the grace of the Hulk on meth—we hear you. But can you control that 315?
Josh Bryant, M.S., C.S.C.S., author of Jailhouse Strong (joshstrength.com), is a huge advocate of maximizing your gains by working smarter, not harder. Use this method to drastically increase time under tension, all in “just” three sets of six.
“As you lower the weight from full extension, stop a quarter of the way down and pause for three seconds,” Bryant says. “Stop again three-quarters of the way down and pause for another three seconds. Keep tension on your pecs as the handles approach your chest. Then nish the assault by pushing the bar back up as forcefully as you can.”
The payoff comes in the form of greater time under tension. “The overload is hellacious,” says Bryant, a former national powerlifting champ. “Over the six repetitions, you’ll pause for a total of 36 seconds.”
Power Tri's
We have examined your steady diet of pressdowns and kickbacks and found it wanting. What your triceps need is a little power.
“A lot of lifters have underdeveloped long heads of their triceps, which keeps them from achieving that horseshoe appearance,” says powerlifter Greg Nuckols (strongerbyscience.com). “This is because the long head tends to be recruited last in movements that involve nothing more than elbow extension.”
The solution, Nuckols says, is to add a pullover element to the standard skull crusher: “Lower the bar toward your forehead as you would with regular skull crushers and continue to lower it down behind your head with your elbows still bent. Then press, or extend it back to a lockout position, all in one motion.”
Take a Number
One good way to increase your pullup performance—and, consequently, the size and quality of your lats—is to hit the pullup bar. And only the pullup bar…for an unseemly number of reps.
A good target for a pullup novice is 100. Keeping in mind that this will be the only work you put in for your back all week, park yourself at the bar and complete as many sets to failure as it takes to reach 100 reps, resting no more than 60 seconds between sets. This may mean multiple sets of only one or two reps. Once you hit 100, perform two to three negative reps where you “jump” yourself into position at the fully contracted position and take seven to 10 seconds to lower yourself on each rep.
Not a novice? No worries. Choose the number of pullups you can do to failure, then multiply that number by 10. Then, find a good masseuse.
Pro Tip: If you do decide to take on this or any other pullup-driven challenge, it’s important to know how to pull to get the most out of each rep. Lee Boyce, C.P.T. (leeboycetraining.com), offers the following words of wisdom for getting to the bar. “For pullups, arch your back,” he says. “Most people are taught the hollow-body cue, which doesn’t make biomechanical sense when you think about the way the shoulder blades act on the thoracic spine. If you want to make your back muscles shorten, your thoracic region needs to extend during the lift—there’s no way around it. Try engaging the abs less and focusing on retracting the shoulder blades as you come up, and you’ll engage your lats much more.”
