Upper B Workout: Full Session Walkthrough

What Upper B is for

Upper B is the vertical half of your upper training — overhead pressing as the main lift instead of flat bench, a horizontal pull to balance it, then chest flyes, rear delts, and arms. Where Upper A pushes forward, Upper B pushes up.

Same structure every time: warm-ups on the first lift only, two working sets to failure with a drop set after the second, log every set, 40-60 minutes total.

Seated or standing overhead press — 6-8 reps

First lift of the session, so take your one or two warm-up sets — the shoulder joint needs this more than most. Light weight, full range, building toward your working load.

Working sets: two, to failure, 6-8 reps. Ribs down, glutes tight, don't let your lower back arch to help the bar up — that's your abs and hips checking out and your spine picking up the slack. Press the bar in a straight line, moving your head back slightly to let it pass, then driving it forward at the top.

Drop 20-30% off the bar right after set two, no rest, go again. If overhead pressing bothers your shoulders on a given day, a seated dumbbell press is a fine substitute — same protocol.

Picking your starting weight

Overhead press working weight is usually well below your bench numbers — don't anchor to what you can bench and expect the same plates overhead. Start conservative on week one: a weight you could get 10 reps with is a reasonable place to begin your first working set, then adjust from there.

If that first set goes past 8 reps before slowing down, bump it 5% next session. If you're missing reps or your lower back is arching to finish them, drop the weight — that cue matters more than the number on the bar.

Horizontal pull: chest-supported row or seated cable row — 6-8 reps

Two working sets straight to failure, no warm-up needed. Chest pinned to the pad or torso upright and still on the cable row, pull to your lower ribs, squeeze at the top rather than just tapping the weight.

Drop set immediately after set two. This is the lift doing the most to protect your shoulders long-term — a strong back is what keeps an overhead press healthy.

Incline or flat dumbbell flye — 8-12 reps

Two working sets, 8-12 reps, to failure. Slight bend in the elbows held constant through the whole rep, lower until you feel a stretch across the chest — not past where your shoulders start rolling forward — then bring the dumbbells back together without banging them.

This is a stretch-and-squeeze exercise, not a heavy-load one. If you're grinding reps with terrible form, the weight's too heavy for what a flye is supposed to do. Drop set after set two.

Rear delt flye or face pull — 8-12 reps

Two working sets to failure, 8-12 reps. On a face pull, pull the rope to your face with your elbows high, thumbs rotating back at the end of the rep. On a rear delt flye, hinge forward slightly and raise the dumbbells out to the sides, leading with your elbows.

This is the muscle group that gets skipped and then blamed for rounded shoulders. Don't skip it. Drop set after set two.

Superset: hammer curl and skull crusher — 8-12 reps

Curl set into extension set, back to back, that's one round. Two working sets of each, 8-12 reps, to failure, drop set after the second set of each.

Hammer curl keeps your palms facing each other through the whole rep — different angle than the straight-bar curl in Upper A, more forearm and brachialis involved. On skull crushers, keep your elbows pointed at the ceiling and stationary; only your forearms move.

Common mistakes on this session

Arching the lower back on overhead press to grind out an extra rep is the one to watch closest — it feels like a small cheat in the moment but it's the difference between a press that stays healthy for years and one that flares up your back on a random Tuesday. If you feel your rib cage popping up and your back arching, that's your actual failure point, not the shoulders.

On flyes, going heavy enough that the movement turns into a partial-range press is the second one. If your elbows barely bend and the dumbbells only travel a few inches, you're not doing a flye anymore — drop the weight until you can feel the stretch.

If the equipment you want is taken

If the barbell or the rack for overhead press is busy, seated dumbbell press is a direct substitute and still gets the warm-up treatment since it's your first lift. Don't skip warming up just because you switched implements.

If the cable station for face pulls is occupied, dumbbell rear delt flyes are the swap — same movement pattern, just gravity instead of a cable, and no equipment line to wait in.

Running the clock

Six exercises, warm-ups only on the overhead press, two working sets plus a drop set on everything else. Rest 2-3 minutes on press and row, 60-90 seconds on the rest — that keeps you inside 40-60 minutes.

Log every working set. Comparing this session's numbers to last week's Upper B, not to Upper A's bench numbers, is what tells you if the vertical press is actually improving.

If you're short on time some mornings, the flye and rear delt work are the two exercises with the smallest cost to trimming a set of rest — they're isolations, so 60 seconds between sets is already tight and dropping to 45 won't meaningfully hurt the work.