Curated By Ebenezer Samuel, C.S.C.S.
Building your summer body does not require you to do every exercise in the book. Yes, Instagram and TikTok deluge you with new moves that layer muscle on here and build strength there, but as the summer nears, you’ll want to focus on a few key areas.
This is especially true if your main goal is to look great with your shirt off. Strengthen the right muscle groups, and you’ll fast-track yourself to improved posture and a better V-taper, both of which are keys to a great summer body. You can do that by making sure to train several key muscle groups at least twice a week. Do these moves as a workout to accomplish that, then on two other days each week, do our January workout.
RHOMBOIDS
Building these muscles in between your shoulder blades is critical to good posture. Strong, thick rhomboids look great in a T-shirt, and they also help your chest look more superheroic by pulling your shoulders towards your shoulder blades. All row variations will build those rhomboids, but you can really zone in on them with elbows-flared incline bench rows. Do 3 sets of 8 to 10 reps, focusing on squeezing your shoulder blades together at the top of each rep.
sHOULDERS
Strong, powerful shoulders create a magical optical illusion by making your waist look that much slimmer in comparison. They also add a three-dimensional look to your arms, creating width. A bonus: training them helps protect and lubricate the many tendons in the joint. The best part: You don’t need to go heavy to build them. Instead, do lean away lateral raises, which attack the outer portion of your shoulder. Do 3 sets of 10 to 12 reps per side.
GLUTES
Well-developed glutes do more than bring your legs into focus. They help you stave off back pain by creating critical hip stability. And they make your abs align properly too, by shifting your pelvis into proper position. The Romanian deadlift, a move I keep highlighting in your monthly workouts, is a perfect way to train them, while also delivering an underrated rhomboid pump, too. Do 3 sets of 8 to 10.
TRICEPS
As much as I love biceps curls, building your triceps is actually more critical to bigger arms. Your triceps are simply a larger muscle group that wraps around more of your arm. You’ll challenge them with most bench press and pushup moves. Give them a bit of extra TLC with bench kickbacks. Do 3 sets of 10 to 12.
Ebenezer Samuel, C.S.C.S.
Ebenezer Samuel, C.S.C.S., is a certified trainer with more than 10 years of training experience. He’s logged training time with NFL athletes and track athletes.
His current training regimen includes weight training, HIIT conditioning, and yoga.
Ebenezer has had multiple prestigious positions including serving as a sports and tech columnist for the New York Daily News.