Pilates Workout Carves Your Core and Builds a Strong Upper Body

We all want a strong upper body: Building strength in your biceps, lats, tris, back, and other muscles not only helps you in the gym (unassisted pull-up, anyone?) but also in your day-to-day routine (read: carrying your baby in between errands, carrying a heavy backpack during a long hike).

And usually, we turn toward traditional, tried and true moves—push-ups, dips (FYI: tricep dips are an upper-body move you should master ASAP), planks, and more—to get stronger.

But here’s a new idea: For a strong upper body, steal some of Pilates’ go-to moves. Not only is Pilates a known core-strengthener (that’s prenatal friendly, to boot!), it’s also a solid way to sculpt a strong upper body.

This Pilates-inspired workout targets your arms, shoulders, back, and abs using dumbbells and a resistance band to mimic Reformer-style moves and add a new twist to traditional mat favorites.

You’ll work key muscle groups of the upper body (and the core!) and leave the gym one step closer to that strong upper body you’ve been after. Boom.