Upper Body Kettlebell Exercises & Muscles with Waterbell

Visible Arm Muscles

Muscles that support arm movement

When doing chest, upper back, shoulder or arm exercises it is important to understand how they are all interconnected and needed to work together in order to stabilize your upper body movement patterns, ensuring good posture and keeping you safe from injury.

Arm movement requires-

Chest muscles– pectoralis major, pectoralis minor, and latissimus dorsi,

Shoulder muscles– deltoid, and rotator cuff muscles are all connected to the upper arm bone (humerus) which moves your arms. Muscles that connect your upper arm bone (humerus) to your forearm are the triceps brachii, biceps brachii, brachialis, and brachioradialis.

Below we will go through all the muscles used to move your arm.

The largest muscles that sit on the surface and help with shoulder and arm movement are Pectoralis major, trapezius, Latissimus dorsi and Deltoids which can be identified by tone, shape and size.

Pectoralis Major Muscle

Pectoralis is a fan shaped muscle that connects to and moves your rib cage/chest while also attaching to your upper arm (humerus) and shoulder collarbone. This allows you to move your shoulder joint in four ways as well as attaching your arm to your body

Trapezius

Upper back/shoulder muscle. Attaches to your mid spine up to your neck which is divided into three parts: Upper (which supports the arm), lower rotates the scapula and middle trapezius which is responsible for retracting and forward motion.

Latissimus Dorsi

This is one of the largest muscles in your back that connects right from your lower to mid back, to behind your arm. This muscle assists in movements such as rotating the shoulder inwards, moving your arm up and down, while pulling your trunk upward.

Deltoid

The Deltoid is a large triangular shaped muscle that has 3 muscle heads which connect to the top of your arm, collar bone, and shoulder blade. The Deltoid assists movements of the arm and shoulder including flexion, extension, and rotation.

If your quads are tight this will cause an anterior tilt (your pelvis tilts down towards the floor often causing you to stick your tummy out) which contracts and tightens your hamstring as your body works to balance the forward tilt your tight quads have created. This can also cause knee, shin and ankle pain.

Deep Muscles

Deep Upper Body Muscles

In order for you to get the best out of your workout don’t forget your warm ups. Areas of the shoulder that are often overlooked are rotator cuff muscles such as rear delts (or “posterior deltoid”) which are undeveloped in most people, causing imbalance, pain and injury. This is why it’s so important to have a balanced workout and warmups that incorporate some of these muscles!

Pectoralis Minor Muscle

The Pectoralis Minor, although small, plays a big part in shoulder movement and can be tight in a lot of people, contributing to shoulder injuries. It attaches from a small part of the shoulder blade and onto the front of your rib cage.

Subclavius

The subclavius is a small muscle that connects your collarbone to your rib cage and aides in upper rib cage movements and supports the collarbone through shoulder movements

Serratus Anterior

The serratus anterior starts at the top of your ribs to your 9th rib at the side of the chest and attaches to your scapula. This muscle helps with rib, scapular, and shoulder movement and stabilization which allows you to lift your arm past 90 degrees.

Levator Scapulae

The levator scapulae is attached from the top of your neck to your scapular (shoulder blade) which helps move your arm upwards.

Rhomboideus Minor

The rhomboid minor is a small muscle that attaches at the bottom of your neck to the top of your scapular, which helps retract and rotate your shoulder blade.

Rhomboideus Major

The rhomboid major is the larger of the two rhomboides and sits just below your minor connecting from the top of your spine to your shoulder blade, also helping with arm movement and stabilization of your upper back.

Teres major

Attaches from the back and bottom of your shoulder blade, up to the top and front of your arm. Helping your arms sit down beside you and backwards, stopping you from slouching in a movement, which is good for posture and technique.

Supraspinatus

The supraspinatus is located in the upper back in your shoulder blade to the top of the arm. The supraspinatus is one of the four rotator cuff muscles and helps the arm move upwards at the shoulder.

Infraspinatus

The infraspinatus is a triangular muscle and is one of the four rotator cuff muscles. It attaches from the top of your arm to your shoulder blade and helps move, rotate, and stabilize your arm and shoulder.

Teres Minor

The teres minor is one of the rotator cuff muscles and is a narrow, elongated shape that connects from the top side of your arm to the bottom of your shoulder blade. It supports movements that bring your arms down towards the body and adds stability in your shoulder movements.

Subscapularis

The subscapularis is a large triangular muscle that sits behind your shoulder blades and attaches to the front of your shoulder. The Subscapularis is one of the four rotator cuff muscles that helps move the arm inwards and down towards you.

Upper Arm Muscles

To maximize any workout or just day to day ease moving around without pain it’s important to engage both large and small muscles within your movements. This can be done by simple technique cues along with specific exercises to maximize back development and maintain shoulder health. This is why we also focus on small isolation movements and warm ups to train the middle and lower traps, rhomboids, and rear deltoids which assist with overall upper body strength, stability, balance and health. ⁣

Biceps Brachii

The biceps brachii attaches from the top of your forearm to your shoulder. This muscle helps you bring your forearm towards your body and helps movements where you need to carry things from one place to another.

Coracobrachialis

Is connected from the top of your shoulder blade to midway down your upper arm. This muscle helps draw your arms towards you while keeping your arm and shoulders forward.

Triceps Brachii

The triceps brachii is a large muscle with three heads connecting from your elbow to upper arm and shoulder . The triceps brachii helps with pulling actions.

If your quads are tight this will cause an anterior tilt (your pelvis tilts down towards the floor often causing you to stick your tummy out) which contracts and tightens your hamstring as your body works to balance the forward tilt your tight quads have created. This can also cause knee, shin and ankle pain.