Perfect Beach Physique

With beach season in full swing, you're probably looking for ways to make the time you spend in the gym more productive in order to get a killer upper body that will garner a second glance from the hot girl tanning a few feet away.

To do so, you have to tone up that body of yours and build some muscle mass in key regions of your body.

muscle groups

The major muscle groups you should focus on are, in order of importance, your abs, chest, biceps, triceps, back, and shoulders. These are all the important muscles in your upper body and the ones that get noticed most.

By performing a full upper body workout up to 3 times a week, you will be sure to hit each muscle frequently enough to see some fast changes, but still allow enough time between sessions for recovery. Also, since you will also be working your triceps and biceps during some chest and back exercises, you will indirectly be stimulating more than one muscle group in a single exercise.

If you are short on time, your best bet is to perform a single set of at least one exercise for each body part. This will still allow you to target all the major muscles and will help you maintain your strength. Here is a list of some great exercises that will give you the most bang for your buck.

abs

Swiss ball crunches
Performing exercises on the Swiss ball is ideal; as it is not a stable surface, you will have to recruit all your core muscles to stabilize yourself and will therefore get a much better complete core workout. To perform this exercise, lay with the center of your back on top of a Swiss ball, your arms out to the side and your hands behind your head. Curl up and do an abdominal crunch, just as you would if you were lying on the floor. This exercise will primarily target your rectus abdominis (the vertical muscle), while calling in your obliques to stabilize you, and will help you achieve the desired "six-pack" look.

Hanging leg raise
To perform this exercise, grab hold of a pull-up bar or another bar that is high enough for you to hang off. Once you have a good grasp, slowly bring your knees up to your chest, and then lower them back down. The slower and more controlled you can perform this movement, the greater the benefit. This exercise will also target your rectus abdominis, as well as your hip flexors.

chest

Barbell chest press
Think of this as the king of all chest exercises, and probably the most frequently performed. Why? It is a compound movement, which causes many muscle fibers to fire and ensures more muscle growth. You will be working your pectoralis major muscle, while also indirectly working your triceps and anterior deltoid muscles. The result will be more defined chest muscles.

To perform this exercise, lay flat on a bench press machine. Make sure your back is touching the bench at all times (to prevent unnecessary stress on the back joints). Grasp the barbell with both hands placed shoulder width apart and push the barbell away from the rack. Slowly move the barbell down to your chest and then drive it back up to the starting position on a count of two going down and two coming up.

To increase the intensity of this lift, use a cambered bar. This will allow you to increase your range of motion and work the deeper tissue of your chest muscles to a greater extent. Watch out with this version, however, as it does place more stress on the shoulder joint, so if injury is a concern, you are better off with the normal barbell.

shoulders

Barbell military press

Using an overhand grip, grasp a barbell with hands slightly farther than shoulder width apart. Bring the barbell up to neck level and then drive it upwards, moving your arms over your head. Extend your elbows completely (be careful to not hyperextend, however), lower back down to neck level and repeat. This exercise will primarily target your anterior deltoid muscle in your shoulders and will give them that rounded shape.

Lateral raise

This movement will focus more on the lateral (middle) deltoid muscle in the shoulder and will give a nice round appearance to this group of muscles. To start, comfortably grasp a pair of dumbbells by your sides. Slowly move your extended arms upward along the lateral plane of the body (sideways). Keep your elbows slightly bent during the motion to prevent strain on the elbow joints. Keep raising your arms until they are in line with your shoulders or just slightly below, and then lower them back down to your sides.

back

Bent-over row
Bend over at the waist with knees slightly bent. Grasp the barbell with hands shoulder with apart using an overhand grip. Focusing on using the middle muscles in your back, slowly pull the barbell up toward your chest. Then, lower the barbell until it is almost touching the floor.

While performing this exercise, it is best to tilt your head up slightly, as it will help to keep your back aligned and maintain proper form. You will be primarily using the trapezius muscles during this exercise, and your rhomboids and latissimus dorsi will be working indirectly, which will give your back a wider appearance.

Lat pulldown
This exercise will help to work your latissimus dorsi muscle and give your back that "V" look -- wider at the top and narrower at the waist. Grab the bar of the lat pulldown machine as you sit down on the bench. Lean back slightly and bring the bar down to your chest level so it almost touches your collarbone, focusing on using the muscles in your back. Once you have lowered the bar, slowly let it rise back up to the starting position.

biceps

Dumbbell curl
Grasp a pair of dumbbells by your sides. In a controlled manner, bring the dumbbells up to your shoulders by bending your arms at the elbow. While performing this motion, be sure to keep your elbows tight against your sides to ensure that your biceps are doing all the work and that your back does not start to sway.

After you have curled the weight up, return it to the starting position in an equally controlled motion. You will be targeting your biceps brachii muscles, along with your brachialis as a helper muscle. Developing these two muscles will help you achieve a greater arm circumference.