HEALTH: The Hardest Upper-Body Circuit You Will Ever Do—and You Don’t Even Need Weights

Just Thirty minutes. That’s all I’m asking for. If you can give me that, you’re going to get the best upper-body workout of your life.

But here’s the deal: You can’t just go through the motions. Or start strong, and then taper off.

After all, intensity is the inverse of duration. The shorter the workout, the harder you need to push.

So I want you to throw yourself into the fire for 30 minutes straight. Dig deep, and find the willpower you need to go all out from start to finish. Conquer your self doubt. Push longer and harder.

It won’t be easy. Not even close. But if you want exceptional results, you need to put in exceptional effort.

I’ve kept the exercises simple—body-weight only—because I want you to focus on form. Every rep needs to be perfect. That way, the next time you do this workout, you’ll be able to gauge your improvement.

Think about it this way: If you do 75 push-ups with sloppy form the first time, and 50 with proper form the second time, how do you know if you’ve actually increased your speed, stamina, and strength? There’s no way to tell, because you’ve basically done two different exercises.

So do the exercise right. Every time. Or don’t count the rep.

I’ve seen men gain huge mass with high-volume circuits like this one. They signal your body to grow.  But the only way they’re effective is if you give me 30 minutes of “exceptional.”

Do it: Perform 5 pull-ups, 5 to 10 push-ups, 5 pull-ups, and 5 to 10 dips in a row. Repeat this process for 30 minutes.

Goal: 150 to 200 reps of each.

Take a break when you need to—but keep moving. Don’t just stand under the pullup bar and stare at it.

You can mess around with the rep scheme. At first, you might only be able to do 1 to 3 reps of each exercise. But as you improve, you’ll be able to increase those numbers to 7 or 10.

Your ultimate goal should be to improve every time you do this workout.

Don’t count the rep unless it looks like this:

Pull-up: Grab the bar using an overhand grip that’s hip-width to shoulder-width apart. Hang at arm’s length, pointing your legs slightly in front of you to form a wide C. Now press your thighs together and brace your abs; your body should remain rigid for the entire movement.

As you pull yourself up, imagine that you’re pressing down on the top of the bar, and focus on bringing your belly button up; both steps will help engage your lats and core and boost stability. Look straight ahead and pull until your neck or upper chest touches the bar. Sink in your chest slightly rather than expanding it. Lower yourself.

Push-up: Assume a push-up position with your arms straight and your hands slightly beyond shoulder width. Screw your hands by driving you palms down and twisting them as if you were trying to rip the floor between them. This will create torque. Your body should form a straight line from your head to your ankles.

Draw your shoulder blades together, bend your elbows, and lower your body until your chest nearly touches the floor. Your elbows shouldn’t flare out—keep them at a 45-degree angle to your body or less. Pause, push yourself back to the starting position, and repeat.

Dip: Grasp the bars of a dip station and lift yourself so your arms are completely straight. Keeping your elbows tucked close to your body, slowly lower yourself by bending your elbows until your upper arms are parallel to the floor. (Allow your torso to lean forward.) Your forearms should stay vertical the entire time. Pause, then push back up to the starting position.