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Upper-body hypertrophy

Intermediate · 25–39 · ~50 min

Press, pull and direct arm work in the 6–15 rep range, the core of a bigger upper body. Below is a research-backed prompt for ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini, copy it, paste the reply into sweatcue, and run the whole strength workout hands-free.

Session at a glance

Duration~50 min
FormatSets, reps & timed rest
FocusUpper body
Intensity65 to 80% of my max · 1 to 3 reps short of failure
Equipmentdumbbells
Best forBuild muscle, intermediate

This is how sweatcue structures the session once you paste it in, timed blocks with auto-starting rest and spoken cues. Figures are read from the prompt itself.

The prompt

Copy the complete prompt (it wraps the request below so the AI returns a clean, runnable session).

Write me a 50-minute upper-body hypertrophy workout to build muscle. Cover a horizontal press (bench or incline dumbbell), a vertical press (overhead), a horizontal pull (row) and a vertical pull (pull-up or pulldown), then add direct shoulder and arm work. Give each 3 to 4 sets of 6 to 15 reps at about 65 to 80% of my max, stopping 1 to 3 reps short of failure, 90 to 120 seconds rest. List every exercise with its sets, reps, rest in seconds and a load or RPE, and tell me to progress over time.
Works with Claude, Gemini, Grok or any AI.

Why it's built this way

Muscle grows from moderate loads (about 65–80% of max) for 6–15 reps taken within a few reps of failure, accumulating roughly 10–20 hard sets per muscle per week and training each muscle about twice weekly.

Sources: Schoenfeld et al., Sports 2021 (load & reps); Schoenfeld et al., J Sports Sci 2017 (weekly volume); Refalo et al., Sports Med 2023 (effort / reps-in-reserve)

Who this workout is for

Built with one person in mind: 30s, a few years in, a bigger, leaner physique.

  • You’re an intermediate-level trainer and you want to build visible muscle.
  • You have access to the kit it calls for: dumbbells.
  • You want a single, repeatable strength workout you can drop into your week.

Who should adapt or skip it

  • It’s low-risk for healthy adults. Scale the loads and reps to your own level rather than copying the top of every range on day one.
  • As with any new routine, check with a clinician first if you have a medical condition, are injured, pregnant, or returning from a long lay-off. This is general information, not medical advice.

What a 2-week plan looks like

A single session works best on a repeating weekly rhythm. Here’s a simple, balanced two-week block at about 3 sessions a week, on non-consecutive days so you recover between them:

MonTueWedThuFriSatSun
Week 1●·●·●··
Week 2●·●·●··

● This session· Rest, a walk, or light mobility

Keep session days apart where you can, and adjust for how you feel. When you paste the AI’s reply into sweatcue, each session runs hands-free with spoken cues and timers.

Run it hands-free in sweatcue

sweatcue is an AI workout dashboard: paste the AI's reply and it runs the whole session on screen and out loud, auto timers, spoken cues for every set, rest and rep, and your live numbers. The AI writes it; sweatcue runs it.

Download for iPhone →

More weights & related workouts

WeightsLower-body hypertrophy WeightsArms & shoulders pump Weights · PlanHypertrophy plan (6 weeks) BodyweightTravel hypertrophy

New to prompting an AI for workouts?

Start with the full workout library, learn the method in how to write a workout prompt, or see what an AI workout dashboard does.