The best exercise to build a thick upper body is? The chest supported row! This movement builds a thick upper body, a wide upper body AND it is used by some of the best Olympians on water. 

The chest supported row is an old school row that has been long forgotten. Chest supported row with dumbbells, chest supported row with barbells and even kettlebells! The Chinese weightlifting team even uses chest supported row on a large bench to improve their lat strength during weightlifting movements. 

The chest supported row is one of the few movements that can really overload the lats and biceps. The use of varying grips and pieces of equipment can lead to bigger lats and rear delts and even rhomboids. This helps pulling power and thus…A HUGE BACK.

When doing chest supported rows, use DB’s to get extra range of motion. Do barbell chest supported rows to improve the overload with the weight on the bar and finally, if you want a perfect mixture of both, use a cambered bar. 

Some of the best canoeing Olympians in the world do chest supported row twice a week! They use the chest supported row as a means of improving explosive power. Hit 7 sets of 5 reps for strength or 4 sets of 17 for hypertrophy work!