I Tested Every Machine to Build This Planet Fitness Upper Body Workout

I have spent most of my adult life in gritty garage gyms surrounded by rusted iron and chalk dust. But last month, my local spot closed for renovations, and I found myself standing in the middle of a purple and yellow lobby. I will be honest: I expected to hate it. I expected to spend forty-five minutes waiting for a smith machine while someone filmed a TikTok.

Instead, I treated it like a challenge. I wanted to see if I could actually get a high-intensity planet fitness upper body workout using only the gear available. After three weeks of testing every selectorized stack in the building, I realized that while you might not find a 100-pound dumbbell, you can absolutely build a physique that looks like you do.

Quick Takeaways

• Machine tension is often superior to free weights for hypertrophy because it provides a consistent resistance curve.
• The pulley systems at Planet Fitness are generally 2:1 or 1:1; learn which is which before you load the stack.
• Seat height is the most common mistake—adjust it so the handles align with your mid-chest, not your chin.
• Slow eccentrics are your best friend when you cannot add more plates to the machine.

Why Most People Fail at the Purple Gym (And How You Won't)

The biggest problem with the 'Judgment Free Zone' is not the lack of squat racks; it is the lack of a plan. I see people wander in, do a few reps of biceps curls, stare at their phones, and then hit the elliptical for ten minutes. It is incredibly easy to feel intimidated by the sheer volume of purple plastic and default to a beginner planet fitness workout on the treadmill just to avoid looking lost.

To get a real upper body workout at planet fitness, you have to stop treating machines like a backup plan. You need to treat them like the primary tool. Machines allow you to push closer to failure without a spotter. Because the path of motion is fixed, you can focus entirely on the muscle contraction rather than stabilizing a shaky barbell. If you go in with a '3 sets of whatever' attitude, you will leave with 'whatever' results.

The Only Planet Fitness Upper Body Machines Actually Worth Using

Not all machines are created equal. Some of the older selectorized units have internal friction that makes the weight feel 'sticky.' When you are looking for the best upper body machines, you want the ones with smooth cable travel and adjustable seats that actually lock into place. Most Planet Fitness locations use Life Fitness or Hammer Strength gear, which is industry standard for a reason.

The ROI on a standard chest press or a seated row is massive. However, I usually skip the 'abdominal crunch' machines that look like high-tech torture devices. They rarely fit anyone's spine correctly. Stick to the heavy hitters: the chest press, the lat pulldown, and the cable tower. These offer the best mechanical advantage for driving growth in the chest, back, and shoulders.

Chest Press and Pec Deck: The Bread and Butter

On the chest press, stop setting the seat so low that the handles are at eye level. This is a fast track to a rotator cuff injury. Set the seat so the handles align with your lower chest. This allows your elbows to tuck naturally at a 45-degree angle. As for the pec deck, it is actually superior to dumbbell flyes. Why? Because dumbbells lose all tension at the top of the movement. The pec deck keeps your chest under load through the entire range of motion, which is the secret sauce for that 'inner chest' pop.

Lat Pulldowns and Seated Rows: Building the Barn Door

When using the upper body machines at planet fitness for your back, stop pulling with your hands. Think of your hands as hooks and pull with your elbows. On the lat pulldown, lean back slightly—maybe 10 degrees—and drive your elbows into your back pockets. Control the weight on the way up. If the stack slams at the top, you are wasting 50% of the rep. The stretch at the top is where the most muscle damage (the good kind) happens.

My Exact Planet Fitness Upper Body Workout Routine

This is the exact protocol I ran during my three-week stint. It is designed to hit every major muscle group in the upper body with enough volume to spark growth. If you are just starting out, you might want the machine workout I give to beginners, which trims this down to the essentials. For everyone else, prepare to work.

• Machine Chest Press: 3 sets of 8-12 reps. Focus on a 3-second eccentric (lowering) phase.
• Seated Row (Neutral Grip): 3 sets of 10-12 reps. Squeeze your shoulder blades together for a full second at the peak.
• Pec Deck: 2 sets of 15 reps. Go for the pump here; keep the rest periods under 60 seconds.
• Lat Pulldown (Wide Grip): 3 sets of 10 reps. Do not use momentum to swing the weight down.
• Dumbbell Lateral Raises: 3 sets of 15-20 reps. Use the lighter dumbbells; form is everything for side delts.
• Cable Tricep Pushdowns: 3 sets of 12 reps. Use the straight bar or the rope attachment.

The key here is intensity. Since you are using planet fitness upper body workout machines, you can safely take your last set of every exercise to absolute muscular failure. If you can do 13 reps when the goal was 12, the weight is too light. Move the pin down.

How to Progress When You Max Out the Weight Stacks

Eventually, you are going to run into a problem: you'll be stronger than the machine. I hit the bottom of the stack on the seated row within two weeks. When you are doing an upper body planet fitness workout and you run out of weight, you have to get creative. You don't need a heavier stack; you need more 'time under tension.'

Try unilateral training. Instead of using both arms on the chest press, use one. This effectively doubles the resistance for that side and forces your core to stabilize. You can also implement 'pause reps.' Pause for two seconds at the hardest part of the lift. If that still isn't enough, use drop sets. Perform a set to failure, immediately drop the weight by 30%, and go to failure again. Your muscles don't know how much the plate weighs; they only know how much tension they are under.

FAQ

Is Planet Fitness good for building muscle?

Yes. Muscle grows from mechanical tension and metabolic stress. You can achieve both with machines just as well as you can with barbells. You just have to train hard enough to trigger the adaptation.

What if someone is sitting on the machine I need?

Ask to work in. Most people at Planet Fitness are friendly. If they say no, just swap the order of your workout. Doing rows before chest press won't ruin your gains.

Can I do this workout every day?

No. Your muscles grow while you rest, not while you're at the gym. Run this upper body routine 2-3 times a week with at least one rest day in between sessions for the best results.