This is a workout from Caroline Girvan‘s CGX app. For more info on Caroline’s App, see the CGX App page. OMG this was a brutal workout! The giant sets! So many! I ended up having to drop to lighter weights at one point. Caroline works every muscle in your upper body, completely fatiguing them. The workout starts with straight sets working the chest and the back. Then she hits the shoulders, biceps and triceps (plus a little more chest and back) with 3 giant sets. My arms were dead by the end of this workout!
This workout is done interval style. The interval and recovery times vary so they are noted below in the breakdown. There is a timer in the upper right hand corner of the screen counting down your intervals and recoveries. During the recoveries Caroline previews the next exercise. There is also a progress bar at the bottom of the screen, counting down the workout time as a percentage.
Upper Body is 42:03 minutes (this time does not include the optional 4 minute warm up or the 3:37 minute intro, also optional) with a 2:05 minute stretch. Equipment: dumbbells, a chair/bench and a fitness mat. Push up bars and dip bars are optional. Caroline is using 15kg/33 pounds, 10kg/22 pounds, 7.5kg/16.5 pound and 4kg/8.8 pound dumbbells. The weights listed below are what I used.
- Supine row for 60 seconds (double arm bent over row, palms facing in front of you) (30# DBs)
- 30 second rest
- Alternating chest press for 60 seconds (30# DBs)
- 30 second rest
- Repeat #1-4 two more times
- Rear delt flys (palms behind) for 60 seconds (seated on bench, torso hinged forward over thighs, do rear delt flys with palms facing behind you) (10# DBs)
- (no rest) Upright rows for 60 seconds (15# DBs)
- (no rest) Tricep dips (on dip bars or chairs) for 30 seconds
- (no rest) Push ups for 30 seconds (Caroline is using push up bars, I used DBs)
- 30 second rest
- Repeat #6-10 two more times
- Skull crushers for 60 seconds (15# DBs)
- (no rest) Diamond press for 60 seconds (narrow chest press, arms kept close to sides, DBs pressed together over chest, push DBs to ceiling) (20# DBs first 2 sets, 16.5# DBs last set)
- (no rest) Palms up bicep curl for 30 seconds (20# DBs first 2 sets, 16.5# DBs last set)
- (no rest) Hammer curls for 30 seconds (20# DBs first 2 sets, 16.5# DBs last set)
- 30 second rest
- Repeat #12-16 two more times
- Rear delt flys (palms facing each other) for 60 seconds (8# DBs)
- (no rest) Lateral raise for 60 seconds (8# DBs)
- (no rest) Partial rear delt flys for 30 seconds (only lift halfway) (8# DBs)
- (no rest) Partial lateral raises for 30 seconds (only lift halfway) (8# DBs)
- 30 second rest
- Repeat #18-21
Finisher: (2 minutes; each exercise is done for 60 seconds, no rest/recovery between exercises)
- Power up, slow down frontal raise (raise DBs fast/with power and lower slowly) (8# DBs)
- Repeat #1 holding one DB in both hands (one 10# DB)
