Signature Series Vol 2

Signature Series Volume 2 is Tracie Long‘s other new workout. I did Volume 1 on Tuesday and felt it was an excellent total body strength and mobility workout. Volume 2 is even more impressive than Volume 1. Vol 2 is also much more challenging. I feel like Tracie’s Signature Series is a continuation of her Stronger Longer Series, which I love. Volume 2 is a very impressive total body metabolic cardio + strength and mobility workout. That is a mouthful but it is an accurate description of this workout. The mobility work at the beginning of Volume 2 is shorter than Volume 1’s mobility work, and once you grab your dumbbells and start the weighted mobility, the intensity and challenge really jumps. I burned a lot more calories doing Volume 2 than I did doing Volume 1. I also hit muscle failure a few times. That is another thing about this workout. Making weight choices in the midst of this workout was hard. Tracie only revealed the weight of her heaviest dumbbells (20 pounds) but other than that, I could only guess what she was lifting. So in the future, I will have to either increase my dumbbell weight for some exercises and decrease it for others. Just like in her other workouts, Tracie does not rep you out so weight selection is very important. Bottom line–I was working very hard with this workout. This is a major winner. I did have one small problem that only repeating this workout a few times can fix and that has to do with her cuing. Some exercises are combination moves and she does not let you know this before the exercise begins. Because of this I sometimes missed reps trying to wrap my mind around the combo. These were not highly complex combos, but when you are not sure you chose the proper weight for the exercise plus there are 4+ separate parts to a move… well, I had a hard time keeping up. This is in reference to the Weights & Cardio section #6-8 below. I had no problems with the other moves and after I do this workout a few times I doubt I will have problems with #6-8 but the first time through, it did cause me some issues. Oh–and I adore the pretzel stretch at the end. It felt so good after working so hard!

You can purchase Tracie’s Signature Series (and many of her other workout DVDs) at her website, at Total Fitness DVDs and on Amazon.

Signature Series Vol 2 is 51 minutes. Equipment: dumbbells, medicine ball, some type of elevation (Tracie is using as step that looks like it is 10 inches; I used my high step w/ 3 risers (10 inches)). As mentioned above, Tracie did not reveal the weights of her dumbbells except her heaviest dumbbells (20 pounds), but she had 3 other sets of lighter dumbbells she also used. What is listed below are the weights I used and on the two exercises I know for sure what Tracie is using, I note that. She also did not reveal the weight of her medicine ball. I used my 5 pound medicine ball but I think when I return to this workout I will use my 6 pound medicine ball.

Mobility Exercises (6 minutes):

1. Thoracic rotations (get on all 4s, place one hand behind head so elbow is extended out to side, bring elbow under body toward opposite knee then open elbow out to side; remove hand from behind head and extend arm under body past knee, lowering shoulder to floor then raise same arm toward ceiling, rotating torso and looking up toward hand)
2. Kneel on mat, knees wide, glutes on heels, do large figure 8s with one straight arm
3. Lower into squat with one arm along inside of knee, pushing against it, the other arm is extended straight in line with ear and hold; swap arm placement and hold; repeat but this time raise one arm to ceiling, rotating torso so you can look up at your hand; ends with straight leg forward fold
4. Inchworm out to plank, bring one leg up beside same side hand so you are in a deep lunge with hands on floor, tap back knee to floor several times; keep knee raised and raise one arm to ceiling (same side arm as front leg) and rotate torso to look up at hand; place both hands on floor again and push hips back, straightening both legs, return to deep lunge and switch legs

Weighted Mobility (5 minutes):

1. Standing windmills with legs close together, reaching one DB toward floor and other arm is extended to ceiling; open legs wider, lower into windmill and hold, with tricep pressed against inside of thigh, do 4 concentration curls before straightening (one 10# DB; in the future I will increase the weight I use)
2. Holding one DB in both hands, do a side lunge into a halo (one 10# DB; in the future I will increase the weight I use)
3. Lower into wide plie/sumo squat, still holding one DB in both hands, with elbows bent, raise DB to side over one shoulder and repeat on other side (like a standing pullover angled to the side) (one 10# DB)
4. Repeat #1 & 2 on other side of body
5. Repeat  3

Weights & Cardio (37 minutes)

1. Alternating sumo squats, pivoting and stepping one foot behind you when squatting
2. Squat and place hands on floor, jump feet back into plank, alternate tapping legs out to side, jump feet back into hands and stand, do one 180 jump squat then alternate tapping foot behind you 8x while also raising both arms overhead with each tap
3. Triple jog to side + one knee raise; changes to lateral skaters with knee raise
4. Lower into wide plie squat; from this position do alternating crescent knees; add a torso rotation after every crescent knee
5. Repeat #1-3
6. Holding DBs at shoulders, squat into a side leg raise, when you return to squat, pivot toes out so you are in wide plie squat then return feet facing forward, repeat this move, alternating side on leg lifts; add overhead press when doing the side leg lift (10# DBs)
7. Forward lunge + reverse lunge (other leg) + forward lunge + squat + #6 with overhead press (10# DBs)
8. Alternating side/diagonal lunges to the back (10# DBs)
9. Step out squat 2x + balance on one leg, raising other bent leg behind you and do 1 double arm back row, alternate sides; add bent over double arm back rows (12# DBs; in the future I will increase the weight I use)
10. Skier press (start with DBs at shoulders, do a partial squat, pushing hips back while swing DBs down past hips to overhead then lower DBs back to shoulders; changes to pushing DBs back overhead and starting the swing from overhead rather than shoulders; add a squat when lowering DBs to shoulders) (10# DBs)
11. French press (double arm overhead tricep extensions) (10# DBs)
12. Do #10 + side lunge w/ DBs at shoulders, stand while pushing DBs overhead + one French press (10# DBs)
13. Hinge forward and do tricep kickbacks, doubles and alternating singles (10# DBs)
14. Hinge forward in wide split stance and do single arm back rows, after 3 rows bring back foot forward and tap heel in front of front foot (Tracie is using one 20# DB; I used one 25# DB)
15. Alternating plyo jump lunges–3 reps + one knee raise
16. Repeat #14 on other side of body
17. Repeat #15
18. (grab your medicine ball) Lower into wide sumo squat, chop ball from overhead to down between thighs, then circle the ball from hip to overhead to opposite hip; changes to pushing ball out side to side
19. (set ball aside) Mountain climbers to quick-quick-hold tempo (hold bent knee under body); during the “hold” add circling the bent leg, Tracie calls it a “hurdle”
20. Pulse squat 3x then jump, clicking heels together
21. Repeat #18
22. Repeat #19, but go straight to the full version–mountain climber to quick-quick-hold tempo, circling bent leg when holding
23. Repeat #20
24. Repeat #18 & 20
25. Alternating knee raises
26. Reverse lunge with a large arm circle
27. Bulgarian split squats with back leg elevated on something, done to various tempos (Tracie is using a step) (15# DBs)
28. Push ups (start in straight arm plank, step one hand out to side and do a push up, step hand back in, step other hand out and do a push up, step hand back in, keep alternating sides)
29. Repeat #27 on other leg
30. Chest press, alternating arms; changes to double arm chest presses (20# DBs; in the future I will use lighter DBs)
31. Kneeling bicep curls (glutes are resting on heels); continue bicep curls but raise glutes off heels so body is straight from knees to head (12# DBs)
32. Lay on back, knees bent and feet on floor, DBs resting on hips, raise and lower hips; singles, pulses and isometric holds (15# DBs)
33. Renegade rows w/ diagonal mountain climbers (one plank row + diagonal mountain climber one rep each leg; changes to 2 fast plank rows instead of one) (Tracie is using 20# DBs, I did, too, but in the future I will use lighter DBs)
34. In elbow side plank, with one DB on floor in front of you, top arm is holding DB, lower hips to floor while lifting DB straight to ceiling, raise hip while lowering DB back to floor (one 8# DB)
35. Repeat #33 & 34 on other side of body
36. Deadbug with pullover (lay on back with knees bent and feet raised off floor, holding one DB in both hands, arms straight and DB raised toward ceiling, extend one leg straight while doing a pullover, alternate legs) (one 15# DB; in the future I will use a heavier DB)
37. Still on back, DB is on floor above head with hands gripping ends, legs are raised straight to ceiling, alternate bending knees while also doing hip raises/reverse crunches; keep legs straight, still raised toward ceiling and continue doing reverse crunches
38. Russian Twist (one 8# DB)
39. Lay on floor with legs extended straight and arms extended straight overhead, keeping arms and legs straight, raise one arm and opposite leg and tap hand to foot, alternate sides

Final Stretch (2:30 minutes):

1. Lay on side, bottom leg is extended straight, top leg is bent, bottom hand is under knee, pulling up on leg, rotate torso so shoulders are flat on floor but hip/legs are still to side, grab the ankle of the bottom leg with top arm and pull it up
2. Butterfly stretch