AngieFitnessTV: Triple Threat PHA Training Heavy Weight Burn

PHA Training Heavy Weight Burn is part of AngieFitnessTV‘s Triple Treat fitness program. I was very excited about this workout because I love PHA workouts. Before I go any further, here is the PHA definition I add to all PHA workouts I review. PHA stands for Peripheral Heart Action. What this means in training terms is you alternate between upper and lower body resistance exercises, allowing as little rest as possible between each movement. The lack of rest and recovery keeps your heart rate up for cardiovascular and fat burning benefits, while switching between upper and lower body exercises maximizes blood flow to all parts of the body and reduces build up of lactic acid. What this generally translates to, when done properly, is a total body metabolic strength workout with a high calorie burn.

This workout is made up of one circuit that is repeated 3 times. However, each time you repeat the circuit, Angie alters it in some fashion. For the first two circuits each exercise is done to a rep pattern. 1 rep=1 rep to 3/1 count + 2 singles. All exercises in the first two circuits are done to this pattern unless otherwise noted in breakdown. Also, in the first 2 circuits all upper body exercises are done for 8 reps, and all lower body exercises are done for 12 reps (remember–one rep is a rep pattern, not an actual rep). The third circuit is different. Angie wasted herself in the first 2 circuits, so each exercises is done for 16 reps with no rep pattern. Angie lifted super heavy (for her) the first circuit. She lowered her weight the second circuit but was still so wasted that she didn’t use any weight at all for the lower body exercises during the 3rd circuit. For all of the upper body exercises Angie uses 8 pound dumbbells.But keep in mind that this is your workout. I previewed the workout and decided immediately not to waste myself in the first circuit like Angie did. I wanted to use challenging dumbbells in all 3 circuits. And Angie even says as much–just because she is doing the lower body exercises bodyweight only does not mean you have to.

Having done many PHA workouts in the past, I know that I am frequently wasted by the end. Cathe‘s PHA workouts always wear me out. I mention this because I generally add weighted vests to Angie’s workouts to get the most out of them and I initially planned to add one during this workout. But again, previewing this workout and seeing her burning out made me reconsider. So I did not wear a weighted vest. I also made appropriate weight choices for my strength level. I got a very good workout and I do think that in the future I will wear the vest to get more out of the workout. My biggest disappointment? No back work. Since I previewed this workout I knew that ahead of time but I wanted to do it anyway. I had some ideas of how to rectify the lack of back work and, after doing the workout, they worked very well. I am recording them here not only because they might be of use/interest to other exercisers who actually want to work every muscle group but also so that I “remember” how to approach this workout when returning to it.

Here is how I incorporated back work: Angie is so worn out after the first circuit she takes a 2 minute recovery instead of the planned 1 minute. I was not wasted so I did 8 single arm back rows (each arm) using one 30 pound dumbbell. During the second circuit I skipped the sumo squat marches and instead did pullovers to the same count using one 25 pound dumbbell. Also, during the one minute recovery I used 30 seconds of it to do bent over pulse rows using a heavy resistance tube. The final circuit I skipped the sumos again and did another set of pullovers because they felt so good the first time I did them. In the future I will skip the sumos every single circuit and I will add heavy barbell rows the first circuit.

This is not a total body strength workout unless you make modifications like I did. With my modifications, I got an excellent total body strength workout. At the end of the workout, Angie shares that she burned 360 calories. Since I workout for an hour every morning and this workout is only 44:30 minutes, after this workout was over, I did Angie’s Move Health: Mobility-Flexibility Routine which is 15 minutes. So my calorie count includes that–but that is stretching, so the calorie burn for that would be minuscule compared to this workout. My total for two workouts was 404 calories. I was in my cardio zone 45% of the workout and in my peak heart rate zone 17 minutes! In fact, according to my FitBit bar graph, I was in my fat burn zone for 16 minutes–and looking at the graph, that was during the very beginning of the warm up and during Move Healthy. So the vast majority of this workout my heart was really pumping! That is the beauty of PHA workouts. Total body strength plus some excellent cardio–and no impact.

***08/18/20–it’s the next day and the only muscle group that is sore? My back! In addition to all of the additions that I added to this workout to work my back muscles, I also did Barlates: 5 Best Exercises for Back Fat, it’s only 7 minutes long but made me feel like my back received adequate attention on a strength training day. Anyway–I thought it was odd that the only muscle group that is sore is my back! Its not serious DOMS or anything, but there is some soreness. I do feel like this workout worked all of my other muscle groups nicely as well. But I guess I really gave my back the extra love.***

PHA Training Heavy Weight Burn is 44:28 minutes; 1:30 minute intro, 4 minute warm up and 3:30 minute cool down/stretch. Equipment: barbell, dumbbells and fitness mat. If only the dumbbell weight is listed below, that means I used the same weight that Angie used.

Circuit #1:

1. Front squat (holding barbell in front of you) (Angie is using 35# BB; I used 40# BB)
2. Bicep curls (Angie is using 12# DBs; I used 10# DBs)
3. Alternating rear lunges (Angie is using 35# BB; I used 15# DBs)
4. Overhead tricep extensions (French press) (Angie is using one 12# DB; I used one 18# DB)
5. Wide plie squats (15# DBs)
6. Overhead press (Angie is using 35# BB; halfway through she swapped to 10# DBs; I used 8# DBs)
7. Alternating curtsy lunges (pulse 3x each rep–no singles) (Angie is using 10# DBs; I used one 20# DB)
8. Push ups (2/2 count only–no singles)
9. Sumo squat marches (3 marches=1 rep) (Angie is using 35# BB; I used one 20# DB) (in the future I will do heavy BB rows instead)

Two minute recovery. During this time Angie removes 10 pounds from her barbell. I did single arm back rows (one 30# DB) during this recovery.

Circuit #2:

1. Front squat (holding barbell in front of you) (Angie is using 25# BB; I did goblet squats with one 35# DB)
2. Bicep curls (Angie is using 25# BB; I used 10# DBs)
3. Stationary lunges (singles) (Angie is using 25# BB; I used 15# DBs)
4. Overhead tricep extensions (Angie is using one 10# DB; I used one 18# DB)
5. Wide plie squats (15# DBs)
6. Overhead press (Angie is using 25# BB; I used 10# DBs but had to drop to 8# DBs again–next time I will use 9# DBs)
7. Alternating curtsy lunges (pulse 3x each rep–no singles) (Angie is using 10# DBs; I used one 20# DB)
8. Push ups (2/2 count only–no singles)
9. Sumo squat marches (3 marches=1 rep) (Angie is using 25# BB) (I did pullovers using one 25# DB)

One minute recovery. I did bent over pulse rows using a heavy resistance tube during half of this recovery.

Circuit #3 (all singles, you do not do the pattern in this circuit; 16 reps of every exercise):

1. Wide bodyweight squats (I did goblet squats using one 30# DB)
2. Bicep curls (Angie is using 8# DBs; I used 10# DBs)
3. Stationary bodyweight lunges (I used 15# DBs)
4. Overhead press (8# DBs)
5. Wide bodyweight plie squats (I used 15# DBs)
6. Overhead tricep extensions (Angie is using one 8# DB; I used two 8# DBs)
7. Bodywieight curtsy lunges (I used one 20# DB)
8. Push ups
9. Sumo squat march, 32 reps (I did pullovers using one 25# DB)

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