Upper Body Workout / Light Dumbbells is surprisingly tough upper body workout from Naomi Joy. You only need light dumbbells for this workout and yet you will still feel the burn. The first exercise especially fried my shoulders. And the intervals are long ones, so on a few of the exercises I was really struggling by the end of the interval. The workout is made up of one circuit of 9 exercises that you immediately repeat. The final exercise is also a burner. The 10 seconds between that exercise and returning to the very first exercise in the circuit was not long enough for me! I had to lower my arms in the middle of the first exercise (the second time through the circuit not the first time) to let my shoulders/arms thaw briefly before I could continue. Naomi was frying them! Naomi does hit most muscle groups in your upper body in this short workout but no chest work. She works the biceps, triceps, upper back and most especially the shoulders. I used 5 pound dumbbells for most of the exercises but I did use heavier dumbbells for 2 of the exercises and that is noted below in the breakdown.
This workout is done interval style: each exercise is done for 50 seconds of work followed by 10 seconds of recovery. There is a timer in the upper right hand corner of the screen counting down the intervals and recoveries. During the recovery Naomi previews the next exercise. There is another timer in the lower right hand corner of the screen counting down the entire workout time, not including the stretch. This workout is set to music, no talking. Graphics do appear on the screen giving excellent form pointers. For the stretch at the end Naomi cues voice-over style.
Upper Body Workout / Light Dumbbells is 21:26 minutes; 35 second intro, 1:10 minute warm up and 1:30 minute stretch. Equipment: light dumbbells. Naomi is using 5 pound dumbbells. I also used 5 pound dumbbells for the majority of the exercises but I used 13 pound dumbbells for two of the exercises. The weights listed below are what I used.
- L arm pull (both arms are raised to shoulder level, one is extended straight in front of you and one is extended straight to side, in this position, pull DBs into shoulders then push DBs back to start, rotate arms so position is swapped and repeat–arms are elevated at shoulder level throughout interval) (5# DBs)
- Front raise combo (do a straight arm front raise stopping at top of raise when arms are shoulder level, open arms to sides so they are in a T, return arms so they are in front of you then lower arms/DBs back to start) (5# DBs)
- Tricep kickback (hinge forward, pause briefly at top of kickback, alternate arms) (13# DBs)
- High bicep curl (raise arms to shoulder level and out to sides in a T with palms facing ceiling, do bicep curls bringing DBs to shoulders, elbows remain elevated and in line with shoulders the entire interval) (5# DBs)
- Straight arm pull (hinge forward at hips, raise straight arms behind you and pulse arms upward behind you, squeezing shoulders together while bringing DBs towards each other at top of lift) (5# DBs)
- High hammer curl (raise arms to shoulder level in front of you with elbows bent at a 90 degree angle and palms facing each other, lower one arm so arm is straight from shoulder to hand then return to start, alternate arms) (5# DBs)
- 3 pulse rear fly (hinge forward and do rear delt flys, pulsing DB 3x at top of fly; when you repeat the circuit (the second time you do this exercise) palms face forward with thumbs to ceiling) (5# DBs)
- 3 pulse upward press (start with arms raised to shoulder level in front of you with elbows bent at a 90 degree angle and palms facing each other, pulse arms upward 3x then do a full overhead press, straightening arms) (13# DBs)
- W Pull (arms are raised to shoulder level and extended to sides in a T w/ palms facing the ceiling, pull one elbow into ribs then return to start, alternate arms) (5# DBs)
- Repeat #1-9
For more info on Naomi Joy Fitness and other (free) streaming workouts I’ve sampled and reviewed, check out my Streaming page.
