Sculpted Back & Biceps Workout // Day 11 HR12WEEK 2.0

Sculpted Back & Biceps Workout is Day 11 in Heather Robertson‘s 12 Week Program. This was a very metabolic upper body strength workout. Heather worked my upper body well and gave me some cardio in the mix. There are no dedicated cardio moves but there are some compound moves that will spike the heart rate, and if you are challenging yourself with the weights you choose then the interval lengths (45/15) will also keep your heart rate elevated. I know mine was! I used Heather’s Daily 10 Day 12 Back Sculpting as a finisher and between the two workouts I burned over 400 calories! Plus my back and biceps got some great strength work.

This workout has 6 circuits, each containing 3 exercises. Each circuit is done 2 times before you move on to the next circuit. The exercises are all done interval style: 45 seconds of work followed by 15 seconds of recovery. There is a timer in the lower right hand corner of the screen counting down your intervals and recoveries. During the recoveries Heather previews the next exercise. If an exercise has impact, Heather shows a low impact variation.

Sculpted Back & Biceps Workout is 47:05 minutes; 4 minute warm up and 5:30 minute stretch. Equipment: dumbbells and fitness mat. Heather is using 5, 10 and 15 pound dumbbells. The weights listed below are what I used. I also used a medium resistance band for the Super V Squeeze in circuit 4 to give my upper back some extra work.

Circuit 1:

1. Bicep rotation (start in hammer curl, raising DBs until the are at shoulders, when you lower DBs open arms out to sides with palms facing ceiling, reverse motion back to start) (15# DBs)
2. Hammer curl (alternate arms, palms face body when curling) (16.5# DBs)
3. Bicep burn out (fast alternating bicep curls with light DBs) (6# DBs)
4. Repeat #1-3

Circuit 2:

1. Bent over single arm row (one 40# DB)
2. Repeat #1 on other side of body
3. Pull over (lay on back with legs raised and knees bent at 90 degrees, perform a pull over w/ upper body in this position) (one 35# DB)
4. Repeat #1-3

Circuit 3:

1. Alternating hammer curls (16.5# DBs)
2. Negative bicep curls (raise DBs normal speed, lower DBs slowly) (15# DBs)
3. Ninja hop & curl (start in straight arm plank but holding DBs, jump feet to hands so you are in a deep squat, remain in deep squat while doing a double arm hammer curl, place DBs on floor again and jump feet back to plank) (15# DBs)
4. Repeat #1-3

30 second rest

Circuit 4:

1. Scapular squeeze (hold a DB in each hand, extend arms out to sides in a T then pull elbows behind ribs, push elbows back out to a T) (7# DBs)
2. Bent over rear delt flys (8# DBs)
3. Super V squeeze (lay on stomach with arms extended in front of you, raise arms and legs in superman, hold and pull elbows behind back, push arms in front of you again then lower hands/legs) (I used a medium resistance band)
4. Repeat #1-3

Circuit 5:

1. Preacher curl (kneeling concentration curl–in kneeling lunge, with same side tricep against inner thigh of front leg, do single arm bicep curls–other arm is behind back) (one 16.5# DB)
2. Repeat #2 on other side of body
3. Squat & curl (sumo squat and hold at bottom of squat, do one double arm hammer curl) (15# DBs)
4. Repeat #1-3

Circuit 6:

1. T, Y, I’s (superman but each rep you change arm position–T arms are extended straight out to sides, Y arms are raised overhead but in a Y formation, I arms are extended straight in front of you in traditional superman)
2. Underhand row (bent over row, palms face forward, alternate arms) (25# DBs)
3. Plank row & press (in straight arm plank, do one renegade row each arm, jump feet into hands, stand and do a double arm overhead press, place DBs back on mat and jump feet back to plank) (16.5# DBs)
4. Repeat #1-3

For more info on Heather Robertson’s workouts and other (free) streaming workouts I’ve sampled and reviewed, check out my Streaming page.