DISRUPTED Dumbbell Upper Body Workout | EPIC Endgame Day 32

Disrupted Dumbbell Upper Body Workout is Day 32 in Caroline Girvan‘s EPIC Endgame program. This was not a fun workout. Very effective and very challenging but not fun. Caroline spends 5 minutes on each muscle group, burning them out, before moving onto the next muscle group. All of your upper body is worked but the triceps and shoulders get some extra love. The biceps get the least amount of work, but they are worked as ancillary muscles so they are not neglected. And of course the finisher–all ab burn out, 100 reps of tuck to hollow. This was a tough workout that did not seem to go by quickly. This workout is based on a concept called “cluster sets.” What this means is you will do one exercise for 60 seconds. You get a 20 second break then you do 6 sets of an exercise that works the same muscle group to a different interval pattern: 20 seconds of work followed by 20 seconds of rest. This structure was challenging for all of the exercises but some of them (tricep push ups) it was brutal and seemed unending. However, my upper body definitely feels well worked this morning! There is a timer in the upper left hand side of the screen, counting down your intervals and recoveries. During the recoveries Caroline previews the next superset. There is also a little bar at the bottom of the screen that counts down the entire workout time as a percentage.

Disrupted Dumbbell Upper Body Workout is 46:23 minutes; 1:55 minute intro, no warm up and 2:10 minute stretch. Equipment: dumbbells, a chair for tricep dips and fitness mat. Caroline is using 12.5kg/27.6 pounds and 6kg/13.2 pounds dumbbells. The weights listed below are what I used.

1. Paused push ups for 60 seconds (standard push up but pause briefly at bottom of push up)
2. Push ups, 6 sets of 20/20 intervals
3. Double arm bent over row for 60 seconds (30# DBs)
4. Supine row, 6 sets of 20/20 intervals (double arm bent over rows with palms facing forward) (25# DBs)
5. Diagonal raise for 60 seconds (front raise but arms lift in a V) (8# DBs)
6. Lateral raise, 6 sets of 20/20 intervals (8# DBs)
7. Slow tricep dips for 60 seconds
8. Tricep dips, 6 sets of 20/20 intervals
9. No lower Arnold press for 60 seconds (same as a regular Arnold press but elbows never drop below shoulder level) (15# DBs)
10. Arnold press, 6 sets of 20/20 intervals (15# DBs)
11. Deadstop tricep push ups for 60 seconds (lower body all the way to floor before pushing back up)
12. Tricep push ups, 6 sets of 20/20 intervals
13. Full range frontal raise for 60 seconds (hold one DB in both hands, do a front raise but continue raising the DB all the way overhead before lowering it) (one 15# DB)
14. Frontal raise, 6 sets of 20/20 intervals (do a front raise holding one DB in both hands, raise DB to shoulder level then lower)

Finisher: Tuck to hollow, 100 reps (lay on mat, extend arms overhead and legs straight in line with hips and elevated a few inches off the floor (this is hollow), pull knees into chest and tap heels with hands then return to hollow)

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