Chest & Shoulders Strength Workout // Day 31 HR12WEEK 2.0

Chest & Shoulders Strength Workout is Day 31 in Heather Robertson’s 12 Week Program. This was a very tough upper body strength workout! Heather burned my chest and shoulders out big time–but mostly my shoulders. In fact, during the military press in circuit 2 I had to keep dropping to lighter weights each time we repeated the exercise. Even with the lighter weights I was struggling! Excellent and challenging strength workout. Because it is only 43 minutes, I used Heather’s At Home Back Workout with Dumbbells as a finisher. My upper body feels well worked this morning!

Each dumbbell exercise is performed 3 times followed by one body weight or cardio exercise. The exercises are each done for 40 seconds of work followed by 20 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. For the moves that have impact, Heather shows a low impact variation.

Chest & Shoulders Strength Workout is 42:55 minutes; 4 minute warm up and 5:30 minute stretch. Equipment: dumbbells and a fitness mat. Heather is using 5, 10 and 15 pound dumbbells. The weights listed below are what I used.

Circuit 1:

1. Chest press (lay on mat with knees bent and close to glutes, raise hips into bridge and hold isometrically while doing doing chest press) (22.5# DBs)
2. Repeat #1 two more times
3. Push ups
4. Arnold press (16.5# DBs)
5. Repeat #4 two more times
6. Weighted jacks (jumping jacks pushing DBs overhead) (5# DBs)
7. Chest flys (18# DBs)
8. Repeat #7 two more times
9. T-push ups (one push up then rotate into side plank, reaching top arm to ceiling, alternate sides with one push up between each side plank)
10. Lateral raise (arms are slightly bent) (8# DBs)
11. Repeat #10 two more times
12. Shadow box (alternating weighted front punches) (5# DBs)

30 second rest

Circuit 2:

1. Bent over rear delt flys (9# DBs)
2. Repeat #1 two more times
3. Bent arm jacks (jack the legs while doing goalpost chest flys)
4. Triple chest press (lay on mat with knees bent and close to glutes, raise hips into bridge and hold isometrically, press one arm/DB to ceiling, press other arm/DB to ceiling then lower both arms/DBs at the same time) (20# DBs)
5. Repeat #4 two more times
6. Lay down push up (alternate one push up with one superman)
7. Military press (shoulder press with arms in goalpost) (1st set 15# DBs, 2nd set 14# DBs, 3rd set 13# DBs)
8. Repeat #7 two more times
9. Pike push up (do one plank push up then walk hands back so you are in pike/down dog and do one pike push up)
10. Overhead & front flys (hold a DB in each hand and extend arms out to T, lift both arms overhead, lower arms back to T then close arms chest fly style on front of chest) (5# DBs)
11. Repeat #10 two more times
12. Burpee & press (stand holding a DB in each hand, squat and place DBs on mat, jump feet back to plank, just feet back into DBs, stand and do a double arm overhead press) (16.5# DBs)

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