Upper Body Toning Workout // Day 56 HR12WEEK 2.0

Upper Body Toning Workout is Day 56 in Heather Robertson‘s 12 Week Program. This is a solid upper body strength workout. This workout is made up of 4 circuits. Each circuit contains 4 exercise. The first 3 exercises in the circuit are straight strength exercises. The 4th exercise is a cardio or metabolic strength exercise to keep your heart rate elevated. Heather likes to make sure most of her workouts give you a good calorie burn and this one is no exception. Each circuit is done two times before moving on to the next circuit. The exercises are all done interval style: 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 your next exercise. She also shows low impact modifications/variations for some of the exercises. I used one of Heather’s Daily 10 workouts to round out my hour this morning and to give my back some extra work: 10 Min Back Sculpting. Between the this workout and the Daily 10 finisher, my upper body feels nicely worked.

Upper Body Toning Workout is 42:49 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. Front & side raise (alternate one lateral raise with one front raise) (8# DBs)
2. Around the world (with palms facing forward and hands in front of thighs, keeping arms straight, raise DBs out to sides then overhead, lower DBs out to sides and back in front of thighs) (7# DBs)
3. Alternating lifts (arms are extended out to sides in a T w/ palms facing ceiling, raise one arm/DB overhead then lower, alternate arms) (5# DBs)
4. Jumping jacks
5. Repeat #1-4

Circuit 2:

1. Wide close press (lay on back on mat, alternate one narrow tricep press with one wide chest press) (16.5# DBs)
2. Alternating pull overs (lay on back w/ one DB in each hand, legs are raised and knees bent at 90 degrees, alternate single arm pull overs) (15# DBs)
3. Traveling push up (do one push up then walk hands out to one side, do another push up, walk hands back to start and do one push up, repeat on other side)
4. Inchworm push up & hop (stand at end of mat, hinge forward and walk hands out to plank, do one push up, walk hands back to feet, stand and jump, raising arms overhead)
5. Repeat #1-4

30 second rest

Circuit 3:

1. Single arm overhead tricep extension (one 11# DB)
2. Repeat #1 on other arm
3. Double arm bent over tricep kickbacks (13# DBs)
4. Plank tap & jack (in straight arm plank, jack the legs while also tapping one hand to opposite shoulder, alternate hands)
5. Repeat #1-4

Circuit 4:

1. Alternating bicep curls (16.5# DBs)
2. Negative bicep curls (raise DBs quickly and lower slowly) (15# DBs)
3. Bicep burn out (fast alternating bicep curls using light DBs) (5# DBs)
4. 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)
5. Repeat #1-4

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