Total Body Short Circuit is a short but thorough total body strength workout from Jessica Smith. I used this today as a finisher after a tough total body strength workout from Caroline Girvan (Iron Series Day 14), so my entire body was already pretty fatigued. This workout definitely finished me off. Though, I do have to admit, the warm up was a nice recovery after finishing Caroline’s workout. Most of the exercises in this workout are high rep so you cannot lift heavy. And then there is the fatigue she creates with all of the tricep work. If you look at the weights I lifted in the workout I did prior to this, I can lift a lot heavier for many exercises, but not when there are so many reps. And by the time we get to the chest press, my arms were seriously fried from the many, many overhead tricep extensions. This is a great little finisher to add onto the end of any total body strength workout. It’s also a great little workout to do on its own when you are short on time. But you will need a stretch afterwards. I stopped Caroline’s workout just before the stretch then I returned to it when this was over for a nice total body stretch. But if you aren’t using this as a finisher like I did, there are other short but thorough stretches on YouTube that you can add onto the end to get a nice stretch.Daniela Suarez’s 5 Minute Full Body Stretch is perfect.
Total Body Short Circuit is 14:12 minutes; 4 minute warm up and 20 second stretch. Equipment: one set of moderately heavy (for your strength level) dumbbells and a fitness mat. Optional: one set of light dumbbells. Jessica does not reveal the weight of her dumbbells. She used one set of dumbbells for everything. The weights listed below are what I used.
- Alternating reverse lunges, between each lunge do one single arm overhead shoulder press (alternate arms) (16.5# DBs)
- Squat + double arm supine row (this is more of a dead row, when you row, palms are facing forward) (25# DBs)
- Split squat + overhead tricep extension (holding one DB in both hands, do a single leg squat with back/non-working leg in kickstand, between each squat do an overhead tricep extension/French press) (one 20# DB)
- Repeat #3 but squat with other leg
- Still holding one DB in both hands, do a double leg squat, between each squat do a overhead tricep extension/French press (one 20# DB)
- Chest press with alternating leg drop (lay on back with legs raised and knees bent at 90 degrees, do chest press and as you lower DBs, extend one leg straight a few inches off the floor, alternate legs) (20# DBs)
- X pull down extension with inner thigh squeeze (lay on stomach with legs open and arms extended over head in a V so body forms an “X”, raise chest while pulling elbows back into sides; add lifting legs and bringing them together when pulling elbows back)
For more info on JessicaSmithTV and other (free) streaming workouts I’ve sampled and reviewed, check out my Streaming page.
