30 Min Full Body Workout – PHA Training is Day 4 in Caroline Girvan‘s Fuel Series. Another tough workout in this Series, though this one wasn’t as brutal as the other two I’ve done (Day 1 and Day 2). I really like the PHA technique (described below) and it works really well in this workout. I feel like I got an excellent total body strength workout. It didn’t really start burning me out until the Finisher–2 minutes of makers with 30 seconds of squats in between each minute. It definitely finished me off!
PHA stands for Peripheral Heart Action. What this means in training terms is you alternate between upper and lower body resistance exercises, allowing as little rest as possible between each movement. The lack of rest and recovery keeps your heart rate elevated for cardiovascular and fat burning benefits, while switching between upper and lower body exercises maximizes blood flow to all parts of the body and reduces build up of lactic acid. It also gives the muscle group you just worked a longer recovery time before you hit it again (i.e. upper body rests while lower body works).
This workout is made up of supersets. Within each superset, you will do one exercise for 40 seconds followed by another exercise for 30 seconds (70 seconds of work) before you get a 20 second recovery. There is a timer in the upper left hand side of the screen, counting down your intervals and recoveries. During the recovery, 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.
30 Min Full Body Workout – PHA Training is 40:31 minutes; 2:43 minute intro, no warm up and 4 minute stretch. Equipment: dumbbells, a chair, a yoga block and a fitness mat. Caroline is using 17.5kg/38.5 pound and 10kg/22 pound dumbbells. The weights listed below are what I used.
- Chest press for 40 seconds (30# DBs)
- Push ups for 30 seconds
- 20 second rest
- Static lunge for 40 seconds (stationary lunges) (22.5# DBs)
- Repeat #1 w/ no DBs/body weight for 30 seconds
- 20 second rest
- Repeat #4-6 on other side of body
- Repeat #1-7
- Renegade row for 40 seconds (alternate arms) (30# DBs)
- Landmine row for 30 seconds (one 55# DB)
- 20 second rest
- Suitcase squat for 40 seconds (narrow squats holding a DB in each hand at sides) (27.5# DBs)
- Goblet squat for 30 seconds (one 50# DB)
- 20 second rest
- Repeat #9-14
- Shoulder press for 40 seconds (arms are in goalpost) (20# DBs)
- Upright row for 30 seconds (15# DBs)
- 20 second rest
- Bulgarian lunge for 40 seconds (static/stationary lunges with back leg elevated on chair behind you) (20# DBs)
- Repeat #19 w/ no DBs/body weight only for 30 seconds
- 20 second rest
- Repeat #19-21
- Repeat #16-22
- Arnold press for 40 seconds (20# DBs)
- Partial lateral raises for 30 seconds (only raise DBs halfway) (10# DBs)
- 20 second rest
- Heel elevated squats for 40 seconds (heels are elevated on yoga block, DBs are held at shoulders) (27.5# DBs)
- Body weight half reps for 30 seconds (heels are still elevated on yoga block, lower to bottom of squat but only raise halfway)
- 20 second rest
- Repeat #24-29
Finisher: (2:30 minutes; no rest/recoveries between exercises)
- Maker for 60 seconds (start in plank, do one renegade row each arm, jump feet into DBs so you are in squat, do a double arm bicep curl, stand w/ DBs at shoulders, do one overhead press, squat and place DBs on the floor, jump feet back to plank and do one push up) (20# DBs)
- High squats for 30 seconds (squats w/ DB at shoulders)
- Repeat #1
For more info on Caroline Girvan’s workouts and other (free) streaming workouts I’ve sampled and reviewed, check out my Streaming page.
One thought on “FUEL Series 30 Min Full Body Workout – PHA Training | Day 4”