FUEL Series 30 Min UPPER BODY COMPLEX Workout | Day 7

30 Min Upper Body Complex Workout is Day 7 in Caroline Girvan‘s Fuel Series. This upper body workout focuses on the shoulders, chest and triceps and man does Caroline burn them out! I was struggling by the end of some of the complexes. Caroline was struggling, too, at times. She even has some encouraging words pop on on the screen near the end motivating you finish the workout. This workout uses lots of strength techniques/modalities–body weight, dumbbells and plyometrics. My shoulders, triceps and chest were well worked.

This workout consists of complexes; each complex contains 2 exercises. What this means is you are doing 2 exercises with no rest between exercises and you do not stop alternating those two exercises until the time is up. Each complex is done for 2 minutes then you get a 30 second rest before moving on to the next complex. The complex you are working through is listed in the lower left hand corner of the screen for your reference. It lists each exercise you are doing and the amount of reps you do for each exercise. This is especially useful if you cannot keep pace with Caroline then you can still keep track of your complex. There is a timer in the upper right hand corner of the screen, counting down your 2 minutes of work as well as your 30 seconds of rest. Caroline previews your next complex during the recovery. There is also a little bar at the bottom of the screen that counts down the entire workout time as a percentage.

30 Min Upper Body Complex Workout is 38:31 minutes; 3:08 minute intro, no warm up and 2:55 minute stretch. Equipment: dumbbells, chair and fitness mat. Caroline is using 10kg/22 pound and 4kg/8.8 pound dumbbells. The weights listed below are what I used.

Complex 1:

1. Shoulder press, 10 reps (arms are in goal post) (20# DBs)
2. Pike push ups, 10 reps
3. Repeat #1 & 2 as many times as possible within 2 minutes

Complex 2:

1. Arnold press, 10 reps (18# DBs)
2. Upright row, 10 reps (15# DBs)
3. Repeat #1 & 2 as many times as possible within 2 minutes

Complex 3:

1. Decline push ups, 10 reps (feet are elevated on chair, hands are on floor)
2. Tricep dips, 10 reps (hands on chair behind you)
3. Repeat #1 & 2 as many times as possible within 2 minutes

Complex 4:

1. Diver push ups, 10 reps
2. Tricep push ups, 10 reps
3. Repeat #1 & 2 as many times as possible within 2 minutes

Complex 5:

1. Hand to floor sprawl, 10 reps (start standing, place hands on floor, jump feet back to plank, jump feet back in to hands then stand)
2. Push ups, 10 reps
3. Repeat #1 & 2 as many times as possible within 2 minutes

Complex 6:

1. Tricep press, 10 reps (lay back on mat and do a narrow chest press keeping arms/elbows close to sides and palms facing each other) (20# DBs)
2. Chest press, 10 reps (arms are out wide, away from body, palms facing feet) (20# DBs)
3. Repeat #1 & 2 as many times as possible within 2 minutes

Complex 7:

1. Chest flys, 10 reps (18# DBs)
2. Diamond press, 10 reps (DBs are pressed together over chest, push DBs to ceiling) (18# DBs)
3. Repeat #1 & 2 as many times as possible within 2 minutes

Complex 8:

1. Skull crushers, 10 reps (hold one DB in both hands) (one 18# DB)
2. Shoulder crushers, 10 reps (similar to a skull crusher but rather than keeping arms straight from elbow to shoulder, bend elbows bringing DB to shoulders–you are still holding one DB in both hands) (one 18# DB)
3. Repeat #1 & 2 as many times as possible within 2 minutes

Complex 9:

1. Chest to floor sprawl, 10 reps (start standing, place hands on floor, jump feet back to plank, lower entire body to floor, push back up into plank and jump feet back in to hands then stand)
2. Cobra tricep push ups, 10 reps (push up done cobra style)
3. Repeat #1 & 2 as many times as possible within 2 minutes

Complex 10:

1. Hammer press, 15 reps (overhead shoulder press, palms facing each other, Caroline moves at a brisk pace and is using her lighter DBs) (13# DBs)
2. Tricep kickbacks, 15 reps (double arm, torso is hinged forward, again–Caroline is moving at a brisk pace using lighter DBs) (13# DBs)
3. Repeat #1 & 2 as many times as possible within 2 minutes

Complex 11:

1. Bent over rear delt fly, 10 reps (8# DBs)
2. Lateral raise, 10 reps (8# DBs)
3. Repeat #1 & 2 as many times as possible within 2 minutes

Complex 12:

1. Around the world, 5 reps (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) (8# DBs)
2. Cross body frontal raise, 20 reps (alternating single arm front raises but when you raise arm, raise it on a diagonal across body) (8# DBs)
3. Repeat #1 & 2 as many times as possible within 2 minutes

Finisher: (80 seconds; each exercise is done for 20 seconds w/ no rests/recoveries between exercises)

1. Mountain climbers
2. Deadstop push ups (in straight arm plank, lower body to mat and lift hands off mat, place hands back on mat and push back up to plank)
3. Repeat #1 & 2

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