CGX: 1 Hour Dumbbell Full Body

This is a workout from Caroline Girvan‘s CGX app. For more info on Caroline’s App, see the CGX App page. Currently, the app is not available on AppleTV so I had to airplay the workout from my iphone.

WOW! What an amazing total body strength workout! It is long though. If you do the warm up and skip the intro, it is nearly 78 minutes. It is very comprehensive. Where to start? The first thing I loved about this workout is that it uses the interval times that I love so much from her Iron Series workouts: 60 seconds of work followed by 30 seconds of rest. Not ever single exercise is done to this interval time but the majority of them are. This gives you the opportunity to lift heavier because you get a longer rest. The second thing I love about this workout is how thorough it is. Caroline works your entire body not just in the weighted exercises but also in the bodyweight staple: Dolphin to Saw. Between those two moves you are working every muscle in your body. The third thing I like is the ability to skip the warm up and intro. I did not skip the warm up but I did skip the intro since I had already watched it when I previewed this workout. But since there are a lot of short workouts in her app that you can stack, being able to skip the warm up is essential. And the warm up! WOW! You are getting everything in this warm up–mobility, dynamic flexibility, functional strength and you will definitely be warmed up.

This was my first workout in the CGX App and it is an amazing introduction. Stay tuned! I plan to do quite a few more over the next 2 weeks!

All of the exercises in this workout are done interval style: 60 seconds of work followed by 30 seconds of rest. However two exercises are done to a different interval time. The pullovers are done for 75 seconds of work followed by 15 seconds of rest and there is a staple exercise that is done 7 times in the course of the workout. Each time the staple is done, you do it for for 90 seconds followed by only 15 seconds of rest. You also only get 15 seconds of rest before doing the staple–so it is sandwiched between 15 seconds recoveries. Just enough time to get into position. There is a timer in the upper right hand side of the screen counting down your intervals and recoveries. During the recovery Caroline previews the next exercise. There is also a little bar at the bottom of the screen that counts down the entire workout time as a percentage.

1 Hour Dumbbell Full Body is 65:59 minutes (this time does not include the optional 11:39 minute warm up or the 3:16 minute intro, also optional) with a 5:40 minute stretch. Equipment: dumbbells and a fitness mat. Caroline is using 15kg/33 pounds, 10kg/22 pounds, and 4kg/8.8 pounds dumbbells. The weights listed below are what I used.

1. Single arm bent over row (one 47.5# DB)
2. Repeat #1 on other arm
3. Repeat #1 & 2
4. Staple: Dolphin to saw for 90 seconds (start in forearm plank, push back into dolphin pose return to forearm plank then push body forward with toes into saw)
5. High squats (hold DBs at shoulders) (30# DBs)
6. Repeat #5
7. Chest press (30# DBs)
8. Repeat #7
9. Repeat #4
10. Static lunge (stationary lunges) (25# DBs)
11. Repeat #10 on other side of body
12. Repeat #10 & 11
13. Repeat #4
14. Pullover for 75 seconds (one 42.5# DB)
15. Repeat #14
16. Chest flys (22.5# DBs)
17. Repeat #16
18. Repeat #4
19. RDL (Romanian deadlifts) (42.5# DBs)
20. Repeat #19
21. Arnold press (20# DBs)
22. Repeat #21
23. Repeat #4
24. Staggered RDL (single leg deadlift, non-working leg is in kickstand) (one 40# DB)
25. Repeat #24 on other side of body
26. Repeat #24 & 25
27. Repeat # 4
28. Bent over rear delt fly (8# DBs)
29. Repeat #28
30. Lateral raise (8# DBs)
31. Repeat #30
32. Repeat #4
33. Rear step lunge (reverse lunge holding one DB in same side hand of working leg) (one 25# DB)
34. Repeat #33 on other leg
35. Repeat # 33 & 34

Finisher: (90 seconds; no rest/recoveries)

1. Dolphin for 45 seconds
2. Saw for 45 seconds