STS 2.0: Upper Body 2

This workout is part of Cathe Friedrich‘s STS 2.0 program which contains 26 workouts. I am doing the 12 week STS 2.0 rotation. Another excellent upper body workout. I really like how different this one is from Upper Body 1. They both work your upper body thoroughly but in completely different ways. The first time through this workout was definitely a learning experience. For some exercises the weights I chose were too heavy, for some the weights (or bands) were too light and for some I chose perfectly. Because of this I expect the second time through this workout to be more productive. But I still got a great workout. Because some of my miscalculations were on back work I was worried my back didn’t get worked well but as I write this it is an hour later and I can still feel how well my back was worked! The second time through the workout I did better but I still think I could have lifted heavier on a few exercises so that is notated below, but that is for my own reference. I no longer use workout cards; I just reference these reviews prior to doing a workout.

If you do not have a barbell, there is a background exerciser using dumbbells. If you do not have a wall anchor for your bands then one of the exercisers shows a different exercise you can do with the band(s) or using dumbbells. If you do not have dip bars, one of the exercisers shows weighted tricep dips on the step. I do have dip bars and this was my first time using them. Caroline Girvan uses them sometimes in her workouts for tricep dips. Because of that I never thought I would buy them; tricep dips using dip bars is very advanced. Then along comes STS 2.0 and Cathe shows a way to make them easier–using a resistance loop under your shins (see picture). I was pretty excited to try this version. And it works! It does make it easier and doable for me. But I ran into an issue I did not see anyone else in the video having–my legs kept swinging, throwing me off balance! But by the end of the second set I figured out what I was doing wrong so next time we shall see if I stop swinging (I wasn’t letting my legs relax on the bands–I was holding too much tension in my body). The second time through that did mostly fix it. I still had the occasional small swing but nothing like the first time. I was able to remain steady throughout.

After the second set of the first exercise, when Cathe is talking during the one minute recovery, she talks about striving to do better each time you return to the workout. She says if you are feeling strong, then do more reps than they do. This irritated me. That is not the point of doing a workout like this. If you are getting a full minute of recovery between sets and you can do more than 10 reps, you need to lift heavier weight, not do more reps. In fact, you should be lifting heavy enough that you cannot do any more than 9 or 10 reps. That’s why the first time through these workouts is a learning experience. If I could have done more than 10 reps then I either increased my weight for the next set or I noted that I will increase my weight the second time I do the workout. Later in the workout she does say that if you can do more than 12 reps you need to increase your weight, but in my opinion if you can do 11 or 12 reps and you aren’t struggling when doing them, then your weight is too light. However, that is just my opinion. You do you.

Upper Body 2 is 59:36; 4:45 minute warm up and 1:40 minute stretch. Equipment: step bench or weight bench, dumbbells, barbell, dip bars, large fabric loop and resistance bands. Cathe and crew’s step is at 14 inches. You need light dumbbells for the warm up (10, 12 & 15 pounds). You get one minute of rest between most of the exercises.

1. Barbell underhand row, 10 reps (Cathe is using 65# barbell; my barbell was 70#)
2. Repeat #1
3. Barbell overhand row, 10 reps (Cathe is using 65# barbell; my barbell was at 70#)
4. Repeat #3
5. Barbell pullover, 10 reps (Cathe is using 35# barbell; I used one 47.5# DB)
6. Repeat #5 two more times
7. Banded lat pull down, 5 full range reps + 5 1.5 reps (pull down all the way, raise halfway, pull down all the way, raise all the way) + 4 full range reps (band(s) are anchored high on a wall, sit on floor, pull bands down goalpost style but bring elbows lower than shoulders, palms face in front of you) (Cathe is using both the green and the black band; I  used the my Beachbody black band + Beachbody green band)
8. (no rest) Pull aparts, 10 reps (stand with one band in both hands, about 18 inches between hands, arms are raised to chest level and extended straight in front of you, pull arms/band apart so arms are in T) (Cathe is using green band; I used the Cathe black band)
9. Dumbbell overhead shoulder press, 10 reps (palms face each other) (Cathe is using 20# DBs; I used 22.5# DBs)
10. Repeat #9 for 8 reps
11. Repeat #10
12. Bear crawl press, 10 reps (lower into a wide squat, fall forward placing hands on floor and lowering top of head toward floor in a version of pike push up (but knees remain bent), then use arms/shoulders to push back into squat)
13. Single arm side leaning lat raise, 8 reps (kneel beside step, place one hand on step, extend outside leg to side (so you are leaning on step), outside arm is holding DB against extended thigh, raise straight arm/DB higher than shoulder level then lower) (Cathe is using one 8# DB; I used one 8# DB)
14. (no rest) Repeat #13 on other arm
15. Repeat #13 & 14, except this time you do not lower DB to thigh, you lower it until it is extended at 30 degrees (Cathe is using one 8# DB; I used one 7# DB)
16. Double arm scarecrow, 12 reps (raise arm into goalpost, keeping arms straight from shoulder to elbow, lower forearms until DBs are in line with shoulders then return to goal post) (Cathe is using 5# DBs; I used 5# DBs)
17. Dumbbell close grip bench press, 10 reps (narrow chest press/tricep press) (Cathe is using 20# DBs; I used 27.5# DBs)
18. Repeat #17
19. Barbell close grip bench press, 10 reps (Cathe is using 45# barbell; my barbell was 55#)
20. Repeat #19
21. Dips, 10 reps (loop large fabric band around one side of the dip bars, other end of fabric band is under one hand (each hand grips a bar), place shins on band so you are kneeling on it, do tricep dips in this position)
22. Repeat #21
23. Banded chest fly, 16 reps (band is anchored to wall at mid back level, stand facing away from anchor with a handle in each hand, do a chest fly in this position) (I used the black band + the green band)
24. Tricep kickbacks, 8 full range reps + 22 pulses at top of kickback (band is anchored to wall near floor, hinge forward facing anchor and do tricep kickbacks) (I used the black band)
25. Sweeper curls, 10 reps (start holding DBs hammer style but as you curl DBs, rotate DBs so palms face ceiling) (Cathe is using 20# DBs; I used 20# DBs)
26. Single arm sweeper, 10 reps each arm (hold a DB in each hand, do 10 single arm sweeper curls on one arm then repeat on other arm) (Cathe is using 20# DBs; I used 20# DBs)
27. Barbell curl 10 degree tilt, 8 reps (shoulders/torso is tilted forward slightly while doing bicep curls) (Cathe is using 35# barbell; my barbell was 43#)
28. Barbell 21’s (curl barbell 1/2 way 7 reps, start at shoulders and lower barbell 1/2 way for 7 reps, do 7 reps of full range barbell bicep curl) (Cathe is using 35# barbell; my barbell was at 37#)

Premixes:

Express #1: One Set Only 41:29

Express #2: Two Sets Maximum 55:37

Mish Mosh #1: Full Workout 59:06

Mish Mosh #2: No Bands 51:36

Extreme: Extra Sets 67:52