CGXmas Day 12: Biceps & Back

This is a workout from Caroline Girvan‘s CGX app. For more info on Caroline’s App, see the CGX App page. Caroline packs a lot of burn into a short amount of time! I do not think I have ever done a drag curl before but it is definitely harder than it looks and sounds! I did this workout in combination with an arm workout. I started with this workout fatigued arms wouldn’t detract from the back work, but the fact Caroline starts the workout with drag curls superset with back workout kind of defeats that idea! My biceps were definitely pumped by the end of this short upper body workout. My back got some great work, too. ***My biceps have never been this sore before! I am sure the additional arm workout I did after this contributed to the DOMS but I think the severity of the soreness is mainly due to those drag curls!***

The exercises in this workout are done interval style; each exercise is done for 60 seconds and the rest/recovery is 45 seconds but sometimes the exercises will be paired as supersets with no rest between exercises. 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.

Biceps & Back is 20:44 minutes (this time does not include the optional 6 minute warm up or the 3:23 minute intro, also optional) with a 1:30 minute stretch. Equipment: dumbbells, chair or bench and a fitness mat. Caroline is using 7.5kg/16.5 pound, 10kg/22 pound and 17.5g/38.5 pound dumbbells. The weights listed below are what I used.

1. Drag curls (keep arms close to sides, palms facing ceiling, bend elbows, pulling elbows behind you–you aren’t actually “curling”) (20# DBs)
2. (no rest) Supine row (bent over double arm row, palms face forward) (30# DBs)
3. 45 second rest
4. Repeat #1-3 two more times
5. Deadstop row (bent over single arm row, one knee and non-working hand rest on bench, at bottom of row place DB on floor and release briefly) (one 50# DB)
6. 15 second rest
7. Repeat #5 on other arm
8. 30 second rest
9. Repeat #5-8 two more times

Finisher: (2 minutes; no rest/recoveries between exercises) (18# DBs)

1. Drag curls for 30 seconds
2. Palms up hold for 15 seconds (curl DBs halfway so elbows are bent at 90 degrees and hold isometrically)
3. Repeat #1 & 2
4. Hammer curl with one dumbbell for 30 seconds (hold one DB on both hands)