This is a workout from Caroline Girvan‘s CGX app. For more info on Caroline’s App, see the CGX App page. Wow. I have been looking forward to doing this workout since I returned to CGX and it did not disappoint. I didn’t do it sooner because it is so long. With the warm up it is 68 minutes! Luckily, today is a holiday so I have the day off work. Now that I’ve actually done the workout, I know that the core work alone is 11 minutes. So if I want to do this workout on a workday, then I could skip all the ab work at the end and the workout will only be 57 minutes. FYI, the ab section is excellent, so if you have the time I would not skip it.
But of course the star of the show is the back work. You will do 3 sets of every exercise for more than half of the workout, so your back is getting incredible strength work. She also intersperses some long and well needed rest periods to help you fully recover and come back strong. Because the back is such a large muscle group, all of your other upper body muscle groups assist in many of the moves. Most especially pullovers, which works every single upper body muscle including the chest. All of the rows also hit the biceps and the flys also work the shoulders. So you are not neglecting any muscle group in this workout. It is an excellent upper body strength workout.
And as a side bar, this workout made me feel really good, too. It reminded me of why I do this because sometimes I get down. Yesterday my husband wanted some new jeans. So we went to American Eagle and since they had some good sales, I decided to try on a pair myself. Dressing room mirrors are not our friends. I have said many times I do not workout (anymore) for aesthetic reasons, and I don’t, but when you workout as hard as I do and as consistently as I do for 20+ years, you expect something better in the mirror. So I was feeling kind of down yesterday. Feeling like the 53 year old grandma I am and wondering what the point is. Then I did this workout and I felt strong and good about myself again. This workout reminded me why I do this every day. Not to look like a fitness model, but to feel strong in life.
Back to the workout! This workout is done interval style. The interval and recovery times vary so they are noted below in the breakdown. There is a timer in the upper right hand corner of the screen counting down your intervals and recoveries. During the recoveries Caroline previews the next exercise. There is also a progress bar at the bottom of the screen, counting down thee workout time as a percentage.
1 Hour Back & Abs is is 62:11 minutes (this time does not include the optional 5:53 minute warm up or the 1:46 minute intro, also optional) with a 2:40 minute stretch. Equipment: dumbbells, bench and a fitness mat. Caroline is using one 30kg/66 pound, 15kg/33 pound, 7.5kg/16.5 pound and 5kg/11 pound dumbbells. The weights listed below are what I used. During the ab work Caroline holds the legs of her bench during some of the exercises. I just placed my two 50 pound dumbbells at the top of my mat and held the bars.
- Landmine row for 60 seconds (hinge forward so back is flat, hold one heavy DB by bar w/ both hands, pull DB up to chest) (one 65# DB)
- 45 second rest
- Repeat #1 & 2 two more times
- Pullover for 75 seconds (one 40# DB)
- 30 second rest
- Repeat #1 & 2 two more times
- Single arm row for 60 seconds (one knee and non-working hand rest on bench, arm is close to side) (one 50# DB)
- (no rest) Sweep for 30 seconds (one knee and non-working hand on the bench, “sweep” one arm up behind you, elbow slightly bent, arm kept close to side) (one 15# DB)
- 15 second rest
- Repeat #7 & 8 on other arm
- 15 second rest
- Repeat #7-11 two more times
- 75 second rest
- Rotational row for 45 seconds (single arm row w/ one knee and non-working hand on the bench, at bottom of row palm faces behind you, as you row rotate DB so palm faces in front of you at top of row) (one 42.5# DB)
- (no rest) Diagonal sweep for 30 seconds (same as #8 except arm sweeps away from the body to approximately 30 degrees) (one 15# DB)
- 30 seconds
- Repeat #14-16 on other arm
- Repeat #14-17 two more times
- Rear delt fly for 45 seconds (single arm rear delt fly w/ one knee and non-working hand on the bench, palm faces behind you) (one 12# DB)
- (no rest) Partials for 30 seconds (same as #19 but only lift DB halfway) (one 12# DB)
- 30 second rest
- Repeat #19-21 on other arm
- Repeat #19-22
- Single arm pull over for 90 seconds (one 16.5# DB)
- 15 second rest
- Repeat #24 & 25 on other arm
- Repeat #24-26
60 second rest
Core/Abs: (each exercise is done for 60 seconds w/ no rest/recoveries)
- Reverse crunch (Caroline is laying so that she can hold onto the legs of her bench, I held the bars of heavy DBs as noted in above) (push legs out straight in line with hips, legs a few inches of the mat, then pull knees into chest and push them past head while lifting hips)
- Alt side tuck (same as #1 but when you lift hips, rotate them to one side, alternate sides)
- Alt toe reach (lay on back with legs extended straight to ceiling, reach for one toe with opposite hand while crunching upper body, alternate sides)
- Crunch pulse (lay on back, knees bent and feet on floor, do an upper body pulse crunch)
- Heel reaches (lay on back, knees bent and feet on floor, head/chest are elevated, alternate tapping fingers to same side heel)
- Repeat #1-5
15 second rest
Finisher: Tuck to extend for 60 seconds (Caroline is laying so that she can hold onto the legs of her bench, lower straight legs until they are a few inches off the mat then raise legs and lift hips into a reverse crunch as you push legs past head)
