This is a workout from Caroline Girvan‘s CGX app. For more info on Caroline’s App, see the CGX App page. This workout fried my arms! This is a high rep burn out workout. Very hard to lift heavy dumbbells. I usually use 20 pounds for bicep work but the heaviest I attempted for biceps in this workout was 16.5 pounds. Most of the bicep work incorporates isometric holds. And the tricep work is just long intervals. Very fatiguing. My biceps and triceps were done by the end of this workout. I paired this with CGXmas Day 14: Shoulders & Chest for an excellent and challenging upper body workout.
This is a superset workout. In each superset, the first exercise is done for 90 seconds and the second exercise is done for 60 seconds (2:30 minutes of work). Then you get a 30 second rest/recovery. 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 superset. There is also a little bar at the bottom of the screen that counts down the entire workout time as a percentage.
Biceps & Triceps is 23:16 minutes (this time does not include the optional 6 minute warm up or the 2:30 minute intro, also optional) with a 1:20 minute stretch. Equipment: dumbbells and a fitness mat. Caroline is using 7.5kg/16.5 pound and 10kg/22 pound dumbbells. The weights listed below are what I used.
- Skull crushers for 90 seconds (15# DBs)
- Alternating hammer curl holds for 60 seconds (lift DBs halfway into hammer curls so elbows are bent at 90 degrees and hold isometrically while doing a hammer curl with one arm, return it to isometric hold and hammer curl the other arm, continue alternating arms) (16.5# DBs)
- 30 second rest
- Repeat #1-3
- Shoulder crusher for 90 seconds (lay on back holding one DB in each hand, extend DBs to ceiling, bend elbows keeping arms close to sides and lowering ends of DBs toward shoulder) (12# DBs)
- Alternating wide curl holds for 60 seconds (same as #2 except DBs are turned out to sides while keeping elbows close to body) (15# DBs)
- 30 second rest
- Repeat #5-7
- Tricep press for 90 seconds (similar to a chest press except arms are kept close to sides and palms face each other) (25# DBs)
- Alternating rotate curl holds for 60 seconds (lift DBs halfway into palms up bicep curls so elbows are bent at 90 degrees and hold isometrically while doing a rotational curl with one arm, return it to isometric hold then rotational curl the other arm) (16.5# DBs)
- 30 second rest
- Repeat #9 but holding one DB in both hands (one 30# DB)
- Repeat #10 & 11
Finisher: (2:45 minutes; no rest/recovery between exercises)
- Overhead tricep extension for 90 seconds (kneeling French press) (one 25# DB)
- Hammer curl for 15 seconds (16.5# DBs)
- Hammer hold for 15 seconds (hold isometrically w/ arms lifted halfway in hammer curl with elbows bent at 90 degrees) (16.5# DBs)
- Repeat #2 & 3
- Repeat #2 holding one DB in both hands (one 16.5# DB)
