CGX: Unleash Series Day 2: Upper Body

This is a workout from Caroline Girvan‘s CGX app. For more info on Caroline’s App, see the CGX App page. This was a an excellent workout! I am embarking on Caroline’s Unleashed Series but I am alternating weeks with Heather Robertson‘s HR12 Week 4.0. This workout was especially tough for me because I haven’t done a formal workout since March 8. I was on vacation and only did a few short band workouts. So I was struggling at first but it felt really good to be working my body again. And this was a great way to get back into the swing of things.

This is a superset workout that works the upper body. For the first part of the workout you are doing straight sets and alternating opposing muscle groups. Once you finish that you move into the actual supersets. You will do two exercises back-to-back with no rest between them before you get a 30 second recovery. The first exercise is done for 60 seconds and the second exercise is done for 30 seconds. This workout is done interval style. The interval and recovery times 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 the workout time as a percentage.

Upper Body is 41:05 minutes (this time does not include the optional 5:52 minute warm up or the 2:04 minute intro, also optional) with a 1:25 minute stretch. Equipment: dumbbells, a chair or bench and a fitness mat. Caroline is using 17.5kg/38.5 pound, 7.5kg/16.5 pound and 5kg/11 pound dumbbells. The weights listed below are what I used.

1. Chest press for 60 seconds (barbell @ 73#)
2. 30 second rest
3. Single arm row for 60 seconds (one 50# DB)
4. 30 second rest
5. Repeat #3 & 4 on other arm
6. Repeat #1-5 two more times
7. Upright row for 60 seconds (15# DBs)
8. (no rest) Hammer press for 30 seconds (overhead shoulder press, palms face each other/head) (20# DBs)
9. 30 second rest
10. Rear delt fly (palms behind) for 60 seconds (sit on bench or chair, torso is hinged forward so chest rests on thighs, palms face behind you) (8# DBs)
11. (no rest) Lateral raise for 30 seconds (standing) (8# DBs)
12. 30 second rest
13. Tricep dips for 60 seconds (0ff bench or chair)
14. (no rest) Push ups for 30 seconds
15. 30 second rest
16. Partial rear fly (palms behind) for 60 seconds (same position as #10 but only lift DBs halfway) (8# DBs)
17. (no rest) Partial lateral raises for 30 seconds (same as #11 but only raise arms/DBs halfway) (8# DBs)
18. 30 second rest
19. Repeat #7-18 two more times

Finisher: (one minute; each exercise is done for 30 seconds w/ no rest/recovery between exercises)

1. Push press (overhead shoulder press, arms in goal post, use legs to assist, adding power to press) (20# DBs)
2. x1 hammer press (same as #1 but holding one DB in both hands) (one 20# DB)