Upper Body Strength Supersets & AMRAP is Day 27 in Heather Robertson‘s 12 Week 4.0 program. This was a tough upper body strength workout! I started out strong but since each exercises is repeated 3 times I had to drop to lighter dumbbells for subsequent sets on some of the exercises. And that AMRAP at the end! It fried my arms and shoulders with only 15 pound dumbbells! And I could not keep pace with Heather. I was working through that AMRAP at my own pace. My upper body feels very well worked.
This workout consists of 4 supersets. Each superset is repeated 3 times. The supersets are done interval style: 40 seconds of work followed by 20 seconds of rest. There is a timer in the lower right hand corner of the screen counting down your intervals and recoveries. During the recoveries Heather previews the next exercise. At the bottom of the screen during the preview, there is a small graphic with a weight recommendation–light, medium or heavy.
The workout also includes a 5 minute finisher done AMRAP style. AMRAP stands for As Many Rounds As Possible. Each exercise is done for 6 reps. You (and Heather, of course) will repeat one circuit (or Round) as many times as possible within the 5 minutes allotted for it. Before the circuit or round begins, the 4 exercises in the circuit are listed onscreen while Heather previews them. When the circuit/round starts, there is a timer in the lower left hand corner of the screen, counting down the 5 minutes. You follow along with Heather as she does the exercises, keeping pace with her if you are able. Otherwise you will have to work at your own pace. Luckily, the list of exercises remains on screen the entire 5 minutes, so you don’t have to worry about losing track of the exercises if you cannot keep up with Heather’s pace.
Upper Body Strength Supersets & AMRAP is 36:52 minutes; 35 second intro, 2:40 minute warm up and 3 minute stretch. Equipment: light, medium and heavy dumbbells and a fitness mat. The weights listed below are what I used.
Superset 1:
- Curl & press (hammer curl into an overhead press) (20# DBs first 2 sets, 18# DBs last set)
- L-raise (one arm does a straight arm front raise while the other arm is doing a straight arm side raise at the same time, alternate arms) (9# DBs first set, 8# DBs last 2 sets)
- Repeat #1 & 2 two more times
Superset 2:
- Chest fly (legs are raised and knees bent at 90 degrees, legs remain in this position while doing a chest fly) (25# DBs first 2 sets, 22.5# DBs last set)
- Rocket push up (do one push up then push glutes back to heels keeping knees elevated off mat, Heather is holding DBs for more depth in the push up)
- Repeat #1 & 2 two more times
30 second rest
Superset 3:
- Bent over double arm rows (30# DBs)
- Overhead press (in high double kneeling, do an overhead tricep extension/French press) (one 25# DB)
- Repeat #1 & 2 two more times
Superset 4:
- Pullover & press (lay on back on mat, hold one DB in both hands, push DB to ceiling then do one pullover then lower DB back to start, legs are raised and knees bent at 90 degrees, legs remain in this position throughout interval) (one 30# DB)
- Skull crusher (lay on back w/ knees bent and feet close to glutes, lift hips into bridge and hold bridge isometrically while doing skull crushers holding one DB in both hands) (one 25# DB)
- Repeat #1 & 2 two more times
AMRAP: (I used 15# DBs for all of the exercises)
- Military press, 6 reps (overhead shoulder press, arms are in goal post)
- Curl & hold, 6 reps (holding a DB in each hand, raise DBs so arms are bent at 90 degrees, hold this isometrically, lower one DB and raise it back to 90 degree elbow bend, repeat on other arm, continue alternating arms)
- Side raise, 6 reps (alternating bent arm lateral raise)
- Plank & tap, 6 reps (hold straight arm plank w/ a DB in each hand, alternate tapping DB toward opposite shoulder)
- Repeat #1-4 as many times as possible within 5 minutes
For more info on Heather Robertson’s workouts and other (free) streaming workouts I’ve sampled and reviewed, check out my Streaming page.
