Unilateral Upper Body Strength + Tabata Finisher is Day 37 in Heather Robertson‘s 12 Week 4.0 program. This is a very enjoyable upper body workout. I always enjoy unilateral workouts, especially when they focus on the upper body. It is made up of one long circuit full of exercises that will hit every upper body muscle group at some point. You repeat the circuit then the workout ends with a tabata finisher. All that means is the interval/recovery times shorten. The tabata intervals are all done to a brisk pace so only light dumbbells can be used. My upper body was nicely worked!
The exercises are done interval style. For the strength exercises, each exercise is done for 40 seconds of work followed by 20 seconds of recovery. For the tabata exercises at the end, each exercise is done for 20 seconds of work followed by 10 seconds of recovery. 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.
Unilateral Upper Body Strength + Tabata Finisher is 44:10 minutes; 30 second intro, 3:45 minute warm up and 2:40 minute stretch. Equipment: dumbbells and an exercise mat. The weights listed below are what I used.
Strength Circuit: (40/20)
- Curl & hold (hold a DB in each hand, curl one DB halfway with elbow bent at 90 degrees and hold isometrically while other arm does full bicep curls) (16.5# DBs)
- Repeat #1 with arms swapped (other arm is held isometrically)
- Alternating front raise (palms face floor) (10# DBs)
- Overhead press (extend one arm overhead with bicep close to ear, keep arm stationary from shoulder to elbow, lower DB behind head toward opposite shoulder then raise back to start) (one 13# DB)
- Repeat #4 on other arm
- Leaning side raise (in high double kneeling hold one DB in one hand, other DB is on mat beside you standing on one end vertically, place your hand on the bell of the vertical floor DB and lean to the side, do a straight arm side raise with other arm) (9# DBs)
- Repeat #6 on other arm
- Single arm chest press (lay on back on mat with knees bent and feet on mat close to glutes, raise hips into bridge and hold isometrically while one arm does chest press) (one 30# DB)
- Repeat #8 on other arm
- Single arm bent over row (one 50# DB)
- Repeat #10 on other arm
- Alternating bent over rear delt fly (9# DBs)
- Single arm snatch (stand with legs wide, hold one DB in one hand, hinge forward lowering DB deadlift style, as you stand, pull DB up upright row fashion until you get to shoulder level then flip elbow so weight of DB is in palm and do an overhead press) (one 16.5# DB)
- Repeat #13 on other arm
- Single arm sprawl (stand with one arm behind back, bend forward and place other hand on mat, jump feet back into plank, jump feet back into hand, stand, swap hands and repeat, continue alternating hands)
- Repeat #1-15
30 second rest
Tabata Circuit: (20/10)
- Push ups
- Super human (superman–lay on stomach with arms extended in front of you, lift and lower arms and legs)
- Repeat #1 & 2
- Tricep burn out (tricep kickbacks done to a brisk pace with light DBs) (8# DBs)
- Shoulder burn out (alternating overhead shoulder press done to a brisk pace with light DBs) (8# DBs)
- Repeat #4 & 5
- Bicep burnout (alternating bicep curls done to a brisk pace with light DBs) (5# DBs)
- Shadow box (alternating front punches with light DBs) (5# DBs)
- Repeat #7 & 8
For more info on Heather Robertson’s workouts and other (free) streaming workouts I’ve sampled and reviewed, check out my Streaming page.
