Arm Strength & Sculpt Workout is Day 44 in Heather Robertson‘s 12 Week 4.0 program. This is an excellent and thorough arm and shoulder workout. Each circuit is dedicated to a muscle group and by the time we finished with the circuit (done 3 times), the muscle group being worked was fried! This was also a nice departure from the workouts I did earlier this week (Day 41 & Day 43). With the longer recovery time and shorter intervals I was able lift heavy (for me) and to maintain that weight throughout.
This workout contains 3 circuits; each circuit contains 4 exercises. You will do each circuit three times. The exercises are done interval style: 40 seconds of work followed by 20 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.
Arm Strength & Sculpt Workout is 43:28 minutes; 20 second intro, 3:20 minute warm up and 2:40 minute stretch. Equipment: dumbbells and fitness mat. The weights listed below are what I used.
Circuit 1:
- Isolated curl (concentration curl, in kneeling lunge, place tricep of same side leg against inner thigh and do bicep curls) (one 20# DB)
- Repeat #1 on other arm
- Hammer hold & curl (start with both arms/DBs at top of hammer curl w/ elbows bent at 90 degrees, hold one arm isometrically while other arm lowers to bottom of curl then raises back to start, alternate arms with one always held isometrically at 90 degrees) (16.5# DBs)
- Bicep burn out (fast alternating bicep curls with light DBs) (5# DBs)
- Repeat #1-4 two more times
30 second rest
Circuit 2:
- Skull crush & press (lay on back with knees bent and feet on mat, hold one DB in each hand, do a narrow chest press with arms kept close to sides, at top of press do one skull crusher) (15# DBs)
- Overhead press (single arm overhead tricep extension while in double high kneeling) (one 13# DB)
- Repeat #2 on other arm
- Tricep burnout (bent over alternating tricep kickbacks) (13# DBs)
- Repeat #1-4 two more times
30 second rest
Circuit 3:
- L-raises (one arm does a straight arm front raise while the other arm is doing a straight arm lateral raise at the same time, alternate arms) (8# DBs)
- Around the world (with palms facing forward and hands in front of thighs, keeping arms straight, raise DBs out to sides then overhead, lower DBs out to sides and back in front of thighs) (8# DBs)
- Military hold & press (stand with a DB in each hand held in goal post, do alternating overhead shoulder presses, non-pressing arm remains in goalpost isometrically) (18# DBs)
- Cross punch & jack (hold one light DB in each hand, cross punch once each arm then do one jumping jack while pushing both arms overhead) (5# DBs)
- Repeat #1-4 two more times
For more info on Heather Robertson’s workouts and other (free) streaming workouts I’ve sampled and reviewed, check out my Streaming page.
