Day 51: Back & Biceps Strength (plus AMRAP Finisher!!) / HR12WEEK 4.0

Back & Bicep Strength is Day 51 in Heather Robertson‘s 12 Week 4.0 program. Another excellent upper body strength workout. This workout has 3 parts. The first part is a circuit of back exercises, the second part is a circuit of bicep exercises and the final part is a more metabolic circuit that works both the back and the biceps. If you continue challenging yourself with the weights you choose, the AMRAP circuit at the end will really finish off the back and biceps. I was lagging behind Heather during the AMRAP but that is because I swapped weights for each exercise rather than sticking with a single set of weights for the entire AMRAP.

The first portion of the workout consists of 2 circuits and each circuit is done twice. The exercises 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.

Back & Bicep Strength is 38:18 minutes; 40 second intro, 3:50 minute warm up and 3:30 minute stretch. Equipment: dumbbells, resistance loop, and fitness mat. The weights listed below are what I used.

Circuit 1:

1. Robot Row (with band around wrists and arms open so there is constant tension on the band, hinge forward with arms extended straight, raise them overhead so biceps are in line with ears, lower arms and do one bent over row, bringing band to ribs then extending arms straight)
2. Dumbbell pullover (legs are raised and knees bent at 90 degrees, legs remain in this position while doing a pullover) (one 40# DB)
3. Single arm row (body is in deep runners lunge with non-working elbow resting on front thigh, other arm does a single arm row) (one 50# DB)
4. Repeat #3 on other side of body
5. Underhand row (double arm bent over row, palms face forward and arms are kept close to body) (30# DBs)
6. Super V squeeze (lay on stomach with arms extended in front of you, raise arms and legs in superman, hold and pull elbows behind back, push arms in front of you again then lower hands/legs) (I used a medium resistance band)
7. Repeat #1-6

30 second rest

Circuit 2:

1. Banded curl (stand with resistance loop around wrists and arms open so there is constant tension on the band, do bicep curls)
2. Alternating hammer curls (20# DBs)
3. Isolated curl (concentration curl, in kneeling lunge place tricep of same side leg against inner thigh and do bicep curls) (one 18# DB)
4. Repeat #3 on other arm
5. Rotation curl (hold one DB in each hand with arms in front of you and palms facing thighs, keeping elbows close to sides, raise forearms in a reverse curl, at top of curl rotate wrists/DBs so palms face the ceiling and lower arms/DBs into a wide bicep curl, reverse this motion) (15# DBs)
6. Negative curl (palms up bicep curls, lower DBs very slowly and raise at normal pace) (16.5 DBs)
7. Repeat #1-6

30 second rest

AMRAP:

1. Rear fly, 6 reps (hinged forward, alternate arms) (9# DBs)
2. In & out curl, 6 reps (alternate one wide curl with one traditional curl, palms face ceiling for both) (16.5# DBs)
3. Plank row, 6 reps (renegade row, alternate arms) (30# DBs)
4. Squat & curl, 6 reps (stand with legs wide holding one DB in each hand, lower into squat and hold, do one double arm hammer curl then stand) (16.5# DBs)
5. Repeat #1-4 as many times as possible in 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.