Cathe Live: #336 Low Impact Cardio Compound Upper Body

I was very excited when I saw this workout for multiple reasons. One, it is a cardio + strength workout that focuses on the upper body. There are not many of those out there. And second, this was apparently filmed during the pandemic and Cathe is leading the workout solo–no class. Those are some of my favorite Cathe Live workouts–when its just Cathe and no one else. This workout did not disappoint. It was a lot of fun and a great workout. Your lower body is getting work, too. Though the focus is upper body, it really is a total body metabolic workout. The cardio intervals are not super intense but they keep your heart rate elevated. And the strength work is all high rep endurance level so heavy weights are not an option unless you slow down the pace and do less reps. Another winner!

Here is a clip of this workout. You can do this workout by subscribing to Cathe Live or purchasing it as a download.

Low Impact Cardio Compound Upper Body is 46:48 minutes; 5:30 minute warm up and 2:25 minute stretch. Equipment: dumbbells and a fitness mat. I also used a stability ball for one exercise. You need light dumbbells for the warm up. Cathe is using 8 pound dumbbells. Below I listed both the weights Cathe used and the weights I used. If only the dumbbell weight is listed, I used the same weight as Cathe.

1. Pulse 2x in squat, raise partially out of squat and do an insole tap, alternate legs each time you insole tap
2. Hold one DB in each hand with palms facing front of thighs, do a straight arm front raise, when arms are shoulder level open them to sides in a T, reverse this motion bringing arms/DBs straight in front of you agin and lowering them back down to fronts of thighs (5# DBs)
3. Arms are in same starting position as #2, do straight arm front raise and when arms are at shoulder level, pull elbows back, bringing DBs to shoulders while also keeping elbows elevated, push them back straight in front of you then lower them back to thighs (5# DBs)
4. Combine #2 & 3: raise DBs in front raise, open them to the sides in a T, bring DBs back in front of you then pull DBs back to shoulders, repeat this combo then lower DBs back to thighs (5# DBs)
5. Stand w/ legs wide and toes turned out (sumo squat) holding one DB in one hand, lower into a squat and do one concentration curl (tricep against inner thigh), stand and pass DB to other hand and repeat on other arm; changes to 3 concentration curls each arm before changing sides (one 15# DB)
6. Triple mountain climbers with shoulder tap (3 mountain climbers then hold with one knee under chest and tap each shoulder with opposite hand)
7. Step together step touch (2 side steps); add a squat w/ each step; add a cross punch during the step tap; steps change to lateral hop shuffle; add pushing arms overhead during lateral hop shuffle
8. Incline bicep curl into Arnold press (sit on mat and lean torso back slightly, curl DBs to shoulders and do an Arnold press) (Cathe uses 15# DBs for first 4 reps then drops to 12# DBs for remaining reps, I used a stability ball to create an incline and used 16.5# DBs)
9. Chest fly glute bridge pull over (lay on mat with knees bent and feet close to glutes, lift hips into bridge then raise one leg to ceiling, hold this position isometrically while alternating one chest fly with one pullover) (15# DBs)
10. Plank release push up (start in straight arm plank, lower body to mat, lift hands and feet off mat, push body back up to plank and bring one knee under body and tap knee w/ opposite hand, each time you tap knee alternate sides)
11. Squat abduction (stand with legs wide, lower into a partial squat punching hands down and when you raise out of squat lift one leg out to side while pushing arms overhead, alternate legs)
12. Stand holding one DB in each hand, lift both arms up to sides and hold, lower and raise one arm, lower both arms, repeat this sequence but lower and raise other arm (5# DBs)
13. Lay on mat with knees bent and feet close to glutes, lift hips into bridge and hold isometrically, do 2 narrow chest presses (arms kept close to sides w/ palms facing each other) + 1.5 rep skull crushers (lower to bottom of skull crusher, raise halfway, lower to bottom of skull crusher then raise back to start); changes to skull crushers only; changes to narrow chest press only (10# DBs)
14. In straight arm plank, do 4 single leg hip circles (leg bends into hydrant as you circle), repeat on other leg
15. Wide zig sag steps forward and back
16. Stand with legs wide holding one DB in both hands, squat and swing DB down between legs then stand and swing it overhead and do one overhead tricep extension (Cathe is using one 15# DB, I used one 20# DB)
17. Rotation row (hinge forward holding a DB in each hand with palms facing each other, row DBs keeping arms close to sides while also rotating DBs so palms face in front of you) (Cathe is using 15# DBs, I used 20# DBS)
18. Push up bear crawls (do one push up, when you are back in straight arm plank, step feet in under body keeping knees elevated then step feet back to plank)
19. Repeat #4
20. Repeat #5 (you do less single reps, same triple reps and this time you end with 7 reps each arm)
21. Repeat #6
22. Repeat #8 (Cathe uses 12# DBs)
23. Repeat #9 & 10
24. Repeat #12
25. Stand holding one DB in each hand, raise to top of lateral raise, lower partway, raise back to top then lower arms all the way (5# DBs)
26. Repeat #13 & 14
27. Repeat #16-18