Cathe Live: #366 PHA: Supersets 2 – No Repeats

I love most of Cathe‘s PHA workouts and she has so many Live ones! This is another great one. It moves at a pretty quick pace though she does give you water breaks, which I always appreciate. As the title says, there are no repeats. PHA stands for Peripheral Heart Action. What this means in training terms is you alternate between upper and lower body resistance exercises, allowing as little rest as possible between each movement. The lack of rest and recovery keeps your heart rate elevated for cardiovascular and fat burning benefits, while switching between upper and lower body exercises maximizes blood flow to all parts of the body and reduces build up of lactic acid. What this generally translates to, when done properly, is a total body metabolic strength workout with a high calorie burn. The superset aspect means you will do 2 upper body exercises followed by 2 lower body exercises.

Cathe is using light dumbbells so this is a high rep, endurance level workout. She gives rep instructions for you if you are using heavier dumbbells. I really like that she addresses this. If you are lifting heavier you not only cannot do the reps as quickly but doing less reps is more appropriate. And that is what I did. I used heavier dumbbells for most of the exercises and when I was lifting significantly heavier I did not worry about trying to keep pace with Cathe.

This was a great workout. It was very enjoyable. I got an intense metabolic total body strength workout in a short amount of time. According to my Apple Watch I burned 505 calories!

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

PHA Supersets 2 – No Repeats is 45:09 minutes; 6 minute warm up and 3 minute stretch. Equipment: dumbbells and a fitness mat. You use 5 pound dumbbells for the warm up. 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. Side to side sumo squats (hold one DB in both hands at chest, step one foot out to side into sumo squat, step feet back together and repeat on other side) (Cathe is using one 15# DB, I used one 30# DB)
2. Deadlifts (Cathe is using 15# DBs, I used 30# DBs)
3. Single arm row (Cathe is using two 12# DBs held together in one hand, I used one 40# DB)
4. Repeat #3 on other arm
5. Front swing into a pull down (stand with legs wide holding one DB in each hand, lower into squat swinging both DBs down between legs, when you raise out of squat, swing DBs overhead, opening arms to sides and pulling them down into wide goalpost) (Cathe is using 8# DBs, I used 15# DBs)
6. Squats w/ DBs at sides (Cathe is using 15# DBs, I used 30# DBs)
7. Static/stationary lunges (Cathe is using 15# DBs, I used 25# DBs)
8. Step out overhead shoulder press (palms face each other, step one foot out to side when pushing DBs overhead, alternate sides (Cathe is using 12# DBs, Iused 16.5# DBs)
9. Hold one DB on both hands, do 3 straight arm front raises + 1 bicep curl, do 6 of these combos then end with 8 straight arm front raises (Cathe is using one 12# DB, I used one 15# DB)
10. Toss squats (hold one DB in one hand in front of chest, do low partial squats (never raising completely out of squat), each time you squat, pass the DB from hand to hand, arm not holding DB pushes out in front of you (Cathe us using one 10# DB, I used one 12# DB)
11. Alternating side lunges holding a DB in each hand, as you lunge, reach one DB down to foot (Cathe is using 12# DBs, I used 20# DBs)
12. Upright rows (alternate tapping toes out to sides) (Cathe started using 12# DBs then swapped to 15# DBs, I used 12# DBs)
13. 3 bent over rear delt flys then straighten; changes to 7 flys (Cathe is using 10# DBs, I used 8# DBs)
14. Sumo squat (legs wide, toes turned out, hold one DB in each hand close together in front of you); changes to 1.5 reps (lower to bottom of squat, raise halfway, lower to bottom of squat, raise all the way) (Cathe is using 15# DBs, I used one 60# DB)
15. Alternating cross-back/curtsy lunges (Cathe is using 12# DBs, I used 20# DBs)
16. Overhead tricep extensions (French press) (12# DBs)
17. Tricep kickbacks (12# DBs)
18. Wide stance deadlifts (Cathe is using 15# DBs, I used 30# DBs)
19. Reverse step back lunges, 16 reps on one leg then 16 on the other (Cathe is using 15# DBs, I used 20# DBs)
20. Sweeper curls (arms start at sides, as you curl rotate wrists/DBs face body) (Cathe is using 15# DBs, I used 16.5# DBs)
21. Wide bicep curls (elbows are kept close to sides with arms turned out to sides) (Cathe is using 12# DBs, I used 14# DBs)
22. Alternating front lunges (Cathe is using 12# DBs, I used 16.5# DBs)
23. Heel raises (Cathe is using 15# DBs, I used 25# DBs)
24. Straight arm lateral raises (Cathe is using 5# DBs, I used 6# DBs)
25. V raises, front raises but arms are on a diagonal, palms face each other (Cathe is using 5# DBs, I used 6# Dbs)
26. Repeat #24 but this time palms face forward (Cathe is using 5# DBs, I used 6# DBs)
27. Straight arm front raise w/ palms facing each other (Cathe is using 5# DBs, I used 6# DBs)
28. Bridge pull over (lay on back with knees bent and feet on mat close to glutes, raise hips into bridge and hold isometrically, hold one DB in both hands, do pullovers) (Cathe is using one 15# DB, I used one 40# DB)
29. Push ups
30. Chest fly w/ leg extension (lay on back, legs are raised w/ knees bent at 90 degrees, every time you do a chest fly extend one leg out straight a few inches off mat, alternate legs (Cathe is using 15# DBs, I used 20# DBs)
31. Side plank snatch (in side elbow plank, holding one DB in top hand, pull DB up from floor close to body and extend it to the ceiling) (one 10# DB)
32. Repeat #31 on other side of body
33. Lay on back on mat, knees bent and feet on mat, arms are extended overhead, do a full sit up, when sitting, place one hand on mat behind hips and lift hips into reverse tabletop, reaching other arm to ceiling, each time you repeat this move swap arm positions)