CGX: P.E. Program Day 4: ‘Absolute Muscular Failure on Last Curl’ Upper Body

This is a workout from Caroline Girvan‘s CGX app. For more info on Caroline’s App, see the CGX App page.

These P.E. workouts are tough! I am learning that you cannot lift as heavy as you normally do so I had lots of back up weights ready to go and also went straight to lighter than usual weights for some exercises. And it still fried my back and arms. But I wasn’t as burned out as I was after doing Day 2. My upper body feels well worked but not overworked. So I did not have “absolute muscular failure” on the last curl. So maybe I should have used my 20s for some of the curls. I did have muscle failure on most of the other exercises but not on the biceps.

This is a superset workout. You will do 2 exercises back to back, each for 60 or 45 seconds before you get a 30 or 45 second recovery. There is a timer in the upper right hand side of the screen counting down your intervals and recoveries. During the recovery Caroline previews the next superset. There is also a bar at the bottom of the screen that counts down the entire workout time as a percentage.

Upper Body is 46:03 minutes (this time does not include the optional 3:55 minute warm up or the 3:04 minute intro, also optional) with a 1:30 minute stretch. Equipment: dumbbells, chair/bench, and fitness mat. Caroline is using 25kg/55 pound, 15kg/33 pound, 7.5kg/16.5 pound, 5kg/11 pound and 4kg/8.8 pound dumbbells. The weights listed below are what I used.

1. Pullover for 60 seconds (one 40# DB)
2. (no rest) Bent over row for 60 seconds (done landmine style: hinge forward w/ back flat holding one DB by bar w/ both hands, row DB to chest) (one 60# DB)
3. 30 second rest
4. Repeat #1-3 two more times
5. Single arm sweep for 60 seconds (one knee and non-working hand rest on bench, hinge forward holding one DB in one hand, keeping slightly bent and close to side, sweep DB up behind you) (one 10# DB)
6. (no rest) Single arm row for 60 seconds (one knee and non-working hand rest on bench) (one 40# DB first set, one 35# DB last 2 sets)
7. 30 second rest
8. Repeat #5-7 on other arm
9. Repeat #5-8 two more times
10. Palm up bicep curl for 60 seconds (16.5# DBs)
11. (no rest) Supine row for 45 seconds (bent over double arm row with palms facing forward) (30# DBs)
12. 45 second rest
13. Repeat #10-12
14. Partial rear delt fly (palm facing in) for 60 seconds (single arm rear delt fly, one knee rests on bench, only lift DB partway) (one 8# DB)
15. (no rest) Full range rear delt fly for 60 seconds (same position as #14) (one 8# DB)
16. 30 second rest
17. Repeat #14-16 on other arm
18. Repeat #14-17
19. Alternating supination curls for 60 seconds (arms start at side hammer style, as you curl rotate DB so palm faces ceiling) (16.5# DBs)
20. (no rest) Hammer curls for 45 seconds (16.5# DBs)
21. 45 second rest
22. Repeat #19-21

Finisher:

1. Momentum alternating supination curl for 30 seconds (16.5# DBs)
2. Hammer curl for 30 seconds (16.5# DBs)