CGX: Max Program Day 9: Less about the lifting, more about the lowering!

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

I’ve been on vacation for the past week and the most exercise I’ve done is a lot of walking. The heaviest thing I lifted was my suitcase. So I found this full body workout tough! But the good kind of tough. It felt really good to work my entire body after not exercising for a full week. Caroline hits everything thing in this workout with compound exercises that work multiple muscle groups.

This workout is done interval style. The interval times and recoveries vary and are noted below. There is a timer in the upper right hand corner of the screen counting down your intervals and recoveries. During the recoveries Caroline previews the next exercise. There is also a progress bar along the bottom of the screen, counting down the workout time as a percentage. Caroline shows two alternatives to stability ball roll outs using sliding disks or just body weight.

Day 9 is 36:39 minutes (this time does not include the optional 9:18 minute warm up or 4:07 minute intro, also optional) with a 2:10 minute stretch. Equipment: dumbbells, barbell, chair/bench, stability ball, glute band, and fitness mat. Optional is push up bars. You are also using a glute band and light dumbbells for the warm up. Caroline is using 4kg/8.8 pound dumbbells for the warm up. For the actual workout Caroline is using a barbell at 58kg/128 pounds. She also uses 15kg/33 pound and 10kg/22 pound dumbbells. The weights listed below are what I used.

1. Forward tilt Bulgarian lunge for 60 seconds (stationary lunge, back leg is elevated on step or chair, torso is hinged forward over front thigh, hold one DB in same side hand as back leg) (one 25# DB)
2. 25 second rest
3. Repeat #1 & 2 on other leg
4. Rotational row for 60 seconds (single arm row, one knee and same side arm rest on step/bench, at bottom of row palm faces behind you, as you row rotate wrist/DB so palm faces in front of you at top of row) (one 37.5# DB)
5. 25 second rest
6. Repeat #4 & 5 on other arm
7. Repeat #1-6 two more times
8. Slow release roll out for 85 seconds (lay on back on mat with both heels on ball, raise hips/glutes, roll ball out slowly then back in at a normal pace, keeping hips elevated entire interval)
9. 20 second rest
10. Paused deep push ups for 40 seconds (pause briefly at bottom of push up) (Caroline is using push up bars, I used DBs)
11. 25 second rest
12. Repeat #8-11 two more times
13. Slow lowering banded hip thrust for 60 seconds (lean back against your bench or step with barbell on hips, knees are bent and heels are in line with knees, glute band is around thighs just above knees, legs are open wide enough so there is constant tension on band, raise hips then lower slowly) (barbell @ 112#)
14. 25 second rest
15. Slow lowering hammer press for 60 seconds (seated in high back chair, palms face each other/side of head) (20# DBs)
16. 25 second rest
17. Repeat #13-16 two more times

Finisher:

1. Single arm rotational row for 30 seconds (single arm row, one knee and same side arm rest on step/bench, at bottom of row palm faces behind you, as you row rotate wrist/DB so palm faces in front of you at top of row) (one 37.5# DB)
2. (no rest) Supine row for 30 seconds (same position as #1 but palm faces forward entire time) (one 37.5# DB)
3. 25 second rest
4. Repeat #1 & 2 on other arm