39MIN Unilateral Chest & Back Strength + Sprint // Day 32: HR12WEEK 5.0

39 Min Unilateral Chest & Back Strength + Sprint is Day 32 in Heather Robertson‘s HR12Week 5.0 program.

This was a tough chest and back workout. It is made up of 2 circuits–a chest circuit and a back circuit and each circuit is done three times. My back is definitely stronger than my chest. I had back up weights for both circuits. As you can see in the break down I was dropping weight with almost every set during the chest circuit. I was definitely burning out during the back circuit but I was able to maintain good form using the same weight for all 3 circuits. I think that is because I went lighter than I normally would on the double arm bent over rows. Had I gone with 30s like I initially planned, I might have been dropping weight in the back circuit, too. The workout ends with a “sprint” finisher that gives your heart rate a spike while also continuing to work the back and chest.

The exercises are done interval style. The strength exercises are done for 40 seconds of work followed by 20 seconds of recovery. The sprint finisher is done for 30 seconds of work followed by 10 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.

39 Min Unilateral Chest & Back Strength + Sprint is 38:34 minutes; 30 second intro, 4:40 minute warm up and 4 minute stretch. Equipment: dumbbells and fitness mat. Heather recommends 25 to 30 pound dumbbells. The weights listed below are what I used.

Circuit 1:

1. Single arm chest press (one 30# DB first 2 sets, one 27.5# DB last set)
2. Repeat #1 on other arm
3. Slow mo chest press (27.5# DBs first set, 25# DBs last 2 sets)
4. Combo chest press (one single arm chest press each arm + one double arm chest press) (30# DBs first set, 27.5# DBs second set, 25# DBs 3rd set)
5. Repeat #1-4 two more times

30 second rest

Circuit 2:

1. Single arm underhand row (bent over row, palm faces forward) (one 40# DB)
2. Repeat #1 on other arm
3. Pull over (legs are raised and bent at 90 degrees, they remain in this position entire interval while upper body does pullovers) (one 40# DB)
4. Combo bent over row (one single arm row each arm + one double arm r0w) (25# DBs)
5. Repeat #1-4 two more times

30 second rest

Sprint:

1. Single arm sprawl (with one arm behind back, place other hand on floor, jump feet back to plank, jump feet back to hand then stand, alternate arms)
2. Lay down push up (alternate one push up with one superman)
3. Swimmer (lay on stomach with arms extended in front of you, raise both arms and legs and paddle them as if swimming)
4. Repeat #1-3

For more info on Heather Robertson’s workouts and other (free) streaming workouts I’ve sampled and reviewed, check out my Streaming page.