CGX: P.E. Program Day 50: ‘There’s no easy way out’ Robert Tepper (Upper Body)

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

The title of this workout is a line from a song by Robert Tepper from the Rocky IV movie. I had to listen to this song to know what she was referring to and I do recognize it but it never played during the course of this workout. I don’t think even a music/no-vocals version played but I am not 100% certain of that. My husband, who is a Rocky fan (I am not), says this song plays during one of Rocky’s workouts.

The intro to this workout is longer than usual because Caroline talks about the program as a whole, since this is the final workout. At the end of the workout, before the very short stretch, confetti keeps shooting at her then her adorable pups run out.

This was an excellent and tough upper body strength workout. A great way to finish off this program. This workout hits the chest, triceps and shoulders and it works them very well. My triceps and shoulders are still feeling the burn. And I was finally able to increase the weight I use for shoulder presses. Since I cannot find magnetic microloading weights, I made my own! I currently own platemates, which are a type of magnetic microloads, but they are 1.25 pounds each, adding 2.5 pounds to a dumbbell. I do have microload plates for barbells that are much lighter (.25. .5, .75 and 1 pound) but they are not magnetic. I bought adhesive magnets and made them into magnetic microloading plates just like my platemates. So I was finally able to add one pound to my 20 pound dumbbells for the shoulder presses!

This is a superset workout. You will do 2 exercises back to back before you get a 30 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 progress bar along the bottom of the screen that counts down the entire workout time as a percentage.

Upper Body is 47:11 minutes (this time does not include the optional 3:55 minute warm up or the 6:36 minute intro, also optional) with a 1:15 minute stretch. Equipment: dumbbells, chair/bench, and fitness mat. Push up bars are optional. Caroline is using 15kg/33 pounds, 10kg/22 pound, 7.5kg/16.5 pound, and 4kg/8.8 pound. The weights listed below are what I used.

1. Chest press for 60 seconds (30# DBs)
2. (no rest) Push ups for 30 seconds (Caroline is using push up bars, I used DBs)
3. 30 second rest
4. Rear delt flyes (palms behind) for 60 seconds (sit on bench or chair, torso leaned forward over thighs) (9# DBs)
5. (no rest) Partials for 30 seconds (same as #4 but only lift arms/DBs partway) (9# DBs)
6. 30 second rest
7. Repeat #1-3
8. Repeat #4-6 but with palms facing each other (9# DBs)
9. Repeat #1-6
10. Repeat #7 & 8
11. Shoulder press for 60 seconds (seated in chair, arms are in goal post at bottom of shoulder press) (21# DBs)
12. (no rest) Lateral to frontal raise for 60 seconds (raise arms into a straight arm front raise, when arms are shoulder height open arms out to sides in a T then lower to thighs, reverse this motion, raising arms out to sides in a T, when they are at shoulder height, bring arms together in front of chest then lower them to fronts of thighs) (8# DBs)
13. 30 second rest
14. Skull crushers for 60 seconds (15# DBs)
15. (no rest) Tricep push ups for 30 seconds (Caroline is using push up bars, I used DBs)
16. 30 second rest
17. Repeat #11-16 two more times
18. Diagonal raise for 60 seconds (similar to a lateral raise but arms are more to the front so you are raising them in a straight arm V) (8# DBs)
19. (no rest) Partials for 30 seconds (same as #18 but only lift DBs/arms partway) (8# DBs)
20. 30 second rest
21. Overhead tricep extension for 60 seconds (seated French press) (one 25# DB)
22. (no rest) Lying overhead tricep extension for 60 seconds (hold one DB in both hands, similar to a skull crusher but arms are extended back further and you lower DB behind head) (one 16.5# DB)
23. 30 second rest
24. Repeat #18-23 two more times

Finisher:

1. Lateral raise for 30 seconds (8# DBs)
2. (no rest) Partials for 30 seconds (same as #1 but only lift arms/DBs partway) (8# DBs)