45 Min Upper Body Dumbbell Workout is another excellent strength workout from Chris & Edi. They are new to me trainers. I did one of their lower body workouts yesterday and loved it, so I quickly swapped the workout I had planned this morning with this one. And this one did not disappoint. My upper body feels well and thoroughly worked. And it got tough, too! I had to keep dropping to lighter dumbbells on several of the exercises. I usually use 30 pound dumbbells for renegade rows, but I assumed (correctly) that elevated renegade rows would be more challenging so I used 25 pound dumbbells. I was shocked at how hard elevating your feet makes that exercise! I had to go even lighter when we repeated it. And I absolutely love the long thorough stretches at the end. What a wonderful way to end a workout!
This is an interval based workout. The interval and recovery times vary and are noted in the breakdown below. There is a timer in the upper right hand corner of the screen counting down your intervals and recoveries. Chris and Edi preview the next move during the recoveries. There is a progress bar in the upper left hand side of the screen counting down the workout time as a percentage. This is a follow along workout, set to music with no talking.
45 Min Upper Body Dumbbell Workout is 60 minutes; 7:30 minute warm up and 11 minute stretch. Equipment: dumbbells, a bench or step and a fitness mat. You need a set of light dumbbells for the warm up. Chris is using 20kg/44 pound, 12kg/26.4 pound and 9kg/20 dumbbells. Edi is using 16kg/35.2 pound, 12kg/26.4 pound, 9kg/19.8 pound, 7kg/15.4 pound and 5kg/11 pound dumbbells. The weights listed below are what I used.
- Bench row for 50 seconds (single arm row, one knee and same side hand on bench) (one 45# DB)
- 20 second rest
- Repeat #1 on other arm
- 30 second rest
- Lat focused pullover for 50 seconds (looks like a regular pullover to me and lats are one of the primary muscle worked in a pullover anyway) (one 40# DB)
- 30 second rest
- Repeat #1-6
- Half fly to neutral press for 50 seconds (open arms out in a full chest fly but only bring arms back in partway then lower arms/DBs (palms still facing each other) into a chest press, push arms back up and repeat–Edi looks like she is bringing her arms almost all the way back so that she is doing a narrow/tricep press) (25# DBs 1st set, 22.5# DBs 2nd set, 20# DBs 3rd set)
- 30 second rest
- Repeat #8 & 9 two more times
- Neutral to supination press for 50 seconds (shoulder press, start w/ DBs at shoulders with palms facing each other/facing head, as you press DBs overhead, rotate wrists so palms face in front of you) (21# DBs 1st set, 20 DBs 2nd set)
- 30 second rest
- Repeat #11 & 12
- Seated concentration curls for 50 seconds (seated on bench with legs wide and tricep against inner thigh of same side leg, do bicep curls) (one 18# DB)
- 15 second rest
- Repeat #14 on other arm
- 20 second rest
- Seated hammer bottom partials (sit on end of bench and do half hammer curls, only lifting DBs until elbows are at 90 degrees) (15# DBs)
- 30 second rest
- Repeat #14-17
- Standing hammer bottom partials for 50 seconds (15# DBs)
- 30 second rest
- Bench dips for 50 seconds (tricep dips)
- 30 second rest
- Repeat #23
- 60 second water break
- Single arm rear delt fly for 40 seconds (one knee and same side hand rest on bench) (one 10# DB)
- 10 second rest
- Single arm lateral raise for 40 seconds (one 9# DB)
- 20 second rest
- Repeat #27-29 on other arm
- 30 second rest
- Hinge to double rep rear delt fly for 50 seconds (holding a DB in each hand, hinge forward, do 2 double arm rear delt flys then return to standing) (9# DBs)
- 10 second rest
- Double arm lateral raise for 50 seconds (9# DBs)
- 30 second rest
- Elevated renegade rows for 40 seconds (w/ a DB in each hand, get into straight arm plank with feet on bench/step, do alternating rows) (25# DBs 1st set, 20# DBs 2nd set)
- 20 second rest
- Incline push ups for 40 seconds (push ups with feet on floor and hands on bench/step)
- 30 second rest
- Decline or kneeling push ups for 40 seconds (Chris does push ups with feet on bench and hands on floor, Edi is doing push ups on her knees)
- 20 second rest
- Plank straight arm push backs for 40 seconds (get into straight arm plank holding a DB in each hand, sweep one arm/DB up behind you keeping arm close to side, alternate sides) (9# DBs 1st set, 10# DBs 2nd set)
- 30 second rest
- Repeat #37-43
For more info on Chris & Edi and other (free) streaming workouts I’ve sampled and reviewed, check out my Streaming page.
