CGX: 75 Min Full Body Split Day 1

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

Wow!!! This was an amazing workout! I wish it wasn’t so long though. I cannot fit in a workout this long most days but today is a 4 day weekend for me so I did this workout today and I will do Day 2 on Saturday. I loved this workout. Caroline works all of your large major muscle groups thoroughly and the workout is structured so that you can challenge yourself to lift heavier weights, which I did. The longer recoveries and the PHA factor made it very doable. If you are challenging yourself with your weight choices then this workout will definitely challenge you. Caroline looked like she was struggling several times in the course of this workout. I was, too. As mentioned, the PHA factor and longer recoveries made much of it doable, but I was still struggling by the last rep or two of most of the exercises–which is a good thing! #20 was killer! Iso & dynamic lateral raise–I had to drop to 6 pound dumbbells for the second set and in the future I will probably just go straight to 5s. And thankfully, Caroline gives us a longer than usual stretch at the end which I definitely needed. In my opinion, this is one of her best total body strength workouts.

As mentioned above, this workout is done mostly PHA style. PHA stands for Peripheral Heart Action. What this means in training terms is you alternate between upper and lower body resistance exercises. Switching between upper and lower body exercises maximizes blood flow to all parts of the body and reduces build up of lactic acid. This also gives muscle groups plenty of rest between sets; in theory, your upper body is resting while your lower body is working and your lower body is resting while your upper body is working. That and the longer than usual recoveries should help you lift heavier resistance.

This workout is done interval style. Most of the exercises are done for 60 seconds followed by a 45 second recovery. About 80% through the workout (#14) the intervals and recoveries change. At that point they will be noted in the breakdown but prior to that, everything is 60/45. 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.

75 Min Full Body Split Day 1 is 77:57 minutes (this time does not include the optional 4:41 minute warm up or the 3:42 minute intro, also optional) with a 4:20 minute stretch. Equipment: dumbbells, barbell, chair, bench, glute band, heel wedges and fitness mat. Caroline is using a 48kg/106 pound barbell. She is also using 25kg/55 pound, 20kg/44 pounds, 15kg/33 pounds, 12.5kg/27.5 pounds and 4kg/8.8 pound dumbbells. The weights listed below are what I used.

1. Arnold press (seated in chair with back) (21.5# DBs)
2. Static lunge (stationary lunges) (32.5# DBs)
3. Repeat #2 on other leg
4. Repeat #1-3 three more times
5. Banded bridge (lay on back on mat, knees bent and heels close to glutes, glute band is around thighs just above knees, legs are open wide enough so there is constant tension on band, barbell or heavy DB rests on hips, raise and lower hips) (barbell @ 115#)
6. Repeat #5
7. Single arm row (single arm row w/ one hand and one knee resting on bench) (one 45# DB)
8. Repeat #7 on other arm
9. Repeat #5-8 two more times
10. Chest press (32.5# DBs)
11. Staggered RDL (single leg deadlift, knee of non-working leg rests on a bench or chair) (one 40# DB)
12. Repeat #11 on other leg
13. Repeat #10-12 two more times
14. Rear delt fly (sit in chair, torso hinged forward over thighs, palms face behind you) (9# DBs)
15. (no rest) Partials for 15 seconds (same as #14 but only lift DBs/arms partway) (9# DBs)
16. 30 second rest
17. Heel elevated squat for 75 seconds (heels are elevated on heel wedges, hold one DB in both hands in front of chest) (one 35# DB)
18. 30 second rest
19. Repeat #14-18 two more times
20. Iso & dynamic lateral raise (hold a DB in each hand, raise one arm out to side to shoulder level and hold isometrically for 15 seconds while doing a lateral raise with other arm–keep elbow level with DB) (8# DBs)
21. (no rest) Swap arms and repeat
22. (no rest) Repeat #21 & 22
23. 45 second rest
24. Repeat #20-22 (6# DBs)

30 second rest

Finisher:

1. Momentum to pause lateral raise for 30 seconds (lift DBs with power and hold DBs isometrically at top of lift for a few seconds) (8# DBs)
2. (no rest) Momentum lateral raise for 30 seconds (same as #1 w/out the pause) (8# DBs)