CGX: Iron Pro Program Day 12: Back, Biceps & Abs

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

This was a great upper body strength workout with an ab burner at the end. It’s not technically the finisher, but it feels like it! Thanks to the wrist straps I was finally able to increase the weight I used for single arm rows.

The exercises are done interval style. The interval and recovery times vary and are noted in the breakdown below. There is an on screen timer 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

Day 5 is 43:13 minutes (this time does not include the optional 5:56 minute warm up or 4:08 minute intro, also optional) with a 1:30 minute stretch. Equipment: dumbbells, chair/bench and a fitness mat. You also need a bench/chair and dumbbells for the warm up. For the warm up Caroline is using one 7.5kg/16.5 pound and two 4kg/8.8 pound dumbbells. For the actual workout Caroline is using 22.5kg/49.6 pound, 20kg/44 pound, 17.5kg/38.5 pound, 15kg/33 pound, 7.5/16.5 pound and 5kg/11 pound dumbbells. The weights listed below are what I used.

1. Single arm deadstop row for 45 seconds (one knee and same side arm rest on bench, row DB w/ other hand, DB rests on floor briefly at bottom of row) (one 50# DB 1st two sets, one 45# DB last set)
2. 60 second rest
3. Repeat #1 & 2 with other arm
4. Repeat #1-2 two more times
5. Regular single arm rows for 60 seconds (same as #1 but DB does not rest DB on floor) (one 40# DB)
6. 45 second rest
7. Repeat #4 & 5 with other arm
8. Pullover for 60 seconds (one 35# DB)
9. 45 second rest
10. Repeat #8 & 9 two more times (Caroline increases her weight) (one 40# DB)
11. Hammer curls for 60 seconds (20# DBs)
12. 45 second rest
13. Repeat #11 & 12 two more times
14. Single arm sweep (palm down) for 60 seconds (one knee and same side hand rest on bench, hold one DB in other hand, keeping elbow slightly bent, sweep DB up behind you keeping arm close to side, palm faces behind you) (one 11# DB)
15. (no rest) Partials for 15 seconds (same as #14 but only lift arm/DB partway) (one 11# DB)
16. 30 second rest
17. Repeat #14-16 w/ other arm
18. Repeat #14-17
19. Anticlockwise crunch for 45 seconds (lay on back with knees bent and feet on mat, hands are behind head, do an upper body crunch but you circle your upper body in a anticlockwise direction)
20. (no rest) Repeat #19 but rotate in a clockwise direction
21. (no rest) Basic crunches for 15 seconds
22. (no rest) Reverse crunch for 60 seconds (lay on mat with hands behind head and legs raised to ceiling, lower legs until they are a few inches off mat, raise legs back to start while lifting hips into reverse crunch, keep head/shoulders elevated throughout)
23. (no rest) Small tuck for 45 seconds (lay on back on mat w/ head resting on mat, legs are raised with knees bent at 90 degrees, do a reverse crunch bringing knees to chest, keep knees bent at 90 degrees entire time)
24. (no rest) Repeat #19-21
25. (no rest) Repeat #22 for 45 seconds

30 second rest

Finisher: (20# DBs)

1. Hammer curl for 60 seconds
2. 15 second rest
3. Alternating hammer curl for 30 seconds
4. Repeat #2 & 3