WORKOUT

Day 23: Upper Body Strength and Cardio Mixed Circuits

Equal Mixes of Strength and Cardio Conditioning · 44 min · 165–273 kcal
View on TV:
18/1805 – Day 23 - Upper Body Strength and Cardio Mixed Circuits

This work­out serves as Day 23 of the FB Kick­start 30 Day Pro­gram but can also be com­plet­ed as a stand­alone workout.

Enjoy the mix of strength and car­dio con­di­tion­ing in this fiery upper body rou­tine! Post-work­out noo­dle arms guaranteed.

Focus & Ben­e­fits: The mix of strength and car­dio with­in each cir­cuit of this upper body rou­tine cre­ates a car­dio­vas­cu­lar con­di­tion­ing effect with sec­ondary mus­cle strength­en­ing ben­e­fits. Dur­ing each three-exer­cise cir­cuit you’ll com­plete a strength-for­ward exer­cise, an exer­cise that com­bines strength and car­dio, and then com­bine both exer­cis­es for the final move. The cir­cuits each con­clude with a 60-sec­ond burnout vari­a­tion of the strength-for­ward exer­cise that will pro­mote mus­cle fatigue (from the high num­ber of reps and time under ten­sion) and tax the car­dio­vas­cu­lar sys­tem (due to the lack of recov­ery and high ener­gy demand required through­out each circuit).

Equip­ment: You’ll need your light” to medi­um” weight selec­tions for this rou­tine, not­ing that this range should reflect the exer­cise sequencing/​formatting and com­plex­i­ty of the move­ment pat­terns in this work­out. Your weight choic­es will most like­ly not be your heav­i­est options for each exer­cise but aim for a mod­er­ate­ly high per­ceived exer­tion so that you feel thor­ough­ly chal­lenged to com­plete each exer­cise. Bring along a mat as well for the on-floor/prone exer­cis­es and to act as a buffer between your weights and the floor.

Tips & Help­ful Infor­ma­tion: Line your weights up ahead of time for each cir­cuit so that you can seam­less­ly tran­si­tion from one exer­cise to the next. Our upper body mus­cles tend to tire out quick­er than our low­er body mus­cles (due to gen­er­al­ly being much small­er), so have at least one back­up option avail­able for each exercise!

Dif­fi­cul­ty & Mod­i­fi­ca­tions Explained: This rou­tine is rat­ed as a lev­el 5 due to the exer­cise sequenc­ing, over­all for­mat­ting, and the pro­gres­sive com­plex­i­ty of the exer­cis­es includ­ed in each cir­cuit. Your brain must be engaged to suc­cess­ful­ly and safe­ly com­plete the exer­cis­es in this workout!

The sec­ond exer­cise of each cir­cuit con­tains a pow­er” ele­ment that requires you to move your weights with a quick­ness (with agili­ty and coor­di­na­tion) dur­ing at least one phase of the move­ment range of motion. Slow your cadence and/​or decrease your weight loads to prac­tice these exer­cis­es if mov­ing in such a way is unfa­mil­iar or uncom­fort­able to you. You can also opt to focus on one com­po­nent of any of the com­bi­na­tion exer­cis­es (more than one move in one) to decrease exer­cise difficulty/​intensity.

Clos­ing Notes: If you’re con­sid­er­ing lift­ing heav­ier weights than usu­al or aren’t quite sure which weights to choose, remem­ber that you have the pow­er to switch to lighter weights at any point dur­ing a set or cir­cuit. There’s no harm in try­ing some­thing new! Approach every train­ing ses­sion with an open mind to learn about your capabilities.

Work­out
Warm-Up: 30 sec per exer­cise, no rest between exer­cis­es (6:00)
‑Arm Cir­cles (for­wards and back)
‑Alt. Knee Hug + OH Reach (oppo­site limbs)
‑Hinge: I + Y Raise
‑Hinge + Reverse Fly
‑Inch­worm + Shoul­der Taps
‑Quadruped: Thread the Nee­dle – R
‑Quadruped: Thread the Nee­dle – L
‑Push-Up + Alt. Side Plank Rotations
‑Bear Crawl Hold
‑Squat-to-Plank Step Back
‑Jump Rope
‑Seal Jump­ing Jacks

***30 sec off***

My Weights (not a rec­om­men­da­tion, just a reference):
(Light to Medium)
8 lbs. (3.6 kg) – 15 lbs. (6.8 kg)

Cir­cuit For­mat: 45 sec on / 15 sec off / 2 rounds – 10 sec off – Burnout x1 for 60 sec

Cir­cuit #1 (Pull): (~7:00)
-(strength) Biceps Curls
-(mix) Dou­ble Cleans
-(mix + strength) Dou­ble Clean + Biceps Curl
***10 sec off***
‑Burnout: Rec­i­p­ro­cal Rotat­ing Biceps Curls

***30 sec off***

Cir­cuit #2 (Push): (~7:00)
-(strength) Over­head Press
-(mix) Floor-to-Ceiling
-(mix + strength) Floor-to-Ceil­ing + Strict Press
***10 sec off***
‑Burnout: Rec­i­p­ro­cal Over­head Presses

***Water Break***

Cir­cuit #3 (Push + Pull): (~7:00)
-(strength) Reverse Fly
-(mix) Lat­er­al Squat + For­ward Raise (in squat)
-(mix + strength) 2x (Lat­er­al Squat + For­ward Raise) + 2 Reverse Flies
***10 sec off***
‑Burnout: Alt. SA Reverse Flies

***30 sec off***

Cir­cuit #4 (Push + Pull): (~7:00)
-(strength) Rene­gade Rows (2) + Push-Up
-(mix) Weight­ed Squat Thrusts
-(mix + strength) Weight­ed Squat Thrust + Rene­gade Rows (2) + Push-Up
***10 sec off***
‑Burnout: Push-Ups (option: hands on weights)

Cool-Down: approx. 30 sec per stretch (approx. 5:00)
Kneel­ing
‑Cross­body Hugs + Chest Opener
‑Over­head Tri­ceps Extension/​Lats Stretch – R
‑Over­head Tri­ceps Extension/​Lats Stretch – L
‑Traps/​Neck Stretch – R
‑Traps/​Neck Stretch – L
‑Down-Dog + Feet Pedals
‑Kneel­ing Runner’s Lunge + Tor­so Rota­tion – R
‑Kneel­ing Runner’s Lunge + Tor­so Rota­tion – L
‑Seat­ed (hands behind body): Chest Open­er Stretch
‑Seat­ed: Tree/​Knee Hug