Some workouts seem needlessly overcomplicated — 2 to 3 sets of 10 to 12 reps of this exercise, followed by 4 to 5 sets of 4 to 6 reps of that exercise, repeating half the circuit twice. It starts to feel like high school math class all over again.
That's why this workout from Joel Freeman, Beachbody trainer and creator of LIIFT4, keeps things simple: You'll do 3 sets of 10 reps of each exercise and rest 45 seconds in between supersets (groups of two exercises performed back to back).
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And each of the supersets will target a different area of your upper body (chest, shoulders, back and arms). By the time you finish, your muscles may be exhausted, but your brain will still have juice left for the other important things outside of your workout.
Warm-Up
"For any workout, you always want to take a few minutes to warm up and stretch to help prevent injury," Freeman says. "Take 2 to 5 minutes to get your body moving with body-weight-only moves, like jogging in place, jumping jacks, toe touches, squats, lunges, torso twists and shoulder rolls."
Main Workout
Do: 10 reps of each exercise, repeating for 3 total sets. Rest only as much as you need to recover for the next set, but rest 45 seconds in between supersets.
Superset 1: Chest
Move 1: Chest Press
- Lie on the floor with your knees bent, holding a dumbbell in each hand at shoulder width.
- Press the weights up until your arms are fully extended. Make sure to keep the dumbbells in line with the middle of your chest, instead of over your neck and shoulders.
- Lower the weights back down with control, stopping just before your triceps touch the floor.
Move 2: Chest Fly
- Lie on the floor with your knees bent, holding a dumbbell in each hand directly above the middle of your chest with elbows slightly bent.
- Keeping your elbows bent, let the dumbbells drop away from each other while controlling the movement, stopping just before your elbows touch the floor.
- Press the weights back up to the starting position. Make sure to focus on keeping dumbbells in line with the middle of your chest, instead of over your neck and shoulders.
Superset 2: Shoulders
Move 1: Shoulder Press
- Stand with a staggered stance (one foot slightly in front of and to the side of the other), holding a dumbbell in each hand at shoulder level with palms facing forward.
- Brace your abs and press the weights directly overhead without raising your shoulders.
- Lower the weights back down to the starting position with control.
Move 2: Lateral Raise
- Stand holding a dumbbell in each hand, arms at your side and palms facing each other.
- Raise the weights out to the sides until your arms are parallel to the floor, keeping your elbows slightly bent.
- Lower the weights back down with control and repeat.
Superset 3: Back
Move 1: Bent-Over Row
- Stand holding a dumbbell in each hand at your sides with palms facing each other.
- Brace your abs and tilt at your hips so your chest moves forward and toward the ground, stopping at no more than 45 degrees. Let your arms hang down toward the floor.
- Keeping your back straight, pull your elbows up toward your chest/shoulders, keeping them close to your sides. Imagine trying to squeeze your shoulder blades toward each other.
- Lower the weights back down to the starting position with control.
Move 2: Reverse Fly
- Stand holding a dumbbell in each hand with your arms at your sides and palms facing each other close together.
- Brace your abs and tilt at your hips so your chest moves forward and toward the ground, stopping at no more than 45 degrees. Let your arms hang down toward the floor.
- Keeping your back straight and elbows slightly bent, lift the weights up and away from you, as you did in the chest fly.
- Stop when your elbows are at shoulder height and imagine trying to “pinch a pencil” between your shoulder blades.
- Lower the weights back down to the starting position with control.
Superset 4: Arms
Move 1: Single-Arm Triceps Crusher
- Lie on the floor and hold a dumbbell straight over one shoulder. Use other hand to keep your arm stable by placing it inside of the other elbow.
- Bend your arm with the weight toward your opposite shoulder, keeping the elbow pointing toward the ceiling.
- Stop before the weight touches your shoulder.
- Press the weight back up until your arm is fully extended.
- This is 1 rep. Do 10 reps on each arm.
Move 2: Biceps Curl
- Stand and hold a dumbbell in each hand with the weights in front of your thighs.
- Bend your elbows and curl the dumbbells up as close to your shoulders as possible, while keeping elbows pinned to your sides.
- Stop at the top before your elbows have to leave your sides. If the weights touch your shoulders, you’ve gone too far.
- Allow the weights to return to the starting position with arms fully extended.