20 min Upper Body Burn

Hey, I'm Thomasine, your coach for today's upper body session. We're going to work through arms, shoulders and upper back in only 20 minutes. All you need is two sets of weights, one lighter, like 2-4kg and one heavier, 5kg or beyond. If you don't have any dumbbells, anything with a bit of weight works. Water bottles, heavy books, rocks from outdoors. When you have what you need, meet me back on the mat. We will start by warming up the joints and muscles you'll be working today before we pick up any weight. Starting with classic star jumps. And as we jump here, I want to give you a quick reminder of why we're here. This is a short session, but what you build here doesn't stay in this room. Every time you choose to keep going when your mind says stop, you are training a skill that follows you into the rest of your day, your week, your life. Okay, on to qigong swing. Stand with feet, shoulder width apart, knees soft. Gently twist the torso from side to side, letting the arms swing loosely like ropes all over your upper body, naturally wrapping around you as you turn. Keep the movement relaxed and rhythmic, breathing softly. And now big arm swinging circles. Stay where you are and simply start making big circles with both arms, backwards. And then reverse and circle forward. Keep the circles large and controlled to open up your shoulders. Now try going opposite directions with each arm. This can be tricky, but you train up your coordination over time and switch direction. And now raise both arms straight out to the sides at shoulder height and gently rotate your shoulders forward and back as if you're turning door handles. This warms up the shoulders, chest and upper back. So you really feel the contraction. Pull throughout this part of your body. And now alternate your rotation so only one arm rotates forward and the other one backwards. And now widen your stance, hinge at your hips and touch one hand to the opposite foot as the other one raises to the sky. Keep alternating back and forth. As you touch the opposite foot with opposite hands. And we are more warmed up now, so we move into one that's a bit trickier, push-ups. So meet me in a high plank, body in a straight line, hands straight under your shoulders and on your toes. You can always go down to your knees if you feel the need. Start with three reps of a standard push-ups. Hands just outside the shoulder width, body in a straight line, lower chest towards the floor, and press back up. Now wide push-up. Hands wider than your mat to shift more emphasis onto your chest. Now wide push-up. And finally, a diamond push-up. Hands close together under your chest, fingers forming a diamond shape, and elbows along your sides as you lower down to target your triceps. This one's the trickiest, only go as far as you can control. And let's repeat those a final time. Standard push-up. below shoulder width, straight back, chest proud, keeping your elbows close to your upper body. And now onto a wide pushup, wider than your mat. Three of these. And now a diamond pushup. Really try to keep your core tight for this one. A little goes a long way. And relax, that is your warmup done. Take a breather and calm your heart rate down as I explain the full mat. We have a push and a pull block, each with two rounds, 40 seconds on, 20 seconds off for each exercise with a slightly longer break in between. We start off with bent over tricep extensions. So pick up your lower weight in each hand, hinge forward slightly at the hips with a flat back, arms along your sides, keep the upper arms still as you extend the lower arms straight back, squeezing the tricep for a moment, then bend back to start. Keep the movement slow, and controlled, time's already running, so join me if you haven't already. And as we move into this first set, notice your breath. Don't let it hold, keep it flowing. All right, rest in five, four, three, two, one. And I will show you the next exercise. As you rest, lying wide fly. Lie down for this one on a bench if you have one, otherwise on the ground, hold the lighter dumbbells in each hand, arms extended out to the sides at chest height, a soft bend in the elbows, and open your arms wide, then bring them back together above the chest. Your rest is over, so join me if you haven't already. Go slowly and really squeeze your chest muscles as you bring the weights together above you. I prefer to have my legs bent here to keep my lower back rounded in the floor, but you decide what feels best for you. Only a few more. Your rest is coming up in five, four, three, two, one. 20-second rest as I explain the next exercise. Dumbbell floor press. Put your light weights down and pick up your heavier dumbbells. Lie back down on your back with knees bent, feet flat. Hold the dumbbell in each hand at chest level, arms out 90 degrees. Lift your bum up and press the dumbbell straight up above your chest. Your rest is over, so join me. Control your weight down, and as soon as your elbows top the floor, push back up. Repeat like this, ensuring you're doing it right. Try to contract your core to keep your bum up. An added challenge in this one. Just a few more seconds, keep going. Don't let that hip go either. And rest coming up in five, four, three, two, one. Take your 30-second rest. Don't forget to keep your core straight. Remember to keep your core straight. seconds on 20 seconds off for each exercise two rounds we have bent over rows reverse flies and bicep curls into single leg shoulder press and i want to remind you that every time you breathe steadily through a hard moment instead of bracing or rushing you are teaching your nervous system that pressure does not mean panic that is the exact same skill you'll learn in a stressful meeting a hard conversation a deadline we are not just training muscles here we are training your capacity to stay calm even in stressful situations keep breathing and now pick up your heavier weights and stand up for bent over rows alternating between narrow and wide arms hinge forward at the hips flat back knees slightly bent and your dumbbells hanging down in each hand start with a narrow row our elbows pulling straight back squeezing at the shoulder blades and then alternate with a wide row elbows flaring out to the sides same movement different angle and this targets your upper back and rear shoulders the back is truly your foundation for posture and for avoiding neck and shoulder pain but also for confidence by showing up daily with your shoulders rolled back every contraction here is an investment in that your break is coming up in five four three two one and i will already begin to show you reverse flies with either your light or heavy weights i will switch over to my lighter weights but you do you honey and your rest is already over so join me now as we hinge forward at the hips flat back straight arms with a slight bend in the elbows raise both arms out to the sides until they're parallel to the ground squeezing the shoulder blades together at the top then lower with control continue like this and with lighter weights you can momentarily pause at the top with heavier use a little more momentum to lift but control your way down and your pose is already coming up in five four three two one shake it out i will show you the next one bicep curls into single leg shoulder press pick up your heavier weights for this one if you don't already have them balance on one leg other knee bent in front core engaged curl both dumbbells up to the shoulders and press straight overhead lower and repeat join me now if you haven't done so already keep your core tight and your elbows in line with your upper body not behind continue balancing on the same leg as we will switch it out for the next round balance requires presence you can't think of other things as you're trying to balance on one leg and coordinate these bicep curls be here not elsewhere and now you have a longer rest coming up in five four three two one well done if your arms are starting to feel heavy good that is exactly where adaptation happens nothing changes in your body without a signal and this is the signal but not a dangerous one so stay with it you don't need to feel ready to keep going you just need to keep going and readiness will catch up and in a few seconds you will move into the second round of this block so pick up your heavier weights again get ready for bent over rows narrow and wide we're going again hinge over the hips flaps back alternate between narrow and wide rows squeezing your shoulder blades together same movement different angle targeting different small muscles in your back remember to pause momentarily at the top last few seconds now you got this and your pause is coming up in five four three two two one and break shake it out in 10 seconds we move into reverse flies so pick up your light or heavy weights i will go with light weights again raise both arms out to the sides until they're parallel join me if you haven't already squeeze your shoulder blades together at the top then lower with control continue like this and with lighter weights you can momentarily pause at the top keep going at a rhythmic pace and if anything try to slow it down slightly quality over speed your muscles respond to tension not rush and coming up is your break in five four three two one tap off your sweat have a drink and already get ready by picking up your heavier weights for the next one in a few seconds we're moving into bicep curls that goes into single leg shoulder press on our other leg this time let's go bicep curls bicep curls when it starts to feel hard that is not a signal to stop but that is your mind doing its job your body has a different answer because strength is built in the moments when you test your limits so take your chances to do so bicep curls bicep curls bicep curls and your break is in five four three two one for a full minute now maybe lay down sit down or shake out your arms bicep curls last block coming up this is the part where the mind usually starts negotiating with you maybe a bit lighter maybe stop a few seconds early notice that voice bicep curls say hello to it and keep moving anyway because you are not your tired thoughts you are the one who keeps choosing to show up breath by breath and when your breast is over you will move into a single round burnout with lighter weights just one round six exercises for 30 seconds no rest in between it will burn but that's what we want befriend the discomfort when it creeps up before you know it you will be done with today's session bicep curls bicep curls bicep curls bicep curls join me now in lateral and front raises stand tool with your light dumbbells in each hand raise both arms out to the sides and back down alternate with raising the arms straight in front and lowering down let's go always raise to shoulder height keep a slight bend in your elbows throughout and your core tight the bicep curls bicep curls bicep curls bicep curls bicep curls bicep curls bicep curls bicep curls bicep curls okay the next one is coming up in five four three two one go straight into serve the platter arms by your sides palms facing up extend both arms forward at shoulder height back down and sweep them out diagonally to the sides and back down forward and diagonal alternating as if you're serving a platter and in five four three two one we move into goal post rotations arms out to the sides elbows bent at 90 degrees rotate your forearms so your hands face the floor and back up again your upper arms stay parallel to the ground only your forearms move i know i know i know i can feel it too we're in this together and in five four three two one hold both arms straight out to the sides at shoulder height keeping your light dumbbell in each hand to make small circles with the arms first circling forward and now reversing direction and circling backwards i'm moving around to manage the burn i'm in this with you but thankfully we're moving into our last exercise of today's session tricep pulses backwards meet me there now slight hinge at the hips arm straight back to your sides pulls both arms back along your side and small controlled movements to the sides and to the sides and to the sides and to the sides and to the sides squeezing the triceps with each pulse also feel it in your upper back this is your last exercise make it count squeeze and enjoy the burn all right five four three two one and relax there this is your work done however that felt heavy shaky strong all of it notice that you did it anyway and that is the whole point now we get to do something just as important let the body and mind integrate what it has shifted so come down to the floor for a short savasana lying on your back legs relaxed and arms along your sides or on your chest and belly and just breathe notice how your body feels now compared to before the session a healthy nervous system isn't one that is always calm it is one that is flexible that can push hard when needed and just as easily come back down your breath is the lever deep inhales and even longer slower exhales signal to the body that it's safe to rest and recover and it's in those moments of recovery that the muscle repairs the micro tears from the exercises to grow back stronger so often we rush from training straight into the next thing the shower to-do list the day without ever giving the system that pulls to settle and integrate what just happened so take this moment to breathe and pause notice the work that your arms shoulders chest and back have just done and let them rest completely there is nothing to fix nothing to hold nowhere to be just the floor supporting you and your breath doing the work of bringing you back to center stay here for as long as you want to continuing those long slow exhales and in the meantime i want to thank you for joining me for this arms shoulder and back session and i hope to see you for another session very soon again give yourself a clap and have a wonderful rest of your day on any journey using uber it helps to know you're getting into the right car pin verification adds an extra step to make sure your ride is your ride before the trip begins your app gives you a unique pin just tell it to your driver and they'll enter it 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