Cathe Live Review: All In Upper Body (#276)

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Cathe Live Review: All In Upper Body (#276)

All In Upper Body is a tough, pretty fast paced, pure strength workout focused on the upper body. Wow was this an excellent workout – it worked me hard and I loved it.

The workout is comprised of thirty different upper body exercises and apart from two of the exercises there is no repetition at all. There is so much variety that the time flew by and I got a fantastic workout with no dread factor at all.

The routine is split into three groupings of exercises – shoulders & biceps / triceps & chest / back & shoulders. All of the moves are straight forward, traditional upper body strength exercises but they are done at a reasonable pace with little rest in between the different moves. The exercises are also fairly high rep and use a variety of different rep patterns, many of which include 1.5’s so you really start to feel the work. I was actually fatiguing on a few of the moves and as they compound throughout the workout by the end I was really starting to struggle. The close grip band pulls, as a finisher, were just brutal as you do a continuous set of 24 single reps, 4x 1.5’s and end with 115 pulses!

Cathe used moderate weights and I used the same, except on one exercise (W curls), and this worked well for me given the speed and number of reps. Many of the exercises also included the use of resistance tubing and these all tended to be very high rep so you really feel these. I modified the bicep curls, with heavier dumbbells only, rather than using light dumbbells and the resistance tubing as I find this awkward. The routine is pretty well rounded as you do ten exercises per grouping so you hit all of the major upper body muscle groups pretty effectively. I also found the whole workout pretty metabolic too.

(As a side note, Al from Cathe’s DVDs was also in this video to the right of Cathe).

Overall, this is a fantastic, tough upper body strength workout that has lots of variety and will really fry those muscles. This is one I will definitely be returning to and goes onto my favourites list for sure!

(For more information about Cathe Live, how to sign up & to see all of my Cathe Live reviews, click HERE).

The Workout

All In Upper Body is a pure strength upper body workout consisting of thirty different exercises. Cathe used light to moderate dumbbells, a full size step with three risers on each side, medium tension resistance tubing and a mat for this routine.

What You Need to Know

(Rating scale – 1= lowest & 5 = highest).

The Moves

All In Upper Body is 50 minutes long and originally aired on 12th December 2019 (#276). The workout starts with a 3:30 minute warm-up before moving into the first grouping for the upper body. The step, with three risers on each side, is set up horizontally in front of you at the start of the workout and is only used as a weight bench. The step height does not change during the routine.

Shoulders & Biceps

• Standing overhead press – two 10# dumbbells – 16 reps, 4x 1.5’s & 8 reps (reasonably fast)

• Bicep curls – two 5# dumbbells & resistance tubing (I used two 12# dumbbells only) – 24 reps (singles & 2/2 count)

• 1 Arm overhead press (fast) – one 12# dumbbell – 16 reps each side

• Bicep curls – two 5# dumbbells & resistance tubing (I used two 12# dumbbells only) – 4 reps (3/1 count), 4 reps (up & hold half way then up & down 3 counts) & 6 reps (singles)

• Upright row – two 12# dumbbells – 26 reps

• W curls – two 10# dumbbells (I used 12’s) – 5 sets (1x 2/2 & 2x singles) & 5 reps (2/2 count) & 2x 1.5’s

• Front raise – one 12# dumbbell – 1 rep, 6 reps (up, ½ way down, up & hold then down 4 counts), 4 reps

• Hammer curls (double & single arm) – two 12# dumbbells – 2 sets (1x 2/2 count & 2x singles), 8 reps (alternating), 7 reps (3/1 count), 7 reps (alternating), 4 reps (2/2 count)

• Lateral raise – two 5# dumbbells – 8 reps, 4x 1.5’s, 4 sets (2x single arms & 2x both arms)

• Sweeping curls – two 15# dumbbells – 12 reps

Triceps & Chest

• Tricep dips – step – 48 reps

• Incline push-ups – step – 6 sets (1x 2/2 count & 2x singles)

• Standing tricep overhead press – two 12# dumbbells – 12 reps (2/2 count)

• Incline tricep push-ups (on knees) – step & mat – 4 x 2/2 count & 3x 1.5’s

• Narrow grip chest press & bench press combo (alternate one of each) – two 15# dumbbells & step – 14 sets

• Tricep kickbacks – resistance tubing – 21 reps & 4x 3 pulses

• Chest flys – two 15# dumbbells & step – 2 reps, 12x 1.5’s & 2x 4/2 count

• 1 Arm tricep pull downs – resistance tubing – 12 reps & 32 pulses (1st side), 7 reps & 32 pulses (2nd side)

• Pullovers – two 15# dumbbells & step – 9 reps (4/4 count)

• Tricep dips – step – 32 reps & 4x 1.5’s

Back & Shoulders

• Pullovers – two 15# dumbbells & step – 8x 1.5’s

• Rear delt flys – two 10# dumbbells - 4x 3’s, 1x 7 & 4x singles

• T-band pulls – resistance tubing & mat – 8 reps, 8x 1.5’s & 8 reps

• 1 Arm row – one 15# & one 8# dumbbell (Cathe combined both weights in one hand - I used 1x 20) – 20 reps each side

• Straight arm kickbacks – resistance tubing – 48 pulses

• Y-pulls with the band – resistance tubing & mat – 24 reps

• 1 Arm horizontal row – one 15# dumbbell – 3 sets (4x singles & 2x 1.5’s) each side

• Posture pulls – resistance tubing – 10 reps (2/2 count) & 3 reps (holding out)

• Single arm back fly / 1 arm row – one 12# dumbbell (Cathe changed to 1x 10# on the 2nd side – I stayed with 1x 12) – 12x back fly, 4x row & 8x back fly

• Close grip band pulls – resistance tubing – 24 reps, 4x 1.5’s & 115 pulses

The workout ends with a 2 minute cool down and stretch.

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If you liked this workout, check out my review of Cathe Live: Pumped Upper Body – HERE.

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