Welcome to the second week of the Spring Reset Challenge! This week will build on the fundamentals you learned in Week 1, while adding a little more intensity to the mix—think higher reps with minimal recovery to challenge your muscles.
Justin and Taylor Norris, cofounders of the LIT Method studio in Los Angeles, created all of the workouts in this challenge, including today’s. You’ll start off Week 2 strong, with a no-equipment routine that will work your arms, chest, and shoulders, while giving your entire core some love, too. Added bonus: These moves will also help you become more comfortable with some staple movement patterns (like push-ups and rows), which play an important foundation to any strength training program, even beyond this challenge.
A strong upper body is important not only for strength training moves, but also for loads of everyday activities—from bringing a heavy box down from a high shelf, to pushing open a door, to carrying bags of groceries up a flight of stairs. That’s why moves that work your triceps (the back of your upper arm), shoulders, pectorals (your chest muscles), lower trapezius (in your mid-to-upper back), rhomboids, and rotator cuffs (the back of your shoulder) are so helpful.
This arms and abs workout—which uses periods of high-effort work interspersed with recovery—will fire up all of those muscles. And because the push-up variations require you to move through some form of a plank, you’ll also work on improving your shoulder stability (important for injury prevention) and your core, too. After all, when you’re holding any kind of plank, your core has to resist hyperextending your lower back. As a result, your abs need to fire to keep you stable.
Like all high-intensity workouts, it’s vital you have the form down for these moves before you start performing them for time. Remember, quality is more important than quantity, and if you feel your form begin to falter, that’s your cue to slow down. If you find yourself struggling to complete the moves, feel free to sub in any modifications (for instance, elevating your hands on a step or box for push-up variations.)
As always, we recommend you set aside a few minutes to prep your muscles for what’s ahead by doing a quick warm-up. This will get your body primed to take on the challenging work segments in today’s arms and abs workout.
The workout below is for Day 8 of the SELF Spring Reset Challenge. Check out the full month of workouts right here. Or go to the workout calendar here. If you haven’t signed up to receive daily emails, do that here.
WORKOUT DIRECTIONS
Do each move for your selected period of time. At the end of all 5 moves, rest for 90 seconds. That’s 1 circuit. Do the entire circuit 3–5 times. After your last circuit, try the optional extra credit.
- Option 1: 30 seconds of work, 30 seconds of rest
- Option 2: 40 seconds of work, 20 seconds of rest
- Option 3: 50 seconds of work, 10 seconds of rest
EXERCISES
- IYT Raise
- Push-Up to Opposite Toe Tap
- Bodyweight Pull-Down
- Diamond Push-Up
- Bodyweight Bent-Over Row
EXTRA CREDIT
Complete an AMRAP (as many reps as possible) of the exercise below in 90 seconds. Work to move continuously, even if that means you move slower and do fewer reps.
- Push-Up x 90 seconds