Summer Workout Challenge Day 2: 20-Minute Arm Workout (Max 20)

This is day 2 of my Max 20 program where strength training is made simple. 20 minutes a day, max impact, and you can get the full program when you click the link in the description below. While you're there, hit that subscribe button. All right team, welcome back to day 2 of Max 20. Today is all about the arms. I'm Lindsey Bomgren of Nourish Move Love, and I'm joined by the amazing Rachel. Hi! She'll be offering modifications throughout today's workout. All you're gonna need are some dumbbells and an optional bench if you want one. Today is a 4 big upper body exercises, we're hitting the chest, the shoulders, the bi's, and the tri's. 2 big push exercises and 2 accessory exercises. Since you hit back yesterday, today we're hitting the opposing upper body muscles. And in Max 20 format, it is a 4x4. That means you have 4 exercises, 4 sets. But today we're mixing up the format. It is rep drop. I know you guys love rep drop. It allows you to go heavy. We're gonna do 12 reps, then 10 reps, then 8, then 6. So 4 sets today is going to be a lot of volume packed into a short amount of time. Do your best, forget the rest. Let's get warmed up. Be so fun. It's gonna be fun. We love the rep drop. All right, here we go. Feet are shoulder-width distance apart. We're gonna warm it up, start flapping those wings. I'm gonna grab an optional resistance band, a long loop band. You could grab a broomstick or just a towel, or you can do this with your body weight. I just like how it makes my shoulders feel, so I'm gonna grab a long loop band and I'm gonna go ahead And take it right here, and we're just going to do some big shoulder rotation. So just up, all the way down, taking it all the way to my hips and then all the way to my backside. Nice. Just taking that shoulder joint through a full range of motion. Shoulder is the most mobile joint in the upper body. We want to avoid injury, prepare the muscles. We're about to work. We are going to hit shoulders right out of the gate. Soft bend in the knees, core is tight. Nice. Give me one more right here, one more right here. Nice work. Awesome job. Get rid of that band. Hands come up behind the head. We're going to drop right ear to right shoulder, collapse the elbows, roll that neck, gentle guide, open the elbows, come back up, drop left, collapse, round roll, open, stand tall. One more, drop, collapse, round roll, open, and stand. Nice work. From here, shoulder complex. So arms are going to come to a 90 degrees. We lift up, open, press, pull, drop, down, lift up. Nice. Again, just taking that shoulder through a full range of motion, stabilizing that core, soft bend in those knees the entire workout. You got it. Nice. Already feeling those shoulders. Nice. Getting nice and warm. One more big complex here. We're gonna open up that chest and hit the mat. Nice. Right here, take it all the way back into a chest Expansion, big chest expansion. And now if you're capable, fold and drop the knuckles towards me. Release the hands down to the mat, step back and find your first high plank of the day. Setting up that high plank, you can be on your knees, you can be on your toes, whatever feels good for you. Right here, you're just holding.

Nice.

Hold for 3, 2, push back down, dog. Tuck the toes, pedal it out, press your chest towards your thighs. Nice. Shift that weight forward again. Awesome job. We're gonna do one push-up today because you're gonna see a lot of them. Down, up, drop to all fours. Little cat-cow, drop the belly, lift the chin, wag your tail. Nice. Reverse it, tuck that chin, roll that spine up. Nice. From here, go ahead and drop your left forearm to the ground, take your right hand behind your head. Little thoracic spine rotation, so drop the elbow and open. If you've done our programs before, you might have heard me talk about— I like to think of my back as a washcloth and I am wringing out the water. Nice, bring it all the way out, get every last drop. One more here, bring it all the way out. Nice. From here, hips stay high, hands walk away, forehead hits the mat, puppy dog stretch. Open the lats, those pull-ups you did yesterday or back rows. Drop your armpits towards the mat, big inhale here, open mouth exhale. Nice. You can stay here or you can flip your palms up towards that ceiling and let those fingertips creep towards your back, opening up those triceps, which you're gonna see in the final set today, final exercise.

Nice.

Now plant that right forearm to the ground, take that left hand behind your head, drop and open, wringing out that washcloth. Other side. Nice work. Inhale down, exhale rotate, gaze follows elbow. Nice. Right here, you got one more. Down, up. Nice work. Walk it up, take a nice wider stance right here. Alternating shoulder drops. So you're just going to drop one shoulder to the mat Come up, drop the other shoulder to the mat, opening up the chest, opening up the shoulders. Nice work. One more each way. Drop, open, drop, open. All right, feeling warm? You ready to do this, Rach?

Let's go.

All right, we got a buy-in. We got a buy-in. Day 2's buy-in is 20 push-ups right out of the gate. Rachel and I are going to swap positions. She's going to take her push-ups to an incline. She's got baby on board. I'm going to take my push-ups from my toes right here. Knees, toes, incline, you decide. We are knocking out 20 consecutive reps together. You can take it at your pace. You're going to count these reps on your own. It's 20 seconds or 20 reps, and it starts in 3, 2, let's go! Inhale down, exhale push. That's 1, 2. Nice, nice strong chest, nice neutral neck, gaze is in front of you. Inhale down, exhale push, pushing that floor away, elbows dropping back at a 45° You got it. I know you are strong and you are capable. That's 10. You are halfway. 10, 9, nice work. 8, stay with it. 7, you got it. 6, 5, yes you can.

4, don't quit. 3, 2, 1. Woo!

Eat the frog, Rachel. Eat the frog.

Right out the gate.

Right out the gate. You got 20 push-ups and they are done. The fun part is, is you're going to do 10 push-ups between every set today.

Also grab your sheet and write it down. Yes, thank you.

Knock it out. Yeah, right here we've got your downloadable PDF tracker. Click the link in the description below. You can print this, you can download it. This is the workout, it's Rep Drop. You're going to track the weights you're using for every set. What are you using for 12 reps? What are you using for 10 reps? Write it down. I got 20 push-ups, knock it out, did it, crushed it, write it down. All right, moving in. First move is shoulder press right here. Nice wide shoulder press up. That doesn't feel good for you, can bring it to a neutral press where palms face in.

We're gonna go wide.

12 reps, 12 reps of everything, then 10. I'm starting with my 15s and my goal is to get up to my 20s, but we'll see. 12 reps, that is about a moderate weight for me. Here we go. Stop bending those knees, get those arms up right here. You push 12 in 3, 2, let's go. Exhale, push. Inhale, lower. Exhale, push. Inhale, lower. Really easy to get that rib flare here. If you need to go lighter, you can, but I like to think about a big zipper, zipper from my pubic bone up to my sternum. Zip it up. Nice work. Keep those ribs down, tucked towards those hips.

Woo!

9. Oh wait, that's 8.

That's 9. Come on, that's 10. Woo! That's 11. Stick with it. That's 12.

Holy banana. There you go. A lot of volume you're gonna see today. Flip grip bicep curl. We go shoulder, we go bicep, then we hit the bench for chest and tri. I'm gonna go up in weights. Flip grip bicep curl. Palms start facing out, and then once you get to the top, palms go in. Hammer curl down. It's a slow down, soft bend in those knees. 12 reps in 3, 2, let's go. Keep those shoulders rolled down and back, flip the palms, slow lower. Bicep is a two-headed muscle, hitting both the long and the short head in this movement. Nice work. It is a slow lower, right? We are not swinging those weights. The minute you start swinging, you're using momentum, not muscle. All right, we're not using momentum, we are building strong arms right here. One rep at a time. You got it. Exhale up. Inhale on that lower. Use your breath, use your breath. Come on. Some moves are gonna go a little bit slower, some are gonna go a little bit faster. 12 is a lot of reps. 10 is a lot. And by 6, these weights are gonna feel real heavy. Keep moving.

Come on.

This is 10. This is 10 right there. That's 10. You got 2 more, 2 more. Yes, you can. All the way up, all the way down. Give me one more, one more, one more. Come on, curl and lower.

Whoo!

Love bananas. We go rotational chest press on your bench if you're with me, on the ground if you're with Rachel. All right, again, going even heavier. Chest is our second largest muscle group after our back. I'm taking it to the bench, Rachel's on the ground. Rotational means I rotate my palms to face each other at the top. Inhale down, exhale press. 3, 2, lift up. That's 1. Inhale down, exhale press. Rotate your palms to face each other. You know, like those Squishmallows your kids are always wanting anytime you go somewhere? Pretend you're wrapping your arms around one of those big Squishmallows at the top. This little rotation has big payoff. Small change in the chest press Big payoff because you're really activating and squeezing those pec muscles at the top as you rotate those palms to each other. Squeeze those pec muscles.

Nice.

Right here, that gets us to 9.

Come on, keep pushing for 10. Woo! 2 more, 2 more.

11. You got this.

Down, up, and 12. Holy bananas.

It's going to be An arm day. We're staying right here. I'm swapping my weights. It is skull crushers. Can I stick with 20 pounds for 4 sets? About to find out. 12 reps, skull crushers, bending just at that elbow joint. Bending just at that elbow joint. Inhale down, exhale push. In 3, 2, let's go. Inhale down, exhale push. Elbows stay tight, isolating the tricep. The back of the arm.

Do you think squishmallows have ever been used in a workout queue before?

I don't know, I feel like that might have been the first time. I feel like our church has a store, the kids earn money for memorizing Bible verses like Woods Bucks, and they always want these squishmallows, these big— and they cost like 100 Woods Bucks.

I'm like, let's get something else, we don't need another stuffy.

Oh OK, come on.

What are we at? That's 10. 2 more. 11. Come on, Lindsey.

12.

Woo!

The 20s might have been an aggressive choice to start with. Water break.

Oh my God.

That's set 1. Set 2, good news, we go down to 10 reps per move. 10 reps per move.

Woo!

As the reps go down, Maybe the weight goes up, or maybe your intention goes up, your form gets better. No, 10 reps.

Yes. I was going to say the bad news is— I was going to let you go through the good news first.

You just did chest press, and now you got to do 10 push-ups. It's only 10. It's only 10. Let's go. 10 push-ups. 10 push-ups between sets. In 3, 2, go. 10, 10, 9. You got this. 8. Stay with it. 7, yes you can. 6, you're so strong.

5, 4, it burns. 3, come on. 2, 1. Woo!

Anyone tells you you cannot get an efficient workout in 20 minutes, they have not tried this workout. Okay, here we go, back on shoulders. Now it's 10, 10 reps. How does it change? Does your weight go up? Not sticking with 15s. Okay, I'm gonna try to get to 20s when we get down there, but I don't know, right now I'm at 15s. Okay, ready, Rach? Let's go, let's do it! 10 reps, brace that core, zip up that zipper from pubic bone to sternum. Press 10 in 3, 2, let's go, 1. I want you to think about punching your weights into the ceiling. I used to live in a basement that had very low ceilings. Remember that, Rachel? I legit put a hole in my ceiling doing squat thrusters. Pretend like you are pressing into your ceiling, which it feels like the weight of the world is on me right now.

Come on. 3, push.

2, come on. 1, bananas.

That last one.

Holy bananas.

Whoo!

That last rep. Biceps, flip grip. Shake, shake, 10. Shake, shake, 10. Come on, 10 reps, 10 reps. Flip grip, palms out, then palms in, palms out, then palms in. You ready? 10. Stop bending those knees. 3, 2, let's go. Palms up and palms in. I don't know if you saw both Rachel— was Rachel actually smiling at me?

I, I actually think no.

Was she squinting? I hope she was squinting. Think about this, that real strength, that real muscle that you're trying to get, it is built in those last few reps, okay? Is built in those last few reps, those final reps when things start to slow down and feel really heavy. It's when that muscle adaptation is happening.

Come on, what good motivation to not quit? Don't quit, finish your last couple, fight for them, fight for every single rep.

Elbows are off the body, in line with the body or slightly in front. Come on, you got one more bicep curl in you. Yes, you do. It's right there. There you go. And it's done. Nice. Let's go on that bench chest press rotation. So you're squishing at the top, really squeezing through those pec muscles at the top. And then you're going to go into skull crushers again. Chest and try, chest and try. Here we go. You can do anything for 10 reps. Yes, you can. On that bench, it starts in 3, 2, Let's go. Come on, gotta get that ponytail right.

2, big push.

Come on, small change, big payoff. It's that squeeze at the top, that rotating of the palms in, squeezing those pec muscles, exhaling at the top. Come on, come on. Shoulders stay down and back. Shoulders are not coming out of this move. It's not shoulders, it's chest.

Push. 2 more. Push. 1 more. Yes. Woo! Woo!

Skull Crushers, you guys have been asking for a slow heavy strength program. Slow heavy strength. This is it, guys.

Simple does not mean easy.

I think that that is a key part of this. Yeah. No, simple means you're going to be more consistent and you're going to follow through. And you're going to build strength because we're building some serious volume into this workout. All right, skull crushers for 10 in 3, 2, let's go. We set up our program so that they are strategically designed to build off each other. This is our first program we've ever done 4 sets. All right, so the overload here, progressive overload, if you're talking about that, isn't always just going up in weights, right? It isn't always. It can be volume. That is what we are playing with in Max 20. We are playing with a volume game. All right, you are getting a ton of reps in. You got 3 more.

Go, 3.

Fight for those last 2.

Come on. It's 2.

You got 1 more in you. It is down and up.

Holy bananas.

Woo! Someone's got to do the math for me. I'm not a math girl. You know this. 12 plus 10. +8 +6, Rachel. Okay. How many are we doing of each?

12 10 22. 8 30 36.

36 reps of every move.

Every move.

Oh, and 60 push-ups.

And 60 push-ups to boot.

You got 10. You got 10 push-ups. Woo! Say yes, I can. You can do anything for 10 reps. And it starts in 3, 2, go 10, go 10, 10, 9, 8, you got this. 7, stay with it. 6, 5, come on, Lindsey.

4, 3, 2, 1. Yeah, baby.

These feel harder than MetCon for some reason. In MetCon 100, one of our programs, we did 100 push-ups, but I was not using 30 pounds, 20 pounds. I was at this volume.

That's the difference.

Volume. Okay, grab some water. What does that put us at? 20, 40 push-ups down, 20 to go. Break it up into 10, 10 rep increments. All right, here we go. Down to 8, 8 of everything.

Let's go, we can do 8. This is where the rep drop gets so motivating, right?

Third set, 8. Third set, 8. 8 shoulder press. I was gonna go up. I was gonna go up.

Maybe for 6.

Not today. Maybe for 6.

Not today.

Okay, let's try this, guys. Here we go. Zip it up right here to here. You are punching these weights into that ceiling for 8. We go in 3, 2, press 8. 8, 7, yes you can.

6, come on.

5, 4, pull those ribs down.

3, 2, 1.

Fight for it. There it is. We are running the rack. We are using every weight I have available on set today. 15s to 30s, although I haven't touched my 30s yet. Not yet. Maybe when we get down there. Here we go. Palms out, flip grip bicep curl. You're there. In 3, shoulders down and back. In 2, let's go, let's go. Curl, flip it. You only got 8. You can do 8. Yes, you can. You're already at 2. You're already at 2. All right, when those muscles start shaking, third that, yeah, that's when they're happening. Know that your muscle shaking is truly your nervous system recruiting muscle fibers. That's what's happening in real time. Shaking is your nervous system recruiting muscle fibers. This— embrace that shake, guys. Embrace that shake.

Come on for 2 more.

Up, down. 1 more, 1 more. This is where the muscle changes happen right here, right here.

It's that rep.

It's that one. Whoo! Weights down. Grip strength too. 8 chest press, 8 chest press. I'm looking at those 30s, but I'm thinking I got to do 20 more push-ups.

Break it down, Lindsey.

Here we go. 8 chest press, 8 chest press.

Let's go in 3, 2, let's go, push. 1, 2, you got it, 3.

Stick with it.

4, 5, squeeze at the top.

I lost count. I can't think.

6, and then this is 7.

7, thanks Rachel.

One more. 8. Woo!

There you go. Triceps, triceps. You can do 8 reps. Yes, you can.

Woo!

Let's go team. Big breath in, big breath out. 8 reps, hit that deck.

Let's go. 3, 2, go. 8, 7, come on.

6, 5, embrace it, embrace it. 4, keep pushing, don't hold that breath.

3, 2, come on.

Fighting for every rep. My arms are too noodly to even write down what I got on my tracking sheet. Like, there is just too much.

We always say not a hair washing day.

No way. Not today. Not today. Not today. You got 10 push-ups. This is going to get us to 50. I'm going to do it. Yeah, I'm a little scared. In my mind, I'm thinking, do 5, push back, do 5 more. Yep. Do 5, push back, do 5 more. Yes, you can. Break it down. Break it down. Here we go. 5, and then you get 1 push back and then you do 5 more in 3, 2. Here we go. Go.

5, 4, 3, 2.

Nope. You're going to get 6. You're going to get 6 before you push back. Give me 6.

Now push back.

Now push back. Now give me 4 in 3, 2. Finish.

4, 3. Come on. 2. 1.

There you go, Lindsey.

When I wrote this, it looked easier in my head. Holy bananas.

50 push-ups, no big deal. You know, just knocked it out.

It's the quad set. It's the quad set. 4th set. It's 6, 6, 6, 6, 6 reps. We're going to fly. We're going to fly. I wanted to use 20s for shoulders. I really did. We'll try 6. Come on, 6. You can do anything for 6.

Let's go, Lindsey.

Let's go.

Push those weights into that ceiling. In 3, 2, push.

6, go. 6, 5, 4, 3, 2. One more.

I got 5, you get 6. I got 5. All right, all right, I got 5, you get 6.

Hey, that's good. Something to come back to, right?

Write it down. Write it down. Biceps, biceps. Real life failure right there, people. Woo! We got 6 in 3, 2.

Let's go up.

You know, they say in pregnancy you like double the blood in your body. I feel it all in my arms right now. It is all there.

I feel it too, Rachel. It's the sympathy.

The sympathy.

Ah, two more.

I swear these arm workouts are always just me grunting. Last one. There it is. Oh, okay, it's 6 chest press. There are those 30s. What's up, 30s? Hey, there you go. What's up, 30s? Strong strength is built right here.

6, push.

6. 5, rotate at the top. 4, yes you can. 3, all you got.

2, come on. 1. Ah, holy bananas. Bam! Woo!

Had to use them. I could just have them sit on set. Had to use them once. 6, skull crushers, 10. Push-ups and you're out. That's it, that's it, guys. There's no bonus round.

It's right here, it's right here.

3, 2, go!

6, 6.

Baby triceps are talking to me.

3, halfway. 3, come on. 2, 1 more.

Yep, I got 5. I got 5. Woo! Way to go, Rach.

Way to go, Lindsey.

Way to go, Rach. Here we go, guys. Here we go. It's your final 10. 10 more push-ups. This is it. And I don't know about you, but that's a good 20 for me. I'm feeling pretty solid. But if you do want more, we've got a 10-minute burnout. It is arms and abs. Yep, arms and abs. It's going to be linked for you in the description below. It's a 10-minute burnout if you want something extra. You're gonna knock out 10. Get to 60 push-ups, Rach. We do 5, we push back, we do 5 more. Say yes I can right here.

3, 2, finish! 5, 4, 3, 2—

nope, you're gonna get 6. 1, give me one more, give me 6.

It's easier to do 4 than it is to do 5.

Breathe. 3, 2 Tell yourself I can do 4 more. Come on, let's go.

4, 3, push back. Come on.

Come on, Lindsey, you got 2 more in you.

Let's go.

I've never failed so much on camera, Rachel. Oh, come on, come on. This is what I get for going up in weight.

Here we go.

1. 1 more.

If you want. A cheer squad like that, click the link in the description below and join our brand new Nourish Move Love app. It is new and the community is fire. So fun. They're cheering you on every single rep when it stinks and when you need someone else to hold those arms up for you.

Woo!

Way to go, team. Let's stretch.

Back to normal positions.

Back to normal positions. We're stretching. Holy bananas. I'm going to actually go to the bench jump, but you're going to do puppy dog. So Rachel, same thing we did, hips high. Forehead to the mat, just breathe and stretch. If you want a deeper stretch and you have access to a bench, you're gonna do the same thing on a bench and you're gonna let your head drop between your arms. Big inhale through the nose, open mouth exhale, open that chest, shoulders. Now flip those palms up, get your elbows on your bench, drop the palms back towards your body and stretch those triceps.

Woo!

We put everything to work today. You guys, chest shoulder by tri. I don't know what you're thinking, but I think 4x4 might be one of the hardest formats we've brought to Nourish Move Love. That's what I'm thinking. Let's go back to those shoulder drops. So take a nice wide stance here, drop one shoulder, ear shoulder to the mat, switch up and over, ear shoulder to the mat. Feels so good. Do it again, ear shoulder to the mat. Ear, shoulder to the mat. Nice work, you guys. I am so proud of you for showing up today. This is like not an easy workout by any means. Reverse tabletop, fingertips are going to face your butt. You're going to lift off, just let the neck and shoulders— my arms are like so pumped up I can't get up here. Whoo! Neck and shoulders just relax, and then you can do a couple glides forward and back, a couple glides forward and back. Holy bananas, sit it back, wrap your arms, just give yourself a hug. Say, I did it. You crushed it. If you like this format, you're going to love what's coming for you on day 3, all about the lower body. Same format you saw today, rep drop for legs. We'll see you back here for day 3. And if you want the burnout, click the link in the description below. Awesome job knocking out arm day. If you loved it, hit subscribe to my channel. I've queued up day 3, leg day right here. Otherwise, find this entire Max 20 program in this playlist right here. Know that when you join the Nourish Move Love app, you get 10 additional workouts to go with this Max 20 program. All you have to do is click the link in the description below to join the Nourish Move Love app.