Name: Playbook - Hannah Bower - W4/D2: Upper Body Foundational Fitness
Uploaded: 2024-01-18T19:28:17.916Z
Duration: 50 min
Description: W4/D2: Upper Body Foundational Fitness

a good way to start another week. been feeling stronger than I ever have 💪🏼

Brianna

Loved the burn out at the end and the core!! 🔥

Jessi

I did NOT want to workout today…. I tried 3 different times today before I finally committed and did the workout! But I completed it and I’m happy I did

Preacher curls are the ones that kill me. Every. Single. Time.

Sirma

🔥🔥🔥 I made it through all 4 rounds (very slowly) of pushups and can honestly say that even tho I've completed most (if not all) the programs in this app, this is the first time I feel the muscles all throughout my back working 💪

Cynthia Contreras

I cannnottttt even contain my happiness.  I did every single set of pull ups on my step down band. Im now on purple from green!!! 

Not only that. I did the first 3 entire sets of push ups, NORMAL. And on the 4th set, the first 5 were normal and only the final 3 push ups were on my knees!  

The strength change on this second time around is absolutely incredible. I love this program so much! Thank you

Katie

Six rest days later and here we are! That was hard, but feeling good!!

Tiari

I never learn. I see the exercises & think “that doesn’t look like much”. Then am DYING at the end. I love it. So functional & challenging while growing strength

Definitely a favorite!! Hits upper body so evenly. Absolutely love!

Briana

Still can’t do a full pull-up without doing it eccentrically, but my push ups are SO solid! 💪🏽

Jessica

Leigh-Ann

Roxanne

Beatrice

Courtney

Those mt climbers at the end are Killer! They look so much easier than they are 🫠

Chelsea

Those Y raises and that cow mountain climber core workout is what keeps getting me 🥵🔥. Great burner loving it though 💪🏽

Dedra

Went back to the last time I did this workout and did either more weight or more reps for each exercise. Proud of the progressive overload!

Ashley

First workout after a back sprain last week. And it was GREAT

Catching up on the workouts! Felt so good!!!

Sumaiya

Anessa

Behind on the workouts for this challenge. This season of life is tough to get them in but any day that I show up and do any amount of exercise, I’m calling a win. Dropping those completionist/perfectionist tendencies at the door. Arms are going to be sore tomorrow even if I didn’t get the whole workout in.

Cristine

Holy burnout. Both of them. ☠️🏴‍☠️🪦😵

Emily Storm

This workout didn’t tire me out as much as the 1st time around! I know I’m getting stronger!! I can feeeeeelllll it!

Kayla Stock

Carrie

Seeing so much weight increase this week! And I could really struggle at the top of my pull-up and fight for that last inch!! I've never done that before! 💪

Maddie

Still died lol. Push-ups we’re stronger though!

Christine

It’s a struggle bus this week. Lower weights than usual, but I got it done!

Brittney Howell

I felt much stronger this time around as compared to the first week!

Brandi

Shanele

Ahhhh those Y raises!!! It hurts sooo good!! 😝😝

Nikki Ouk

Wooooo that was tough. 
Ive been trying to use this challenge to stop hating pull ups but I think I just don’t like em! Doesn’t mean I can’t get better at them but they certainly are NOT my fav 😅

Morgan

The cat-cow mountain climber move was tricky—really unique combo of two different movements that forced me to take it sloooow and concentrate on form in a mirror 😮‍💨😮‍💨 didn’t quite nail it, but I’m excited to try again. This was challenging in the best way, as always!

Mela

Brooke

My arms, shoulders and back are dead ☠️
Feeling so good!!

Emily Pokrywka

Arianne

Was extra tired today but pushed through with increased weights! Those y raises kill me!!

Jordan

Didn’t have time for core on this one again. My gym owner liked the y raises and is gonna steal them. 😂😂😂

Taylor

Another tough one for me.  Took a few days off and my body doesn't seem to be recovering recently.

Caroline

I can do 3 pull ups with the assistance of bands! Hooray! That’s more than the past.

Shelby

🤢 me with the curls since I upped the weight. Thankfully this app has taught me a strong foundation of positive self talk!!! Thanks again Hannah

Delaney

This has my arms still shaking as I type this.  But I got 1.5 pull ups today completly unassisted!!!  
So I call that a win!

Felt really defeated at the beginning.. still not close to having a pull-up. Modified (in a grumpy way) and then finished strong

Paula Kane

Still wasn’t able to do a pull up but I can feel how much stronger I am with the inverted row! I’m hoping that means I’m getting closer to being able to do a pull up!

New PRs and feeling great! Awesome workout again today!

Nikki

Definitely stronger this go around!! Doing real push ups before I go to my knees and I could do the core work outs a lot better and more stable!!💪🏽🔥

Today felt like my best upper body day so far in this program. It's my hardest day overall but I can feel progress 😊💪🏼

Caitlin

Sarah

Revisiting week 1, but with some slight changes, full range push-ups and pull-ups!

Don’t have pull-up bar? Don’t fret, watch the tutorial videos before the workouts. They go over pull-up modifications and equipment modifications.

Don’t have a push-up? That’s okay, watch the push-up video to see ways of modifying

Use this warmup to prepare for push-ups and pull ups.

Reps are up to you, move through these movements as long or as short as feels good.

Recommended reps: as feels good 

Modifications: limit range of motion, use a band or support with feet on a bench/chair 
Substitutions: scapular pushups 
Form: -start hanging bar (with or without assistance) with your wrists facing away from you -Spine, head, and neck are all neutral and in alignment -Begin by retracting your shoulders, Retracting is when you engage your shoulder girdles/scapula to come together to meet in the middle of your back -This will lift your torso upward and is the starting motion of a pull-up -Pause at the top of the rep -Then you will protract your shoulders by thinking about spreading your shoulder blades as far apart as they can be from one another -This will lower your torso, and is the motion of lowering from a pull-up -Continue to retract and protract for set amount of reps

Scapular Pull-Up and Push-Up

Y Position (thumbs up)
T position (thumbs up)
Bent T position (wrist down)
Bent T position Rotator Cuff
M position (wrists up)

Modifications: lay on a bench and start with your arms lower and raise to parrallel

Form:
-start laying on the ground face down
-out stretch your arms out at a 45 degree angle (Y position) with your thumbs pointed towards the ceiling
-Keeping your body still, lift your arms off the ground as far as they will go. 
-perform for suggested reps or for however long feels good
-then you will move your arms out to a T position (out directly to the side).
-keep your thumbs pointed upward and lift off the ground as high as you can for recommended reps
-Then you will bend your elbows at a 90 degree angle and keep your wrists facing the ground
-lift as high as you can for suggested reps
-from there, lay your bent elbows down on the ground and instead of moving your arms off the ground, you will move just your wrists (this will target rotator cuff)
-Finally you will lay your arms down by your side at a 45 degree angle with your wrists facing the ceiling
-lift as high as you can

Varied Y Raises

Modifications: limit range of motion

Form:
Start kneeling with your hands placed on the ground 
-take one hand and pick it off the ground 
-from there you will reach it underneath your torso while you drop your shoulder as low to the ground as range of motion allows
- pause and feel the side body stretch 
-then you will unwind your arm and instead of placing on the ground you will reach it towards the ceiling 
-see if you can vertically stack your shoulders on top of each other to get a torso stretch

Thoracic Mobility

Modifications: bands, Bodyweight , limit weight 

Substitutions: lat pull down 

Form: 
-start seated with your ribs stacked over your pelvis and your weights in hand
-begin to engage your lats and scapula as you try and pull the weights towards your hips
-pause at the top of the rep
-lower and repeat

Lat Shrugs

Pull-Up/ Push-Up Warmup

Recommend reps: 6-8

Modifications: add bands for assistance, pull-up machine, can place one or both feet ona bench/safe rack in front for assistance, spotted pull-up

- Substitutions: inverted row, standard dumbbell/barbell row

- Equipment substitutions: barbell/rack, coffee table/island for inverted row

- Form:
- Start hanging bar (with or without assistance) with your wrists facing away from you, this
is the same set-up for an inverted row
- Spine, head, and neck are all neutral and in alignment, same with an inverted row
- Begin by retracting your shoulders, Retracting is when you engage your shoulder
girdles/scapula to come together to meet in the middle of your back (same with inverted
row)
- This will lift your torso upward and is the starting motion of a pull-up (or inverted row)
- Continue to retract your scapula while you think about driving your elbows downward to
the ground (same with inverted row)
- You will also be appropriately engaging your core to manage pressure (same with
inverted row)
- Try and visualize yourself pulling the bar downward rather than thinking about your chest
going upward (same with inverted row)
- Pull until your chin/chest are at bar level (chest level for inverted row)
- Lower slow and controlled by protracting your shoulder (spreading them apart/away from
each other) (same for inverted row)

Pull-Up

Recommended reps: 8-10

Modifications: place your knees down or your hands on an elevated surface, hands on the wall

- Form: Feel free to check out the push-up tutorial/progressions video under tutorials
highlight
- start in a plank position
- Core is appropriately engaged to manage pressure, neutral spine (neither arched or
sagging), hands underneath shoulders, hips square to the ground, toes firmly planted on
the ground, quads engaged
- Begin to lower your chest to the ground by bending your elbows at a 45 degree angle
- Lower until your chest touches the ground or as far as range of motion allows
- press back to plank by extending your elbows while you appropriately engage your core,
quads, and chest
- Continue to keep your spine neutral as you press back to plank

Push-up

You will need a bench (optional) and pair of weights for this superset.

*Reminder* weight Hannah uses is for demonstrating purposes, please appropriately challenge yourself with the weight you choose

Recommended reps: 10-12
Recommend weight: medium to heavy 

Equipment Substitution: barbell, kettlebell, band 

Modifications: can perform standing, kneeling, or sitting 
Substitutions: alternating shoulder press, push press 

Form:
-in an kneeling, standing, or seated position, stack your ribs over your pelvis and plant your shins (feet or glutes depending) firmly on the ground 
-press your weights to shoulder level with your wrists facing away from you
-as you begin to press your weights overhead retract and engage your scapula while using your shoulder muscles to press both of the weights overhead 
-do not lock out your elbow at the top of the rep, keep a slight bend in your elbows
-lower the weights back to your shoulder 
-keep your core appropriately engaged to manage pressure while weights are overhead and keep your torso still for any and all overhead movements

Shoulder Press

*Reminder* weights Hannah uses are for demonstration purposes, please use a weight that is appropriately challenging 

Recommended reps: 8-10 
Reps are per side 
Recommended weight: light to medium 

Equipment modifications: bands, kettlebells, cables 

Modifications: can perform on bench or standing with cables/band  
Form:
-lay on your back (bench or floor) and plant your feet firmly in the ground with your knees bent. hold your weights directly overhead 
-at all times, keep a slight bend in your elbow -as your weights are overhead, engage and squeeze your pectorals/chest muscles -Begin to lower one of your weights down to the T position -the closer your weight gets to T position, the more important it is to keep a bend to your elbow -when your weight is parallel with your pause and then engage your pecs and chest to adduct the weight back together overhead -again maintain bend in elbow  -switch sides 
* Repeat

Alternating Single Arm Fly

Shoulder Press ss Single Arm Fly

You will need a bench (or chair) for this superset!

Recommended reps: 10-12
Recommended weight: medium to heavy 

Equipment Substitution: back of
Chair or sofa 

Modifications: lower weights 

Substitutions: bent over narrow row, pullover 

Form:
- Start seated with your chest or head supported by an incline bench 
- with your weights in hand, wrists facing the eeach other, keep your elbows close to your side and pull your elbows to the ceiling 
-as you pull your weights to your ribs, engage your scapula and lats 
-lift the weights to chest level and then lower and repeat

Spider Row

Recommended reps: 8-10
Reps are per side
Recommendation weight: medium to heavy 
Recommended tempo; slow 

Modifications: standing single arm heavy curl, can use back of chair and towel 

Substitutions: standing heavy single arm curl 

Form:
-start standing with your ribs stacked over pelvis and feet firmly planted on the ground 
-stand in front of an upright bench/chair/sofa where you can place your armpit on the top of the object. You’ll then take a semi-side stance with bent knees to find a comfort supported position
-start with the weight at shoulder level
-begin to slowly lower the weight down as far as range of motion allows, do not lock out your elbow or allow your elbow to hyper extend
-pause at the bottom of the rep
-keeping your upper body still, curl the weight to your s

Preacher Curl

Spider Row ss Preacher Curl

You will need a bench (or safe surface) and a weight for this finisher

Recommended time: 30 seconds per side (or total, up to you)
Recommended weight: light

Modifications: seated tuck ups, seated bicycles, eccentric sit-ups 

Equipment substations: chair, sofa, coffee table (can place foot under bench or sofa)

Form:
-start seated with your ribs stacked over your pelvis
-place your foot under a heavy dumbbell, or secure surface (couch)
-allow your other foot to either dangle or lift it off the ground
-keeping a tall chest and maintaining your ribs over your pelvis begin to lean your torso backwards as far as range of motion will allow
-Once you hit your range of motion (be mindful of core engagement) engage your hip flexors and TVA to lever yourself back to upright
-the goal is to keep your torso as upright and in line throughout the levering process

Seated Single Leg Levers

Recommended time: 30 seconds
Recommended tempo: slow 

Modifications: standard slow tempo mountain climbers

Form:
-start in a plank position with your hands underneath your shoulders, feet extended, hips square, spine neutral (no arching or rounding), and core appropriately engaged to manage pressure
-pick up one of your feet, bend your knees and then drive it forward towards your chest
-from there you will drop the knee so that it gently touches the ground 
-your shoulders will lower during this, that’s okay that’s the cow portion
-then you want to lift your knee and see if you can touch it to your armpit
-your upper back will round, that’s okay that is the cat part of the movement
-then you will neutralize your upper back and extend your foot back to plank
-repeat on the other side
-move slowly through these positions,

Cat Cow Mountain Climber

Recommended time: 30 seconds
Recommended tempo: slow 

Modifications: side lying crunch

Form:
-start in a plank position with your hands underneath your shoulders, feet extended, hips square, spine neutral (no arching or rounding), and core appropriately engaged to manage pressure
-pick up one of your feet, bend your knees and then drive it laterally to the side to try and touch your knee to your outside elbow
-it is okay to lean into the crunch by shifting your shoulder towards your knee 
-pause at the top of the rep, really mimic the crunch motion 
-then release your leg, and untwist your shoulders back to neutral, and extend your leg back to plank
-repeat on other side

Side Crunch Mountain Climber

Core Burnout

W4/D2: Upper Body Foundational Fitness

Tylar

Dani

Excited to start! I have been wanting something like this for awhile but didn’t know how excited I really was intil it was offered!

Mandatory Viewing, Please Watch All Videos

Hi Hannah, how do I join your foundational challenge Facebook page ?

Holly

Sooo excited to learn more about why and how to do these movements! I think it's going to be a fun twist to mindset mondays and can't wait to learn more!

Excited to learn pull-ups too! Didn’t know that was part of this. Tried to learn those on my own for 8wks and made barely any progress

Foundational Fitness Coming May 15th

Very helpful. I appreciate the explanation of increasing weight and why. 
Thank you.

Jenny

Great info!! I can’t wait to get started. Hopefully I don’t max out my weights otherwise I’ll be upgrading the home gym

What If I Don’t Have A Barbell/Pull-Up Bar

Brittanee

Anything will be overload for me! Been like a month since I’ve been in the gym due to injury so … lightweight! And not Ronnie Coleman lightweight 😂

Dani Pasano

Progressive Overload

Yes! This is helping so much and is exactly what I'm needing.

Nargis

Andrea

Squat Tutorials + Equipment Substitution

Jade

Great to really get the technique correct, I’ve always been worried about injuries with deadlifts and hence avoided with any weights

Kayhlia

I legit wanted to “like” that multiple times haha

Deadlift Tutorial + Equipment Substitution

Your lovely to really explain all these things everyone else Ive come across DOES NOT they automatically assume you know all these different things

Uff tough stuff, but great for the core engagement

Pull-Up Tutorials + Equipment Substitution

Amazing modifications when standard workouts just expect you to do the full push up 🙄🤯 thank you!!

Roslyn

That was sooo helpful with all the ideas & variations! Makes this seem so much more attainable!

Push-up Tutorial

Before: 
Squat, 84
Deadlift, 84
Pull-up/row, a couple at level 7 on bar rack
Pushup, eccentric from hight box at gym
After
Squat, 94
Deadlift, 144
Pull-up/row, 7 reps at level 11 on bar rack (4 levels lower!)
Pushup, 8 on the floor, not to the floor yet, bit didn't need my knee!

I cannot believe how much progress I've made! Tbc

I didn’t get to finish the program in the 6 weeks but wanted to do my buy out anyway! Definitely improvements! Next time I do this I’m hoping to be in a gym because I’d love to see how much progress I could make with the right weights and equipment!

Optional Buy-In

So amazing! Love how well you walk through every movement and the mobility exercises at the beginning. As a newbie, this is all so helpful 🫶

Keara

giraffe legs at an all time high right now 😅😅💪🏼

Elise

W1/D1: Lower Body Foundational Fitness

I always underestimate slowing things down!

Carina

W1/D2: Upper Body Foundational Fitness

Had to skip a few exercises because my chest isn’t ready ! But felt good to lift heavier today

Made this a little more hitt like today with reducing weight and rest times! Loved it!

W1/D3 Full Body Foundational Fitness

Excited to get back to running! Loved this part last time!

Run before weights this session. Cooked! 🥵

Simone Fisher

This is always a mental battle on the way back up for me. BUT my paces increased 😈 my fav kind of progress!

W1/D4 Optional Cardio Foundational Fitness

First day back after a cruise, lots of food, and a terrible cold! Thankful for a guided program to get me back into routine

I’m finding a lot of weak points in myself. I LOVE THIS PROGRAM. Getting so strong!

W2/D1: Lower Body Foundational Fitness

Another great one …. Loving the variety in this program

Helena

W2/D2: Upper Body Foundational Fitness

Still recovering after vacation and illness. Had to add extra rests in this one. Hopefully can redo when feeling back to normal

All I have to say is WOW…. If I don’t have a six pack tomorrow after that core finisher I’ll be shocked 😂😂😂

W2/D3 Full Body Foundational Fitness

Would love slightly further but great workout 😊 thanks 🙏

W2/D4 Optional Cardio Foundational Fitness

I have been lifting for a couple years and this is the first time I have ever heard of progressive overload as something other than increasing weight. This changed my entire perspective. Thank you guys for sharing this. I feel a lot better about my workouts now.

I really needed to hear these. Thank you.

That was me the other way wanting to go harder at the glute bridge and didn't go my way 🤣🤣🤣 ate the humble pie and went back to usual weights

Progressive Overload: How to challenge yourself & get better

Still recovering from sickness. But besides that I still highly underestimated this workout.

Audrey

Dayna

W3/D1 Lower Body Foundational Fitness

Boy oh boy did this prove much harder than I expected …. Still struggling with my eccentric pull ups…. But I was able to do the first set on the bar without having to move down to the ground

W3/D2 Upper Body Foundational Fitness

Aaarrrgggghhh, those push presses, that finisher 🥵 I'm so dead.

Nicole Loewen

Thought my arms were going to give out at the end 😂

W3/D3 Full Body Foundational Fitness

I impressed myself with this one! Loved the circuit style. Kept my mind engaged and focused.

Not a runner so these are tough but a great challenge!

W3/D4 Optional Cardio Functional Fitness

HOLY QUADS. I hope Hannah is ready to pay for my wheelchair for the next 5days. So painful and so rewarding

Jennifer

I love how flexible this program is. I make the main exercises my mandatory exercise and then add whatever I want! Today I did clamshells and kneeling hip rotations instead of the plyos because my pelvic floor wasn’t feeling it, and it still was an excellent workout!

Brenna

This is the sweatiest I have been the entire program!!! Hit a PR too!

W4/D2: Upper Body Foundational Fitness

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