Phase 1 Intermediate: Day 4 Phase 1 Intermediate: Day 4

Dumbbell deadlift

Target: Back, glutes, hamstrings, quads

Form tips:

• Shoulders down, arms locked out and keep the dumbbells in close to your sides.
• Engage your core to help keep a straight back.
• Hinge at your knees and hips on the both the way up and down.
• Don't crane your neck as you lower yourself down. (Avoid looking in the mirror!)
• Think about pushing the floor away with your feet as you rise up, then squeeze your glutes as you stand tall.

Seated banded lat pulldown

Target: Lats, shoulders, back

Form tips:

• Keep your chest up and shoulders down to allow better shoulder movement.
• Squeeze elbows into your ribs as you pull down so you're working your lats, not your forearms.
• An engaged core will support upright posture.
• If sitting with legs straight feels unsteady, try bending your knees.

Dumbbell single-arm row

Target: Shoulders, chest, lats

Form tips:

• Position yourself facing downward, chest up and out, with shoulders down away from your ears.
• Find a foot positioning that makes your hips as level as possible.
• Push through the hand you are leaning on to stabilize yourself.
• Keep a neutral spine and avoid rotating your torso.

Banded underhand-grip pulldown

Target: Lats, back, shoulders, biceps

Form tips:

• Sit below the anchor point, with a slight lean backward and your core engaged to hold your torso straight.
• Chest up, shoulders down, and focus on bringing your elbows down beside your ribs as you pull down.

Zottman curls

Target: Biceps

Form tips:

• Avoid rounding or hunching your shoulders – keep them down and back, with your chest up.
• Slow and controlled movements, using your biceps rather than momentum.
• Don't rest your arms at the top or bottom of the curl – keep moving to maintain tension in your biceps.

Modification – Dumbbell hammer curls:

• If the rotational movement is tough on your wrists, swap in a standard hammer curl.