Cathe Friedrich's XTrain: Chest, Back and Shoulders

Exactly what the title promises — a separate set of exercises for your chest, then back, then shoulders (repeated in eight separate “rounds”). It's a focused format that lets you maximize the effort for each muscle group (because you always know a new body part is coming up). All the moves emphasize the importance of weight overload — using a weight level that pushes your body to absolute “fatigue.” How much is that? You want between 8 and 16 reps; if you can do more than 16, you need to increase the weight (an on-screen display shows Cathe's level and rep count). The moves are classics, but Cathe makes them interesting with varied tempos, pulses and positions. Requires multiple sets of dumbbells, a stability ball and a resistance tubing. ©2012.