Day 17 is the first five-exercise card. 14 alternating bicep curls, 8 side bends, 8 shrugs, 7 tricep extensions per arm and 8 core twists, as a circuit, 3 to 5 sets by level, up to 2 minutes of rest. Shrugs are the addition: dumbbells hanging at the sides, the shoulders lifting straight up toward the ears and lowering, 8 reps, nothing else moving.
The circuit grows by an exercise rather than by reps this time, which stretches each set instead of loading it. Shrugs slot in between the side bends and the tricep extensions and give the upper traps their first direct work - they have assisted every chest row so far, and now they lift on their own. The rest of the card is the Day 1 circuit at the middle-tier counts: 14 curls alternating, 8 bends alternating, 7 extensions per arm, 8 twists alternating. Five exercises means the rest arrives later in every set, and the last exercise, the twists, is done on a trunk that has already bent sideways eight times and braced through everything else.
Shrug straight up and straight down - no rolling the shoulders in circles, which does nothing for the traps and something unhelpful for the joint. Hold the top for a moment. Curls strict, bends straight sideways, tricep extensions with the elbow pointing up and the free hand on it, twists from the waist.
Five exercises for the first time - shrugs join, and the circuit gets longer instead of heavier.
Make it Harder: Go through the five exercises twice before resting - two circuits, one rest, half the number of rests.
Make it Easier: Three sets of all five exercises rather than fewer exercises - the whole circuit is the point.
