Day 6 without the hands. Three holds of 60 seconds - sides, front, overhead - and 60 seconds of arm circles, once through, 30 seconds off between each. Four minutes of work, no sets, and the fists stay open and still the whole time. Where Day 6 gave the hands a job, today the shoulders do the holding on their own.
Doubling Day 3's 30-second hold to a full minute is a bigger change than the arithmetic suggests: the first 30 seconds of any hold are muscle, the second 30 are tendon and will. The overhead hold is the newcomer, and standing it recruits the whole body - arms beside the ears, ribs down, and the abdominals working to stop the lower back arching under the reach. The sequence goes sides, front, overhead, so the hardest position is met last, and the arm circles that close the card exist to get the shoulders moving again after three minutes of not moving at all.
Side hold: arms level, palms down, feet at hip width and the weight in the middle of the foot. Front hold: arms parallel and straight, no leaning back to counterweight them. Overhead: shoulders pulled down away from the ears, ribs tucked, arms straight; if the lower back arches, lower the arms an inch and reset. Breathe evenly through all three; a hold done on a held breath ends early. Circles small and level for the whole minute.
Three minutes of holding still on your feet and one of moving - the hold day is where the tendons get their turn.
Make it Harder: Add a fifth minute after the circles: hold the arms halfway up in front - 45 degrees, between hanging and level - for 60 seconds.
Make it Easier: Angle the overhead hold forward to 45 degrees rather than straight up - a lighter line for the newest position.
