Leg Strength Workout at Home with Dumbbells is Day 15 in Heather Robertson‘s 12 Week 4.0 program. This was another enjoyable and effective lower body strength workout. I felt like my calves were worked really well. In this workout Heather gives you a circuit of lower body strength exercises then finishes the circuit off with a cardio burst that continues working the muscle groups you just worked. The first circuit contains some intense calf work then you do a jump rope move to continue working the calves but differently. In the second circuit you are doing lunges and squats and you finish those up with some squat jumps and scissor runs to really fatigue the muscles.
This workout contains two circuits and each circuit is done twice. The exercises are done interval style: 40 seconds of work followed by 20 seconds of recovery. There is a timer in the lower right hand corner of the screen counting down your intervals and recoveries. During the recoveries Heather previews the next exercise. At the bottom of the screen during the preview, there is a small graphic with a weight recommendation–light, medium or heavy. If a move has impact, Heather shows a low or lower impact modification.
Leg Strength Workout at Home with Dumbbells is 35:39 minutes; 40 seconds intro, 2:15 minute warm up and 3:30 minute stretch. Equipment: medium and heavy dumbbells, yoga block and fitness mat. The weights listed below are what I used. I also used heel wedges for the elevated squat.
Circuit 1:
- Elevated squat (heels are elevated on yoga block (or heel wedges), hold one DB goblet style) (one 50# DB)
- Deadlift & lunge (one deadlift + one reverse lunge, alternate legs when lunging) (25# DBs)
- Squat & heel lift (stand with legs wide and toes turned out, hold one DB in both hands goblet style, raise one heel and squat) (one 40# DB)
- Repeat #3 with other heel lifted
- Single leg calf raise (one foot is on yoga block with heel hanging off end, other leg is raised, Heather is holding onto the wall for balance, raise and lower heel)
- Repeat #5 on other leg
- Ghost rope (hop with jump rope arms)
- Repeat #1-7
30 second rest
Circuit 2:
- Static lunge (stationary lunges, hold one DB at shoulder of front/working leg) (one 30# DB)
- Repeat #1 on other side of body
- Suitcase squats (narrow squat holding one DB in each hand at sides) (35# DBs)
- Single leg deadlifts (hold one heavy DB in both hands in front of you, hinge forward into a single leg deadlift while lifting one leg up straight behind you, alternate legs when deadlifting) (one 40# DB)
- 1.5 static curtsy lunge (hold one DB in both hands goblet style, step one leg back into cross back/rear curtsy lunge, raise halfway out of lunge, lower back to bottom of curtsy lunge then step feet back together) (one 30# DB)
- Repeat #5 on other leg
- Scissor squat hops (4 scissor runs + 2 squat jumps)
- Repeat #1-7
For more info on Heather Robertson’s workouts and other (free) streaming workouts I’ve sampled and reviewed, check out my Streaming page.
