Legs is a 52 minute strength workout; 6 minute warm up, 41 minute training time and 6 minute stretch. It also includes Bonus Rear Delts, Bonus Barre and 100 Rep Challenge Hip Thrusts. The bonuses will be reviewed at the end. Equipment needed for the main workout: dumbbells, stability ball, Slide N Glide disks, dixie cups, firewalker loop and a chair. Xtrain Legs is part of Cathe‘s Xtrain series. For more info on the series as a program see My Intro to Xtrain.
**I’m not posting these reviews in the order I am doing the workouts. These workouts will take a little longer to post than normal because of all the wonderful bonuses that Cathe included on each workout! I want to review everything (including bonuses and challenges) before I post a review–so they will all take a little longer to go up. But here is the first workout in which I was able to do everything on the DVD.
Back to the review:
Wow. What can I say about this workout, except it was tougher than I expected. I should have known better of course. Initially, I assumed it would be hard but then I perused it in the Xtrain User’s Guide and Cathe is using pretty light weights, plus, the majority of the exercises aren’t weighted at all. So I started wondering how hard it could be…. But upon doing it, I learned that it is very challenging and painful! Cathe proves you don’t need heavy weights to fry your legs! I will add that I lifted heavier than Cathe on every exercise and there were several that I plan to use even heavier dumbbells the next time I do the workout. Still–compared to many of Cathe’s other lower body workouts, it isn’t a heavy weight workout.
It is a fun workout. Just like in her other Xtrain workouts that I’ve done so far, you don’t repeat any exercises. It is fast paced, too, so there is a cardio aspect to the standing leg segment–but it’s definitely not a cardio + strength workout. Go to Cardio Leg Blast for that! I think Legs compliments Cardio Leg Blast nicely, too. Cardio Leg Blast is where you’ll find heavier weights.
Standing Legs (18:30 minutes)
Walking lunges with a dumbbell
Forward leaning lunges with dixie cups
Plie wall squats with stability ball
Low pulse lunges with a dumbbell
Side lunge with Slide N Glide disk
Warrior lunge with Slide N Glide disk
Single leg deadlift with dumbbells
Firewalkers
Ball & Chair Legs (10:30 minutes)
Hamstring roll ins with stability ball
Prone frog squeezes with stability ball
Inner thigh supine stability ball squeezes
Glute bridges with chair
Floor legs (12:30 minutes)
You start laying on your side
Clams (these are very tough!)
Classic inner thigh lift
Now you get on all 4s
Straight leg lifts
Bent leg lifts
Weighted “pizza press” with a dumbbell
Bonus Barre (15 minutes): The bonus barre workout is included in the bonus section as a workout you can do by itself and it is also included in many of the premixes. It works well by itself if you choose to do it that way because Cathe includes a stretch at the end. Though short, it is definitely a tough little workout and reminiscent of Turbo Barre. And when used in a premix with all the other lower body segments, you will completely burn your legs out. Cathe and crew use a chair for balance.
Wow. What can I say about this workout, except it was tougher than I expected. I should have known better of course. Initially, I assumed it would be hard but then I perused it in the Xtrain User’s Guide and Cathe is using pretty light weights, plus, the majority of the exercises aren’t weighted at all. So I started wondering how hard it could be…. But upon doing it, I learned that it is very challenging and painful! Cathe proves you don’t need heavy weights to fry your legs! I will add that I lifted heavier than Cathe on every exercise and there were several that I plan to use even heavier dumbbells the next time I do the workout. Still–compared to many of Cathe’s other lower body workouts, it isn’t a heavy weight workout.
It is a fun workout. Just like in her other Xtrain workouts that I’ve done so far, you don’t repeat any exercises. It is fast paced, too, so there is a cardio aspect to the standing leg segment–but it’s definitely not a cardio + strength workout. Go to Cardio Leg Blast for that! I think Legs compliments Cardio Leg Blast nicely, too. Cardio Leg Blast is where you’ll find heavier weights.
Standing Legs (18:30 minutes)
Walking lunges with a dumbbell
Forward leaning lunges with dixie cups
Plie wall squats with stability ball
Low pulse lunges with a dumbbell
Side lunge with Slide N Glide disk
Warrior lunge with Slide N Glide disk
Single leg deadlift with dumbbells
Firewalkers
Ball & Chair Legs (10:30 minutes)
Hamstring roll ins with stability ball
Prone frog squeezes with stability ball
Inner thigh supine stability ball squeezes
Glute bridges with chair
Floor legs (12:30 minutes)
You start laying on your side
Clams (these are very tough!)
Classic inner thigh lift
Now you get on all 4s
Straight leg lifts
Bent leg lifts
Weighted “pizza press” with a dumbbell
Bonus Barre (15 minutes): The bonus barre workout is included in the bonus section as a workout you can do by itself and it is also included in many of the premixes. It works well by itself if you choose to do it that way because Cathe includes a stretch at the end. Though short, it is definitely a tough little workout and reminiscent of Turbo Barre. And when used in a premix with all the other lower body segments, you will completely burn your legs out. Cathe and crew use a chair for balance.
Here are the exercises:
Straight front leg lift
High and tight (squats while up on toes)
Side bent leg raise with high hip pulse (hydrants)
Straight leg angled raise
Calve raises
Bonus Rear Delts (14 minutes): According the the User’s Guide (and Cathe touches on it in the workout) she included this bonus workout because the posterior delt is a very difficult muscle to work and is usually the weakest of the 3 shoulder muscle groups (anterior delt, lateral delt and posterior delt). According the a study she cited, the rear (posterior) delt is significantly weaker than the other two delt muscles. So it makes sense that she created this bonus workout and that she put it separate from other shoulder work. This way your rear delts are fresh when you work them (rather than already fatigued from working other shoulder and upper body muscle groups) and you can focus on form. This rear delt workout consists of 3 exercises and you do 3 sets of each exercise. The first set is always 12 reps and the second and third set are always 10 reps. For the first exercise you will need the stability ball and a light weight (Cathe uses 5 pounds). Sit on the ball, lean forward and lift your arms to the side (seated bent over lateral raise). The second exercise uses the stability ball (it is anchored so it doesn’t roll away) and tubing. You put one hand on the ball, anchor the tubing under one foot and, while leaning forward in a bent position, raise the other arm straight out to the side (one arm rear delt fly). For the third exercise you need a light dumbbell (Cathe is using 5 pounds) and the stability ball. You lean sideways on the stability ball, raise your arm straight out and in front of you and lift, slow and controlled (lying side lateral raises). She ends the workout with a stretch.
100 Rep Hip Thrusts (6 minutes): Holy cow! This was intense. My legs were already burned out from doing the main Legs workout–but then I did this and WOW! So far of the three 100 Rep Challenges I’ve done so far, this was the hardest. In the User’s Manual, Cathe writes that research has shown that the hip thruster is the most effective glute exercise you can do. And man, did it feel effective! You need a club step with 3 risers and a barbell. I have no idea what weight the crew member (Amanda) was lifting, but I used 35 pounds. She also had a barbell pad around the barbell, which I will use next time. In addition, Cathe recommends putting a towel or folded mat behind your back against the step and I will do that in the future, too. It does get a little uncomfortable on the back. Like all the other 100 Rep Challenges, Cathe gives instructions while one crew member does the challenge. You sit on the ground with your back against the step and the barbell on your hips. You lift your hips so you are in a table position (no arching of the back) with your toes pointing a bit outward and you lift your hips up and down in a controlled manner. I felt this so thoroughly. Like I said, my lower body was already burned out from Legs, but this finished the job. The idea is to do as many reps as you can (to failure) then rest for 30 seconds and start again. You continue this until you’ve reached 100 reps. So far, with the challenges I’ve done so far, I’ve had no problem staying up with the crew member and in some instances I felt I could keep going for longer than the crew member (and not taking so many rests). Not in this case! I did keep up with Amanda, but I was praying for her to take rests at times and so relieved when she did. She does 38 reps. Rest for 30 seconds. 22 more reps. Rest for 30 seconds. 20 more reps. Rest for 30 seconds. 20 more reps–DONE! 100 reps!
Premixes:
Legs (standing + ball & chair + floor) + rear delts 65 minutes
Legs all sections (standing + barre + ball & chair + floor) 67 minutes
Legs all sections (standing + barre + ball & chair + floor) + rear delts 81 minutes
Legs (standing + floor) 42 minutes
Legs (standing + floor) + rear delts 56 minutes
Legs (barre + ball & chair + floor) 49 minutes
Legs (standing + barre + ball & chair + floor) + rear delts 62 minutes
Legs (standing + ball & chair) 40 minutes
Legs (standing + ball & chair) + rear delts 53 minutes
Legs (standing) 30 minutes
Legs (standing) + rear delts 43 minutes
Straight front leg lift
High and tight (squats while up on toes)
Side bent leg raise with high hip pulse (hydrants)
Straight leg angled raise
Calve raises
Bonus Rear Delts (14 minutes): According the the User’s Guide (and Cathe touches on it in the workout) she included this bonus workout because the posterior delt is a very difficult muscle to work and is usually the weakest of the 3 shoulder muscle groups (anterior delt, lateral delt and posterior delt). According the a study she cited, the rear (posterior) delt is significantly weaker than the other two delt muscles. So it makes sense that she created this bonus workout and that she put it separate from other shoulder work. This way your rear delts are fresh when you work them (rather than already fatigued from working other shoulder and upper body muscle groups) and you can focus on form. This rear delt workout consists of 3 exercises and you do 3 sets of each exercise. The first set is always 12 reps and the second and third set are always 10 reps. For the first exercise you will need the stability ball and a light weight (Cathe uses 5 pounds). Sit on the ball, lean forward and lift your arms to the side (seated bent over lateral raise). The second exercise uses the stability ball (it is anchored so it doesn’t roll away) and tubing. You put one hand on the ball, anchor the tubing under one foot and, while leaning forward in a bent position, raise the other arm straight out to the side (one arm rear delt fly). For the third exercise you need a light dumbbell (Cathe is using 5 pounds) and the stability ball. You lean sideways on the stability ball, raise your arm straight out and in front of you and lift, slow and controlled (lying side lateral raises). She ends the workout with a stretch.
100 Rep Hip Thrusts (6 minutes): Holy cow! This was intense. My legs were already burned out from doing the main Legs workout–but then I did this and WOW! So far of the three 100 Rep Challenges I’ve done so far, this was the hardest. In the User’s Manual, Cathe writes that research has shown that the hip thruster is the most effective glute exercise you can do. And man, did it feel effective! You need a club step with 3 risers and a barbell. I have no idea what weight the crew member (Amanda) was lifting, but I used 35 pounds. She also had a barbell pad around the barbell, which I will use next time. In addition, Cathe recommends putting a towel or folded mat behind your back against the step and I will do that in the future, too. It does get a little uncomfortable on the back. Like all the other 100 Rep Challenges, Cathe gives instructions while one crew member does the challenge. You sit on the ground with your back against the step and the barbell on your hips. You lift your hips so you are in a table position (no arching of the back) with your toes pointing a bit outward and you lift your hips up and down in a controlled manner. I felt this so thoroughly. Like I said, my lower body was already burned out from Legs, but this finished the job. The idea is to do as many reps as you can (to failure) then rest for 30 seconds and start again. You continue this until you’ve reached 100 reps. So far, with the challenges I’ve done so far, I’ve had no problem staying up with the crew member and in some instances I felt I could keep going for longer than the crew member (and not taking so many rests). Not in this case! I did keep up with Amanda, but I was praying for her to take rests at times and so relieved when she did. She does 38 reps. Rest for 30 seconds. 22 more reps. Rest for 30 seconds. 20 more reps. Rest for 30 seconds. 20 more reps–DONE! 100 reps!
Premixes:
Legs (standing + ball & chair + floor) + rear delts 65 minutes
Legs all sections (standing + barre + ball & chair + floor) 67 minutes
Legs all sections (standing + barre + ball & chair + floor) + rear delts 81 minutes
Legs (standing + floor) 42 minutes
Legs (standing + floor) + rear delts 56 minutes
Legs (barre + ball & chair + floor) 49 minutes
Legs (standing + barre + ball & chair + floor) + rear delts 62 minutes
Legs (standing + ball & chair) 40 minutes
Legs (standing + ball & chair) + rear delts 53 minutes
Legs (standing) 30 minutes
Legs (standing) + rear delts 43 minutes
Thanks for the detailed reviews. I started Xtrain this month and, even though I’m not as fit as I should be, I’m loving it. I love pretty much everything Cathe though. I was just wondering — is it just me, or are some of the counts off from one leg to the next on the bonus Barre section? I can’t tell if I’m losing count because I’m too tired or if one of my legs is getting an extra set. Just curious…
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You’re welcome! I don’t think I noticed the counts being off in the Barre section of Legs. The odd things is, I *did* recently notice the count being off in one of her other Xtrain workouts, but now I can’t remember which one. I don’t think it was Legs, but I could be wrong. I will pay attention next time I do it and post here about it.
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I remember now–it was Legs. But it was in the standing legs segment. The count on the Warrior Lunges are uneven–the pulsing at the end. I’ll pay attention to the Barre Bonus next time I do that one.
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