Squats for Glutes Workout // EPIC II Day 28

Squats for Glutes Workout is Day 28 in Caroline Girvin‘s EPIC II program. This is an excellent lower body workout. It was tough but not as brutal as some of her other workouts that I have done. It did burn my glutes out nicely. I found this workout very enjoyable. There are a lot of squat variations in this workout, but there are other exercises as well that target the glutes and hamstrings–hip bridges and deadlifts. Your entire lower body will also get worked even though the focus is on the glutes and hamstrings. I know using the booty band during the glute bridges brings my quads and outer thighs into the exercise. When I did Caroline’s Loaded Glute, Hamstring & Back Workout I used my full step at 14 inches with a thick mat draped over it to protect my back during the glute bridges. This time I used my weight bench, which is padded. That worked so much better. It not only gave me even greater range of motion but the padding was better and it felt more stable. So if you own a weight bench, I recommend using that.

Each exercise is done for one minute with 30 seconds of recovery between exercises. There is a timer in the upper right hand corner of the screen counting down your intervals and recoveries. During the recovery, the next exercise is previewed in a small video in the upper left hand corner of the screen. There is also a little bar at the bottom of the screen that counts down the entire workout time as a percentage. This workout is done to music with plenty of visual cues as well as “dings” to keep you on track.

Squats for Glutes Workout is 54:26 minutes; 1:30 minute intro, no warm up and 4:15 minute stretch. I used Heather Robertson‘s Leg Day Warm Up. Equipment: at least one heavy dumbbell and a fitness mat. Optional: something behind your back to give you greater range of motion when doing the hip thrust/glute bridges–a chair, your couch, a weight bench, a full step with lots of risers. Also optional is a booty band. I also used a small thick mat under the dumbbell to protect my hips during the glute bridges. Caroline is using a folded up towel for that purpose. Caroline is using one 25kg/55 pound dumbbell. The weights listed below are what I used.

1. (booty band is around thighs/just above knees) Hip thrust/glute bridge (you are either flat on your back with knees bent and feet on floor on mat, or your back is leaned against something, one heavy DB is on your hips) (one 50# DB)
2. High squat (band is still around thighs and you are holding one DB goblet style) (one 45# DB)
3. Repeat #2
4. (remove booty band) Sumo squats (one 57.5# DB)
5. Repeat #4
6. Repeat #1
7. Zercher squat (similar to a front squat but you are holding the DB in your arms, the DB resting on the inside crease of your elbows, hands reaching to shoulders–you are “carrying” the DB like a bundle of wood) (one 35# DB)
8. Repeat #7
9. Sumo squat (hold at bottom of squat approx 5 seconds) (one 57.5# DB)
10. Repeat #9
11. Repeat #1
12. Sumo squat (lower slow and hold at bottom for a few seconds, raise normal speed) (one 57.5# DB)
13. Repeat #12
14. Sumo 1/2 reps (lower into sumo squat but only raise halfway) (one 55# DB)
15. Repeat #14
16. Repeat #1
17. Squat to RDL (stand with legs wide, holding DB by bar between legs, alternate one squat with one wide leg deadlift) (one 57.5# DB)
18. Repeat #17
19. Sumo squat 1.5 reps (one full sumo squat + one sumo squat only raising halfway) (one 55# DB)
20. Repeat #19
21. Repeat #1
22. Staggered hip thrusts (remove booty band, get in same position as #1 except only one foot is flat on the ground, the other foot is out further with toe raised and heel on floor so that most of the weight is on the flat foot) (one 45# DB)
23. Repeat #22 with foot placement swapped
24. Sumo squat pulses (body weight squat pulses, pulse at bottom of squat until you hear a beep then raise out of squat, but lower right back into squat and start pulsing again–beep happens about every 10 seconds)
25. Repeat #24
26. Repeat #1
27. Kneel to stand (stand with fitness mat behind you, lower into bod weight squat then step one foot back into kneeling lunge, return to squat–you never raise out of squat the entire minute, unless you are in kneeling lunge) (no DBs)
28. Repeat #27 on other leg
29. Staggered squat to RDL (in a narrow split stance, do a single leg squat then raise hips into a single leg deadlift) (no DBs)
30. Repeat #29 on other side of body
31. Repeat #1

Finisher: Sumo deadlift squat (1/2 reps with DB for 30 seconds then set DB on floor and do 1/2 reps body weight for 30 seconds) (one 55# DB)

For more info on Caroline Girvan’s workouts and other (free) streaming workouts I’ve sampled and reviewed, check out my Streaming page.