40 MINUTE GLUTE WORKOUT – Dumbbell + Band | Complex Series – Day 3

40 Minute Glute Workout – Dumbbell + Band is Day 3 in Caroline Girvan‘s 5 Day Complex Series, and OMG, this was a brutal workout. I do plan to eventually do all of her Complex Series workouts but when I saw she created a glute focused one, I just had to work it into my July rotation. This workout was a serious challenge for me. I always love Caroline’s complex workouts and this one was the most challenging I have done yet. I am a little afraid of the other 4 workouts in the series now. I was doing good, keeping time with Caroline’s reps until we got to the mat work. Torture! I stopped trying to stay in time with her and just did my own thing. My legs are still feeling weak. It is an excellent lower body workout. It is glute focused but I felt it everywhere in my lower body.

This workout consists of complexes. What this means is you are doing 2-3 exercises with no rest between exercises. Each complex is done for 3 minutes, you get a 30 second rest before moving on to the next complex. The complex you are working through is listed in the lower left hand corner of the screen for your reference. It shows each exercise you are doing and the amount of reps you do for each exercise. This is especially useful if you cannot keep pace with Caroline then you can still keep track of your complex. There is a timer in the upper left hand corner of the screen, counting down your 3 minutes of work as well as your 30 seconds of rest. Caroline previews your next complex during the recovery. This workout is set to great music, no talking. There is also a little bar at the bottom of the screen that counts down the entire workout time as a percentage. There is a graphic in the lower right hand side of the screen counting down your complexes (there are 11 complexes but since if a complex is done on one side of the body you repeat it on the other side of the body, my breakdown below makes it appear there are less than 11 complexes). There is one move with impact. During the preview Caroline shows a low impact alternative.

40 Minute Glute Workout – Dumbbell + Band is 52:37 minutes; 3 minute intro, no warm up and 4:45 minute stretch. Equipment: dumbbells and a fitness mat. Optional: booty band, chair or bench and a towel to protect your hips. Caroline is using one 25kg/55 pound dumbbell. The weights listed below are what I used. I used my weight bench for the hip thrusts and my square high step at 16 inches for the Bulgarian lunges.

Complex 1:

1. Hip thrusts, 10 reps (place booty band around thighs, lean back against your bench or chair, one heavy DB on hips, knees bent and open so there is tension on band, and feet on floor, raise and lower hips) (one 40# DB)
2. Slow hip thrust, 5 reps (one 40# DB)
3. Repeat #1 & 2 as many times as possible within 3 minutes

Complex 2:

1. Seated abduction, 15 reps (sitting on the floor, back against chair/bench, knees bent and feet on floor, band is still around thighs, open and close thighs)
2. Body weight hip thrust, 15 reps (back is still against chair/bench, do #1 from Complex 1 w/out DB on hips)
3. Repeat #1 & 2 as many times as possible within 3 minutes

Complex 3:

1. Sumo squats, 10 reps (one 50# DB)
2. 1/2 rep sumo squats, 10 reps (lower to bottom of squat but only raise halfway) (one 50# DB)
3. Body weight 1/2 rep sumo squats, 10 reps
4. Repeat #1-3 as many times as possible within 3 minutes

Complex 4:

1. Forward leaning Bulgarian lunges, 15 reps (no DBs) (stationary lunges, back foot is elevated on chair/bench behind you, torso is hinge forward over front thigh)
2. Rear step lunge, 15 reps (no DBs) (reverse lunges)
3. Repeat #1 & 2 as many times as possible within 3 minutes

Repeat Complex 4 on other side of body

Complex 5:

1. Side leg lift, 10 reps (hand and elbow on mat, extend one leg straight out to side, raise and lower leg)
2. Same position  as #2, draw circles with leg, 10 reps
3. Repeat #2 but reverse direction of circles, 10 reps
4. Repeat #1-3 as many times as possible within 3 minutes

Repeat Complex 5 on other side of body

Complex 6:

1. Donkey lifts, 10 reps (on elbows and knees, one leg is raised with knee bent, push sole of foot up to the ceiling)
2. Donkey pulses, 10 reps (same as #1 but keep leg raised at top of lift and pulse heel up to ceiling)
3. Repeat #1 & 2 as many times as possible within 3 minutes

Repeat Complex 6 on other side of body

Complex 7:

1. Single leg glute bridge, 20 reps (lay on back on mat, knees bent and feet on floor near glutes, raise one leg to ceiling, raise and lower hips/glutes)
2. Same leg glute jump, 10 reps (same position as #1, but instead of just raising and lowering hips, floor foot push up off the floor, leaving mat) (low impact alternative: same as #1 but keep hips raised isometrically and pulse hips upward)
3. Repeat #1 & 2 as many times as possible within 3 minutes

Repeat Complex 7 on other side of body

Abduction Combination:

1. Upright abduction (sit on the mat, place band around thighs above knees, knees bent and feet on ground, palms are on mat are behind hips, open and close thighs) (30 seconds)
2. On elbows abduction (repeat #1 but lean back onto elbows) (30 seconds)
3. Flat abduction (repeat #1 & 2 but laying on back) (30 seconds)
4. Repeat #1-3

30 second rest

Abduction Burn Out:

1. Abduction pulses (still laying on back, pulse legs wide against band) (20 seconds)
2. Abduction hold (keep legs open wide, pushing out against the band and holding isometrically) (20 seconds)
3. Repeat #1 & 2
4. Full range abductions (20 seconds)

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