Fierce 14 Day 9: Lower Body Strength // Unilateral Leg Workout

Lower Body Strength // Unilateral Leg Workout is Day 9 in Heather Robertson‘s Fierce 14 program. Unilateral means that you are focusing on one side of the body. This workout has an interesting structure. It is made up of 9 exercises. You do all 9 exercises on one side of the body then you repeat all 9 exercises on the same side of the body. Then you do the 9 exercise circuit twice on the other side of the body. This is a great concept in theory because it will really burn out your lower body but unfortunately, the way Heather films things messes it up. Heather does not mirror when she trains. What this means in her workouts is that when she identifies onscreen a side of the body she wants to you to focus on (right or left) during the preview, if you mirror her during the interval you will actually be working the opposite side of the body than what she identified onscreen. This is not a problem in her normal workouts because by the end of the workout both sides of the body are always worked evenly. And that will happen in this workout, too, but if you want the benefit of completely burning out one side of the body before moving on to the other side, then you have to be cognizant from the very beginning that you have to work the opposite side of the body from what the screen directs. Am I confusing you? Let me try to make it simpler. The very first exercise Heather is turned to the side–so mirroring is not an issue. The screen says you are working the Right leg. So I worked my right right leg as directed. But the very next exercise Heather is facing forward and, if you mirror her, you are now working the left side. Since I mirror trainers, the entire workout was kind of thrown off for me. When Heather is turned to the side, I worked the side of the body the screen told me to work, when she is facing forward, I mirrored her.

Regardless, it was still an excellent lower body workout that you can challenge yourself with by using heavier dumbbells. However, when I return to this workout, I will read this review and know to always work the opposite side of the body than what the screen tells me to work when Heather is not facing me. That way I can get the full intended benefit of this workout. The exercises are all 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.

Lower Body Strength // Unilateral Leg Workout is 44:07 minutes; 45 second intro, 2:45 minute warm up and 3:30 minute stretch. Equipment: dumbbells and fitness mat. Heather is using one 25 pound dumbbell. The weights listed below are what I used.

1. Stationary lunge (hold one DB at shoulder of front leg) (one 25# DB)
2. Step squat (hold one DB goblet style and step out into a squat, when you stand, step foot back in, returning to start) (one 30# DB)
3. Kickstand (holding one DB in both hands, do a single leg deadlift, back/non-working leg is in kickstand) (one 35# DB)
4. Side lunge (hold one DB at shoulder of leg that is stepping out into side lunge) (one 25# DB)
5. Curtsy lunge (hold one DB goblet style and do a stationary/static curtsy lunge) (one 25# DB)
6. Glute bridge (lay on mat, knees bent and feet on mat close to glutes, one heavy DB on hips, raise one leg and keep it raised throughout interval while raising and lowering hips) (one 40# DB)
7. Stand up & drive (reverse lunge lowering back knee all the way to floor/mat, when you stand do a front knee raise, one DB is held at shoulder of same side leg) (one 20# DB)
8. Side lift (in modified straight arm side plank (one one hand and knee) with top arm raised to ceiling and top leg extended straight, raise and lower straight top leg)
9. Leap & shuffle (lower into partial squat, starting at one end of the mat, shuffle to the other end of the mat then leap back to start)
10. Repeat #1-9 on same side of body
11. 30 second rest
12. Repeat #1-10 on other side of body

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