BALANCED Lower Body Workout – Dumbbells & Bodyweight | EPIC Endgame Day 17

Balanced Lower Body Workout is Day 17 in Caroline Givan‘s EPIC Endgame program. This is another tough lower body strength workout from Caroline. This one hit my hamstrings hard. I have been taking forward fold breaks since I finished this workout this morning to stretch them out! There are a lot of Bulgarian lunge type of moves in this workout. In fact, you spend a lot of time with one leg on a chair behind you. The workout starts with exercises using dumbbells and ends with primarily body weight strength exercises. And as usual, the body weight exercises do a great job finishing off your legs. Another excellent workout from Caroline that worked my lower body very well!

All of the exercises in this workout are done interval style; some of the exercises are done for 50 seconds of work followed by 10 seconds of rest (50/10) and some are done for 40 seconds of work followed by 20 seconds of rest (40/20). The interval time for each exercise will be noted in the breakdown. There is a timer in the upper left hand side of the screen counting down your intervals and recoveries. During the recovery Caroline previews the next exercise. There is also a little bar at the bottom of the screen that counts down the entire workout time as a percentage.

Balanced Lower Body Workout is 46:07 minutes; 1:45 minute intro, no warm up and 3 minute stretch. Equipment: dumbbells, a chair and a fitness mat. Caroline is using 20kg/44 pound dumbbells and one 12.5kg/27.6 pound dumbbell. The weights listed below are what I used.

1. 1.5 rep sumo deadlift squats 40/20 (legs are wide in sumo w/ toes turned out, torso is hinged forward, lower to bottom of squat, raise halfway, lower to bottom of squat, raise all the way) (one 50# DB)
2. Repeat #1 two more times
3. Lunge 40/20 (static/stationary lunges) (20# DBs)
4. Repeat #3 on other side of body
5. Repeat #3 & 4
6. 1x leg RDL 40/20 (single leg deadlift, back leg is elevated on chair behind you) (one 25# DB)
7. Repeat #6 on other leg
8. Goblet squat 40/20 (one 40# DB)
9. Repeat #8 two more times
10. 1.5 rep staggered RDL 40/20 (single leg deadlift, back/non-working leg is in kickstand) (one 30# DB)
11. Repeat #10 on other leg
12. Repeat #10 & 11
13. Repeat #6 & 7
14. Bulgarian lunge x1 DB 40/20 (back leg is elevated on chair, hold one DB at same side shoulder as working leg) (one 25# DB)
15. Repeat #14
16. Repeat #14 & 15
17. Lunge to stand 50/10 (no DBs, reverse lunges, when you return to standing, bring knee forward so you are balancing on one leg)
18. Repeat #17 on other side of body
19. Lunge to forward lean hand tap 50/10 (no DBs, reverse lunge, when you raise out of lunge, hinge torso forward into single leg deadlift, raising back leg behind you and tapping fingers to floor)
20. Repeat #19 on other side of body
21. Repeat #6 & 7
22. 1.5 rep quad focus Bulgarian lunge 40/20 (no DB, back leg is elevated on chair behind you, you are standing close to chair, so it is more like a single leg squat)
23. Repeat #22 on other side of body
24. Repeat #22 & 23
25. Kneel to squat 40/20 (no DBs, stand with fitness mat behind you, lower into body 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)
26. Repeat #25 on other side of body
27. Repeat #25 & 26

Finisher:

1. Body weight Bulgarian lunges, 25 reps (back foot is on chair behind you)
2. Repeat #1 on other side of body
3. Repeat #1 & 2

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