IRON Series 30 Min Dumbbell Leg Day Workout – Stepups | 21

30 Min Dumbbell Leg Day Workout – Stepups is Day 21 in Caroline Girvan‘s Iron Series. I love high steps/box steps! I was excited when I saw this workout had so many of them. Since my fitness journey began 20+ years ago with The Firm‘s Fanny Lifter, I have always loved them. They are an excellent exercise that really works your lower body well. This is a superset workout. You will do one weighted lower body strength exercise followed by a box/high step variation. Box steps are very metabolic. Pair that with a weighted lower body exercise and you have a very metabolic lower body workout. I burned 440 calories and was in my cardio heart rate zone the entire workout. I also used Heather Robertson’s Standing Side Booty Hip Dip Workout as my finisher, so that is included in the calorie burn, too. The stretch at the end of this workout is one of Caroline’s better ones. Very thorough and feel good. I usually have a stretch queued up at the end of all of Caroline’s workouts, just in case I find hers inadequate, but this one did the job well!

This workout is mostly made up of supersets. You will do two exercises, each for 60 seconds back to back (2 minutes of work) before you get a 30 second recovery. However, the first exercise (heel elevated squats) is not a superset. You will do that exercise for 60 second intervals followed by 30 second recoveries. Also, the final exercise before the finisher (calf raises) is done to various intervals with no rest/recoveries. 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 superset. There is also a little bar at the bottom of the screen that counts down the entire workout time as a percentage.

30 Min Dumbbell Leg Day Workout – Stepups is 40:47 minutes; 3:23 minute intro, no warm up and 4 minute stretch. Equipment: dumbbells, a box/chair/high step, a yoga block and a fitness mat. Caroline is using a box for her step ups and it is 20 inches high. She is also using 15kg/33.1 pound dumbbells. The weights listed below are what I used.

1. Heel elevated squats (DBs are held at shoulders and heels are elevated on yoga block) (25# DBs)
2. 30 second recovery
3. Repeat #1 & 2 two more times
4. Static lunge (stationary lunges) (25# DBs)
5. Slow step up (one foot remains on top of box entire interval, using the leg on the box, lift yourself up (slowly) so you are on top of box then lower back down)
6. 30 second rest
7. Repeat #4-6 on other side of body
8. Rear step lunge (reverse/step back lunges) (20# DBs)
9. Repeat #5
10. 30 second rest
11. Repeat #8-10 on other side of body
12. Lateral lunge (one 30# DB)
13. Side step up (same as #5 except rather than facing high step, you are beside it)
14. 30 second rest
15. Repeat #12-14 on other side of body
16. Forward lean lunge (static/stationary lunge, torso is hinged forward over front leg) (one 27.5# DB)
17. Lean forward step up (same as #5, except torso is hinged forward when stepping up)
18. 30 second rest
19. Repeat #16-18 on other side of body
20. Single leg calf raise for 30 seconds (stand w/ high step behind you, the top of one foot is on box, hold one DB on same side shoulder as floor/working leg, raise and lower heel) (one 25# DB)
21. (no rest/recovery) Hold for 30 seconds (same position as #20 but keep heel raised isometrically entire interval) (one 25# DB)
22. (no rest/recovery) Repeat #20
23. (no rest/recovery) Repeat #20-22 on other side of body
24. (no rest/recovery) Same position as #20 but body weight only, plus you raise onto toes then shift back to heels raising the toes (rock from heel to toe) for 40 seconds
25. (no rest recovery) Repeat #20 for 20 seconds body weight only
26. (no rest/recovery) Repeat #24 & 25 on other side of body

30 second rest

Finisher: (2 minutes, no rest/recoveries)

1. Heel elevated squats x 2 dumbbells for 30 seconds (DBs are held at shoulders and heels are elevated on yoga block) (25# DBs)
2. Repeat # 1 w/ one DB for 30 seconds (DB held in both hands in front of chest) (one 25# DB)
3. Repeat #1 body weight only/no DBs for 60 seconds

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