30 Min Superset Glutes and Hamstrings Workout is Day 23 in Caroline Girvan‘s Iron Series. This lower body workout was killer! The first half was brutal. I had my 40 pound dumbbell nearby during the hip/hamstring thrusts and seriously considered swapping it out several times. But I stuck with my 45 pound dumbbell. I was glad to see I wasn’t the only one suffering–this workout was burning Caroline out, too! However she was using a 66 pound dumbbell! 😱 This workout is also a really good example of the difference between different variations of an exercise. The hip thrust with a booty band and a dumbbell is definitely the hardest. Take off the booty band and it gets a little easier (though still brutal in this workout since you are seriously fatigued from all that came before). Then you move to the mat for bridges and they are much easier than hip thrusts with your upper body elevated. My lower body is fried! But I went for a finisher anyway. I did Michelle Briehler‘s new 10 Min Booty Burn which totally finished off my lower body. And it is definitely finished. My glutes and hamstrings are still singing!
This workout is made up of supersets. You will do two exercises, each for 45 seconds back to back (1:30 minutes of work) before you get a 30 second recovery. 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 Superset Glutes and Hamstrings Workout is 39:17 minutes; 2:10 minute intro, no warm up and 4:20 minute stretch. Equipment: dumbbells, a booty band/resistance loop, a chair or bench and a fitness mat. Optional is a towel to protect your hips during hip thrusts. Caroline is using 15kg/33.1 pound dumbbells and one 30kg/66.1 pound dumbbell. The weights listed below are what I used.
Superset 1:
- RDL (slow eccentric) (Romanian deadlift, lower slowly, raise normal speed) (37.5# DBs)
- Sumo deadlift (slow eccentric) (sumo squat with torso hinged forward deadlift-style, lower slowly, raise normal speed) (one 55# DB)
- 30 second rest
- Repeat #1-3 two more times
Superset 2:
- Slow banded hip thrusts (place booty band around thighs, lean back against your bench or step, one heavy DB on hips, knees bent and open so there is tension on band, and feet on floor, slowly raise and lower hips) (one 45# DB)
- Continue #1 at a faster pace
- 30 second rest
- Repeat #1-3 two more times
Superset 3:
- Slow hip thrust (remove booty band, lean back against your bench or step, one heavy DB on hips and feet on floor, slowly raise and lower hips) (one 45# DB)
- Hamstring thrust (lean back against your bench or chair, one heavy DB on hips, knees bent but legs are further away from chair than when doing a regular hip thrust, heels are on the floor with toes raised, raise and lower hips) (one 45# DB)
- 30 second rest
- Repeat #1-3 two more times
Superset 4:
- Glute bridge (lay on back on mat, knees bent and feet on mat close to glutes, one heavy DB on hips, raise and lower hips) (one 45# DB)
- Hamstring bridge (same position as #1, but walk feet out further from glutes (knees still bent) w/ heels pressing into mat, raise and lower hips) (one 45# DB)
- 30 second rest
- Repeat #1-3 two more times
Superset 5:
- Bodyweight single leg bridge (lay on mat, knees bent and feet on mat close to glutes, raise one leg and keep it raised throughout interval while raising and lowering hips)
- Bodyweight hamstring bridge (same position as #1, but move foot out further from glutes (knee still bent) w/ heel pressing into mat, raise and lower hips)
- 30 second rest
- Repeat #1-3 on other side of body
Finisher: (3:15 minutes w, no rest/recoveries)
- Slow abduction for 45 seconds (lay on back on mat, booty band around thighs just above knees, knees bent and feet close to glutes, slowly open and close knees)
- Repeat #1 at a faster pace for 45 seconds
- Bridge for 45 seconds (same position as #1, knees bent and open so there is tension on band, raise and lower hips)
- Bridget to abduction for 30 seconds (same as #3, but at top of bridge, open knees wider)
- Bridge burn out for 30 seconds (repeat #3 at a faster pace)
For more info on Caroline Girvan’s workouts and other (free) streaming workouts I’ve sampled and reviewed, check out my Streaming page.
Those single leg bridge variations at the end were KILLER! 🌶🔥
I’m definitely going to check out the booty band workout from Michelle that you reviewed. I love short workouts that I can add onto a longer series and the more variation the better. ☺️ For fun, you should check out her barre workout that I did maybe 3 weeks ago. Very Cathe-esque and fun! (Well, it’s a burner too but at least you’re having fun while you’re at it! 😉)
Today I did Fuel Day 11 leg cluster sets as my main workout. This is my favorite LB workout in this series so far. First, NO BURPEES! 😁 But with the way she structured things, the exercises were interesting and time went by quickly – to the point that when the finisher came up I actually said “we’re done already??” She does a really good job focusing on calves too.
I finished things off with a 15 min shoulders routine from Caroline.
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I found the weighted hip thrusts much harder than the single leg bridges. The second half of the work was a relief after the first half–not easy, but so much easier than the first half. For me at least.
Michelle’s 10-15 minute workout playlist only has 4 workouts in it–so not much to chose from. I plan to do the rebounder one next weekend. Not sure I am interested in the other 2.
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That’s interesting that you find the weighted parts harder. For me it’s actually easier, even with the band and 52.5 lb weight. I’m curious why that could be … I’m going to do some research and see what I can find out. Is it form? Is it muscle build in certain places? Something else??
My elbow is starting to feel quite a bit better. A combo of the needling and scraping to loosen the fascia seems to be the most effective. We shall see!
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I just googled it and there are a lot of opinions. Here is the first one I clicked on which breaks it down well.
https://uppper.com/blogs/news/hip-thrust-vs-glute-bridge-whats-the-difference
The glute bridge is done laying flat on the floor, this places a greater focus on activating the glutes, but it has a smaller range of motion. This means that you’re only able to work your hips through a limited range of motion which reduces the overall functionality of the move. It’s also a bodyweight exercise that can be done at home with no equipment. It’s typically done with a resistance band, dumbbells, or a barbell. However, it’s difficult to make progress with a glute bridge so barbell glute bridges aren’t as popular as barbell hip thrusts.
On the other hand, the hip thrust is performed with the shoulders and upper back on a bench or any platform. This allows you to push your hips from full flexion to full extension and work your glutes harder. Unlike the glute bridge, it requires some equipment, like a bench, a pair of dumbbells, a kettlebell, or a barbell. They’re much easier to make progress because you’re able to load the barbell, opposed to the glute bridge which has a limited range of motion.
Although the muscles worked are the same, the glute bridge exercise has a limited range of motion which reduces the functionality of the movement and limits the amount of weight you can push. While the hip thrust involves a full range in motion and the weight can easily be increased to continue making progress.
Here’s another one that says basically the same thing: https://liftvault.com/exercises/glute-bridge-vs-hip-thrust/
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We must have done a similar search because I was just at that liftvault site reading that same article! So it seems that it’s a range of motion thing which makes a lot of sense.
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I’m sure that’s why it feels so intense to me, because I definitely get a much larger range of motion with a hip thrust than with a bridge. In fact, while I was doing the bridges this morning I thought that when I return to this workout I should have a step at the end of my mat to elevate my feet. I know when I do the hip thrusts with my heels elevated (Naomi Joy workouts) I feel it nearly as intensely as Caroline’s hip thrusts. So I think it definitely has something to do with elevating either the back or the feet for a deeper range of motion.
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Are you planning on adding this series to your Rotations page? Thanks!
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No–my rotations page is only for rotations I created. This series is created by Caroline Girvan. You can find out more about her on the page I created for her: https://2lazy4gym.com/caroline-girvan/
She also has her own website: https://www.carolinegirvan.com/
Here is where she lists all of her programs: https://www.carolinegirvan.com/free-programs/
And here is the YouTube playlist for her Iron Series: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhu1QCKrfgPWmStsg7imo5EQ0zmkxymJ2
If you go to her community page: https://www.youtube.com/c/CarolineGirvan/community and scroll down to the program you are looking for, it has rotation calendars she created by the week.
With all of that said, I may create a rotation using the Iron Series–but I have not done that yet. When I do, it will post to my rotation page.
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ok, thanks. I have done some of her classes but not consecutively. I will watch for it if you do post one. TY 🙂
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