FUEL Series 30 Min GIANT LEG DAY Workout – Dumbbells | Day 1

30 Min Giant Leg Day Workout – Dumbbells is Day 1  in Caroline Girvan‘s Fuel Series. OMG. This workout was killer. This is a metabolic cardio + strength workout. The focus is the lower body and Caroline fried mine. By the end of every giant set my lower body was fatiguing but Giant Set 4 was the worst. OMG–1:30 minutes of Bulgarian lunges ending with 30 seconds of lunge hops. My legs were toast! Most of the giant sets have one plyometric/cardio move to really spike your heart rate. This workout is made up of giant sets, which is 4 exercises done back to back without any rest. Each exercise is done for 30 seconds (2 minutes of work before you get a rest). Between each giant set you get 30 seconds of well earned (and needed!) rest. There is a timer in the upper right hand side of the screen counting down your intervals and recovery. During the recovery Caroline previews the next giant set. There is also a little bar at the bottom of the screen that counts down the entire workout time as a percentage. This workout is done to music with plenty of visual cues as well as “dings” to keep you on track. Since this is the first workout in the series, the intro is longer because Caroline gives a summary of the entire program and what to expect.

30 Min Giant Leg Day Workout – Dumbbells is 38:58 minutes; 4:26 minute intro, no warm up and 3:30 minute stretch. Equipment: dumbbells, chair and fitness mat. Caroline is using 15kg/33.1 pound and 12.5kg/27.6 pound dumbbells. The weights listed below are what I used.

Giant Set 1:

1. High squat (squat w/ DBs at shoulders) (25# DBs)
2. Alternating reverse lunge (25# DBs)
3. Repeat #2 but w/out DBs–body weight
4. Sprawl (plank burpee–start standing, place hands on floor and jump feet back to plank, jump feet back into hands and stand)
5. 30 second rest
6. Repeat #1-5 two more times

Giant Set 2:

1. Lunge 2x dumbbells (static/stationary lunge w/ a DB in each hand) (20# DBs)
2. Lunge to squat (alternate one reverse lunge w/ on squat, hold one DB at shoulder) (one 20# DB)
3. Repeat #2 but w/out DBs–body weight
4. Lunge to rear foot lift (stationary/static body weight lunges, but raise back foot off the floor at top of lunge
5. 30 second rest
6. Repeat #1-5 on other side of body

Giant Set 3:

1. RDL (slow eccentric) (Romanian deadlift, lower slowly and raise normal speed) (35# DBs)
2. 1.5 reps (lower to bottom of deadlift, raise halfway, lower to bottom of deadlift, raise all the way) (35# DBs)
3. RDL to squat (alternate one deadlift with one squat) (25# DBs)
4. Squat to plank (start in squat, place hands on floor and jump feet out to plank, jump feet back into squat and raise hands on floor–you never stand)
5. 30 second rest
6. Repeat #1-5

Giant Set 4:

1. Bulgarian lunge x2 dumbbells (stationary/static lunge, back foot is elevated on chair behind you, hold one DB at each shoulder) (20# DBs)
2. Repeat #1 but with one DB (one 20# DB)
3. Repeat #2 but with no DBs/body weight
4. Lunge hops / static lunge (in stationary/static lunge, lower and hop when you rise–low impact alternative is to just do fast static/stationary body weight lunges)
5. 30 second rest
6. Repeat #1-5 on other side of body

Giant Set 5:

1. Curtsy lunge to one side (hold one DB at shoulder of working leg) (one 25# DB)
2. Repeat #1 on other side of body
3. Alternating curtsy lunges (hold one DB in both hands at chest) (one 25# DB)
4. Lateral skaters (alternating body weight cross-back/curtsy lunges, tap one hand to floor while in lunge)
5. 30 second rest
6. Repeat #1-5

Finisher Giant Set:

1. Squat to plank (start in squat, place hands on floor and jump feet out to plank, jump feet back into squat and raise hands on floor–you never stand)
2. Low squat walk (hold squat isometrically while walking forward and back)
3. Sprawl (plank burpee–start standing, place hands on floor and jump feet back to plank, jump feet back into hands and stand)
4. Body weight squats

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