This workout is part of Cathe Friedrich‘s STS 2.0 program which contains 26 workouts. I am doing the 12 week STS 2.0 rotation. This was an excellent lower body strength workout. Cathe hits every muscle in your lower body then uses the stability ball to finish you off. And man did she burn out my hamstrings and quads at the end. My quads were sore for a few days after this workout! For most of the workout you get one minute of rest between exercises. For some you get less and that is noted in the breakdown below. For the side lunges you get 30 seconds between each set. For the heel raises and the stability ball work you only get brief rests between sets. For the barbell hip thrust below (#19 below), Cathe’s crew show several variations–someone doing a bridge on the floor and someone using a heavy dumbbell rather than a barbell.
I really like the long rests. It enabled me to challenge myself with the weights I used for each set and come back strong for the next set. I was a little worried on some of them that I would burn out but the rests go a long way. I am really challenging myself with the weight I use for the hip thrusts and man was I feeling it in this workout! It did not get any easier the second time I did this workout. 70 pounds is definitely the heaviest I have used in recent years for hip thrusts and the final reps of the 3rd set are a struggle. But that means I am using the right weight! **I have now completed the 12 week rotation and returned to this workout. I was able to lift heavier on more than half of the exercises, including the hip thrusts.**
Lower Body 1 is 51:48 minutes; 4:30 minute warm up and 2:35 minute stretch. Equipment: step bench or weight bench, dumbbells, a barbell, 2 barbell plates (independent of barbell), stability ball and a fitness mat. You will use light dumbbells during the warm up (10, 12 & 15 pound dumbbells). You will also need something to protect your hips during the barbell thrusts. Either a mat, a folded up towel or a barbell pad.
- Squats w/ DBs at sides, 10 reps (Cathe is using 30# DBs; I used 37.5# DBs)
- Repeat #1 (Cathe is using 35# DBs; I used 37.5# DBs)
- Squats w/ DBs at shoulders, 10 reps (Cathe is using 20# DBs; I used 35# DBs)
- Repeat #3
- Barbell deadlift, 10 reps (Cathe is using 75# barbell; my barbell was @ 90#)
- Repeat #5 two more times
- Alternating dumbbell rear lunge, 16 reps (Cathe is using 25# DBs; I used 25# DBs)
- Rear lunge, 8 reps same leg (Cathe is using 25# DBs; I used 25# DBs)
- (brief rest–about 5 seconds) Repeat #8 on other leg
- Static lunge, 8 reps (Cathe is using 25# DBs; I used 27.5# DBs)
- (brief rest) Repeat #10 on other leg
- Close grip sumo squat, 10 reps (stand with legs wide, toes turned out, hold one DB by bar with both hands) (Cathe is using one 50# DB; I used one 75# DB)
- Repeat #12 but 1.5 rep tempo, 6 reps (lower to bottom of squat, raise halfway, lower to bottom of squat, raise all the way) (Cathe is using one 50# DB; I used one 75# DB)
- Repeat #13
- Side lunge, 8 reps on one leg then 8 reps on the other leg (hold one DB in one hand, reach DB down toward foot when in lunge) (Cathe is using one 25# DB; I used one 35# DB)
- 30 second rest
- Repeat #15 & 16
- Static side lunge, 8 reps on one leg then 8 reps on the other leg (stationary side lunges) (Cathe is using 25# DBs; I used one 35# DB)
- Barbell hip thrust, 12 reps (lean back against chair/bench, barbell on hips, knees are bent at 90 degrees and feet are on floor, thrust hips/glutes upward and lower slowly) (Cathe’s barbell is at 75#; my barbell was at 80#)
- Repeat #19 but lift and lower at a slow and steady tempo, 10 reps
- Repeat #19 for 8 reps
- Barbell calf raise, 20 reps (raise onto toes) (Cathe is using 65# barbell; my barbell was at 65#)
- (brief rest) Repeat #22 but with barbell plates on floor, place toes on plates and heels start on floor, 12 reps
- (brief rest) Repeat #23
- (brief rest) Repeat #22 for 15 reps
- Hamstring roll in, 24 reps (lay on mat, place heels on stability ball and keep legs straight, raise hips then roll ball into glutes and roll back out); brief rest then do 10 more reps
- (brief rest) Straight leg quad lift 15 reps each leg (sit on mat with one leg extended straight, stability ball sets on shin against toe, lift and lower straight leg)
- (brief rest) Repeat #27 but this time stability ball rests on top of toe, 12 reps each leg
Premixes:
Express #1: One Set Only 30:56
Express #2: Two Sets Maximum 41:30
Mish Mosh: Full Workout 51:17
Extreme: Extra Sets 59:16
Great workout. I’ve always appreciated your reviews and have been following you on and off for years. I am doing the STS 2.0 12 week rotation. I did Lower Body 1 this morning and yowza. I loved it. I almost skipped it and was going to do my own lower body routine. Glad I stuck with the rotation. This is a great workout. My quads were toast by afternoon and I needed a nap. :)) So far loving 2.0.
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I am glad you didn’t skip it! Cathe has outdone herself with STS 2.0. They are some of the best workouts I have done in years. It has been a long time since I have looked forward to working out this much!
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These are the type of workouts I’ve been craving. Paused for longer rests with the calf work. Not sure why she needed to whip through those. Guess cause it’s a smaller (so endurance?) Muscle?
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They are perfect, aren’t they? I seriously did not think I would like anything as much as Caroline Girvan’s Iron Series (and a few of her other similar workouts) but STS 2.0 is even better.
That’s what Cathe says during some of the workouts–you don’t need as much rest on endurance level exercises. She also applies that to many of the resistance band and body weight exercises. I don’t know if I agree with that tho. I did her Body Parts Legs yesterday and there are so many reps of calf raises at the end with no rest that it was seriously cramping my calf muscles.
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Happy Tuesday to you!
Now that I’ve gone through all of the single muscle group workouts, I wanted to comment on a couple of things.
1. Like you’ve already mentioned with the full body and body group workouts, the full minute rest allows you to really challenge yourself with heavy weights. I’m REALLY loving this aspect of STS2 series!
2. I’m tacking on bonuses where available for extra burnout. I think they are key in making sure the muscle is fully fatigued.
3. The hardest workouts are a surprise to me: bis and tris! I’d have never thought I’d be so sore and well worked. But i think it’s easier to isolate these muscles and so the entire workout is concentrated on them vs some compounding. The “easiest” has been shoulders for me. I’m lifting heavy so weight isn’t the issue. I know Cathe has had shoulder issues in the past (and recent surgery) and I’m sure she’s tailored the exercises around that to some degree. But I am absolutely loving the single group action for everything!
4. I have 2 days where I tack on 10-15 min of cardio and 2 days of abs. Initially I had Saturday slated for bis and a 20 min FB strength add-on (minus bis) to try and hit each muscle group one more time, but I’ve nixed the add-on. The reason for this is that my grip was shot from the bis. I thought I could maybe pair it with the shoulder workout but even after doing shoulders today my forearms are tired so I’ve decided not to attempt a FB add-on at all because I wouldn’t be able to lift nearly as heavy as I’d like for fear of losing my grip.
I’m very much looking forward to your reviews of these workouts to see if you find the same challenges or maybe different ones. I hope all is well with you, my friend!
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Thanks for all of the info. I start phase 3 next week. I’m kind of looking forward to it but I really like Phase 2 so I almost hate to leave it!
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I am not surprised that the bicep and tricep workouts left you the sorest. Spending so much time on smaller muscle groups is bound to do that. Personally, I am not fond of devoting an entire workout to the biceps or the triceps (unless you combine the two and then only occasionally). I follow the New Rules of Lifting philosophy. Don’t know if you’ve ever read any of those books. The philosophy is that you are always using those smaller muscle groups to assist when working the larger muscle groups so they do not need as much focused work. If you focus on them as equally as you focus on the large muscle groups then you create imbalances because that means they are actually getting MORE work than the other muscle groups. Though I don’t recall Caroline ever stating that, it is clear by her workout programs that she follows that philosophy, too. Though she doesn’t neglect the bis and tris, they do not get as much work as the larger muscle groups. So, tho I can definitely see myself returning to STS 2.0, I probably will not return to the bi and tri workouts very often after I finish the 12 week rotation.
I have shoulder problems, too, so I am always conscious of what I am lifting on shoulder exercises. I got a rotator cuff surgery in 2020 that made things worse! So, though I am always trying to get stronger, that is the muscle group I am most conservative with and always take weight increases slow.
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I had the same thought as you regarding Caroline. I was thinking that I had only occasionally seen single bi or tri workouts (bi less often than tri) and that when she did tri it was generally part of a push-up-palooza where the chest got a lot of action. I did get the book you reviewed (asked hubs to get it for me) and I’ve started it but am only a few chapters in at this point. What you’re saying about those smaller muscle groups makes a lot of sense, though. I can certainly feel my tris working when I do pullovers, for instance!
All that said, though, I think STS2 has certainly met my expectations. It’s every I was hoping it’d be in terms of building on the first STS foundation. 😁
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