CGXmas Day 1: Glutes & Hamstrings

This is a workout from Caroline Girvan‘s CGX app. For more info on Caroline’s App, see the CGX App page. This is a short but tough glute and hamstring workout. The first half especially. By the third time through the first superset my lower body was begging for break. And it got it with the body weight hip thrusts. Or so I thought but pretty soon those started to burn, too! I paired this workout with her CGXmas Day 19: Supersetted Quads to work my entire lower body.

This workout is done interval style. The interval and recovery times vary so they are noted below in the breakdown. There is a timer in the upper right hand side of the screen counting down your intervals and recoveries. During the recovery Caroline previews the next exercises. There is also a little bar at the bottom of the screen that counts down the entire workout time as a percentage.

Glutes & Hamstrings is 26:53 minutes (this time does not include the optional 9 minute warm up or the 1:52 minute intro, also optional) with a 2 minute stretch. Equipment: dumbbells, heel wedges, a chair or bench and a fitness mat. Caroline is using one 17.5kg/38.5 pound and 15kg/33 pound dumbbells. The weights listed below are what I used.

1. Staggered RDL for 45 seconds (single leg deadlift, front toe is elevated on wedge, back/non-working leg is in kickstand) (one 40# DB)
2. Rear forward tilt lunge for 45 seconds (rear step back lunge, toe is still elevated on wedge, torso is hinged forward over front thigh) (one 30# DB)
3. 30 second rest
4. Repeat #1-3 on other leg
5. Repeat #1-4 two more times
6. x1 leg hip thrust for 45 seconds (lean back against your bench or step, knees bent w/one foot on floor, other leg raised, raise and lower hips slowly)
7. 1/2 reps same leg for 30 seconds (only lower hips halfway)
8. Repeat #6 for 15 seconds
9. 30 second rest
10. Repeat #6-9 on other leg
11. Repeat #6-10

Finisher: (4 minutes)

1. Rear step tilt lunge for 45 seconds (no DBs, reverse step back lunges, front toes are elevated on wedge, torso is hinged forward over front thigh)
2. Paused static lunge for 45 seconds (toes are still on wedge, stationary lunge, lower to bottom of lunge and pause briefly, torso still hinged forward over front thigh)
3. Repeat #1 for 15 seconds
4. 15 second rest
5. Repeat #1-3 on other leg