Lower Body Strength Workout (Unilateral Training) is Day 26 in Heather Robertson‘s 12 Week 4.0 program. I love unilateral workouts and this is a very good one but since it was created by Heather, there is something you need to be cognizant of before you start this (or any of Heather’s) unilateral workouts. She does not mirror the home exerciser. So if you the screen says you are working the right leg but you follow Heather, you are actually working the left leg. This is a problem with her unilateral workouts because the object is to do all of the exercises on one side of the body before repeating them all on the other side of the body. Unfortunately, she always seems to start the workout with an exercise that mirroring doesn’t matter (she is turned to the side). So you work the side the screen tells you to work but then the next exercise she is facing you and if you mirror her you are now working the wrong side, defeating the purpose of the unilateral concept (at least in the way she constructs the workout). Anyway, I am well aware of this now so any time I see “unilateral” in one of Heather’s workouts, I make a choice–do I want to mirror Heather or just follow what the screen says? If I want to mirror her then I work the opposite side of the body that the screen tells me.
This is an excellent lower body strength workout full of effective exercises to work your entire lower body. This workout has 3 circuits. The first circuit is a glute activation circuit using a glute/booty band. Circuits 2 & 3 are strength circuits using dumbbells. The exercises are all done interval style. For the first circuit the intervals are 40 seconds of work followed by 10 seconds of rest. For the last two circuits the intervals are 45 seconds of work followed by 15 seconds of recovery. There is a timer in the lower right hand corner of the screen counting down your intervals and recoveries. During the recoveries Heather previews the next exercise. If dumbbells are used, at the bottom of the screen during the preview, there is a small graphic with a weight recommendation–light, medium or heavy.
Lower Body Strength Workout (Unilateral Training) is 36:50 minutes; 45 second intro, 2 minute warm up and 2:45 minute stretch. Equipment: heavy dumbbells, yoga block, resistance loop and fitness mat. The weights listed below are what I used. After the warm up, the band is already around Heather’s thighs, just above her knees. You need to move quickly because once the warm up is complete, you have 10 seconds to get your booty band around your thighs and get into position on your mat for the first exercise.
Circuit 1: (glute band is used entire circuit)
- Donkey kick (place glute band around thighs above knees, get on all 4s, raise bent leg up behind you, pushing sole of foot up to ceiling)
- Rear pulse (still on all 4s, extend one leg out straight behind you, pulse straight leg upward)
- Rainbow kick (still on hands and knees, leg is extended straight behind you, keep leg straight and tap toe out to side of body, raise leg leg in an arc (like a rainbow) over to other side of body and tap foot to floor outside of other leg)
- Side leg lift (lay on one hip and same side elbow, top leg is extended straight, raise and lower top leg)
- Clamshell (still on one hip and forearm, both knees are bent, keeping insoles of feet together, open and close knees)
- Single leg bridge (lay on back, one knee is bent w/ foot on mat close to glutes, other leg is extended to ceiling, raise and lower hips)
- Repeat #1-6 on other leg
30 second rest
Circuit 2:
- Split lunge (static/stationary lunge, hold one DB at same side shoulder as front leg, back foot is elevated on yoga block) (one 30# DB)
- Side lunge (static/stationary side lunge, stand with legs wide holding one DB in one hand, lower into side lunge while reaching DB toward floor) (one 30# DB)
- Step squat (stand holding one DB goblet style, step out to side into a squat) (one 40# DB)
- Single leg kickstand (single leg deadlift, back, non-working leg is in kickstand, hold one DB in same side hand as working leg) (one 40# DB)
- Sprinter lunge (stand with weight on one leg, step other leg back into a lunge while leaning torso forward and tapping floor beside front foot, bring back foot forward into a knee raise)
- Repeat #1-5 on other leg
30 second rest
Circuit 3:
- Single leg calf raise (place the toes of one foot on yoga block, raise other leg, lower heel of foot on yoga block toward floor then raise onto toes, hold onto something for balance)
- Tick tock lunge (pendulum lunge, alternate one forward lunge w/ one reverse lunge (same leg), hold one DB at shoulder of working leg) (one 25# DB)
- Single leg deadlift (hold one DB in same side hand as working leg, hinge forward into stiff leg single leg deadlift while raising other leg up behind you) (one 30# DB)
- Curtsy lunge (cross-back lunge holding one DB goblet style, at top of lunge do a knee raise) (one 30# DB)
- Stand up & kick (start in high double kneeling on mat w/ hands behind head, step one leg forward into kneeling lunge, bring other leg forward as you raise to standing and do a straight leg front kick, tapping opposite hand to foot, as you lower leg, return leg behind you so you are back in kneeling lunge w/ both hands behind head then bring other leg back into starting position of high double kneeling)
- Repeat #1-5 on other leg
For more info on Heather Robertson’s workouts and other (free) streaming workouts I’ve sampled and reviewed, check out my Streaming page.
