This is a workout from Caroline Girvan‘s CGX app. For more info on Caroline’s App, see the CGX App page.
This workout kicked my butt! But it definitely depends on the weights you are using. It is made up of one long circuit consisting of 3 basic lower body exercises: squats, deadlifts and hip thrusts. They are done with and without a glute band, or in the case of the squat, with and without heel wedges. And the intervals are long, making this more of an endurance level workout. This circuit is done 3 times. I should have taken a cue from the fact Caroline was using lighter weights than usual. But I started out using the weights I would normally use for each exercise and by the second circuit I was struggling. Which is when I started paying closer attention to the weight Caroline was lifting. The final circuit I dropped to lighter dumbbells for all of the exercises. It was still tough, mostly because I had pre-fatigued myself the first 2 circuits! But everything except the hip thrusts were more doable. Lightening my barbell did not seem to make the hip thrusts any easier! And it wasn’t just me. Caroline was struggling throughout the workout so it was kicking her a$$, too.
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 corner of the screen counting down your intervals and recoveries. During the recoveries Caroline previews the next exercise. There is also a progress bar at the bottom of the screen, counting down the workout time as a percentage.
Lower Body is 45:38 minutes (this time does not include the optional 5:55 minute warm up or the 2:26 minute intro, also optional) with a 1:45 minute stretch. Equipment: dumbbells and a barbell, booty/glute band, heel wedges and a fitness mat. Caroline’s barbell is at 48kg/105.8 pounds. She is also using 12.5kg/27.5 pound and 10kg/22 pound dumbbells. The weights listed below are what I used.
- High squats for 75 seconds (squats w/ DBs held at shoulders) (30# DBs first 2 circuits, 25# DBs last circuit)
- 45 second rest
- Banded hip thrusts for 90 seconds (lean back against your bench or step with barbell on hips, knees are bent and heels are in line with knees, glute band is around thighs just above knees, legs are open wide enough so there is constant tension on band, raise and lower hips slowly) (barbell@ 105# first 2 circuits, barbell @ 86# last circuit)
- 30 second rest
- Banded RDL for 75 seconds (Romanian deadlift w/ glute band around thighs, just above knees, legs are open wide enough so there is constant tension on band) (hex deadlift bar @ 100# first two circuits, 30# DBs last circuit)
- 30 second rest
- Heel elevated squat 75 seconds (same as #1 but heels are elevated on heel wedges)(30# DBs first 2 circuits, 25# DBs last circuit)
- 30 second rest
- Hip thrust for 90 seconds (same as #3 but no booty/glute band) (barbell@ 105# first 2 circuits, barbell @ 86# last circuit)
- 30 second rest
- RDL for 75 seconds (same as #5 but w/out booty/glute band) (hex deadlift bar @ 100# first two circuits, 30# DBs last circuit)
- 30 second rest
- Body weight banded hip thrust for 60 seconds (same as #3 but this time w/out barbell)
- 30 second rest
- Repeat #1-14 two more times
Finisher: (4 minutes)
- Bodyweight squat, 15 reps
- Close squat, 15 reps (narrow squat w/ legs/feet close together, heels are elevated on wedges)
- Repeat #1 & 2 as many times as possible in 4 minutes
