43MIN Glutes & Hamstrings // Day 21: HR12WEEK 5.0

43 Min Glutes & Hamstrings is Day 21 in Heather Robertson‘s HR12Week 5.0 program.

This workout starts Phase 2 of the program and Heather encourages you to lift heavier dumbbells. She said the pace will be slower so you will do less reps. I found this to be an excellent lower body strength workout. Every muscle in the lower body is worked with extra focus on the hamstrings and glutes. I did find the stretch puzzling. Rather than stretching out everything and hitting the muscles that got the most work (glutes and hamstrings), the stretch focuses primarily on the quads. I stayed on the mat a bit longer and added on a figure 4 stretch and some happy baby.

This is a circuit based workout. There are 3 circuits and each circuit is done 3 times. The exercises are done interval style: 40 seconds of work followed by 20 seconds of recovery. The finisher is only done once and each of those exercises are done for 45 seconds followed by 15 seconds of rest. 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. At the bottom of the screen during the preview, there is a small graphic with a weight recommendation–light, medium or heavy.

Glutes & Hamstrings is 43:02 minutes; 1:15 minute intro, 4:25 minute warm up and 4 minute stretch. Equipment: dumbbells, yoga block and fitness mat. Heather recommends medium to heavy dumbbells (25 to 55 pound). The weights listed below are what I used.

Circuit 1:

1. Kickstand deadlift (single leg deadlift, back/non-working legs is in kickstand) (one 40# DB)
2. Repeat #1 on other leg
3. Romanian deadlift (hex deadlift bar @ 100#)
4. Repeat #1-3 two more times

30 second rest

Circuit 2:

1. Side lunge (stationary side lunge, hold one DB goblet style) (one 35# DB)
2. Repeat #1 on other leg
3. Alternating side lunges (step out side lunges, still holding one DB goblet style) (one 30# DB)
4. Repeat #1-3 two more times

30 second rest

Circuit 3:

1. Elevated bridge (single leg bridge, one foot is on yoga block, DB rests on hips, other leg is raised to ceiling) (one 55# DB)
2. Repeat #1 on other leg
3. Butterfly bridge pulse (double leg bridge, soles of feet are together, knees are open to sides, raise hips to top of bridge and pulse upward) (one 55# DB)
4. Repeat #1-3 two more times

30 second rest

Finisher: (each exercise is done for 45 second followed by 15 seconds of rest)

1. Curtsy lunge (cross back lunge holding one DB at same side shoulder as stationary working leg) (one 25# DB)
2. Curtsy pulse (stationary/static curtsy lunge holding one DB goblet style, lower to bottom of lunge and pulse) (one 25# DB)
3. Repeat #1 & 2 on other leg
4. Alternating curtsy lunges (one 25# DB)

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