CGX: P.E. Program Day 27: ‘Variety in varying planes’ (Lower Body)

This is a workout from Caroline Girvan‘s CGX app. For more info on Caroline’s App, see the CGX App page.

This week begins the Post-Exhaust half of the P.E. Program. For me, it probably wasn’t the best introduction. Stationary and Bulgarian lunges are NOT my favorite exercises and this workout contains a lot of them. But it is a very solid lower body workout. Caroline fried my legs. She was burning out, too. It is different from the first half of the program (pre-exhaust). They are still all superset workouts but for this half of the superset you can lift heavy then you do a bodyweight version and/or some other type of exercise to finish off the muscle groups you just worked. Caroline used other techniques, too, to fry the muscles: you do two Bulgarian lunge supersets on the same leg, one right after the other, before moving on to lateral lunges. It was a tough workout but I did enjoy it more than the Exhaust half of this program.

This is a superset workout. You will do 2 exercises back to back before you get a recovery. 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 superset. There is also a bar along the bottom of the screen that counts down the entire workout time as a percentage.

Lower Body is 48:04 minutes (this time does not include the optional 5:55 minute warm up or 3:15 minute intro, also optional) with a 1:45 minute stretch. Equipment: dumbbells, chair/bench, stability ball, and fitness mat. Caroline is using 20kg/44 pound and 12.5kg/27.5 pound dumbbells. The weights listed below are what I used.

1. Static lunge for 60 seconds (stationary lunges) (35# DBs)
2. (no rest) Bodyweight static lunge for 30 seconds
3. 30 second rest
4. Repeat #1-3 on other side of body
5. Repeat #1-4
6. Bulgarian lunge for 60 seconds (static/stationary lunge w/ back foot elevated on step or chair, hold one DB at same side shoulder of front leg) (one 30# DB)
7. (no rest) Bodyweight Bulgarian lunge for 30 seconds
8. 30 second rest
9. Repeat #6-8 on other side of body
10. Lateral lunge for 60 seconds (static/stationary side lunge, hold one DB in both hands at chest) (one 30# DB)
11. (no rest) 3/4 reps bodyweight lateral lunge for 30 seconds (lower to bottom of side lunge but only raise 3/4 of the way so there is constant tension on legs)
12. 30 second rest
13. Repeat #10-12 on other side of body
14. Repeat #6-8 twice
15. Repeat #10-13
16. Repeat #14 on other side of body
17. Repeat #10-13
18. Ball roll out for 60 seconds (lay on back on mat, heels on stability ball, raise hips and keep them elevated, roll ball toward glutes then back out)
19. (no rest) Half reps for 30 seconds (same position as #18 but only roll ball out partially
20. 30 second rest
21. High squat for 60 seconds (DBs held at shoulders) (30# DBs)
22. (no rest) Squat jumps for 30 seconds
23. 30 second rest
24. Repeat #18-23 two more times (after final superset you only get a 10 second rest before finisher)

Finisher: (all body weight, no rest/recoveries)

1. Hold squat isometrically for 15 seconds
2. Full range squat for 15 seconds
3. Repeat #1 & 2 two more times