CGX: P.E. Program Day 41: ‘Mostly unilateral work!’ (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 was a tough lower body workout that fried my hamstrings and glutes. And the finisher! I was struggling to keep my legs wide so there was constant tension on the band! I definitely needed to add on a longer stretch at the end.

This is mostly a superset workout though there are some straight sets in the second half of the workout. For the supersets you will do 2 exercises back to back before you get a 30 second recovery. The interval times vary and are noted below. 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 progress bar along the bottom of the screen that counts down the entire workout time as a percentage.

Lower Body is 46:59 minutes (this time does not include the optional 5:55 minute warm up or 2:46 minute intro, also optional) with a 1:45 minute stretch. Equipment: dumbbells, barbell, glute/booty band, stability ball, and fitness mat. Caroline’s barbell is at 48kg/106 pound. Caroline is also using 30kg/66 pound, 15kg/33 pound and 10kg/22 pound dumbbells. The weights listed below are what I used.

1. Staggered hip thrust for 60 seconds (lean back against bench or step, barbell or heavy DB on hips, one knee is bent with foot on floor in line with knee, other leg is extended out further with heel on floor) (barbell @ 90#)
2. (no rest) x1 leg hip thrust for 60 seconds (bodyweight, lean back against your bench or step, knees bent w/one foot on floor in line with knee, other leg raised, raise and lower hips slowly)
3. 30 second rest
4. Repeat #1-3 on other leg
5. Staggered RDL for 60 seconds (single leg deadlift, toes of working leg are on heel wedge) (one 35# DB)
6. (no rest) Forward tilt paused rear lunge for 60 seconds (toes are still elevated on wedge, step back reverse lunges with torso hinged forward over front thigh, pause briefly at bottom of lunge) (one 25# DB)
7. 30 second rest
8. Repeat #5-7 on other leg
9. Repeat #1-8 two more times
10. 1/2 rep forward tilt for 60 seconds (static/stationary lunge, toes of front foot are on heel wedge, torso is hinged forward over front thigh, lower to bottom of lunge but only raise halfway)
11. 30 second rest
12. Repeat #10 & 11 on other leg
13. Repeat #10-12 but full range forward tilt stationary lunges
14. Sumo deadlift squat for 60 seconds (legs are wide with toes turned out, hold one heavy DB by bar with both hands, torso is hinged forward deadlift style) (one 65# DB first 2 sets, one 60# DB last set)
15. (no rest) 3/4 reps for 15 seconds (same as #14 but only lift 3/4 of the way so there is constant tension in thighs (one 65# DB first 2 sets, one 60# DB last set)
16. 45 second rest
17. Repeat #14-16 two more times (only 30 second recovery before the finisher)

Finisher:

1. Banded hip thrust for 15 seconds (lean back against step/bench, knees bent and feet on floor in line w/ knees, booty/glute band around thighs just above knees, legs are open wide so there is constant tension on band, raise and lower hips)
2. (no rest) Keep hips lifted isometrically at top of thrust for 15 seconds
3. (no rest) Repeat #1 & 2 three more times
4. (no rest) Repeat #1