This is a workout from Caroline Girvan‘s CGX app. For more info on Caroline’s App, see the CGX App page.
OMG this was so tough. My quads were burning by the time we hit 13%! They were trembling before we hit 50%. By the second half of the workout I had to take multiple personal breaks in the midst of an interval. It wasn’t just me–Caroline was taking quite a few personal breaks, too. The intervals are long and the recoveries are short. In the intro, Caroline says she thinks this workout will go by quickly. It did not. At least not for me. I am definitely anticipating (and dreading) DOMS tomorrow.
This workout is done interval style. Each exercise is done for 75 seconds followed by 15 seconds of rest. 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 exercise. There is also a little bar at the bottom of the screen that counts down the entire workout time as a percentage.
Quads is 56:04 minutes (this time does not include the optional 5:55 minute warm up or the 2:13 minute intro, also optional) with a 2:30 minute stretch. Equipment: step or bench, high step or box, yoga block, heel wedges and fitness mat.
- Slow eccentric heel elevated squats (heels are elevated on heel wedges, lower slowly into squat and raise at normal tempo)
- Deadstop heel elevated squats (heels are still elevated on heel wedges, lower to bottom of squat and hold isometrically a few seconds before rising)
- Slow eccentric sissy squat (stand holding onto something for balance (Caroline is holding wall), heels are raised, torso leans back as you slowly lower knees so they almost touch the floor, raise at normal tempo)
- Regular tempo heel elevated squats
- Regular tempo sissy squats
- Slight pause quad focused Bulgarian lunge (stationary lunge, back foot is elevated on step or chair behind you, heel of front foot are elevated on heel wedge, legs are closer together than a normal lunge, lower to bottom of lunge and pause briefly before rising)
- Repeat #6 on other leg
- Slow eccentric close lunge (stationary lunge, legs are closer together than a normal lunge, heel of front foot is elevated on a heel wedge, lower slowly and raise at normal tempo)
- Repeat #8 on other leg
- Slow eccentric staggered squat (single leg squat, heel of working leg is elevated on heel wedge, back/non-working leg is in kickstand, lower slowly and raise at normal tempo)
- Repeat #10 on other leg
- Longer pause quad focused Bulgarian lunge (same as #6 but paused for longer at bottom of lunge)
- Repeat #12 on other leg
- Pause in hold close lunge (same as #8 but lower at normal speed and pause briefly at bottom of lunge)
- Repeat #14 on other leg
- Pause in hole staggered squat (same as #10 but lower at normal speed and pause briefly at bottom of lunge)
- Repeat #16 on other leg
- Regular Bulgarian lunge (stationary lunge, back leg is elevated on step or bench, front foot is on a yoga block)
- Repeat #18 on other leg
- Deadstop lunge (stationary lunges w/ front foot on yoga block, lower back knee all the way to mat so you are in kneeling lunge before raising)
- Repeat #20 on other leg
- Staggered squat to balance (single leg squat, working leg is on yoga block, back/non-working leg is in kickstand, lower to bottom of squat, as you raise out squat, lift back leg off ground)
- Repeat #22 on other leg
- Close lunge to regular lunge (front foot is elevated on yoga block, lower into a normal lunge then as you raise out of lunge, step back foot in closer and lower into a narrow/close lunge, as you raise out of lunge step foot back to normal distance back into lunge, continue alternating)
- Repeat #24 on other leg
- Lunge to squat (foot of working leg is on yoga block, other leg steps back into a reverse lunge, as you raise out of lunge, bring foot parallel and shoulder width from other leg and lower into a squat, alternate these two moves)
- (no rest) Squat to balance (one foot is still on yoga block, lower into squat and when you raise out of squat lift other foot off floor)
- 30 second rest
- Repeat #26-28 on other leg
- Step up (stand behind high step or box, place one foot on box, raise so you are standing on one leg on box then lower other leg back to floor)
- Repeat #30 on other leg
- Pistol squat for 35 seconds (single leg balance squat, heel of working leg is elevated on heel wedge, lower into squat with other leg extended in front of you; Caroline shows an option of holding onto a chair for balance)
- (no rest) Repeat #32 on other leg
- Momentum step up (same as #30 but lift onto box with force/power and lower slowly)
- Repeat #34 on other leg
20 second rest
Finisher:
- Slow to explode elevated squat for 60 seconds (heels are elevated on heel wedges, lower slowly to bottom of squat then raise out of squat with power)
- (no rest) Continue #1 but at regular tempo for 15 seconds
- (no rest) 3/4 reps for 10 seconds (continue #2 but only raise 3/4 of the way so there is constant tension in muscles)
