Alright! Back at you with another workout review.
This week, I chose to do a workout from Fitness Blender (love that site!). So without further ado, here is some information about it and my review of it.
What and why
After doing HIIT workouts for the last two reviews, I decided to switch it up and choose a lower body one. Fitness Blender has so many good ones that I have been wanting to try so I picked from the list I created a while back.
I have never really liked lower body workouts but they have been growing on me in the last year or so. My dislike of them was never because I was worried that my legs would get huge- it was because of how much more taxing they seemed than upper body and cardio workouts.
They were just really unpleasant to me!
Now that I have been doing them consistently and seeing the results- I have begun to appreciate them a bit more. I also recognize that this type of workout is important because it keeps us strong which in turn helps us with our daily, functional movements.
In short, I will NEVER skip leg day (unless I am sick or something).
About the workout
All of the Fitness Blender workouts are organized by body part worked, duration, training type, estimated calorie burn, difficulty level (out of five) and type of equipment needed. This helps one find the type workout that will sounds good to them.
The workout I chose is called, “Lower Body Strength with Glute Focused Burnout Round.” It is 43 minutes in duration (including warmup and cool down), can burn between 259-475 (according to them; not definitive), has a difficulty level of 4/5 and requires dumbbells.
There are three groups of exercises and each group includes four different weightlifting moves. The following is how the exercises are done:
- Groups one and two- The four exercises are split into two supersets. Each exercise in the superset is done for 45 seconds straight with a rest of 15 seconds until moving on to the next one. The supersets are all done for three sets.
- Group three- This is the glute burnout group. Each exercise is done for 60 seconds with a 15 second rest between them. They are only done for one set each.
Some of the exercises included in the groups are various squats, deadlifts and lunges. In terms of recommended weight, they leave that up to you and your goals/wants. For example, if you are trying to build up your legs-use heavy weights and do slow movements.
How it went for me
I really wanted to do this particular lower body one because it seemed straightforward in terms of directions and I felt I would get a great workout in with it.
I decided to get in 15 minutes of cardio beforehand because I am used to doing so before my own workouts. This may or may not have been my downfall.
Since I don’t have specific goals for my body aside from staying in shape, I picked the weights I usually use for my workouts. Unfortunately (or fortunately?), I had to move down a little in weight once I got to the second group of exercises.
Holy cow!
My legs were pretty much burnt toast after I got to the first set of alternating side lunges. It had me questioning if I am actually in shape at all. Or maybe I was weak because I started my period a few hours before and was bleeding pretty heavily? I think I am going to go with the latter as an excuse to make myself feel better.
Anyways…
I pushed through the workout despite my burnt toast legs feeling like they were going to completely crumble into black flakes at any moment. There were a few times where I had to rest longer than what was written into the workout but oh well, right?
Staggered squats? Yeah, no thanks. Also, the 60 seconds of bridges during the glute burnout round may or may not have had me swearing at the 49 seconds mark.
The cool down offered very little “cooling” for me. That meant that I had to do some gentler moving around after the five minutes were up.
When it was all said and done, I ended the workout timer on my favorite fitness watch. My total calorie burn was 330. This was a bit lower than I thought it would be but I have to remember that I am not a huge person- or maybe the watch is wrong, who knows.
Here are the pros and cons of this workout for me:
Pros-
- Easy to follow directions.
- Provides a great workout.
- Is customizable.
- Can burn a good amount of calories.
- Not too long of a workout.
Cons-
- I hate staggered squats.
All in all, I give this workout a 4.8/5 in likeability and 5/5 in difficulty.
Who do I recommend it for?
Here are the types of people I think this Fitness Blender workout would be great for:
- Great for a person who doesn’t have a lot of time but still wants an intense workout.
- Great for a person who doesn’t have a lot of space in their home to do workouts in.
- Great for a person who needs to change up their lower body workouts.
- Great for a person who wants a workout with simple directions.
- Great for a person who has a good diet already and wants to see some additional, positive changes in their body.
- Great for a person who has adjustable dumbbells or dumbbells of different weights at home.
Who don’t I recommend this workout for?
Here are the types of people I don’t think this Fitness Blender workout would be great for:
- Not that great for people who enjoy long workouts.
- Not that great for people who are new to weightlifting.
- Not that great for people who are just starting to workout in general.
- Not that great for people who don’t have weights around.
A final word
This is a wonderful and intense lower body workout. It will really get your muscles working and you will most likely be sore the next day if you give it your all. It is my plan to revisit this one in the near future.
Let me know in the comments if you have tried this workout and tell me what you think of it.
Thanks for reading!
You can find the workout here: https://www.fitnessblender.com/videos/lower-body-strength-with-glute-focused-burnout-round-43-minute-butt-and-thigh-workout
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