Cathe Live Review: Glutes & Thighs (#293)
Glutes & Thighs is a pure strength workout focused on the lower body. This is one of Cathe’s longer workouts, clocking it at an hour, which I love. I found it an excellent workout and really enjoyed it.
The workout consists of four groups of three exercises that are each repeated one more time before moving onto the next group. However, Cathe adds a bonus exercise to the first round of the first group so this has four exercises. This apparently was a blooper though so she does not repeat the uneven squats off the step in the second round.
The strength moves are done standing, with or without the high step, and on the floor. The whole routine is fairly metabolic and I got a reasonable cardio effect from it. The moves are generally done at a controlled pace so you can really heavy up on some of them, if you want to. They are also not too high rep often 16 – 20 reps but with higher reps for the floorwork. Cathe did actually use 20 pound dumbbells, for two moves, as she is no longer limited by what dumbbells they have available for the whole class. The moves are a mix of more traditional standing lower body exercises, more metabolic moves using bodyweight, such as, forward / back lunges or side warrior lunges, and a few floor work moves. I found these provided lots of variety for working the muscles effectively and I was definitely starting to feel it by the end.
The last round includes two floor work moves. Cathe put a little twist on the one leg glute presses, as she had you move the leg that is in the air forward a few inches. Wow the difference this tiny change made as I was feeling these so much more, particularly when Cathe added on bonus reps on the second side for the first set! On that note, Cathe’s counting wasn’t always even, from one side to the other, on several of the moves so I have noted the differences below.
(One thing to note, although I said in the review of #292 Low Impact Cardio Muscle that I thought the stretches were a little longer, in the last few Lives, this is definitely not the case here! You only get a 2 minute stretch at the end of this one, which did not feel sufficient given the work we had just done so I added a few extra on the end. I think the fact that Cathe’s music ran out at the end, meant that she then rushed it a little bit).
Overall, this is a fantastic and effective lower body strength workout and one I will definitely be returning to.
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The Workout
Glutes & Thighs is a pure strength workout for the lower body consisting of four rounds of three exercises, which are each repeated once more.
What You Need to Know
(Rating scale – 1= lowest & 5 = highest).
The Moves
Glutes & Thighs is 60 minutes long and originally aired on 16th April 2020 (#293). The workout starts with a 5:30 minute warm-up, before a quick water break and then moving into the first round. The high step is set up with three risers (10”) at the start of the workout.
Group 1a
Forward & back lunges (pendulum lunges) – 4x 4’s, 8x 2’s & 8x singles each side
Bonus Move: Uneven squats – one 15# Db & step w/ 3 risers – 16 reps each side (Not Repeated in 2nd round)
Elevated lunges – two 12# Dbs & step w/ 1 riser - 16 reps & 1x 15 pulses each side
Side to side sumo squats – one 15# Db – 20 reps
Group 1b
Forward & back lunges (pendulum lunges) – 4x 4’s, 6x 2’s & 8x singles (1st side) & 4x 4’s, 4x 2’s, 8x singles & 4x 2’s (2nd side)
Elevated lunges – two 12# Dbs & step w/ 1 riser – 16 reps & 1x 15 pulses each side
Side to side sumo squats – one 15# Db – 20 reps
Group 2a
Step down, cross back lunges (start standing on step; step off 1 side into crossback lunge (bringing Db towards feet; then step in & back onto step. Optional to add a leg lift at the top) – one 12# Db (I used 1x 15) & step – 10 reps each side
Sumo squats (Dbs held in front of you between legs) – two 20# Dbs – 16 reps
Back lunges – two 12# Dbs (I used 15’s) – 4x 3 pulses & 4 sets (1x 3 pulses & 2x singles) each side
Group 2b
Step down cross back lunges – one 12# Db (I used 1x 15) & step – 10 reps each side
Sumo squats (Dbs held in front of you between legs) – two 20# Dbs – 16 reps
Back lunges – two 12# Dbs (I used 15’s) – 4x 3 pulses & 4 sets (1x 3 pulses & 2x singles) each side
Group 3a
Push dips (back foot on step) – two 10# Dbs & step w/ 1 riser – 16 reps (1st side) & 15 reps (2nd side)
Deadlifts – two 20# Dbs – 16 reps (2/2 count)
Side warrior lunges – 16 reps each side
Group 3b
Push dips (back foot on step) – two 12# Dbs & step w/ 1 riser – 16 reps each side
Deadlifts – two 20# Dbs – 16 reps (2/2 count)
Side warrior lunges – 16 reps (1st side) & 18 reps (2nd side)
Group 4a
Outer thigh lifts (leaning on step) – step w/ 3 risers & mat (I did these lying on floor w/ ankle weights on instead) – 64 reps each side
Single leg deadlifts – two 10# Dbs (I used 20’s) – 16 reps each side
One leg glute press (lay on back, 1 foot on step, other leg raised to ceiling, raise & lower hips) – step w/ 3 risers & mat (I also used ankle weights) – 64 reps (1st side) & 80 reps (2nd side)
Group 4b
Outer thigh lifts – step w/ 3 risers & mat (I did these lying on floor w/ ankle weights on instead) – 64 reps each side
Single leg deadlifts – two 12# Dbs (I used 20’s) – 16 reps each side
One leg glute press – step w/ 3 risers & mat (I also used ankle weights) – 64 reps each side
The workout ends with a short 2 minute cool down and stretch. I added on a few extra stretches at the end.
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