Cathe Live Review: Iron Legs (#318)
Iron Legs is a really fun lower body strength workout with a good cardio effect. I am so happy that Cathe keeps making such enjoyable and effective workouts - again I loved this one!
This routine is a little bit different to last week’s lower body workout (Metabolic Lower Body - review HERE), in that you are using moderate to heavy weights and also incorporating the high step and resistance loop. This is also pretty much a no repeat workout, as there are only a couple of moves where you do two sets of the same exercise. I loved the variety and the time just flew by. I would have loved for it to be closer to an hour though, as it did feel rather short. However, it is great for when you are short on time or when you don’t want to go all out, as it’s not such an intense workout. Although it does have a good cardio effect, the reps are not high enough or the weights heavy enough to really go to burn out. However, I think if you used heavier weights throughout, this would probably help a little.
The workout starts with a couple of lighter moves to get the heart rate up and the muscles warm. These use your own bodyweight or the resistance loop. You then move into a mix of moderate and heavier weight standing lower body exercises. These include lots of traditional strength moves, such as, squats, lunges and deadlifts plus a few more metabolic exercises to keep the cardio factor a little higher.
The routine ends with two floor based exercises – clams and glute presses - and these finished off the workout nicely. The combination of different moves, tempos and equipment really keeps things interesting and also keeps your muscles guessing, as to what is coming next. Cathe used a high step, for this routine, with only one riser so using a higher step height would also be a way to increase the intensity. I actually liked the lower step height, particularly for the elevated lunges and push dips as they often irritate my hips using a higher step. She also used dumbbells from 10 to 25 pounds so some of the heavier weight moves I did start to feel the work, such as, the calf raises and close grip sumo squats. The pace overall is fairly controlled so you can go heavier, if you want to, and I felt that all of the lower body muscles were worked nicely.
Overall, another excellent and enjoyable workout to target the lower body.
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The Workout
Iron Legs is a pure strength workout targeting the lower body using moderate and heavy weights.
What You Need to Know
(Rating scale – 1= lowest & 5 = highest).
The Moves
Iron Legs is 42 minutes long and originally aired on 15th October 2020 (#318). The workout starts with a 5:30 minute warm-up, before a quick water break and moving into the first exercise. The high step, with one riser (6”), is set up off to one side at the start of the workout. The step height does not change during the routine.
Alternating forward leaning lunges – 20 reps
Tap outs – resistance loop – 4 sets of 16 reps
Side steps – resistance loop (around ankles) – side to side / forward & back on diagonal
Squats – two 20# Dbs – 18 reps
Squats – two 25# Dbs – 16 reps
Elevated lunges (back foot on step) – two 15# Dbs & 6” high step – 16 reps & 7 pulses each side
Deadlifts – two 25# Dbs – 12 reps (2/2 count) & 8 reps (3/1 count)
Crossback lunges (off step) – two 12# Dbs & 6” high step – 12 reps & 16 pulses each side
Crossback lunges (on floor) – two 15# Dbs – 12 reps (alternating)
Pulsing side to side sumo squats – (little hop in between) – one 12# Db – 12 reps
Pendulum lunges (front to back lunges) – two 10# Dbs – 10 reps each side
Alternating step out sumo squats - one 15# Db & resistance loop (around ankles) – 20 reps & 2 sets of pulses
Calf raises – two 25# Dbs – 26 reps, 24 reps & 24 reps
Close grip sumo squats (Dbs held between legs) – two 20# Dbs – 10 reps
Close grip sumo squats (Dbs held between legs) – two 25# Dbs – 10 reps
Alternating pick up side lunges (picking up & putting down Dbs) – two 12# Dbs – 2 sets of 16 reps
Rear lunge & stiff leg deadlift – two 20# Dbs – 10 sets (1 of each) each side
Push dips (back foot on step; leaning forward) – two 12# Dbs & 6” high step – 16 reps
Clams (leaning on bent lower leg; lift & open top knee) – mat – 20 reps each side
Single leg glute press (in tabletop position; bend knee & press foot straight up towards ceiling) – resistance loop (around ankle & under 1 foot) & mat – 40 reps each side
The workout ends with a 3 minute cool down and stretch.
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If you liked this workout, check out my review of Cathe Live: Legs For Days (#264) – HERE.
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