Summer Workout Challenge Day 8: 20-Minute Lower Body Workout (Max 20)

This is day 8 of my Max 20 program where strength training is made simple. 20 minutes a day, max results. You can get the full program when you click the link in the description below. While you're there, hit subscribe to my channel. All right, team, welcome back. Day 8 of Max 20 is all legs, you guys. We are building some serious glute and quad strength today. I'm Lindsey Bomgren of Nourish Move Love, and this is the amazing Caroline. Hello. She'll be offering modifications throughout today's workout. All you're going to need today is dumbbells, which we have. You're gonna have the option to add a glute band or a mini loop resistance band. So if you want to add that, we're going to do another glute band buy-in because you requested it. And I have a bench on set with me today, but Caroline's going to show you how you can do everything from the ground because today on deck is Bulgarians. Get excited, leg day Bulgarian lunges. It's gonna be, it's gonna be a tough leg day. I'm just gonna throw it out there. It is, it's gonna be spicy. You got 4 big exercises done in a rep drop format. 12 reps, 10 reps, 8 reps, 6 reps. So you're getting 4 sets or 36 reps total of each exercise. All right, we're gonna hit legs— squats, Bulgarians— and then we're gonna throw in some dumbbell hip thrusts. We're gonna build those glutes and quads and hamstrings today. So grab the weights you want to use, try and go heavy if you can. Let's get our lower body warmed up before we jump in. Let's go! All right, here we go. We're gonna start with feet on the mat and we're gonna start from the ground up. So we're gonna go roll to the edge of your foot Now give me a calf raise, then give me a tib raise. So outer edge of the foot, heels up, and then toes up. Just hitting all angles of that lower body. Heels up and toes up. Nice. So we're hitting, rolling out to the outer edge, warming up the calf, ankle, warming up the tibialis, the front of the shin, the shock absorber for the knee. Give me one more here. Roll to the outer edge, calves up and tibs up. Nice. From here, you're gonna drop into a squat. Hands can hit the mat if that's comfortable for you. Pike your hips high and then roll up one vertebrae at a time. Do it again. Drop into a nice deep squat. Hands can hit the mat. Pike the hips high and roll up one vertebrae again. Keep going there. Drop. Hips go high. Shake out those hamstrings. Roll it up. Nice. Try and get nice and deep in that squat. Push those hips high and then roll up. Nice. This time your hands can stay connected to the mat and just give me that pike and that drop. Give me that pike and that drop. So taking the roll out, warming up those knees, quads, glutes, dropping into that squat. Nice. This time hold the pike, so hips hold high. Walk your hands over to the right side of your body and then walk your hands over to the left side of your body, trying to get outside your shoe. Back to center. Roll up one vertebrae at a time. When you get there, two big shoulder rolls at the top. We're gonna go right into a split lunge or split squat. So right foot forward, left foot back. Feet are going to stay planted. Give me a slight hinge forward. We're really going to target lengthening the glutes today. Drop the back knee to the ground, stand up. Drop the back knee to the ground, stand up. So adding this slight hinge forward is going to target more glute hamstring. If you want more upright right here, you're going to target more quad. We are definitely going to hit the quad in the first move, but then we're going to move into targeting more glute hamstring with a slight forward lean here. Nice, give me 2 more. Last one. This time now I want you to drop all the way down. Left knee is going to go to the ground. We're going to warm up the ankle, ankle mobilization, ankle mobilization. So you can put your hand here. I just want your heel to stay connected to the mat. That's what I care about. And then drive your knee over your toe, rock back, drive your knee over the toe Working on ankle mobility here gives us greater depth and range of motion. Today we are working on depth and range of motion, as well as adding a couple slight shifts to what you did in leg day in week 1. So day 3 of this program. One more. Nice. Then you can just stand it back up and switch legs. Left leg forward, right leg back. Feet stay planted on train tracks. Drop the back knee to the ground, drive up. Drop the back knee to the ground, drive up. So your option is going to be to do this here from the ground. With Caroline, or to take it to a good old Bulgarian where the rear foot is elevated with me. You get to choose. Again, that slight forward hinge is going to hinge at the hip, lengthen the glute, put more work into the glute and hamstring. Give me one more here. Drop all the way down to the ground. Same thing. Hand can go on the heel if you want to. Driving knee over toe, keeping heel connected to the mat. Nice range of motion, Caroline. Look at that. Wow. Lots of practice. Lots of practice. Nice work. That's even your surgery knee, isn't it? Yeah, that's impressive. Very impressive. Continuing to work on range of motion, always a goal of ours. Nice work. Awesome job. Nice. Give me one more here. Push it forward. Nice. Hands are gonna plant. Step back, high plank. We're gonna warm up those hips. World Greatest, you know, you see this in every leg day. Right foot outside, right hand. Easy twist. Rotate through that spine. Drop that elbow to the mat. Open those hips. Nice. Switch it. Left foot outside, left hand. Here we go. Big reach. Twist, drop that elbow. Same thing, right foot outside right hand. Here we go, do it again. Rotate, reach, drop that elbow. Nice. On the left, on the left. Here we go, big reach and drop it. Nice. You could drop the tabletop, all fours, little cat cow. Drop the belly, reverse it, roll that chin, tuck that spine. Now take it nice and wide down to the forearms, knees go wide, frog rock. Open those hips. Got to open those hips if we're going to work on depth and range of motion in our squats today. Nice work, nice work. Option to add that internal hip rotation where you're dropping your hip to the mat, heels popping off the mat. We're going to reverse this with a little 90-90 action coming at you next. Nice work, nice work. And good news, we got another glute band buy-in for you guys. Get excited, glute band buy-in on leg day. Here we go, one more. Nice. Up and over onto your backside. 90-90s. 90 degrees, 90 degrees. Option to put your hands behind you if you need to. Hip switches up and over. Hip switches up and over. You can stay here. We're gonna be adding hips today to— if you want to add a little hip lift, give me a little hip lift at the top. A little hip lift at the top. Rotate. Again, continuing to work on range of motion, continuing to work on Mobility. Last one. Find that glute band, get it close to you, get it close to you. Grab that band, we're gonna get into it. Band's gonna go 6 inches above the knees. You got 6 moves, 20 seconds on, 10 seconds switch between exercises. We're gonna warm up the glutes starting on our side with a clamshell. Caroline's going to show a modification where you're just lifting from here. I'm going to give you an advanced clamshell where I'm coming up into a half side plank. Lifting off, 20 seconds right here. Gonna get those outer glutes to fire up for you, right? Okay, right there. 20 seconds on, 10 seconds off. You'll roll to your back and give me a glute bridge after this. Are you ready? Let's do it. Let's go. We go in 3, 2, let's go. Lift and lower. Just because it's 20 seconds doesn't mean we're gonna crush the reps or the speed. I want this done with control. The whole point of the glute band buy-in is to activate the glutes, hips, and hamstrings. We're activating the muscles you're about to load with weight. For 3, 2, give me one more. Up, roll to your backside, glute bridge. Keep that band on, keep those heels tight to your glutes. Lift off in 3, 2, glute bridge lift. Knees are still tracking into that band. Nice work. From here, you're rolling up and over to your other side. Clamshell other side. That's where you're gonna go after this. Give me that nice glute squeeze at the top. Make that mind-muscle connection with your glutes right now. Give me that squeeze, just like you're driving through that front foot of the lunge. For 3, 2, and switch it. Clamshell other direction, clamshell other direction. Set yourself up, shoulder over elbow. We lift in 3, 2, let's go. 20 seconds here. Lift and lower. Lift and lower. If your glutes are not firing before leg day, your low back is gonna fire. That's why we're waking up the glutes right here. Very important to activate the muscles before we load them. Let's go, lift. Nice work. You're in that final 3, 2, and recover. All right, we're going right up to standing. Good old standing squat. Band is 6 inches above my knees, dropping right into a squat in 3 2, let's go. Squat down, up. Knees are pushing into that band, pushing into that band. This lateral walk and one isometric with some rear kickbacks. Okay, 3 moves left, 3 moves left. 10 seconds here. Giant step right, we go lateral walks in 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1. Giant step right, 2 lateral walks, nice and loaded. 2 lateral walks to your left in 5. Here we go, get loaded, drive through that knee in 2 and 1. Let's go, 2 to the left, get low, 2 to the right, stay low, 2 to the left. Nice work warming up those glutes. Do you feel that fire building? If you like these glute band exercises, you're gonna love the 10-minute burnout that goes with this leg day. It's available exclusively in the Nourish Move Love app. 3 2, recover. Hold a nice low squat. Tap back, tap back, tap back. Last 20 seconds. 3, 2, let's go, let's go. Tap, tap, tapping back, activating that glute. Tap back, hold that squat nice and low. Let's go, final move, final move. If you want that 10-minute burnout, you can click the link in the description below. You'll learn more about the Nourish Move Love app You get a whole bonus week of programming to go with this 2-week program. 3, 2, you're out. Glutes warm? Yes, very. Keep the band on for your 20-minute— or 20-rep buy-in, and then it gets to come off. All right, you also got this free PDF tracker. You can track your weights and reps. Here's what we're doing. We're going to our bench with me, hip thrust. Okay, Caroline is going to do it from the ground, glute bridge. I'm throwing one heavy weight across my hips. It's optional. Glute band stays on. You got 20 reps of a dumbbell glute bridge or a hip thrust right here. Driving hips. Hold, squeeze. 20 reps. It starts in 3, 2, let's go. Lift, squeeze. That's one. Again, we're not flying through these reps. They're nice and controlled. I want you to think here, ribs down, so ribs to hips. Heels are heavy. Heels are heavy. Drive your heels into the ground to lift those hips up. Drive, squeeze. Knees are tracking into that band, so there's constant tension on outer glutes, glutes, hamstrings right here. Ribs down, hips heavy. Drive. Nice work. One more gets us to 10. That's 10. You're halfway, team. Give me 10. Nice work. You're gonna see this move again today. It's going to be move 4 for us. You're going to have the option to load it heavier because you're going to do a rep drop in it. You're not going to be doing 20 reps. You're going to be doing 12, 10 reps. Come on, you're in the final 5. Let's go. 4 more. Nice work. Last 3. Come on. Last 2. One more. And 1. Woo! If you don't feel your glutes, After that, holy bananas, that glute band can come off. You can say goodbye to it, or if you're with me, you can keep it. I'm going to show you a glute band hack that's going to allow you to load your hip thrust nice and heavy. All right, we're going to jump into your workout. First move, like I promised, is going to be quad dominant heels up squat. Taking the moves you did on day 3 leg day week 1, putting them into this workout, adding a variation. Heel up is a variation to your squat. Heel up goblet squat. One heavy weight, or if you don't have heavy weights, give me two at your sides. My heels are loaded on wedges. You could put your heels on dumbbells, you could put them on a plate, you could put them on a thick book. Caroline's going to keep her heels down. I'm going to rack the dumbbell right here, chest and sternum. Elbows are down, gonna go inside my knees. In 3, you got 12 reps. In 2 Let's go. Going for a squat, drive out of that hole. That's 1, down. That's 2. And heel up makes— helps get a little bit deeper range of motion as well, right? Yes. If you struggle with squat depth, which is what we're working on today, it's usually because of your ankle mobility. Ankle mobility is limited. This takes ankle mobility out of the game, allowing you to squat deeper. So we're going for depth and range of motion today. Okay, heel up is also more quad dominant. You got 2 more. 1 and 2. So we hit our quads. Now we're going to load glutes and hamstrings. Caroline's going to take one of my wedges. Again, you could use a book just to add a variation. She's going into a split lunge. Feet are going to stay on the ground. I've got 12 Bulgarian lunges. Here's how we set up the Bulgarian lunge. Sit on the bench, right leg goes out, slight bend in it. I come up and then this is just my distance. This is where I'm going to put my back foot. Now I can grab my weights and go right into it. You have 12 reps. This is going to be heavy. In 3, in 2, let's go. So again, we're adding that slight hinge forward. That's going to lengthen the glute, put work into the glute and hamstring. Nice work. Come on. You got it. Driving even weight distribution. Between that entire foot. Let's go. 2 more. 1 more. Holy bananas. Oh, Bulgarian. You know you're going to be sore tomorrow. Move 3. Yeah, I tested this workout. 4 sets. When I started doing 4 sets, game changer. That's why we've programmed this way. Let's work out this way. Other leg, same move. Other leg. Same move, other leg. In 3, 2, let's go, 12. Again, that slight hinge forward is more— it's going to lengthen the glute. Science and research has shown the glute performs very well under stretch and load. So you're stretching and loading. Great way to glute build strong glutes, stretching and loading. That's why today we're working on range of motion. And loading. 2 more. Down, up. 1 more. Down, up. Holy bananas, that is tough. Okay, here we go. Now you're going into your hip thrust. You got 12 of them, or glute bridge. Here's your glute band hack. It's got to be thick, it's got to be tight. Okay, I'm going to take it around 2 heavy weights. I'm going to load this across my hips. This is how I can go heavier for hip thrust. Remember, your glutes and your hamstrings are big muscles. You're gonna give me 12 reps and a 30-second hold at the top. Yep. 3, 2, 12. Nice. 9. Heels heavy, ribs down, strong hips, strong glutes. Yes, nice work. Not arching through the back as you finish this, really contracting through the glutes. Not arching through the back, put the work into the glutes. Yes, team. Move 404. Right here. Let's go. 3 more. It's 3, 30-second hold, and 2, 30-second hold, and 1, hold 30. Go. Hold 30. Yes, you can. Close your eyes. Keep breathing. Strength in an isometric hold. Hold that contraction. Squeeze those glutes. Squeeze those hamstrings. Yes, you can. Come on. Keep breathing. We love a good isometric hold. Are your knees in line with your hips. Keep them there. Yes. What would it look like if I said 5, 4, 3, 2, recover? Whoo! All right, those are your 4 moves. Now you know what's coming. Let's do it again. I'm gonna take them out of this loop band. Down to 10 reps. That's the good news. Down to 10 reps. All right, if you want to make this an effective leg day You got to push yourself, okay? It's a rep drop, okay? You got to push yourself. The last 2 to 3 reps have to feel challenging. Heels up or heels down, goblet squat. You got 10. Rack it, load it. We go in 3, 2, let's go. Nice work. Both Caroline and I have been through knee surgery. We know the importance of quads. Yes, strong quads are so important for knee health. This is more of a quad dominant exercise, specifically targeting your quads and your VMO. That is like this little muscle right here on the side, inside of your knee is your VMO. Really great for strengthening knee health. Last one. Yes. All right, love them or love them or don't love them, Bulgarians. You got 10 of them, you got 10 of them. Yep, take that heel up, add that variation. I'm gonna set yourself up. You're gonna say, I can do anything for 10 reps. You're going for that stretch and load. Remember, stretch and load. If your rear foot, back foot is shoelaces down. 10 reps in 3, 2, let's go. Heavy front foot, light back foot. Really even weight distribution between that entire foot that is on the ground. Let's go, push for 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Do it again. God gave you two beautiful legs, didn't he? Yes, he did. Go in 3, 2, let's go. Down, up. 10, 9, nice work. 8, you got this. Bulgarian is basically taking the split lunge and putting it on steroids. Adding more balance, more hip control. Finish. Last 2, last 1. Holy bananas, everything's burning. Holy bananas, everything is burning, she says. Okay, hip thrust or glute bridge. Hip thrust or glute bridge. You got 10, you got 10. No 30-second hold this time. 10, no 30-second hold. Did it on the first set, you'll do it on the last set. 10 hip thrusts in 3, 2, let's go! Push! 10, 9, yes, come on! You're breathing but your ribs are down to hips. You're controlling it up and down. You're squeezing at the top, not arching that back. You're squeezing those glutes for 3, for 2 And 1. Nice work, team. Out of it. All right, ready, Caroline? Third set. Best set. Best set, baby. 8 reps. 8 reps. It's going to be hard to walk off this set. I'll tell you that much. Sore tomorrow. Yeah, I was sore last week with the glute band buy-in, so I know it's going to be— glute band buy-in and finisher leg day. You know, someone actually said to me— grab your weights, we're going to get into Goblet squat while we talk about this. 8 reps, 8 reps, let's go. Heels up or heels down, you got 8. In 3, 2, let's go. Someone said there should be like an outfit cue when you're wearing red, is it harder? I said yes, absolutely. When we wear red, the workout is harder. When we wear red, I feel like that's in all the programs. When we go 30, perform. When we wear red, it's harder. One more rep. Down, up. Red equals hard. Red equals hard. Leg day is always hard, especially in our programs. If you've done any of our other programs, which I highly encourage you do, you know red equals hard. You got 8, 8 per leg. Let's go, team. No one said this was going to be easy. No one said it was easy. 3, 2, let's go. But I think they're some of the most rewarding workouts because after the end, you're like, I did that. Yes, I did. Yes, I did. Come on, sit in the fire. 2 more. 2, 1. Woo! Programming Bulgarians, 4 sets. Brutal. We go in 3, 2. Let's go. Come on. It's 8. 7, yes you can. 6, you're so strong. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. You know when it's hard, I just resort to counting. I got nothing else to say. My brain is working so hard to just get up, to stand up. There is no grocery list being made. This is challenging stuff. You got 8 hip thrusts and then you're on to round 4, baby. 3, 2, lift. 8, 7, 6, you got it. 5, stay with it. 4, heart rate is always higher on leg day. 3, come on. 2 and 1. Woo! All right, you got one more round. Fourth set, Caroline. Strong set, strong set, baby. 4th set is the strong set. It's 6 reps. It's the speed round, the lightning round. You can do anything for 6 reps. Say yes, I can. Maybe you grab a heavier weight. Highly encouraged around here. Highly encouraged around here. It is 6 reps. Last round, baby. Let's finish it in 3, 2. Let's go. Come on. It's 6. Strong reps. 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1. Yes, team! All right, my goal was to stick with 2 weights throughout these entire Bulgarians. Oh yeah, sorry. And we have almost hit it. We're gonna hit it right now. It is 6 strong single leg lunges in 3, 2, go 6, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1. You're gonna feel that tomorrow, yes you are. We're going 3, 2, let's go, 6, 6, 5, strong front knee, strong foot, 4, 3, 2, and 1. Holy bananas, I am so proud of you! 6 hip thrusts, 30-second hold, and you are out. 6 hip thrusts, 30-second hold, and leg day is checked off. Woo! Let's go, team! Come on, week 2 energy! Week 2 energy, let's go! 3, 2, Lift for 6, 5, 4, holding strong at the top in 3, you got it, 2, last one, hold strong, hold strong for 30 seconds. 30 seconds, yes you can. Come on, find that place where you get physically and mentally tough right here. If you love this program, I have to invite you into training with us inside the Nourish Move Love app. More community and a whole nother week of Max 20. Week 3, our first time ever doing a 3-week program meant to be repeated. So it's a 6-week program. Holy bananas! You have 5, 4, 3, 2, and you're out. Glutes on fire. If anyone says you cannot get a good leg day in 23 minutes, They have not tried this workout. Woo! Way to go, Caroline. They are lying too. So proud of us. So proud of us. Okay, Caroline, give me a good cat cow. Give me a good cat cow. I'm going to show you an option if you want to go kneeling from the bench. If you felt that in your low back, one, you can decrease range of motion. Two, take one hand and reach back towards opposite toe. Should feel so good for your back. Same thing, other side. Reach back. Got a lot of new mobility moves for you in this program. My goal is to continue to build your mobility repertoire so you never get bored with mobility because we truly need it in every season of life. Nice work. Give me one more right here. Reach. Nice work. Caroline can go into a standing quad stretch. I'm going to show you what I like to do at home since we have the bench here on set. A nice bench stretch. Sitting up nice and tall, I'm getting hip flexor, I'm getting quad. You can put your foot against a bench, you can put it against a wall, trying to see if you can get your butt all the way back to your heel right here. So you have nice and tall, good quad stretch. I like to hold this for a minute. We don't have time for that because you got to go, so we're going to switch legs. We see the results on YouTube, we know what happens during the cooldown. The drop-off is significant, people, but But trust me, you should stay around and you should stretch. If you want more, you got to check out the 10-minute glute band burnout that goes with this. Yeah, spicy, spicy, spicy is the best way to put it. If you don't have time for that, we'd love to see you back on the mat regardless for day 9 tomorrow. We're coming at you with day 9. It is core, abs, and we're going to hit a little bit of your accessory muscles. We're targeting your hips, your adductors, your abductors. And your deep pelvic floor muscles. So you can look forward to that tomorrow, day 9. We'll see you back on the mat. Awesome job knocking out leg day. It's always a spicy one. If you liked it, hit subscribe to our channel. I've queued up day 9 of the program, abs and core for you right here. Otherwise, you can find this entire 2-week strength program in this playlist right here. Have a great day.