Hey Y’all.
I have been offline lately taking care of my babies and taking time to learn some new and really cool techniques that will ROCK your body.
Below is my latest workout that almost killed me…not really, but it flipping HURT BAD. I included 4 GLUTE focused exercise picutres that I have come to absolutely love/hate.
I’m currently working on bringing my body fat percentage down to 14% from 18%. I started almost 3 weeks ago and have 3 more weeks to go.
I lost 1.5% week one and 0.5% week two, leaving me at 16% right now with my next weigh in on Tuesday. Hoping to drop 0.5% each week.
My training has been brutal for two reasons:
- I am a sleep deprived mom of 2 young kids making my workouts hard to do. I have never felt so terrible while training before. Stinks.
- I got a really knowledgeable trainer named Megan. She catches every cheat my body tries to make and knows some pretty cool ways to execute exercises to reach their peak performance and prevent injury; something I am learning along the way which I will share with you once I am comfortable doing so.
Want to hear about my workout today? I almost gave up. Seriously. I have never been that close to saying, “enough, I’m done” and it’s all because of this ONE STUPID, AWFUL, yet KILLER exercise; the split squat.
But… It’s more than just the split squat, it’s the way we did the split squat that made it hurt oh so good.
We’ve talked about tempo before. If you need a refresher, check out this blog post:
https://flaviliciousfitness.com/2011/07/28/overcoming-your-plateau/
When we are looking at the split squat, note that the first number is the eccentric or down motion, the second number is the pause or hold, the third number is the concentric or upward motion and the fourth number represents the start of the lift or exercise.
For our first exercise below, the split squat tempo is 31×0 — That means you go down for 3 full seconds, hold it at the bottom for 1 full second, explode up and take no rest at the top.
CRAZY right?!
Today’s Workout – After Warmup
| Exercise | Reps | Sets | Tempo | Rest | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A1 | Back Leg Elevated Split Squat | 12/leg | 3 | 31×0 | 10 sec |
| A2 | Front Leg Elevated Split Squat | 12/leg | 3 | 31×0 | 10 sec |
| A3 | Glute Bridge | 10 | 3 | 31×0 | 90 sec |
| B1 | 45* Back Extension (glute focus) | 10 | 4 | 1112 | 10 sec |
| B2 | Leg Press (quad focus) | 10 | 4 | 1030 | 10 sec |
Tips:
Back Leg Elevated Spilt Squat — Here we are keeping our chest up, chin tucked, abs tight and going down straight, no bending forward. When you get the the bottom, push up through your heel to really target the glutes.
Front Leg Elevated Spilt Squat:
Here we are keeping our torso up, chin tucked, abs tight but we want to bend the knee so we engage the quads. Come forward (still keeping the chest up) and push up through your heels to return to the start position.
Glute Bridge:
Here want to keep our shoulders on the bench or apparatus if you have it available, feet wide and hips up. When you get to the top of the bridge, think about squeezing the glutes to bring hips higher. This will cause a pelvic tilt as you pinch the glutes in and squeeze them together. You should not be using your hips.
45* Back Extension (glute focus):
You should NOT feel this in your back. Instead pinch the glutes at the bottom of the movement and use your glutes to come up to the start position. This takes a while to get used to. Think about squeezing the butt cheeks together to cause that pelvis to tilt using your glutes ONLY. Just come up as high as your body allows you to without using your back.
*If you feel it in the back, think GLUTES — PINCH — SQUEEZE
B2) Leg Press (quad focus):
Here we keep feet shoulder width apart to put the focus on your quads. When you push up, think of wiping gum off the bottom of your shoe to engage the glues and hamstrings without moving your feet. Another way to think about this is hamstrings to floor.
Capiche?
Let me know if you have any questions below.
Good luck 😉
Flavia
I’ve been a personal trainer for 25 years, and I have to say, it is TOUGH when the body does slowly hit middle age and Into menopause.
When I was your age, I remember bragging of my close to 40 state… And how easy it all seemed…lol, what an arrogant fool I turned out to be…it hits around age 47, when subtle things change..I can’t imagine what would have happened if I didn’t eat healthy and work out!…yikes…
So now 51, I find plyometrics aren’t comfortable to do anymore..just low jump squats…and HIIT is a little tough to push all out..but, I do my best on all..the muscle mass is so valuable as we age…but, it is hard to relinquish the once perfection of a thirty something or even forty something body but I guess we all need to be grateful for having health…adaption to what is doable and tolerable is the best idea.
Crucial to eat well, and I do….just wanted to say thanks for the cool stuff you send….and it motivates me to keep on even though it isn’t as enjoyable as it used to be…??
This is interesting a lot of posts have come up regarding the menopause group. I too have these same issues at 48 I just suddenly stopped my period this month, while I have always had a hard time even getting muscle it appeared to be adrenal based. I do have Hashimoto and never realized until my 40s that the adrenals had been affecting me all these years. That said, in menopause are we suppose to be on some sort of hormones to replace missing estrogen? How do so many women still have so much muscle and are so lean and toned in their 50’s? Having reduced workouts to 20 min HIIT type programs and reducing the use of heavy weights now I still can’t seem to slim out and see any sort of toned muscle, it is crepe, cellulite, saddlebags etc. & I feel like I am huge from all the heavy weight. I exhaust myself and still not showing results with a great diet to boot. Should women in this category stay away from long cardio sessions? The holistic nutritionist I am seeing wants me doing no extended cardio at all maybe 3 days a week, its been months and I only seem to be gaining weight. It seems long cardio is the only way I ever lost weight. Now its not coming off at all! So depressing and frustrating. Looking forward to some comments. 😉
I always wondered about hormones but I feel this is part of nature and life, so I take a homeopathic supplement that seems to have stopped the hot flashes, phew…. Try to eat plenty of cruciferous veggies, for estrogen support, like cauliflower, broccoli, brussels sprouts etc.
I totally hear you.. I eat so well and the scale doesn’t move…ugh….All my fault, last year, I suffered a loss and binged out…I was so lean prior but bingeing at this age isn’t the same as doing so even just 10 years ago . Remember when we could lean out in less than a week?
I think if you can, do circuit training still but do a heavier day of weights on the body parts that can tolerate? I am not savvy with Hashimoto so forgive me if I’m wrong. Can you do low level movement during day that doesn’t raise cortisol? Comfortable walks?
Let’s be pen pals if you ever war to…….
I like the workout except that the back extension and the leg press require some gym apparatus. Might also be good to add some arm and chest work to this workout. I am 73 and still enjoy working out – mostly at home unless I am teaching skiing, playing tennis, or hiking or dancing. It is great to be able to move, especially since I have recovered from a broken neck with total paralysis 3 years ago.
Holy crap Dave Ballou….amazing!!!
Dave, great for you to recover from such a serious injury! Flavia, I am a 49 year old who has played basketball her entire life, but hit menopause a couple of years ago and my body totally changed. Menopause and very low thhroid/adrenals. How hard should use push myself with these workouts if I play basketball 2x a week? Thanks, Kim
Hey Kim,
With these types of workouts, you aren’t going to be causing a ton of lactic acid build up like you do with short rest periods and more compound movements in circuit training so you can push your muscles to fatigue. You should focus on trying to work just the muscle that we are targeting and work it as hard as you can with perfect form.
If you feel the tension in a different part of your body or something feels wrong or you feel sick or dizzy, stop.
i was under the impression when doing a squat or lunge that the knee should never go past the ankle; needs to stay in alignment. The photo of the front leg elevated split looks like your knee is pushing past the ankle alignment. Is this the exception or does it just appear to be that way in the photo.
thanks!
ps. how does one Sneeze the butt cheeks? (see back extension write up?) LOL
Hey Jennifer,
You want the toes to point in the direction of your knees but having your knees cross over your feet is something that we do in every day life. If you feel discomfort, just don’t go as deep into the squat.
Thanks for the typo edit 🙂
Thx!!
Dear Flavia, thank you for sharing these amazing workouts! i wanted to ask you if these tough workouts are affecting your milk supply as I hear that if you pish yourself too hard in the gym when breastfeeding, milk supply could go down. Thank you! Elena
I am doing this style of training as opposed to intense circuit types so that my milk supply stays where it is. I do have to ensure I am eating and drinking enough to keep it flowing 🙂
Hi Flavia,
Like a couple others have posted, I too have hit the dreaded Peri-Menopause/Menopause years. This along with low thyroid and adrenal function makes weight loss tough, and building muscle even tougher. I can’t work out like I used to and I’m not even sure what type of workouts I should be doing anymore. I would LOVE to see more posts, and even a complete program written for those of us in this “category”, so we can lose weight, build or at least preserve our precious muscle and not feel terrible after every workout. In the mean time what type of workouts would you suggest?
I would Absolutely LOVE a prpgram like this. Yes I too am where you are At P. FLAVIA… PLS HELP That would be amaxing
How often are you doing these butt workouts weekly?
Hi Flavia.
How often shoul I train my butt, to grow glutes?
Hi Sezim,
Twice a week focusing on full range of motion, and lifting heavy is great for glute growth 🙂
All the best,
Anna, CPT, FF Specialist
Great article! Squats aren’t the only secret weapon when it comes to sculpting a strong and lifted backside. There are many more to get sexy butts and I loved the other exercise from your blog post. Thanks so much and keep sharing.
It looks like you are not using weight, do i need to use weights to get leaner and firmer.
I am traveling and need workouts that I can do everywhere, noticing more sagging skin in thighs and bat arms lately, 52 yrs old. …even though i am relatively toned elsewhere and ot overweight..help!
Hi Ysabella,
Absolutely that’s fine to add weight if you want it to be even more challenging! Flavia has many at home/travel workouts if you search the blog 🙂 Continuing to workout regularly with weights and eat healthy, nutritious foods will help keep you lean 🙂 Great job at continuing to make exercise a priority!
All the best,
Anna, CPT, FF Specialist
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