WORKOUT

This work­out serves as Day 5 of our Strength and Car­dio with Bri­an 10-Day Chal­lenge but can be used as a stand­alone work­out anytime!

Hey, Team! We’ve made it to Day 5 of our 10-day chal­lenge — the halfway point! That’s a huge accom­plish­ment, so take a moment to be proud of how far you’ve come. Today’s work­out is about build­ing strength and car­dio in your low­er body with a mix of dumb­bell and body­weight exer­cis­es. By the end of this work­out, your legs will feel stronger, and you’ll know you’ve giv­en it your all.

Equip­ment needed:

• Dumb­bells (Light, Medi­um, Heavy)
• Box, Bench, or Chair

This work­out is per­fect for any­one who wants to focus on leg strength and get some sol­id car­dio work. We’re hit­ting every part of the low­er body, so whether you want to improve your squat form, build stronger glutes, or chal­lenge your­self with some explo­sive move­ments, this one’s for you. And don’t wor­ry — if you’re new to some of these exer­cis­es or want to take it a lit­tle eas­i­er, I’ve got you cov­ered with mod­i­fi­ca­tions to make sure every­one can keep up.

We’ll start with a warm-up to get your mus­cles ready for action, then move into a series of dumb­bell exer­cis­es. We’ll then switch to a com­bi­na­tion of dumb­bell and body­weight moves focus­ing on the glutes and ham­strings. We’ll wrap it up with a leg matrix that will push your car­dio to the max before fin­ish­ing with a well-deserved cool-down.

Now, let’s talk about why we’re doing this work­out the way we are. We’re start­ing with gob­let squats and straight leg dead­lifts because these exer­cis­es are fan­tas­tic for build­ing foun­da­tion­al leg strength. The lat­er­al lunges help improve bal­ance and sta­bil­i­ty, hit­ting those mus­cles we often over­look. The nar­row stance gob­let squat is a great way to zero in on the quads.

In Round 2, we shift our focus to the glutes and ham­strings. The hip thrusts are a pow­er­house exer­cise for these areas, and I’ve added sin­gle-leg vari­a­tions to help improve mus­cle imbal­ances and sta­bil­i­ty. Don’t wor­ry if you’re strug­gling with these — focus on keep­ing good form and, if you need to, mod­i­fy by per­form­ing the bridges from the floor.

Round 3 is where we kick things up a notch with our Leg Matrix II. This com­bi­na­tion of squats, lunges, and jump lunges and squats is designed to boost your heart rate and chal­lenge your leg mus­cles. The key here is to keep your move­ments con­trolled. Jump lunges and jump squats are explo­sive exer­cis­es that build strength and improve your over­all cardio.

This work­out is designed to be chal­leng­ing, but remem­ber that it’s okay to take breaks when need­ed or mod­i­fy exer­cis­es to match your cur­rent fit­ness lev­el. If you’re find­ing it too easy, you can always increase the weight of your dumb­bells or push your­self to move faster dur­ing the work inter­vals. On the flip side, use lighter weights if it’s feel­ing too intense. It’s all about progress, not perfection.

As we move for­ward, remem­ber you’ve com­plet­ed half of this chal­lenge. That’s no small feat, and it shows your com­mit­ment to your­self. Keep push­ing through, know­ing that every rep brings us clos­er to Day 10!

Let’s fin­ish this week strong, team — keep up the great work!

-Bri­an

Work­out Structure

Warm-up: 2 Rounds, 30 sec­onds each (5 Minutes)

• Alter­nat­ing Reverse Lunges
• Roll downs
• Alt. Side Lunges
• BW Squats
• Groin Rock­ers L
• Groin Rock­ers R

Round 1: Dumb­ells; 3 Rounds of 40 sec­onds on / 20 sec­onds off (13 Minutes)

• Suit­case Squats
• Straight Leg Deadlifts
• Alt Lat­er­al Lunges
• Nar­row Stance Gob­let Squat

Round 2: Glutes + Ham­strings; 3 Rounds of 30 sec­onds on / 10 Sec­onds Off / 30 sec­onds of rest at the end of each round (5 minutes)

• Weight­ed Hip Thrust
• BW SL Hip Thrust L
• BW SL Hip Thrust R

These exer­cis­es can be mod­i­fied with the bridge vari­a­tion from the floor.

Round 3: Leg Matrix II; 3 Rounds of 20 sec­onds each / 30 sec­onds of rest at the end of each round (5 Minutes)

• Body­weight Squat
• Body­weight Alt. Lunges
• Jump Lunges
• Jump Squats

Cool Down: 1 Round of 30 sec­onds each / no rest (6 Minutes)

• Quad Stretch (L/R)
• Fig­ure Four Stretch (L/R)
• Hip Flex­or Stretch (L/R)
• Calf Stretch (L/R)
• For­ward Fold
• Seat­ed But­ter­fly Stretch