You don’t need a crowded gym with a lot of expensive equipment to get a strong lower body. If you’ve got half an hour, a resistance band and a dumbbell, you can sculpt your glutes, quads, hamstrings, and hips in the comfort of your own home.
I love a good leg day, but sometimes I just don’t have the energy to trek it to the gym (thanks, pregnancy). On one such occasion, I searched YouTube for an alternative and found Sydney Cummings Houdyshell’s “strong legs and glute band burner” workout. Sydney is pregnant herself and bills the routine as appropriate for all levels, so I thought it would be a nice switch from my usual gym regimen.
Home workouts can be just as effective as gym workouts, but you’ll want to make sure you’re exercising with good form. If you’ve just begun a fitness routine, I’d recommend meeting with a certified personal trainer to ensure you’re squatting, lunging, and deadlifting properly.
How to do Sydney Cummings Houdyshell’s lower body workout
You’ll need a moderately heavy dumbbell (check out the best adjustable dumbbells) and a looped resistance band for this workout. If you don’t have a band, Houdyshell provides a few alternative movements to do instead.
Housyshell also utilizes a weight bench and a small platform for a few exercises, but you can always use a step or chair as a substitute. Stepping onto a high surface didn’t feel very safe to me at eight months pregnant, so I elected to swap the step-ups for split squats.
After a brief warm-up, you’ll cycle through 12 exercises performed for 30-second intervals, with 15 seconds of rest between each exercise. A short cool-down concludes the routine. The exercises are:
- Goblet squat
- Band kickbacks
- Staggered squat step back
- Lateral band walk
- Lateral lunge step out
- Standing kick out
- Step-ups
- 15 seconds pulse up per leg
- Heel lifted squats
- Single-leg heel lift and tap back
- Lateral squat step-outs
- 3-point band abduction climbers
Here's what happened when I gave it a go:
It left me breathless
Lower-body workouts are usually more cardio-heavy than upper-body ones, but this routine really got my heart pumping. Whether it was due to pregnancy, the difficulty level, or a bit of both, my average heart rate stayed in the mid-140s to upper 150s for the majority of the workout.
Fortunately for my ego, Houdyshell was also somewhat breathless throughout. It’s a small detail, but I’m always more motivated when an instructor is “down in the trenches” with me. If I finish a workout red-faced and depleted and the instructor has barely broken a sweat, I leave feeling a little inadequate.
If you’re in the mood to combine resistance training with cardio, this workout is a great option. If you’d rather focus on building strength and muscle, slow down your pace and take longer rest periods — the pause button exists for good reason.
It also left me sore
I’ve done a few of Houdyshell’s workouts in the past, and I really appreciate her effective verbal and visual cues. So many trainers stay silent during their routines and while that’s my personal preference, a good cue can make a huge difference for a beginner.
Because of these top-notch cues, it’s much easier to target the correct muscle groups in each exercise. When I woke up the next morning, my glutes and quads were definitely sore. Since these were the muscles I was supposed to be using, I wasn’t really surprised.
Being sore isn’t an indicator of a good workout, but it can mean that you’ve worked the muscle in a new or more intense way (and admittedly, it’s been a while since I’ve made myself do heel lifted squats or any work with a band). For those who’ve been skipping leg day more than they should, Houdyshell’s workout may leave you hobbling the next morning.
I often needed more rest
Houdyshell also does an excellent job of pairing compound exercises, like squats or lunges, with smaller isolation movements like kickbacks and pulses. This gives you a chance to “recover” a little from a cardiovascular standpoint, even if your muscles are burning by the end of the set.
Still, there were a few moments where I had to rest more than the given 15-second interval. That’s not a terrible thing, and I will always advocate listening to your body and taking unscheduled breaks if needed. Doing so ensures you’ll keep proper form throughout the workout.
Beginners might find the pace of this workout challenging. It’s better to pause and take additional rest periods than risk injury from being overly fatigued.
It’s best for intermediate fitness levels
The words “all fitness levels” are in the title, but this workout is best suited for those who’ve already got a solid routine in place. While Houdyshell gives valuable form pointers for each exercise, I’d consider a lot of the movements a step beyond basic — especially with the added resistance from a band or dumbbell.
If you’ve just started exercising and are feeling adventurous, give this workout a try with caution. It will definitely serve as a great marker of your strength and endurance progress.
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