Legs & Butt Kettlebell Workout with Cardio

Legs & Butt Kettlebell Workout with Cardio

When Corning® Gorilla® Glass asked me to put together a workout, I started thinking of all the ridiculous ways in which I endanger my cell phone’s life every day. I don’t have an armband, so I’ll put it in the back of my sports bra sometimes when I do HIIT workouts. I know water damage isn’t covered by insurance, but what about back sweat sweat? Or how I “waterproof” my phone for beach days and boat trips by putting it a Ziploc bag. Or how I’ll bring it on roller coasters, ski slopes, four wheelers and zip lines if it means I might be able to capture an Instagram-worthy picture (hashtag obnoxious millennial).

Even if you’re not quite as irresponsible as me, we all know that stomach-dropping feeling of watching your phone drop to the pavement and the nauseating feeling of hesitantly picking it up and turning it over to see if the screen has shattered. Side note: Just took me 10 failed attempts and a Google search to correctly spell “nauseating.” There were literally 14 vowels in my first try.

Gorilla Glass 4, used for smartphones, tablets and notebooks, allows for the sleek, thin smartphone design we all want while also providing top-notch damage resistance to scratches and bumps and dramatically improved drop performance. In fact, in laboratory tests, it survives up to 80% of the time when dropped from 3 feet high, and is up to two times tougher than competitive glass designs. I like those odds! You can find out if your device uses it here.

So on to today’s workout! Stick your Gorilla Glass-protected phone in the back of your sports bra and let’s get to it.

Legs & Butt Kettlebell Workout with Cardio

Yes, this is a lower body circuit, but oh MAN is your back going to get a fantastic workout as well. A lot of these exercises are very similar, just changing the movement enough to continually challenge the muscles, really working them effectively.

Equipment I Used:

You focus on one side of your body at a time for this workout: Right / Cardio Blast / Left / Cardio Blast. Repeat a total of 3 times. The leg/butt sequence is just over three minutes long in total. Set an interval timer for 5 rounds of 30 sec work and 10 sec rest. If you’re advanced, try eliminating the rest time between exercises, going one right into the other, only resting when you’ve finished all five moves on that leg.

And just to be super clear, here’s a breakdown of the entire workout:

HIIT circuit on the right leg

Cardio blast

HIIT circuit on the left leg

Cardio blast

HIIT circuit on the right leg

Cardio blast

HIIT circuit on the left leg

Cardio blast

HIIT circuit on the right leg

Cardio blast

HIIT circuit on the left leg

Cardio blast

This workout will take you 25-30 minutes to complete.

HIIT CIRCUIT

• Bell-to-Floor Single-Leg Squat | As far as upper body goes, I want you to think “deadlift.” Lower body, think “single-leg squat/curtsey lunge.” Start standing on your right leg holding the kettlebell in both hands in front of your body. Start to squat down on your right side, sending the left leg behind you into a hover. Make sure your right knee doesn’t jut out farther than your toes by thinking about sending your hips and butt back and down. Weight should be in your right heel at the bottom of your squat. Lower until the kettlebell lightly taps the ground and then stand back up. As you do this, make sure you’re engaging your abs to avoid undue stress on the lower back.
• Bell-to-Floor Side Lunges | As far as upper body form goes, this is essentially the same movement as the previous exercise (think deadlift—keep your back flat, chest open; don’t let the weight of the bell cause you to hunch your shoulders). Start standing with feet hip’s width apart, holding the kettlebell in both hands in front of your body. Keep your right foot where it is as you step the left foot out wide to the left, lowering into a side lunge. As you lower, bend into your right knee and shift your bodyweight into the right heel as you slide your hips back and down. The right knee shouldn’t jut forward of the toes; you are sitting back into the lunge. As you lower, bring the kettlebell to lightly tap the floor on the inside of your right foot, hinging from the hips and keeping your back flat as you lower. From here, power up through the right heel to return to standing. Here a side view of the bottom so you can really see how you sit back into it:

• Single-Leg Deadlift | Start standing with the kettlebell in both hands in front of you, weight in your right foot, and left toes lightly touching the ground a few inches behind you. From this starting position, start to lower the kettlebell towards the ground in front of you, keeping your chest open, spine straight, and lifting your back left leg off the ground behind you as you do. Right leg shouldn’t be completely locked out straight (keep a little micro-bend in the knee). When you reach your lowest point (bell touches floor if possible), slowly, with control, return to standing. Imagine your body is a seesaw as you do these: from your head to your left foot is the board and your right leg is the base from which it teeters back and forth. Form cue: Pay attention to your back hip. You want to keep your hips square to the ground—if there were headlights on each hip bone, they’d be shining directly down to the floor. Sometimes as we do these, the back hip wants to open up to the side; don’t let it.
• Side Lunge Figure 8s | Begin standing with kettlebell in your left hand. Lunge out to the side onto your right leg, sitting your butt back to prevent the knee jutting forward of the toes. As you lunge out, gently swing the kettlebell around that right leg in a partial figure 8 movement, passing it off to your right hand as you continue to circle it around that right leg. Pass it back off to the left hand as you push off the right leg and return back to the starting standing position.
• Hold Low: Step Lunge, Squat, Back Lunge | Start in a lunge with your right foot forward and ball of the left foot lightly behind you. Hold the kettlebell at your chest with bent elbows. The right leg is the target and you’re going to keep that knee bent the whole time—stay low! From here, bring your left foot forward into a low squat. Immediately step it out to the side, again stepping it to the floor in a side lunge position. Continue: squat, back lunge, squat, side lunge. Keep your weight on the stationary leg and stay low the whole time.

CARDIO BLAST

• 10 Jump Tuck – Jump Squats | Feet about shoulder-width apart, squat down, sending your hips and butt back and down (not the knees forward!). Bring your hands in front of you as you sink down. From there, explosively jump straight up, swinging your arms back behind you as you do. Land softly and sink right back into a squat, hands swinging forward. The next time you power up, do a jump tuck: Jump up into the air, using your core to pull your knees up towards your chest. Lower them quickly in time to land, sinking right back into a squat. That’s one rep.
• 20 Kettlebell Swings | Start with kettlebell on the floor between your legs and lift it up to starting position with both hands, flat back, using your legs to lift. With kettlebell hanging between your legs, use your arms as a pendulum, and swing the bell to chest-to-eye level by thrusting with your hips while keeping your core tight as you stand up straight. Swing back down and repeat. Your knees should remain slightly bent, but the main source of movement is hinging at the hips—not so much squatting. I use a 25-lb bell (but need to go up!). Taylor recently put together the most thorough kettlebell swing tutorial ever—check it out if you’re new to these!

WEARING | tank: Nation // sports bra: Fabletics // spandex: Under Armour (old but similar HERE) // sneakers: Nike

Corning® Gorilla® Glass has been used on nearly 4 billion devices from 40 major brands. Is it on yours? Click here to find out.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Corning® Gorilla® Glass. The opinions and text are all mine.

Original article and pictures take pumpsandiron.com site