Cathe Live Review: Burn Sets: Express Legs Heavy Weight (#305)
Burn Sets: Express Legs Heavy Weight is a short but effective pure strength workout for the lower body. This is the third Live workout in the Burn Sets series but this time focusing on using heavy weights for the lower body rather than the upper body. The other two are – Burn Sets Live: Back, Chest & Shoulders #302 (review HERE) and Burn Sets: Biceps & Triceps #304 (review HERE).
All of these workouts are loosely based on Cathe’s XTrain Burn Set DVDs, however, the DVDs only focus on the upper body so this is the extra edition you always wanted! Again this is an excellent workout and if you really heavy up you will definitely feel the burn. This one also had a good cardio effect too, as you are using heavy weights and working large muscle groups so I was pretty drenched by the end.
The format for this routine is similar to the other Live versions, in that you have rounds of alternating exercises. In this one there are five rounds of three exercises. Each round has variations of a squat, a lunge and a deadlift so there is lots of variety and you never do exactly the same move twice. This is slightly different to the DVD versions, as in those routines you repeat each move three times, with the last set being the burn-out - where you go to failure. This workout, as with the other Live versions, does not include a burn-out set you just do 12 reps per exercise. Although Cathe does miss one rep, on one exercise, in the fourth round (noted below so you can add it on, if you want to) and gives a bonus on the last set of pick up plie squats.
As this is Cathe on her own, she again is able to pull out much heavier weights than she normally uses for Live. So she used between 12 and 40 pounds (she said 45 pounds on the forum but apparently forgot her 45’s). She also used two weight plates to elevate her toes or heels for two exercises. I used two 5# dumbbells instead of plates, as she often does in other workouts, and this worked fine for me. The idea, as with all the Burn Sets routines, is to lift as heavy as you can safely, in order to really challenge yourself. The tempo is generally more reasonable throughout this one, although for some reason Cathe did the deadlifts, with 30 pounds, at single tempo and this seemed a little fast for me so I just slowed them down a little. Again, as with the other workouts, I would suggest having a notepad handy to jot down what worked and what didn’t so you can get a better workout next time, as it is a little bit of a guessing game to start with. One thing to note though, is that this is a really short workout. The actual workout (not including warm-up and cool down) is only approx. 23 minutes long so you may wish to factor this in with your weight selections, along with the fact it is 12 reps most of the time. I found it a little disappointing that it was so short, as I would have liked a couple more rounds to get a really good workout. However, it was still a great routine.
Overall, this is a timesaver, heavy weight routine that with the right weights will challenge that lower body nicely.
(For more information about Cathe Live, how to sign up & to see all of my Cathe Live reviews, click HERE).
The Workout
Burn Sets: Express Legs Heavy Weight is a pure strength workout consisting of five rounds of three exercises. Each round includes a squat, a lunge and a deadlift variation.
What You Need to Know
(Rating scale – 1= lowest & 5 = highest).
The Moves
Burn Sets: Express Legs Heavy Weight is 35 minutes long and originally aired on 9th July 2020 (#305). The workout starts with a 6 minute warm-up, before a quick water break and then moving into the first round of exercises. Towards the end of the warm-up, Cathe picks up 12 and then 15 pound dumbbells to do a warm-up set of moves that are detailed below.
Warm-Up Set
Squats – two 12# Dbs – 8 reps
Squats – two 15# Dbs – 8 reps
Deadlifts – two 15# Dbs – 8 reps
Static lunge – two 15# Dbs – 8 reps on each side
Round 1
Squats – two 25# Dbs – 12 reps
Static lunges – two 20# Dbs – 12 reps each side
Deadlifts – two 30# Dbs – 12 reps
Round 2
Squats w/ heels elevated – two 25# Dbs & two weights plates (I used 5# Dbs to elevate the heels) – 12 reps
Rear lunges – two 20# Dbs – 12 reps each side (however, Cathe gets confused and does 9 reps static lunge on the 2nd side before correcting herself)
Wide stance deadlifts – two 30# Dbs – 12 reps (single tempo)
Round 3
Sumo squat close grip – one 40# Db (I used a 40# kettlebell) – 12 reps
Side lunges – one 20# Db – 12 reps each side
Single leg deadlift – one 30# Db (I used two 15’s) – 12 reps each side
Round 4
Plie squats (Dbs held at shoulders) – two 20# Dbs – 12 reps
Crossback lunges – two 20# Dbs – 12 reps each side
Stiff leg narrow stance deadlift – two 25# Dbs – 12 reps
Round 5
Pick up plie squats (setting down & picking up Db) – one 40# Db – 16 reps
Forward lunges – one 25# Db (I used two 15’s) – 12 reps each side
Deadlifts w/ toes elevated – two 30# Dbs & two weight plates (I used 5# Dbs for my toes) – 12 reps (single tempo)
The workout ends with a 4 minute cool down and stretch.
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