This workout serves as Day 1 of the FB Kickstart 30 Day Program but can also be completed as a standalone workout.

Welcome to Day # 1, Week #1 of the FB Kickstart 30 Day Program. We are starting off the program in this first week with half strength and half cardio segments. In today's workout you will get your strength and cardio (HIIT!) in one training session in a straightforward lower body workout. Increase the challenge by bumping up your weights and picking up the speed!

Equipment: You’ll need your medium to moderately heavy weights, relative to what you would lift for a challenging lower body workout. Remember that the terms “medium” and “moderately heavy” are relative to the workout, the effects of your fatigue levels from previous workouts, your training goals, and your current mental state. However, if you need a little help determining which weights to select for this workout, think of your “medium” weights as those that you can lift with little struggle for the entire work interval. Your “moderately heavy” weights are those that cause you to slow your cadence and noticeably increase your efforts at maintaining proper form during the last 2 to 3 reps of each work interval/set.  

Tips & Helpful Information: It might be tempting to either skip or hold onto your weights during the bodyweight exercises that follow the weighted moves in the lower body strength circuits. These “active recovery” bodyweight exercises maintain highly oxygenated blood flow to your working muscles without overly taxing them, leaving you primed for your next set of resisted lifts and allowing your muscles to “flush out” the tenseness from the prior loaded muscle contractions.

For the HIIT portion of the workout, remember that you’re challenging yourself to approach breathless, anaerobic efforts. Try not to reserve your energy during any of the work intervals! Your efforts are based on your personal perceived exertion; therefore, if you’re moving a bit slower or opting for modifications towards the end of a HIIT circuit, these regressions don’t matter nearly as much as your perception of the work effort.

Difficulty and Modifications Explained: This workout is rated as a level 3 because the exercises are straightforward and therefore easily modifiable to suit your current training goals, needs, and preferences. To decrease the intensity/difficulty of any exercise, decrease your range of motion, decrease/omit your weights, and/or decrease exercise speed of execution. Conversely, you can increase any of the aforementioned variables to bump up the difficulty rating to a level 4.

Closing Notes: Enjoy the simplicity of this workout knowing that you can determine just how hard you want to challenge yourself! This is a great routine for dabbling with heavier weights and experimenting with identifying your personal levels of perceived exertion during high intensity cardiovascular training. Tune in to learn about your capabilities and have some fun along the way!

Workout
Warm-Up: 30 sec per exercise, no rest between exercises (4:00)
-Hip Opener + Knee Hug – R
-Hip Opener + Knee Hug – L
-Bodyweight Squat + Calf Raise (raise upon standing tall)
-Reverse Lunge + Zombie March - R
-Reverse Lunge + Zombie March – L
-Deadlift
-Jump Rope + Feet Shuffles
-Jumping Jacks

***30 sec off***

My Weights for the Lower Body Circuits (not a recommendation, just a reference):
(Medium to Moderately Heavy Weights)
-(per hand) 35 lbs. (~16 kg) / 40 lbs. (~18 kg)

Lower Body Strength Circuit Format: 30 sec on / 5 sec off / 3 rounds – 30 sec off between rounds
HIIT Circuit Format: 30 sec on / 15 sec off / 2 rounds – no extra rest between rounds

Lower Body Strength Circuit #1: (~4:30)
-(weighted) Narrow Squat (Suitcase Squat)
-(bodyweight) Squats

***30 sec off***

Lower Body Strength Circuit #2: (~4:30)
-(weighted) Deadlift (RDL)
-(bodyweight) Alt. Reverse Lunges

***Water Break***

HIIT Circuit #1: (~3:00)
-Alt. Lateral Squat + Blastoff Squat (center)
-Lateral Tap-Outs + Touchdowns (Option: add a hop)

***30 sec off***

HIIT Circuit #2: (~3:00)
-Squat Jacks
-Running Man

***30 sec off***

Finisher: 20 sec on / 20 sec off / 3 rounds (~2:00)
-Frogger Hops (forward and back)

Cool-Down: approx. 30 sec per stretch (approx. 4:00)
-Split Stance Quads/Hip Flexors Stretch - R
-Pyramid Hamstrings Stretch - L
-Split Stance Quads/Hip Flexors Stretch – L
-Pyramid Hamstrings Stretch – R
-Lateral Lunge Hold Stretch - R
-Lateral Lunge Hold Stretch – L
-Chest Opener Stretch + Wrist Rotations
-Slow Body Roll-Downs