ACE HiiT Series: Lower Body HiiT

Chris works out alone in a studio for this 30 minute lower body & cardio HiiT routine. You will need dumbbells for workout. Chris provides modification options. Classic HiiT style- each exercise lasts for 20 seconds, followed by 10 seconds rest completed for 4 minutes followed by a 45 second rest. You perform 2 rounds of 4 exercises two times total, and then one final round of 4 different exercises.

After a warmup, exercises include: surrenders, squat jumps, split jumps, lunge -knee up- dip, walking pliets, pliet heel click jumps, floor touch knee hops, low runners knee pulls, set down & pick up weights, hi knee runs, lunge hops, lunge knee raise, and a cooldown/ stretch.

I rate this a high intermediate. This is a quick and effective workout- I was able to heavy up pretty well on this & was sore the next day! Chris is fantastic in this entire series, motivating, great form reminders, modifications, and cuing. Love the pace- not rushed but no wasted time. I received this dvd to review.

lindseylu

I was very excited to get this set as I am loving short (30 minute-ish) intense workouts. The DVD set has an upper body, lower body, total body, and abs HIIT workout one one DVD, and a bonus 10 minute ab and another 10 minute lower body workout, and a 20 minute yoga workout on a second DVD. For about $25 retail you get a great set.

Each workout is structured with a nice solid warm up of about 5-6 minutes, then five 4-minute Tabata circuits – four exercises for 20 seconds each (10 second rest), repeated twice, making up each 4-minute circuit. The first two circuits are repeated once (making up the first four circuits); the last 4-minute Tabata is not repeated. Lindsey provided a listing of the exercises in each workout.

I really like the leg workout – probably my second favorite in the set after the upper body. I really like that the heart rate gets and stays really high with this one – even the lower body strength is very cardio intense. Exercises include weighted lunge variations, those up/down lunges where you go from kneeling to lunge and back, plyo lunges, plyo squats, weighted plié squats, plyo plié squats, low unweighted knee repeaters (isometric for balancing leg), fast knee-up jumps. I would say using challenging weights this is a high intermediate workout. You definitely get a comprehensive strength and cardio workout in a half hour! I would highly recommend this workout.

Instructor Comments:
Chris is friendly, encouraging, and professional. Top notch instruction! Bonus that she coordinates her outfits (matching tops with her sneakers) and the high production value makes the workout visually appealing. Chris is inspiring and I appreciate that she wants you to challenge yourself and do your best in each workout.

Emily B.