25-Minute Legs and Glutes Drop Set (Athlete 25 Day 8)

How To Do Banded 80/20 Switch Stance Squats

1. Start standing in a neutral position on an elevated surface, knees slightly bent. Option to place a resistance band six inches above your knees. Hold a pair of dumbbells in your hands, palms facing in.
2. Stagger your feet, so your left leg is slightly in front of your right foot. Kickstand your back right foot, right heel floating off the ground. Keep 80% of your weight in your front foot, 20% in your back right toe.
3. Maintain a staggered stance as you perform a squat, lowering down into a squat position until hips are parallel with your knees. Drive your knees out toward your outer three toes.
4. Drive through your front heel to stand tall, squeezing your glutes at the top.
5. Then switch your stance by bringing your right foot slightly in front, kickstand the back left heel off the floor, and repeat. Keep the same 80/20 weight distribution in each stagger.
6. Continue alternating sides, maintaining that controlled tempo and glute focus.

Modification: Omit the elevation, performing 80/20 squats from the ground.

How To Do Front Foot Elevated Lunges and Knee Drives

1. Begin in a neutral standing position, feet shoulder width apart, right heel on a plate or yoga block. Hold a dumbbell in each hand at your sides.
2. Step your left foot back into a reverse lunge. Lowering your left back knee towards the mat, aiming for 90-degree angles in both knees.
3. Drive through your right heel to stand tall. As you do so, perform a knee drive on the left leg; bringing left knee in line with left hip.
4. Step your left foot back, returning to a reverse lunge position and repeat the movement.

Modification: Omit the elevation and the knee drive, performing reverse lunges from the ground.

How To Do a Toes Elevated Deadlift

1. Begin in a neutral standing position, feet shoulder width apart, toes up on a plate or yoga block. Hold a dumbbell in each hand at your sides.
2. Stand with your feet hip-width apart, holding a dumbbell in each hand in front of your hips (palms facing in towards your body). Place a resistance band 6 inches above your knees.
3. Hinge at the hips, pushing your hips back towards the wall behind you as you glide the dumbbells down the front of your legs, keeping your core tight, slightly bending both knees. Lower your dumbbells until you feel a stretch in the hamstrings. The range of motion will look different for everyone.
4. Drive through your heels to push your hips forward, pulling the dumbbells back up towards your hips and returning to the starting position. Aim for full hip extension at the top of the movement.

Modification: Omit the elevation, performing deadlifts from the ground.

How to Do an Elevated Calf Raise

1. Start standing with toes up on a plate or weights, feet shoulder-width apart. Keep your back straight and core engaged to stand tall. Hold a dumbbell in each hand by your sides.
2. Slowly and with control, lift yourself up onto the balls of your feet. Your heels will rise above the ground.
3. Lift your heels until you feel a stretch along the back of your legs as you balance on your toes.
4. Slowly lower your heels back to the ground, returning to the starting position.

Modification: Omit the elevation, performing calf raises from the ground.

How To Do a Pivot Cossack Squat

1. Start standing in a neutral position on an elevated surface, feet hip-width apart. Hold one dumbbell vertically with both hands, dumbbell hanging slightly in front of you.
2. Step your left foot back, rotating your left toes and both hips 90 degrees to face the left wall. Right toes stay facing the front of the room.
3. Bend your left knee and sit back towards your left hip, keeping your right leg straight. Think about performing a single leg squat on the left side. Right toes pop off the mat (toes up towards the ceiling).
4. Then, drive off your bent left leg to reverse the movement, standing tall and facing the front of the room.

Modification: Omit the elevation, performing a pivot cossack from the ground.

How To Do Dumbbell Swings

1. Stand with your feet wider than shoulder-width apart, holding a single dumbbell vertically between your hands.
2. With a slight bend in your knees and weight in your heels, ‘hike’ the dumbbell back between your legs to start the swing movement.
3. Drive through your heels to stand tall, pushing your hips forward as you squeeze your glutes to swing the dumbbell up. Aim for shoulder height, with arms extended out away from the body. Think long, loose arms (your arms are just a vehicle for moving the weight, your hips and glutes generate the power).
4. As the dumbbell begins to descend, think of catching the weight with a hip hinge, loading the glutes and hamstrings.

How To Do Lunge Jumps

1. Start standing feet hip-distance apart, slight bend in your knees and core engaged.
2. Jump your right foot back into a reverse lunge, aiming for 90-degree angles in each knee.
3. Then, perform a “lunge jump” by exploding up from the split lunge position, jumping with enough force to propel both feet off the floor as you switch your stance mid-air (left leg back, right foot forward).
4. Land softly in the reverse lunge position and power back up to continue this explosive movement.

Modification: Performing alternating knee slams, stepping first your right foot back into a shallow lunge before driving it forward. Then stepping your left foot back into a shallow lunge before driving it forward.

How To Do Skaters

1. Start standing in an athletic stance, feet hip-width apart, knees slightly bent, core engaged.
2. Push off your right foot to bound laterally to the left, landing in a loaded skater position on your left foot. Left knee bent, right leg tracking behind your left foot in a skater position.
3. Then, drive off your planted left foot to bound laterally back to the right. Landing softly on your right foot. Right knee bent, left leg tracking behind your right foot in a skater position.
4. Repeat, alternating the skaters on each leg.