Lower-Body Blast

Michelle Lewin shares her exclusive leg and glute workout with Oxygen.

When it comes to Michelle Lewin’s legs and butt, she’s all business. And that’s likely the reason she has built such a formidable lower body — she works at it. The exclusive workout she created for Oxygen demonstrates some of her favorite moves for legs and glutes, and it is one she uses herself to maintain her sleek shape and definition while still remaining feminine.

Michelle Lewin’s Lower-Body Blaster

Do straight sets of each of these exercises, resting only long enough to catch your breath, then go right into the next set. Use a moderately heavy weight if you’re trying to maintain and chisel or a heavy weight if you’re trying to build and define.

*This is done in drop-set format, starting with the heaviest weight for seven reps and using decreasing weight for the next two sets of seven reps each.

Dumbbell Sumo Squat

Setup: Stand with your legs double shoulder-width apart, legs turned out from your hips. Hold a dumbbell with both hands in front of you, arms straight, and draw your shoulders back.

Move: Bend your knees, tracking them over your toes as you lower into a deep squat. When your hip crease breaks parallel, rise back to the start and squeeze your glutes at the top.

Tip: Draw your shoulders down and back to help keep your weight centered and your heels on the ground.

Bulgarian Split Squat

Setup: Hold a set of dumbbells at your sides and stand several feet away from a flat bench with your back to the bench. Extend one leg behind you, placing it laces down on top of the bench, and center your weight between your feet.

Move: Lower until your hip is even with or slightly below your front knee and your rear knee almost touches the floor. Reverse the move and rise to the start. Do all reps on one side before switching.

Tip: Don’t pitch forward with your upper body; stand up tall and straight to best work your glutes.

Stability-Ball Wall Squat

Setup: Place a stability ball between a wall and your midback and step your feet forward about a foot so you can see your toes in front of your knees if you look down. Hold a set of dumbbells at your sides and stand tall so your torso is vertical.

Move: Bend your knees and roll the ball down the wall, descending until your thighs are parallel to the floor. Reverse the move and rise to the start, squeezing your glutes at the top.

Tip: Your torso should stay upright the entire time. If you find you’re leaning forward, try moving the ball down a bit more between the wall and your back at the start.

Bench-Assisted Sissy Squat

Setup: Stand next to an upright bench and grasp it with your nearest hand. Shift your hips forward while keeping your back straight and rise up off your heels slightly. Your body should make a straight line from your knees to your head.

Move: Maintain this straight line as you bend your knees and lower them toward the floor in front of you slowly, levering on the balls of your feet until your shins are about parallel to the floor. Reverse the move and rise back to the start.

Tip: The only thing moving for this exercise should be your knees, bending and flexing like they would in a leg-extension machine.

Jump Squat

Setup: Stand with your feet hip-width apart, toes turned out about 10 degrees.

Move: Lower into a deep squat where your hip crease comes below your knees, and reach your arms forward. Explode up out of that squat and leap into the air as high as you can, throwing your arms backward and generating as much upward force as you can. Land softly and repeat right away.

Tip: Think of yourself as a spring, coiling and exploding with each repetition. Try to string the reps together evenly, and remember to breathe.

Switch Lunge + Air-Squat (not shown)

Setup: Stand with your feet in a wide split stance with your arms reaching straight forward from your shoulders.

Move: Bend your knees and lower into a deep lunge, keeping your forward knee over your toes and your torso erect. Explode out of that deepest point, leaping into the air and switching lead legs at your apex. Land with your opposite leg forward and go immediately into the next repetition.

Tip: This move is pretty aerobic, so remember to breathe and rest enough so that you’re fully recovered before starting your next set.

Air-squat bonus: As soon as you’re done with your lunging reps, assume a squat stance and immediately do 10 air squats with no weight, lowering as deep as you can.

Sprint

Setup: Set up two cones 25 meters apart in a wide open space. Stand next to one cone with one foot forward, one foot back, up on your toes and ready to explode out of the “blocks.”

Move: Sprint as fast as you can, pumping your arms and driving forward with your knees to speed from one cone to the other. Walk and catch your breath, then repeat.

Tip: Think about running past the second cone and maintain your top speed for the full 25 meters. Drive your elbows forward and back, not across your body, to get the most forward momentum possible.