Last week was my Recovery week from all my super heavy lifts and my 10-7-3-1 workouts.

Sometimes my “recovery” workouts aren’t easy at all. Sometimes they are simply DIFFERENT exercises and “lighter loads” than what I’ve been doing.

Sometimes they simply require my body to move in a different way than it’s been moving for the last 3-5 weeks.

I also love doing single limb movements and more bodyweight moves during my recovery workouts. These moves aren’t EASY though. I just find they really force me to work more on activation and correcting imbalances.

Recovery doesn’t always mean time off and it doesn’t always mean EASY.

Here is my far from easy (and actually made me super super sore) recovery Glute Workout from this past week.

Recovery Glute Workout

WARM UP:

Foam roll – lower legs, hamstrings, hips, back

Stretch – Calves, hamstrings, hips

Activate – Glutes with lateral and monster band walks

STRENGTH:

4 rounds:

8-12 reps each side Single Leg Deadlift holding double kettlebells
(Increase weight with each round if possible unless 8 rep max hit. Keep standing leg slightly bent and back flat as you hinge over. Hold one kettlebell in each hand by your side. Do not let your back round as you hinge over.)
8-12 reps each side Single Leg Glute Bridge Off Box
(Heel up on box and bridge up. If you can’t get up as high as with a two leg bridge then stick with a single leg bridge off the ground)

4 rounds:

8-12 reps each side Curtsy Lunge holding double kettlebells
(Increase weight with each round if possible unless 8 rep max hit. Make sure as you lunge back and come to standing that you are in full control of the lunge and driving off the heel of the front leg. Really cross behind and keep your chest up as you lunge. Hold each kettlebell down by your side.)
8-12 reps each side Single Leg Step Down
(Start standing on the box as if doing a lateral step up. Step down to the side of the box, hinging over a bit as you lower down. Lower down slowly. Do not let the foot going down fully touch the ground. Only let the toe lightly graze the ground and then press quickly back up to standing. Only go as low as you can control. DO NOT push back up off the ground!! The higher the box the harder the move.)

Make sure to sink back into the heel on the top of the box. Don’t be afraid to lean forward just keep the core tight.

CONDITIONING:

3 rounds:

40 seconds of work, 20 seconds of rest
Heavy Kettlebell Swings

While these moves didn’t use the heavy loads that many of my lifts have required recently, the loads were still heavy and CHALLENGING for the moves I did.

And the bodyweight bridges and bodyweight step downs were far from easy.

These moves all challenged my glutes to work and stabilize to become stronger for my heavy lifts. Since they were also single limb movements my dominate leg couldn’t take over and compensate. My weaker leg was forced to work equally hard, which helps to correct any imbalance that may exist.

And my butt was sore for days actually and my glutes were definitely shaking a bit during the workout.

My rest periods were also very short during the workout since I wasn’t trying to lift my max, making it a rather quick workout. However, I did rest enough that I could still use CHALLENGING weights and give a good work output each and every round.

The little conditioning blast at the end was also short and sweet. It worked on grip strength and power. It also got my heart rate up a bit while working my glutes that last little bit to utterly fatigue them.

What do your recovery week workouts look like? Do you simply take the week off or do you do workouts to work on your weak points?