Lorraine Kelly
If you think strength workouts are reserved for gym bunnies with time to burn, Harriet Harper has one thing to say to you: think again.
With just 30 minutes, three to five times a week, Harper claims you can build serious muscle, tone your physique – and yes, get the dream bum you’ve been scrolling for on Instagram. Her HHF Method is not about quick fixes or calorie-counting chaos – it’s about smart, time-savvy strength workouts built for the real world.
“So, you’re a busy b!tch? Guess what, so are we! And that doesn’t mean we can’t boss life with a spicy marg, a sparkling apartment and a badass career – oh and your dream bum.”
Welcome to the Busy B!tch era of fitness.
The HHF Method: Strength Training Without the Faff
Forget slogging away for hours at the gym while your dinner burns and your inbox explodes. Harriet Harper’s HHF Method app was designed for women who don’t have time to waste – but still want to look and feel strong as hell.
“Let’s be real, not everyone has time to be in the gym for hours every day, whether it’s juggling the kids, working late or just struggling with your jam-packed social life (go on Queen!) there is a way to make strength training work around you.”
Harper saw a gaping hole in the fitness market – a space where real women, with real lives, could access expert workouts that work with their schedules, not against them.
“I launched the Busy B!tch programmes on my app after seeing a serious gap in the market for women who wanted to train like a boss, but live and work like one too.
Time is precious, I get it, and no one has time to waste. But we still want to reach our goals right? And that’s where I come in.”
The HHF strength workouts can be done at home or in the gym, and they don’t skimp on quality. Expect glute burn, hamstring fire and a healthy dose of sass – all in under 40 minutes.
A Sample Workout Fit for a Queen (or a CEO)
Harper’s routines blend hypertrophy-based training with form-focused moves that sculpt the lower body in record time. Here’s a taste of what the Busy B!tch programme includes:
💥 Straight Leg Cable Kickback (6-8 mins)
This is a hip extension exercise that is going to work your glute max. You are going to do this one at a cable machine in your gym, so you will need an ankle strap, and standing on a plate can also help if you find your foot scraping the floor!
Set your cable machine to the bottom level and hold onto the machine for stability. The standing leg is also working overtime to stabilise you so don’t worry if you can feel this also working in your standing leg as well as your working glute.
Hold onto the machine and tilt your torso to a 45-degree angle, and kick back, slightly turning the toe outwards. Bring it back in and control it back up, keeping your torso super steady.
Complete 6-10 reps of these on each side. Repeat for two sets.
💥 Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift (RDL) (6-8 mins)
An RDL is a hip hinge movement with a slight bend to the knee to minimise hamstring recruitment and instead fully focus on the glute muscles! We want to keep a neutral spine, so no looking at yourself in the mirror!
Hold a pair of dumbbells either at the front or the side with a natural stance, feet hip-width apart. Imagine you have oranges underneath your armpits that you are trying to squeeze; this is going to help engage your lats.
Core is tight and we are just lowering the dumbbells down the legs, to just below the knee. Think about moving the dumbbells in a straight line down, feeling a stretch in your glutes and back up again.
6-10 reps. Perform two working sets.
💥 Bulgarian Split Squat (6-8 mins)
This is a unilateral exercise so you are working one leg at a time, and your rear foot is going to be elevated on a bench.
The easiest way to get into this position is to take a step forward, put your back foot up on the bench and bend down into your low position first, as you can now gather your dumbbells on either side of you while stable.
Front shin is vertical and we want to get as much hip flexion as we can, driving the hips back towards the bench as we bend the knee, with the dumbbells ending by the front foot.
Like a normal squat we want to keep that front knee in line with the toe. If you do lack stability, it is absolutely fine to hold onto something to stabilise yourself!
6-8 reps each side – two sets.
💥 Seated Leg Curl (8-10 mins)
A simple and hugely effective exercise for the hamstrings! The seated leg curl provides a ton of stability (make sure you use the adjustable pads to secure yourself into the seats as this is KEY!).
Secure the foot pads just above the ankle joint and hold onto the machine. Once you’re set, keep the movement nice and controlled on the way down AND the way up (no swinging!), and do your best not to let your back arch away from the seat too much.
If you wish, you can take a slight lean forward, as the hip flexion will lengthen the hamstrings and that extra stretch can help make the exercise even more effective.
Just bear in mind if you do this, you will need to brace the core a lot more to minimise momentum.
6-10 reps. Perform two working sets.
Why It Works
These strength workouts are deceptively simple but strategically designed to deliver maximum gains in minimal time. With exercises tailored to real-life bodies and real-life schedules, Harper’s HHF Method doesn’t just train your muscles – it trains your mindset.
And best of all? It’s not about perfection. It’s about progress, showing up, and lifting heavy (with or without the fancy gym gear).
So, if you’ve been putting off strength training because life’s chaotic, Harriet’s got your back (and your glutes). Download the app, grab your dumbbells, and remember:
“Let’s Lift Heavily Ever After! H x”
