04: Back Core & Hip Mobility - 34 Minute Workout

Hey, everybody, I'm Amy from Bodyfit by Amy. And this is your back, core and hip mobility workout. So just like it sounds, we are going to get mobility and flexibility and some gentle cardio that is going to specifically help us work out some of that tension and tightness in our back, in our shoulders, in our hips, and all those muscles that surround our core. So we'll start up top with some gentle movement and then we will take it down to the mat. And of course, I will give you lots of options to work to your level. Are you ready? Let's do it. Let's start just by rolling those shoulders to the back. And let's do a little posture check in. So a lot of times when we have back pain, low back pain, or in our hips, it can be a result or it can be amplified by our posture. So let's start by stacking our ears over our shoulders, shoulders over our rib cage, rib cage over our pelvis, so over those hip bones and then hips over the knees and the ankles. And just pay extra attention to what's happening with your pelvis. A lot of times we have what we call an anterior or posterior pelvic tilt. Sometimes we grip our glutes and bring those hips forward. And maybe that's work related. You sit at a desk or life related. You've been carrying kids for many years. Whatever it is, I want you to really focus on aligning your hip bones with your rib cage. And don't be thinking. You have to be thinking about this all the time. But just as we're getting into this workout, and this is something I talk about in a lot of workouts, right, Aligning the hips and the ribs is going to help you connect to your core. It's going to help you have better posture, and it's going to help your body be in alignment overall. So now that we're there, let's do a few rolls, the shoulders to the back, and we'll start with some gentle cardio more as a. It's all kind of going to feel like a warm up, but just to get the blood flowing and get everything moving, let's go ahead and start with a little march so you can pump those arms or arms down by your side. And then we'll get some gentle cardio mob that gets us moving through. Things that are going to be hip openers are going to help our back. We'll do a few things from the standing position, then we'll finish down on the mat. So with this march, let's pump the arms a little bit more. Doesn't have to be super vigorous. Of course, with all of this, if you want to take it up a bit, you can. Maybe you're needing that little cardio energy burst. Or if you want to keep it nice and slow, that's okay too. We just want to be getting through the movements. And I will remind you to be where you are today. So whatever you're feeling today, you showed up today, you're moving. That is all that matters. Let's take it to a little tap out with those legs. So opening up the hips through here. And then I like to reach across, right? So we get that stretch through the back. Doesn't have to be fast, but again we're getting that opening. I know for me, I get super tight through here and I can feel it when I do something like this. So trying to get a little wider, tapping out a little more, getting a little lower. It's helpful. You can also take that over your head. So we stretch through the sides as well. And then you can take it down to the mat. You know, I often include these in my warm ups if you've done my workouts in the past. Because again, it's a great way to really loosen up through here. Let's take our arms straight up. You're going to make an eye. It's a shoulder mobility exercise, but they're all connected. And then you're going to drop it in a hinge, driving the hips to the back. So it looks like this stretch up in the eye. Not arching the back, but pulling those shoulders back. And then hinge, drive those hips to the back, Nice flat back, take it up and then hinge just going as far as is comfortable for you. Nice soft bend in the knees. You don't have to go straight legs. One more. And here. Now we're going to take it up to a Y, arms out. Y, take those toes out and then do a little hinge half squat. So I'm still going to drive my hips to the back, but my toes are out. So it's almost like a PAA squat with a hinge. Right here we're going Y and then opening up. If you can touch the floor, touch the floor. If you can't, no big deal. Just go as far as is comfortable for you. See how that little hip opener here connected with the big reach out to the Y. Getting that nice long stretch through the shoulders and then opening up the hips. Two more and one more right here. And can we hold this one down? So whether you're holding it here or here, or if you need to sit down, be seated on a chair. That can also help. But just sort of shifting side to side, side. Maybe you can even get a little lower. Totally up to you. What feels good for you in this moment right here. And let's go ahead. Walk those feet in and slowly roll up. Last one. From here, we're going to take it to a big T. Open the arms out while we step out into a little side lunge or opening up the hips. Big stretch back. And again, drive the H to the back. Take the arms to the back and then cross them over. Big stretch, right? And here and here. Yes. Big opening. One more each way, and then again. Can we hold it down? Can we do a little reach? One arm up, one arm down. You don't have to touch the floor, but just think one up, one down. Just like this. Big reach. Just shifting your weight side to side. Even if you're a little bit higher, we're just shifting and reaching. Right. I like to start with a lot of this active mobility, or often cardio mobility, because it's going to prime the muscles for us to be able to do a little bit more down on the mat and also be able to hold some stretches. Right. Walk those feet in. All right, so let's get some little hip rolls. If you need a little balance, grab onto the wall. I can feel my heart rate getting up with that little roll of the hips. You can keep it low, or you can take it a little higher. What feels good for you? Core engage. Nice. Good posture. Gentle. Right now, we're going to take this up a notch. So if you need balance, and I might even need balance, we're going to come up, take it out and around, and then bring it back up, out and around. Sometimes we call these hip cars up. I just want you to make it bigger. Right. And you probably need a little balance. So a sturdy chair. Right. So you're just opening up the hip as you go up, out, and around. Don't worry too much about the direction. We just want hip opener. One more up. Same thing. Other side. So turn to the other side. Up. I can tell this one is tighter. And then reverse your direction. Don't overthink it. Just open up the hip. You basically just want slower and bigger than just your standard hip rolls that we just did. Making it bigger. Oh, this one's going to be harder for balance. And then up one more right here and here. So let's tap it back right here. Take those arms to the back Opening up the chest and shoulders. Because again, it's all related. Right through here. And then slowly bring the hamstrings up. Right? So little hamstring curl. Hamstrings. Stretch out those hip flexors, right? You can cross them in front. Whatever pacing is good for you. You can go slower, you can go faster. Whatever you need right here. Can you cross those arms here? Opening up again, chest and shoulders and upper back. Because it's all related. And then can you take the arms up here? If you rather just keep the tap, that works too. But I want you to bring the hips to the back so you open up those hip flexors. I'm feeling my workout from yesterday. I don't know about you. Okay, three, two, one, and breathe. Right through here. Roll those shoulders. Hari gets up a little on that. Right, so we're here to here. Now let's take those knees across. So arms here. Start with just a little tap. So tap torso mobility. Right? So you're just bringing your knee up here. Then if you can, knees here. And if you need to bring one down in between, that's okay. Getting that little chest opener again as we bring the knees across. Yes. 4, 3, 2, 1, and breathe. Roll those shoulders. So let's take it with our arms out to the side. And we're going to do a flat back. I want you to watch me from the side. We're going to drive those hips to the back. You're trying to take it flat, then scoop, then round it up slow. So often I do this in my warm up, but we're going to take it even slower. Even more of driving the hips to the back. Flat, flat, flat, flat. Feel that stretch here. Scoop and then round it up. So I really want you to get both the flat back, which gives you that nice good stretch. Drive those hips back. Feel that stretch here and then scoop and then the round all the way through. Two more like that down, scoop, and one more. And from here, if you can have your hands on the ground, great. Otherwise, on top of the legs, you can even balance on the wall. But let's let our head and neck relax into that. You can bend your knees a little bit more if you need to, and then just little petal of the feet. You know, I love to do this after a kettlebell swing or after something where we worked our hamstrings a lot. But even if you're here, I just want you to let your head relax into it so we're not holding that tension there. Right? We're here all the way Through. And then from here, we're going to walk those hands out. So we're going to take it to an inchworm. So it's up to you. If you want to walk out to your knees, you can. If you want to walk out to that high plank, you can. And then we're going to slowly walk it back. Bend your knees space. We're gonna do just a few of these inchworms because, again, really good mobility through the spine, soften in the knees, but you find what's good for you. If you need to drop to the knees here and walk it out and get that stretch, you can. If you want to stay on the toes and get a little bit more of that core activation, you can one more all the way through. And then on the last one, we will hold it out. And here and last one. So from here, wherever you are, let's drop to those knees. And I want you to continue to walk your hands out. So I'm not sitting back into the child's pose. I'm walking my hands out for that stretch. Do you feel that? And then walk your hands back. And now let's go into the child's pose. Press those shoulders down. Rest your head down if you want. If you need a sip of water, this is a good time to get it. We're going to be on the mat from here on out. Some more of that targeted mobility and some flexibility and stretching. So starting from here, we're going to bring it up, and we're going to start. We're going to take this hand here behind the head, and we're going to cross in, and we're going to open up. Now you're going to find you're probably pretty tight through there. I know I am. So really work on opening. We're going to start with just that, and then we'll take it to more of a reach under and an open. But we're going to start with just a little cross. So knees directly beneath the hips, hands beneath the shoulders, one hand behind. Cross it in and open it up. I know, I feel tight, too. Hang out there. Then cross it in, then open it up. Ah, right. We're all tight. Two more just like that. Cross it in. You don't have to be super. You don't have to get all the way over with it. And one more and open. Now take that arm up. We're going to reach through. Hips to the back. Little child's pose. And then bring it out and up. Reach through. I know shoulders are getting a lot of Mobility work, too, but we need that as well. Right? And then up. Two more. Reach through and then up. And last one, reach through. We're going to hold this one. So if you can, I want you to rest that shoulder down wherever it feels comfortable for you. You can even rest your. And then come up. We're going to do same thing, other side. So rest those ribs as you need to readjust. Core is engaged, but we're not worried too much about making sure that we're contracting or anything like that. Hands behind the head. Other side. We're going to take it in right to center. We're going to open it up. Oh, super tight, right? Think about opening from the shoulder. Take it in. Open it up. Yes, take it in and up. And one more. Can always tell I need to do more mobility, right? We all do. Now we're going to take that arm up. We're going to reach under. Child's pose situation. And then open all the way up. Notice how you get that little hip stretch. Right? Reach under and then open all the way up. Two more, reach under and then open. And one more. Hold this one down again. You can rest your shoulders down. Whatever you need to do right here. And then from here, stay in the child's pose. But I want you to try to open up your knees a little bit more. I know it's hard to do, but you're just going to open it up and we're just going to go forward and back just a bit it so you can be on your elbows instead of your wrist. Feel that tightness, right? And then let's slowly make our way into a seated position. Let's give our knees a little break. Right, so we're here. Let those knees drop to the side. Side here. And breathing into that. Coming up to a seated position. Look over to the side. Over your shoulders. Over one shoulder, I should say. And do you feel that stretch? Can you take that arm behind you and look again? I know it's back and hip and core, but we really need that neck stretch as well. Let's switch it to the other side. Look over the shoulder and then take that other hand. Back, chest opener. Head and neck. Come back to center. We're going to let our knees drop to the side. So we're going to come into that 90, 90. We're going to be switching the knees back and forth. I love this hip mobility. If that is not comfortable for you, sit on the edge of a chair and you can have your knees coming off. It's a great way to make sure that you're getting that mobility. But if being on the floor like this isn't comfortable or it's feeling painful in any way, sit on the edge of the chair. So we're here. I want you to look over your shoulder, Feel that little back stretch, and then use your hands to guide you as you take one knee over and the other. So we're going to start really slow, opening up the hip. Take it here, using your hands here, one, and then the other. And maybe you're like me. You can tell this right one is a lot tighter for me as I come through. Now, if you want, you can take those hands up and have it be through the hips, right? Take them up and through the hips up. I feel myself creeping forward a bit. All right, we're gonna add one more thing. And if you need to just hang out and stretch in it, you can. But if you can, we're coming here. And then I want you to lift. So you're gonna feel that opening, right? You don't have to get super high. And then slowly down, rotate, Bring it here. Hips up and down. Take it here. Rotate, Lift. And down. And one more. Take it here. Ah. And take it down. So let's hang out here. You can just hold this here. Or if it feels good for you, I want you to take it into that pigeon stretch. So we're going to start with just a stretch, right? It feels good. That's not right for you. Just hang out in your 9090, right? And just shift into that hip. So a little slow side to side. And then we're going to take it to the other side. So you can roll through 90, 90, or you can just switch your legs. Whatever feels good. You can hold it here or again, take it into that pigeon. I want you to also think about that back leg, right? So because you're getting the hip flexor stretch from there. You're getting the hip flex opener stretch from here, right? A little side to side. And very carefully from here, we're going to come up to all fours. So here's what we've got. You have two options. You can just take it child's pose, stretch to all fours, or we're going to take it to that down dog. And then you're going to come in with that little pigeon stretch, right? So up to you or anything in between. If you just want to hold a stretch, that's okay, too. But if you want to come up to the plank or the down dog and switch your pigeon, you can. It's A really good mobility hip activator, but otherwise, find a stretch that feels good for you. You. Here we go. We're gonna press up. Feel that stretch in the hamstrings and the hips in the back. Come forward in the plank. Cross the other one over. I love this one because we get the challenge as well. Up. Big stretch. Really lengthen those heels down. Bring it forward and here and take it up. Big stretch and bring it forward and take it up. So whatever you're doing, just make sure you're holding and moving through with intention. We're gonna get one more each side and then back. Yes. And then here. And then let's bring it back, wherever you are, into that child's pose again. This time, if you want, let's take your hands behind and rest your head here. If that's not good for you, you can find what's comfortable. You can even rest your head on a pillow. And then let's bring it up on all fours. If your wrists are breathing, you can make a fist. You can put something underneath, but we're going to roll through that cat co. Inhale and exhale. And here's what I want you to think about. If you're like me, which many of us are, we get super tight in our lower lumbar spine. You maybe have more movement through your upper spine, your T spine or cervical spine, thoracic or lumber cervical spine. But that lower lumbar spine gets super tight. So I really want you to think about the movement coming here as well. Not just here, but through those hips. Can you bring the pelvis down? And can you bring it up? Just something to think about. Because I know for me, I tend to get really into that movement through my shoulders, through my upper back. But when it comes to that lower spine, it kind of locks up. It gets tight. So I just want to be more intentional about making sure it's involved in the movement. Right. A couple more at your own pace. Then we're down on our back. Breathe. And one more. And just very carefully, let's take it down onto our back. And move my microphone all the way down. And just hug one knee in at a time. You can grab either right on top of the shin, hold for a count or two. I like to bring my arms overhead so I get the shoulder mobility, too. Or you can come underneath, but just gentle pull in. Feel that how you get that release in the back as you come in? Try to keep your eyes and your chin up. Sometimes we hold a lot of tension in that neck in our Upper back, try to relax into that. Let's bring one in. We're going to extend. Extend that other leg out. If that's comfortable for you, find what's comfortable for you. And we're going to start. We're going to cross that knee over. So just one knee over. And can you look to the opposite side? Feel that back stretch, arms out. I know, right? See, this is where I feel that tightness and maybe that soreness from yesterday's workout. So feeling that. And then take that same knee, you're going to open it out the opposite way. So finding what's comfortable for you if you need to be a little further out, if you could be here. And again laying flat, we're going to do single sided. And then we will get that open book that we all love, right? And then carefully let's switch that. Slide that other leg out, bring that other knee in, gentle. And then we're going to take it across our body. Open up. Try not to lay on my microphone. So. And then take it across, open it up this way. And then let's take that other knee over to meet it. Other hand over. Let's start with just the upper body. So we're going to isolate these out so we get that mobility in different parts of the spine. So start with just the upper body. You can either pull that arm across or you can go big right here. Whatever feels good for you. Just the upper to start. And then take it across. I think I like to pull it across. It really gets my shoulder. But whatever feels good for you. But little movement through that upper spine. Two more right here and right here. And then let's take everything over so back to here, arm and leg, open book. And then roll through the other side at your own pace. Full open book, taking the arm across, opening up with the knees at your own pace. Whatever speed is good for you. Take it across. And then one more. Whatever gets you back to that other side, right? Whatever side you didn't do before. Let's take it here. And just your upper. Take it across and through. And one more. Now let's keep the arms open. And you're just taking the knees one at a time. Arms aren't moving, just moving right and left with those hips all the way through. And let's bring them to the center. You can either just do one at a time again or if you're able, bring both of those feet in either on top or underneath. Feel that little stretch. You can even loop those hands and just take a few deep breaths and Try to sink deep, deeper into the mat. If this doesn't feel good for you again, you can just be one at a time with the gentle knee pulls. And then if you're feeling good about it, you can come into that happy baby. So hands on the inside. You can either just grab on the inside of the knee if you're able to grab your feet. And with this, I want you to think about the hips and your back, but also release that pelvic floor. It's a great way to get pelvic floor relaxation for obvious reasons. Right. Those muscles are spreading out that especially if you're somebody who tends to grip your glutes or hold a lot of tension, there can be really helpful. And again, even if you're just holding the tops of your legs, just opening up to feel that, very slowly, just take one leg down and then the other, and I want you to take those palms up. And just from here, I want you to start at the top of your head. And we're just going to go down our body and just feel our body relaxing completely into the floor. Obviously, there's a lot of other hips, hip and hip flexor and back and core exercises. I love. I love the world's greatest stretch. I love a lot of bird dogs and things like that. But I want to end on relaxation because I think that's half the battle, right? It's mobility, it's strength, it's endurance, and it's also being able to relax. So starting at the top of your head, into your jaw, into your neck, release that tension. Maybe you even let your mouth hang open, unclench your jaw, unclench your neck. Just sinking into the mat and then at the top of the shoulders. What's happening with your shoulders? I can feel mine coming up. Can you relax them down and into the mat? As if you're trying to pull your shoulder blades in towards your spine and then also falling into the mat. Imagine that you're in sand or water. You're just melting into the mat. So down through your shoulders, into your arms, elbows, hands, just sinking, sinking. Let's also get that rib cage to release down to the hips, spine sinking into the mat. And if you need to adjust a little bit, maybe you need to bring your knees in or whatever feels better to really be able to relax. So letting go in the hips and the glutes down through your legs to your knees, ankles, feet. Are you clenching your feet or your fingers? Let just let it all go and just take a few seconds there. Inhale and exhale on the exhale, just sinking deeper. This is a great little exercise when you're going to sleep at night. I don't do it enough, but when I'm having trouble falling asleep, I just try to let my body sink into the bed, take my brain off of whatever I might be thinking about for the day, for my family, for work, whatever is stressing me out. Just let it all go and just do a little body check, check. And you can hang out here as long as you need. You can stay relaxed or you can join me with one big deep breath in and out. You did it. That was your back, core and hip mobility workout. Great job, everybody.