04: Bodyweight Active Recovery - 26 Minute Workout [CARDIO MOBILITY]

Hey, everybody, I'm Amy from Bodyfit by Amy. And this is your body weight active recovery workout. In this workout, we use no equipment, just a mat and some space to move. And we're going to get active recovery through some cardio, some mobility and some flexibility. This workout can be whatever you need it to be. I'm going to give you lots of options to take it up or take it down, depending on where you are today. Are you ready? Let's do it. Go ahead and take a minute just to center yourself. Hand on your heart, hand on your belly, and just connect with your breath. I want you to take a second to check in with your posture as I talk about all the time. A lot of us get a little bit off with our breathing and our posture through no fault of our own. Some of that is sitting for work, Some of that is the things we do in daily life. Maybe you're hinging a lot to pick things up off the floor. Maybe it's holding kids. Maybe it's something you do in work. Whatever it is, let's check in with that posture. So we want to think about stacking your ears over your shoulders, shoulders over your rib cage, rib cage over your hips. So aligning your ribs and your pelvis and then stacking that over your knees and your ankles. From there, a few deep core breaths. So I want you to think inhale to expand all the way around. Exhale, bring everything in gently lift up just a few of those. Just really making sure that you're not lifting with those shoulders or sucking in inh to expand. Let that pelvic floor drop. Exhale, bring it in. So from here, let's just take it to a gentle march. We're not going to do much of a warm up because we don't really need one because we're going to be moving through different things in this workout that are active recovery. So active recovery is just when we want to have a rest day but still get movement right, still get the benefits of moving our body, those mental health benefits, the blood flowing, the heart rate up, the muscles working, get everything feeling good, work out that tightness and tension, but giving our bodies a break from maybe the high intensity, the heavy weights, some other things that we do. So I have a lot of active recovery workouts here on the channel, so make sure you check them out. A lot of mobility and yoga, Pilates, things like that. Big stretch through here. So we're just going to do a few little openers here and then here's how this workout works. We are starting with some gentle cardio. So think of it as cardio mobility. That's all from a standing position. I will give you options. You can take it up, you can take it down, whatever you need for where you are today. Let's roll through our back flat, back down, and then round it up. That's something that you're going to hear me say a lot. Be where you are today. Don't worry about what I'm doing or anybody else. I want you to find what works for you. So we'll start with that gentle cardio, then we'll go to some more mobility. Then we'll take it down to the mat for a little more mobility and flexibility. We'll finish with a deep stretch. Roll the shoulders here, pressing out gently on the inside. So again, starting with that cardio, take it right through here. With our cardio, we are going to do some timed intervals, but I don't want you to worry too much about that. We can keep our body moving. We're going 40 seconds of work, 20 seconds of rest. That's an interval that we do a lot. We're gonna do a reach out and over, just like we often do in our warm ups. Reaching across your body. Step it out. We're going to start in 3, 2, 1. So here you can keep it just like this. Low impact. Really think about getting the stretch. So it's cardio mobility as well. If you want to pick up your pace a bit, you can. If you want to add even a little bit higher intensity, you can do that too. Again, this is your workout. I like to give you options. In all my workouts, but especially on an activ recovery, sometimes we really want. I need to get my energy up. I'm just feeling sluggish today. This feels good for me. Sometimes we need that rest. We're going to keep it low impact. 10 seconds. Right through here and breathe. We've got three, two, one, and relax. Now we're going to take it to a little side step. So double step one and two. And I want you to reach across, one to reach. Pivot on the knees and the hips so we get that core. Big stretch. Let's take it two to the right, two to the left. I'll give you an option to take it up if you want, or keep it down. Here we go. Double step and reach. Double step and reach again. Our goal here, get the blood flowing, get the heart pumping. If you want to take it, think of it more like our regular. Sometimes we do this with a punch up to you take it up and breathe just enough to get everything moving but not feeling too much. Like those cardio days, right? You can go slower or faster. Whatever you need. You do you your tempo. Three, two, two and one. All right. Classic cardio move. We love it. Hamstring curls. So I'm gonna cross my arms in front, bring them back so I get that good chest opener. And then my hamstrings are just coming here. Flex your foot. Opening up the hip flexors, getting that little squeeze in the hamstrings and glutes. Crossing it here in 3, 2, 1. 40 seconds. Again, low impact is totally fine. It's recovery. You wanna add a little intensity in your own way. Or maybe that's here. Or a little jump up to you. But optional. I like to often, sometimes put my hands up so I get a little more shoulder mobility. But right here works too. We get that opener all the way through. 10 seconds to go. Did I mention that it's a no. Repeat workout. Three, two, and one. All right, so now we're just going to switch gears. We went to the back. Now we're doing little heel taps. I know this one always looks a little bit silly, but you can feel, and I can feel that from my leg workout yesterday, that I need that motion just as much as I need this motion, right? It's opening up the hips, but in a cardio way. Here we go. So little taps, if you can. I like to bring these hands up here because we get a chest opener, we get that shoulder mobility like we just talked about. But if you need to, you can keep it here. And if you can't actually reach your heel, that's okay. You can keep it low, you can take it here, you can bring it up even more. You're going to feel those inner thighs. You're going to feel those hip openers. You can pick up your pace or intensity. What do you need? 15 seconds. And breathe. So this, this workout kind of progresses in a different way. It progresses from cardio mobility to more mobility to a mobility flexibility combo. Relax to straight up flexibility, deep stretch. So we have all of these. Last one in our cardio, we're gonna do a little tap behind so you can think of it like that skater and step tap behind. And I like to go big arms, rainbow tap behind. You can get low if you want. You can keep it high if you want. Last 40 seconds of our cardio again, low impact, cardio mobility if you want. You can take it a little more of that hop. Big stretch. You can get A little lower, maybe. You want those legs. That's what I really feel from yesterday, so probably a sign I need it. But don't worry, we're gonna get that stretch as we go down. So you'll get it and breathe. 10 seconds. Your pace, your intensity. 5, 4, 3, 2, and breathe. Catch your breath, team. So your next round, and we're going to take it 60 second intervals. So a full minute, it's going to be more mobility, but more of that cardio mobility. Again, giving you different options depending on what you need. 60 seconds, and we'll actually take them back to back to back. So just watch me as we go right into the next one. It'll feel more like a flow, but 60 seconds at a time. We're going to start with just a little side lunge, so we're stepping up through here. Big stretch if you want to go up. So again, leaning less into the cardio and more into the mobility. I want you to try to sit deep. Big stretch and reach. We'll still keep the heart rate up, but get more mobility. Let's step it out. In three, two, one step a wide, big stretch. And up. So essentially, it's a progression in the opposite way, or progression, if you want to look at it. But we're starting up top, working our way down, and we're starting a little quicker in our pace and then working our way down. And again, you do you. If you need to hang out a little longer or if you need to not get as low, that's okay, too. Big reach and up right through here. 60 seconds is going to feel like a long time in some of these, and some it will not. Sit deep and reach. Hand up. Yes. All right, team, turn to the side. We're gonna hinge it here. You can just do that or you can walk it out to an inchworm. Watch me take it out. Walk out into that inchworm. We're going to take it nice and slow and walk it back. If that is not right for you, you can walk out to the knees or you can just go down and bring it up. Breathe. But as you can tell, it's going to keep that heart rate up. Don't worry. We already started that clock. Walk it back out again. This is where we're leaning in to the mobility of it. So I want you to think about the hinge, think about rolling down. We're not worried about how many we get or how quickly we're going. I want you to connect with that core, but probably we can get one more walk it out and walk it in. Next, we're going to lunge it back. So just like we do, I'm gonna do a little tap back. Start here with me. Reach. Remember this from our warm up, where we open up the hips. So you can keep it just right here, or you can really get low with it. Big stretch. Now let's take it to that world's greatest stretch. So we're going to drop it down. You can take it all the way down if that's good for you. Reach it up, Step it up. From our standing position, take it down, open it up, reach. If you need to hang out in that stretch more, that's okay if you want to keep the knee up or bring that knee down. Sometimes I really like to get that extra hip flexor stretch, but sometimes it's better to stretch it through here. So it's up to you again. I'm feeling my legs from yesterday, which is why I need that. Breathe. One more. Finish it out. Three, two, one. Here we go. All right, team, we're gonna take it with a windmill. So I want you to turn one toe out, reach down as far as this is comfortable for you. Open it up. Big stretch. Reach down, open it up. So I want you to think of, like that windmill, like with your kettlebell, but more just about the stretch, opening fingertip to fingertip, trying to get low. But don't worry if you don't get that low. Just reach and reach. Even if you just get here, you get that stretch to the side, you get that chest opener, you get that shoulder mobility, and you get that little hip hinge right? I don't know about you, but my heart rate is up, maybe a little more because we cut out our rest, right? Guess what? After this, we go to the mat. Reach it down. We got one more 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Let's just roll those hips nice and easy. We're starting with this core engaged. Then as you're ready, if you want, you can add a little squat. Sit low, open it up, step it in, roll it out, sit low. You decide if you want more of that hip opener, and you want to get really low down there. You can, if you're just here, whatever you need for where you are today. After this, we go to the mat, we go into that mobility flexibility combo, and then we finish with that stretch. So there's never more than about five minutes or so of everything. So you can think of it really as, what do you need with this active Recovery right here? 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Catch your breath team, grab some water. Okay, so we're taking it down to the mat. We're going into a seated position. Take your time getting down there carefully. We're going to start in that 90. 90. If you need to sit on the edge of a chair for this, you can, or you can lean back. Your 90. 90 is going to look like this, where we get a little bit of a stretch. But if you need to lean back, have your hands here, or just go one at a time. It's a hip opener. It's a really good one. Stabilize that core. Join me here. So 90, 90. Thinking 90 degrees each way, right? You take your time. If you can do it fluid, go for it. If you need a little bit of support here, take it here. If you need to go one at a time, that works too. If you want to turn your body into it, we get a little bit of this, right? Open up your chest. Right through here. Ah. Did I mention These are also 60 seconds? And breathe. 15. Yes, team. I always find myself sliding a little bit on the mat, and that's okay. All right, team, so we're taking it here again. If you need to stay stationary, you can. Or you can sit on the edge of a chair if you can. We're going into that pigeon stretch. I want you to hold for a count or two, and then if you want, come up to that plank and switch. If that's not right for you, you can keep 90. 90, or you can just hold, and I'll tell you when we're at that halfway point, I'm gonna hold for a count or two, then I'm gonna come up, and I'm gonna switch. Here we go. Using my core. Yes. Nice. We're halfway. So if you're just stretching, take it there and bring it up. So we're sneaking in a little core sneaky. Core sneaky mobility. You know I love it. Last 10 seconds, and then we're going to come up to all fours. Carefully. So you're here. We're doing a little cat cow with the bird dog. So cat cow, neutral spine reach. Take your time with it. If you'd rather just do one or the other, maybe you just want to be in that cat cow. Back to center and reach. Cat cow. This ponytail is not very secure, and I can feel it. Cat cow. You keep going. We're over halfway there. I'm gonna adjust my ponytail. Really think about rounding through the spine. Inhale on one, exhale on the other. Then make sure you return to that neutral spine, and then reach out for that bird dog. 10 seconds to go. 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1. All right, team, everybody sit back into that child's pose. Ah, yes, that feels good. So you can hang out here, or if you want, child's pose, come up to all fours, reach one arm under, sit back in that child's pose and get that stretch right. Child's pose, up to all fours, reach under. So again, you can hold as long as you want. We're kind of combining that mobility with that flexibility. So if you want a longer hold, this is it. And here, reach. Your very last move, I'm going to go ahead and tell you is a down dog to an up dog, but I'm going to give you some different options. And then guess what? After that, team, we are stretching right through here. So you can keep just going to a child's pose and maybe just come up to all fours. Or if you'd rather come up to that down dog, you can hold that stretch or you can get a bit little. Little petal of your feet slowly down and then come up either to that baby cobra or that cobra or up dog here. Then we're curl the feet under down dog. So you find what you need in this. Maybe you just need the down dog hold, and you're going to go back to your knees. Maybe you're doing a child's pose to all fours. Maybe you just want to hold that cobra or that down up dog. Ponytail always gets in the way. Release the shoulders, curl the toes under. Use that core to lift right as you're moving through. I know. Really think about core connection, especially right through here. And as we go down, use those arms. Mine doesn't look perfect, so don't worry what it looks like. But let's finish it out. Down dog or up dog, wherever you are, hold it for 3, 2, and 1. Yes, team. All right, if you want a sip of water, grab it. Guess what? Now's the fun part. So as you can tell, team, that was active recovery, but it was active, right? We were leaning into the active part. You just to hug your knees in right here or here, whatever you need. Just a little seated stretch. Maybe you want that butterfly fly. And we're going to slowly work our way down. So now we're going to hold some more stretches to finish this out slowly. Take your time. You can come down to your side or you can roll down to your back, but I want you to go slow. And let's start just gently pulling one knee in. You can grab either on the top or below. Try not to grab right on that joint. Just pull that knee to your chest. You decide if you want to extend that other leg leg, what feels best for you or pulling it in. No intervals on this, I want you to find what feels good as we finish strong. If you want, take that knee across your body and look the opposite direction. That feels like too much for you. You keep it here. You just pull in gently. I can't go too far because of my microphone, but look the opposite way. Open up the arms. You can even bring that bottom leg in. A little hip stretch there. Right. Let's bring that same knee into your chest and then extend up. I want you to grab. Grab either the back of the calf or the back of the thigh. Again, not right on the joint. Flex that foot. It's okay if it's a little shaky. Mine is, too. Lift your shoulders and pull it in. Holding that hamstring stretch, you can do a little flex and point. And then from here, let's cross that leg over. So you can just cross it. Keep it here. Move it in. If you want a little deeper stretch, press that knee down or lift it up. Set. Figure 4 Stretch. Hip stretch. Piriformis. Glute. Press that top knee down. Pull down with that bottom leg. Nice. Good hip stretch. Right? We're not going to be here very long, so if you're tempted to be done with this, this workout, don't worry. Just a few more minutes. This is what our body really craves, and we don't give it. Give it enough. Right. That's why I like to do a lot of these combo workouts where we're mixing in some cardio with some mobility and then that flexibility. If you're like me, you don't like to sit still for very long, I get it, but I always feel better when I do, so you probably already have your hands on the back. Bring that knee in, either top or bottom. Again, you can extend that leg leg if you want. Gently pull it in, using your breath to sink a little deeper into everything. And let's take that knee across if that feels good for you. If you want to open up your arms. And again, it doesn't have to be super far. It can just be here. You can go down if you want to cross it over that bottom leg. You'll feel that difference there. Right. Let's take that same leg into your chest. Extend it up. Flex that foot. Grab either on the back of the thigh or the calf here. Whatever you need. Not right on that joint. You can do a little flex and point, stretch out that hamstring. These are great stretches to do in bed, guys. Like when you get up in the morning before you go to bed, if you just want to get a little. These knee pulls, hamstring, glutes. Cross it over right here, Take it here. Bring that leg up. If that is not. If that's too much for you, just come here. You're still going to get this. This is a great stretch to do seated in a chair. So that way you can just press it down, grab it here and bring both knees into your chest if that's okay with you, and gently roll side to side. That doesn't work for you. Just pull one at a time. Take those arms over your head, legs low, and I just want you to do a big stretch all the way from the fingertips to the toes, making your body as long as you can, breathing into that, not holding your breath. And then bring the knees into your chest, making your body tiny. Right, right through here. Feet down. Take those arms over, over your head. We're just going to do some little arm circles like that little snow angel because our body needs it. Right? Chest opener, nice and slow. And right through here. Just gently roll to the side. Come up halfway or just come up to a seated position right where you are and find whatever is comfortable for you. You're sitting here, feet can be out. If you can be in. Let your head drop to one side. Take it very gently through the center and to the other side. Make sure you leave me a comment like this video. Let me know if you you like this format where we're never. We're just getting short intervals of things. Back to center, arms up, reach over. Let me know what you think. Don't forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel. And of course join us on the Body Fit by Amy app and in the Body Fit Athletic Club. And of course, you can stay on the mat as long as you need. You can stretch more if you need that. Hand on your heart, hand on your belly. But bookmark, save this active recovery workout again on a day where you need a break from the heavy stuff, the high intensity, but you still want to get moving because you know that you'll feel better after few deep breaths. Thank your body for showing up, up for you today. I know it sounds silly, but do it, do it daily. Thank your body, thank you body for showing up for me. And I'm thanking you for showing up with me. Let's get one big deep breath in and out. You did it. That was your body weight. Active recovery workout. Great job, everybody.