11: 38-Min Power Pyramid with Weights

Hey everybody, I'm Amy from BodyFit by Amy, and this is your Power Pyramid with Weights workout. In this workout, we are going to be going up and down a pyramid in time, alternating between some back-to-basics strength and some power exercises. So we will get high-intensity intervals, and of course I'll give you lots of different options to work to your fitness level. Are you ready? Let's do it! Let's start just with a march. March the feet, pump the arms. Let's get our body's temperature up. Blood flowing, muscles warm, energy up, and then we'll get a little mobility and movement prep to get ready to move. Let's roll those shoulders. You may notice a couple things. One, I have some more weights behind me. We have a new set. Don't worry if you don't have all those weights, use what you have available to you. I'll be alternating between some dumbbells and some kettlebells. I may incorporate the bench. If you only have weights and the mat, just use what you have available to you. Let's go ahead and cross those arms right through here, big stretch, and then we'll add a little step step out with it. So big T with the arms, little side lunge. So you might also notice that I'm wearing a knee brace. Don't worry, I'm fine, but I— my knee is acting up a little bit, have a little bit of pain. So I'm going to be a little bit careful today. I may go body weight on some things, and I may reduce my range of motion because I'm going to listen to my body. But I encourage you to do the same, but also challenge yourself in a way that's good for you. Let's take those arms up to a nice big Y and then hinge, drive the hips to the back. So here to here, just like that. Here, right here. Take it up and drive them back. There we go. Last 2 and 1. Right here, one more. We're going to do an I and we're going to tap it back. Now you can just tap back here If you're able to get low with it— I can on that leg, but maybe not the other— just be careful. Just reach it down, reach those arms straight up into the back right here. And then let's hold this one here. You can either hold the stretch here, or if you're able, take it here and world's greatest stretch, reach under and up. Right through here. So we are working in pyramid style today. Go ahead and switch that step at other side. I probably can't get as low on this one. That's okay, you can just hold it here or take it down and reach under and up. So pyramid style, we're going up the pyramid and then back down in time. If you can, go ahead and meet me on the mat. You can either be on your knees or on your toes, a little forward and back. To get the core feeling it. And then we're going to rotate side to side. So you can do this from a high plank position, or you can do this on your knees, whatever is best for you. So we're going in 15-second increments— 15 seconds, 30 seconds, 45— then we go back down, 45, 30, 15. Let's take it back to a little child's pose, then you're either coming up to all fours or up to the plank. And you can reach that arm under right here. So your reach stretch here. So within that, we're gonna alternate. We're gonna have 2 exercises that we have both a power version and a strength version. Go ahead, walk those hands back, back onto your feet. You can get a little stretch and pedal there. Slowly round it up. So alternating between 2 exercises— tap it out and reach— within each circuit, 4 circuits. And you, for your shorter interval intervals, your 15 and 30 seconds, you're gonna do a power version. There is a 45-second interval in the middle that is going to be total strength. All right, so we'll slow it down. We will get— typically when we do these pyramids, we get about 15 seconds of rest. For some of the power ones, we're going to get a little bit longer because we do want that heart rate to recover, right? All right, so I'm going to go ahead and show you your two moves. The first one does involve a squat and I'm gonna keep it body weight, but you can certainly add some weight. Now if you're adding some weight, you can get a kettlebell. And watch me here, you're gonna drop it down, power up, and here. So every other one is either a jump or a power. When we take it to strength, we're gonna take it squat, pause, squat. All right, we're gonna pause at the bottom. All right, then, and we're gonna add a little press at the top. Then our second move is going to be a clean and a lunge. So kettlebell or dumbbell, I'm gonna take it with my dumbbells. Your clean is here. Clean, lunge, back to center. Clean, lunge. When we take it for our 45-second strength, we're gonna lunge and curl. All right, so let's start with that power squat with or without the weight. You're gonna drop it down. Don't worry guys, I'm gonna be careful. We got 15 seconds to start, then our clean and our lunge for 30, then we slow it down. In 3, get set, shoulders back. 2, body weight or weighted, here we go. Then drive it up, get low. You can do this with dumbbells too, or again, power up. It's just 15 seconds, so it's not going to be very many. 3, 2, 1. All right, dumbbells or kettlebells, you've got your clean. If you feel like just doing a bicep curl, that works too. And then a lunge. I'm going to do a little bit more of a tap back. You do you. In 3, 2, 1. Clean, lunge it back. Get low if you can. Clean, lunge or tap right here. So remember that clean, we get a little bit of a hinge, then power up like a bicep curl. All right, here, right here. Boom! 5 seconds. Can we get one more each side? Tap and relax. All right team, so now pause squat with your kettlebell, right? We're gonna take it down, pause, up, and press. All right, here we go, we're getting it done in 3, 2, 1. Pause and up, right here. Pause, slow, back to basics. You don't have to get super low. If you can get lower than knee please do. I know most of you can probably get down past parallel and then press at the top. Again, we want this to feel like strength, back to basic strength, not power. We'll add that in at the end. Here and up. Yes, breathe. Take your time. Pause at the bottom. Press. And with some of these, our versions may look a little different. Last one, and relax. Now we've got our bicep curl and lunge. I'm gonna go to my 15s because we can, right? So bicep curl and lunge. If you want to take it, you can. Here we go, curl, lunge, and down. You can think of them as 2 separate movements. Tap and here. If you're feeling it, you can curl at the bottom, curl at the bottom. So it's up to you if you want to curl and drop it low. Yes. Now, a lot of compound movements today. I know that's not typical for a Monday workout, but Your days 3 and 5 of this week are going to be more back to basic strength. You'll have a little bit of power with that lower body. 3, 2, 1. All right team, last time through. This time you're not going to jump with the squat, you're going to do squat push press, squat push press. Okay, so again, go a little bit lighter with your dumbbell or kettlebell. Get low with it. It is 30 seconds. We'll get a bit— a little bit longer of a breather after because that heart rate is going to be up. All right, so 30 seconds. Watch me here. Get low if you can. Push press. There's your power. Here we go. Down. Get low. Down. Power. So each power version looked a little different. That won't always be the case with everything that we're doing. Kind of reduce my range of motion for that knee. 5 seconds. If you need to, you can also just take the lower body out or the upper body. And relax. Breathe, team. All right, I know that's a lot of power, so again, this time Clean lunge, clean lunge. It's only 15 seconds, it's gonna go quick. Let's go 15s, why not? A little bit longer to breathe because it's a lot of power. We need a little more after those power moves. 15 seconds in 3, 2, 1, right here. So this time we're trying to jump into it if you can. Right, I'm being extra careful, huh? Not getting low, but you can. Last one, let's finish it to be even. There we go. Yes, team! All right, catch your breath before we close out this circuit. We are taking it to a little mini circuit. All right, we're making this not a part of a circuit, but just like we do, we're going to do our deadlift for 45. We're going to do our kettlebell swing or dumbbell swing for 30. All right, so I want you to go with something heavy, and because I have them, I'm doing it, y'all. I'm going 30 with my deadlift, which feels okay on this knee if I do it hinges. I'm a little careful on my flexion. All right, so we have 45 seconds with a deadlift Back to basic strength. Get set, here we go. Up, drive it back. Up, take your time. So I'm keeping a little more of a straight leg, still a slight bend in the knees. If you need to, you can bend your knees more, or if it helps, bring the weights down by the side if you feel that in your back, right? It's always an option. And squeeze. Down and up. Shoulders back. Yes! 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Oh man, you guys know I have been wanting to get heavier with these weights. And again, we're doing it. I'm going 40 with my swing. Again, I'm going to be careful with my knee, but try to go heavier on this one. If the swing is not right for you, again, this is its own individual circuit. We'll get to our regular circuit next. We got our Back to Basic Strength. You can always just keep that. If you're feeling good on your swing, power up, lock it out at the top, let drop. Lock it out, let it drop. Lots of power, back loaded. We got 30 seconds, let's make it good. Then we're on to circuit 2 in 3, 2, 1. Prep it, here we go. Power up, let it drop. Can't wait to use that 50 lb kettlebell. I'm going to work my way up to that now that I have heavier options. Here we go. Yes, really use your breath. And again, connecting at the top— glutes, hamstrings, hips, back. Arms are along for the ride. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Swing and relax. All right team, set some, some things to the side. Let's grab a sip of water. All right, here we go. Hopefully your heart rate is up on that. I know mine is. Cheers y'all, here we go. All right, now we're taking it back. Circuit 2 again, we're gonna have a power, we're gonna get some snatches. I'll give you some options, and then we're taking it with some skaters and curtsy these. All right team, so I'm gonna move some of this stuff out of the way. I can't even tell you how much nicer it is just to set on a rack. Oh, I know not everybody has that, but a bench, a chair, something like that. Here's what we've got. Your snatch, which you know I love, is gonna look like this. You're pulling it close to the front of your body, powering up, then dropping it down and switching it. Now If that feels like too much, you can just do a high pull right here. You can switch without going all the way to the ground. High pull, all right? Or you can hold two dumbbells. Power, power. That's your first move. When we take it to Back to Basics, we're gonna go heavier with a row, all right? Bend over row. Then we've got our skater. We're gonna take this all body weight for power, and it's here, across, behind, here, across, behind. When we get to Back to Basics, we're gonna do a curtsy lunge with those weights. All right, so snatch, skater, row, curtsy. Let's start with that snatch for 15 seconds. You can do the high pull if you want. Start it on the ground. We're pulling all the way up close to the front of our body. Power at the top. 3, 2, 1, power up! And remember, you don't have to do any of these power moves if power is not right for you. I'm always telling you, we all need power training no matter what age, no matter what fitness level, because we have explosive movements in life, right? You have to get out of the way of something, you have to pick something up— oh, there we go, breathe— you have to pick something up fast. We're gonna need that in our lives, so we want to train for it, right? Pushing something up, putting your bag in the overhead bin is the one I always use, but We need that, we gotta train for it, but it's gonna look different for everybody. So you do you, be where you are today. If the skater looks like just a little tap behind, which it might for me, that's okay. But just get power going in and coming out. We got 30 seconds of our skater. Let's wrap that core, all body weight. In 3, catch your breath, 2, 1, here we go. 30 seconds. Power, power. So I know this is more of a cardio move, but I want you to really think about sticking the landing, then power out, right? Power out. So that way we're really getting the hips and the glutes, the strength, without having to go super low and without having to keep it weighted. Here we go, halfway there. You can go faster than me, you can get lower than me, or you can stay right with me, up to you. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, and breathe. All right team, now we're going back to basics. All right, we get to slow it down. 45 seconds, bent over row. So I want you to go heavy. I'm going to try my 25s. You know I often do my 20s. Let's see how they go. We got 45 seconds. Hinge In 3, 2, 1, and here. Flat back. Now I'm going to turn mine at the bottom to make it a little more comfortable. That's a good little rotation to have, but you don't have to. You can keep them right here, right? Squeeze in your back. I know, feeling it too. And here. Yes, team! Right, zip up that core. Keep that back nice and flat. Keep those eyes up, looking out at the diagonal in front of your mat, not at your knees, not at your toes. If you're seeing your legs or your toes, that could be a sign that you're rounding that back and you're here, right? So take it here. 3, 2, 2, 1, and relax. Oh man, 5 extra pounds makes a big difference. Or as one of my clients reminded me in a session, it's actually 10, right? 5 on each side. All right, so this time we're gonna do a curtsy lunge. We're gonna step cross behind, push out of it, step cross behind. I encourage you to get low, I encourage you to go heavy. Take your time with it, nice and slow. I'm gonna stick with my tens just to be safe on my knee, but I'm gonna do what I can and listen to my body. Here we go in 3, 2, get low and up. So my hope with this workout, it's a little bit of a departure from a lot of our Monday workouts in the BAC, but that we can use this one to kind of kick it off with something fun. I love power training, right? But also that way then we can really get focused on those day 3 and day 5 workouts with heavier, right? 10 seconds. If you can get lower than me. 5, 4, 3, 2, All right team, so we are doing it all again with our power. So either your snatch or your high pull, either one, and then we got our skater again. All right, so let's get it done. We got 30 seconds of a snatch, so a little bit longer. So really take your time, get set on that switch, power up, take it down, get set, power. Power goes from the ground up. So really use your feet to your legs to your hips to your core to your arms, all the way up. Here we go, snatch it and down right here, or high pull. You can even switch it from here if that's better for you. And here, power, and up. Yes! 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, and relax. All right team, last time with a skater, and I want you to go for it. If you've got the— if you can land, you can stick the landing. Power, power, whether that's just power as the land and power out, or or both. Get low if you can. We got 15 seconds, that's nothing. Let's get that heart rate up in 3, 2, 1. Here we go, side to side, tap behind, get low, power out, land soft. Power, power, yes you can! 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Catch your breath. All right team, as we close it out, how about one more swing? All right, its own little interval, not part of the circuit. Swing or deadlift, whatever is good for you. I'm going to stick with my 40 even though I really was thinking I can do more, but I want to be smart. Let's take it right here. Power up, lock it out, let it drop. Remember, my arms are not lifting, they're along for the side. We got 30 seconds here, then 2 out of 4 circuits are done. In 3, 2, power! Here we go, let it drop. We cannot have a power workout without a swing, right? Here we go. Let's get it done. Power, almost there. 5 seconds, make it good. Connect at the top. 3, 2, 1, swing and relax. Pedal your feet and let's grab a sip of water. Go a little tighter here. All right, team, Team, catch your breath. Here we go. Cheers, y'all. All right, so let's take it back. Next circuit, we are all down on the mat if you want. Our first one is going to be a mountain climber. So your climber is here, you're running in. I'm actually not going to do that one, I'm going to do a standing climber, so that's an option. Then we have a plank press. Again, you can do it higher or you can do it down on the mat, but it is our up, up, down, down. So that's your power up, power as you land soft. All right, the versions of that that are going to be a little less power, more back to basics, is we're going to grab some weights and we're going to do a little press on a bicycle. All right, slow and controlled. And then we're taking it super simple, dead bug. All right, so actually we'll make the— yeah, yeah, press and bicycle and plank press, but I think we'll switch those. All right, here we go, dead bug, and then we'll grab some weights, press and bicycle, because that is our plank press, our upper body push along with our core that we're getting out of that plank press. All right, Don't let that confuse you. All right, so we'll bring that bench out in a minute. If you don't have a bench, take it to the mat. Otherwise, actually, I'm gonna do an elevated climber. We have 15 seconds driving it in. You can cross it if you want, or you can keep them going in. We got another one coming. Elevated standing or all the way down on the floor, drive those knees in. Let's get some power in 3, 2, 2, 1. Here we go. And I would encourage you to drive those knees close into the chest, but if you're not flexing as much, take it here, here. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. All right, so plank press again. I'm gonna keep it elevated so a little pressure— less pressure on my knee, but up, up, down, down. You're power is as you're coming up. We got 30 seconds, upper body push and core, in 3, 2, 1. Down, down, power up, power down, power up. And you can also do this on your knees, so don't worry, team. Up, up, down, down, up, down, down. Yes you can! And breathe. Yes, we got 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Stretch it back. All right, going into our 35— 45-second interval. So this time we're going to grab a set of heavy weights. We're going to do a press with a bicycle. So thinking similar to our climber and our plank press. So we're gonna take that here. I'm gonna go with these 20s. Let's take it down right here. Again, maybe a little bit heavier than what I would normally do, but let's go for it. Let's try it. So we're doing bicycle with our legs, similar to our climber, and then we're gonna add that chest press, similar to our plank press. We've got 45 seconds. Let's do it. So I like to start with the legs, get a feel for the rhythm, and then here to here. If that does not feel right for you, if that feels a little too much coordination, just pick one. You could either just do the core, or I would say just do the press since we have a lot of core in this whole round. Up and out, keeping it slow and controlled. Again, what helps me is to find a rhythm. We've got 15 seconds to go right here. Same motion for our core but in a different angle, and then getting that plank press. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Go ahead, set those to the side, and we're just gonna hang out right there. Let's Slow it down for that core, and we've got that dead bug. So we got core and upper push in this round. Power, power, back to basics. Here we go, followed by back to basics. So similar motion again like that climber, but very slow and controlled, deep core. So really use this time to catch your breath because then we're going right back into those power moves into our climber and into our plank press to finish it out right here. Deep, deep core. Tuck that pelvis. Really think on the exhale, pulling everything in. 10 seconds to go. Mobility in this one as well. 3, 2, 1. All right, we are back to that power. We've got a 30-second interval of that climber. And again, you can do it all down on the mat, cross them this time if you can. You can do it elevated, that's what I'm going to do, or take it standing, whatever works best for you. But drive the knees in, power through the core. 30 seconds I'm gonna start here. I may take it back up to standing, but we'll try it in 3, 2, climber! Here we go, power! Drive those knees across, even if you're stepping, if you're not running, just power back, power. And again, if you cross before, you can go straight in, but try to get that cross so we get a little bit of extra obliques, just like that. 10 seconds to go. We got a team. 5, 4, 3, 2, and breathe. Stretch it back right here. Press those shoulders down and slowly roll it up. All right, last one, plank press. It is only 15 seconds. Let's get the power for our upper push again, keeping that core Working. 15 seconds is all we need. Elevated, down on the mat, or on the wall. In 3, 2, 1, down, down, power up, power down, power up. You got this. I know this round was tough because it was all upper and core. Yes, you can. For 3, 2, 1, and rest. Stretch it back. Breathe. All right team, how about one more swing before we take it to our last round? Something heavy if you got it. You can do the deadlift, you can do the swing, kettlebell or dumbbell, up to you. You do you. Let's get one more swing. Because it's my favorite power move and most of us love it, right? Maybe, maybe not. Here we go, get set in 3, 2, 1, power up, let it drop. And if you're feeling spicy, you can of course do that handoff. I don't know how spicy I'm feeling today, but you're gonna feel the difference, especially— lock it out, let it drop. If you're somebody that your kettlebell is starting to feel too light, or like you want to use your arms, definitely take it to that handoff swing or single arm swing to really get that feeling. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, swing and relax. All right team, last round and it's gonna be a good one. So here we go, getting it done. Weights or no weights. I'm probably gonna use no weights, but you do you. Your power is going to be a step off. If you don't have a bench, your power is going to be a little switch lunge. All right, but if you have a bench, you're stepping off, stepping up. If you want to add a little jump step, if you're comfortable doing that, you can. Otherwise, you're still going to get power Power up, power down. All right, so we got 15 seconds, and then our last 30-second round, we're gonna do a side step if you want to try it, or again, here to here. All right, then we're gonna get a triceps overhead with a chop. So triceps, chop, triceps, chop. Okay, when we slow it down for Back to Basics, 6, we're going to do just an overhead standing tricep. You're going to feel it. And then we're going to do a weighted step up if you can, or a weighted reverse lunge. All right, so I'm doing no weights on the power rounds for the step ups. You can add them if you want, but whatever keeps you in good control. We have 15 seconds to start in 3, 2, 1. Here, power switch. Again, it can be a lunge switch on the ground, it can be with weights, but power on the way up, land soft on the way down. Yes you can! 5 seconds, 4, 3, 2, 1. Breathe. All right, overhead. So I want one weight, something kind of medium. I'm gonna go with my 15s. All right, so watch me here, team. We got 30 seconds overhead chop to the side, up and over. So you can have your hands this way or this way, whatever feels good for you, but we got 30 seconds coming. All right, let's get it done in 3, 2, here we go. Overhead, here's your power chop up. So it's almost like a chop and a swing If that doesn't feel right for you, just bring it here, twist, bring it up, triceps, twist. That works too. If you can, we're gonna get that chop here. You can turn your hips with it, or yes, right here, up. Last one. And relax. All right team, so now we got 45 seconds each leg. Again, I'm going to keep it a little lighter, I'm just going to go 15s, but I encourage you to go heavy. What you may do a regular lunge with, your reverse lunge would be here, your step up, whatever you got. Let's make it good. We got 45 seconds each leg in 3, 2, 1. I'm going to start with this one. It's going to be debatable on if I feel it. It actually feels pretty strong cuz I'm not getting super deep. Again, trying to be smart. I want to make sure that I'm getting some strengthening, some stretching, some mobility, but that I'm being careful right here. Power up and down. Yes, take your time. We got 15 seconds, then we get the other side again. If you're doing a reverse lunge, you're just stepping back or tapping back. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. All right team, so we got the other side. You can give your Wait for a little break. Again, reverse lunge or tap back or step up. 45 seconds back to basic strength in 3, 2, here we go. I'm going to come down slow, which actually is really good for strength. Slow and here. And down. I know, take your time with it. Shoulders back, especially as we're tired. Let's get it done. And here, burning. 10 seconds. Drive up through that heel so we really get the glute and hamstring helping that quad. 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1. All right team, here we go. Breathe. All right, our overhead triceps, just triceps. You can of course take it down on the mat if you want. Elbows in, we got 45 seconds. Here we go, just your tris. Let's make those arms burn. I know We're feeling it. And again, even if you're here, bringing those elbows in, making sure they're not wanting to flare out, keeping the core in tight. You can always stagger if you need to or switch your grip. That's feeling weird, take it here, just like we did with our chop. After this, one more power round of each. And then we're getting it done, team. And breathe. Here we go. 5, 4, 3, 2, and relax. All right, team, so if you want, you can do a little side step off. Step off, one stays on. And here, I I'm gonna keep it on the ground and it's just a little side to side. We got 30 seconds of power. I'm gonna keep it grounded. You can do the step up, but 30 seconds, let's get it done. 3, 2, 1, and here, push, power up, land soft, up. Not necessarily a side lunge, although can make it that if you're on the ground, but more just get low if you can. Make them burn, I know. Yes team, here we go, and breathe. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. One more time, tricep triceps, chop, triceps, chop. Last round right here, team. Let's do it in 3, 2, 15. Here we go! Chop up, tris, chop. Oh yes, team! 3, 2, 1. You did it! Catch your breath. Let's cool it down. Oh man, team, right? Breathe. No more swings. I know you probably thought I was gonna add one more swing for a bonus, but I don't think we need it because we got a lot done, team. Again, not maybe a little different than your typical Monday workout if you're doing this on a Monday. Or your day one, whatever it is for you. Let's take it over to the other side right here and reach those thumbs to the back. We're going to keep the cool down pretty short, so make sure that you get more of a cool down and a stretch on your own. If you can grab those arms behind, go for it. And leave me a comment, let me know, do you like this? I know we we've done something similar before. Let's take them here where it is you get a power version and a back to basic strength. Obviously we do that with a lot of circuits, but not as much in a pyramid. So let me know, how did you feel? I feel tired in a good way. Little hamstring stretch right here. Again, making sure that you're getting some more stretching on your own. And hydrating, fueling, recovering— all the things that we need for our rest and for our body to recover. You can put your hands on the bench or on your legs, just a little standing cat-cow roll through that back. Leave me a comment, leave me a like, let me know how you— how you're feeling now, how you're feeling during this challenge. Slowly roll it up. One big deep breath in and out. You did it! That was your Power Pyramid with Weights workout. Great job, everybody!