13: 🔥 Lower Body Fusion | Strength + Mobility with Mini Bands, Dumbbells & Kettlebells (No Repeat!)

Hey everybody, I'm Amy from BodyFit by Amy, and this is your lower body fusion workout. This is a strength-based workout that also is going to incorporate some gentle cardio and mobility and different pieces of equipment. We're going to start with the mini loop band to get a little bit of activation. If you don't have the band, just keep it body weight. Then we will have some weighted moves to really strengthen and sculpt your lower body, and then we will finish working in some some mobility. Of course, I'm going to give you lots of different options to work to your level. Are you ready? Let's do it! Let's start just by getting our muscles warm. We're just gonna march, pump those arms, get the blood flowing, get our body's temperature up, and then we'll get a little bit of mobility and movement prep. Get ready to move. You can roll those shoulders if you want. We're not working the upper body today, but they're probably tight like mine. Maybe from sitting in a chair at the desk looking at your phone, whatever it is. All right, here is what we've got today for quick circuits. And as I said in the intro, they are going to be fun ones because it is no repeat with the exception of right side, left side. Everything will be different. However, we're going to start with an activation move with a mini band, mini loop band. You see I have 2 options behind me. If you have those, if you have the elastic or the fabric, those Will be great. If you don't have it, just keep it body weight activation to start. Then we'll grab some weights. It'll be a mix of kettlebells and dumbbells. If you have kettlebells and you want to use them, otherwise just use what you have available to you. Just shift your weight side to side, little reach. And then after a couple strength moves, we will have a mobility move. So we're working in that mobility. That is where the fusion comes from— sneaky mobility. But it will be mobility around the same muscle groups and movement patterns that we're working. So it's going to not only work it out, but we're still getting that work through our lower body, also sneaking in the core as well. So get ready for that. Let's take it right here. We're going to tap it back as we open up the knees and the hips. Try to get low if you can. So working with that band activation, weighted strength, mobility, some cardio mobility, some that will feel like more of a stretch or strength. Hold this one down if you can. Take it all the way down, reach down and up right here. So we're getting it done, no repeat right here. And then switch your legs if you can. You can either stay standing upright and switch your legs, or again, world's greatest stretch from here. So I will give you options. You do you, be where you are today. Take it to that high plank if you can. If the high plank is not right for you, come on your knees and either take it child's pose or down dog. Get a little stretch through the back of the legs, the spine, right through here. Down dog or child's pose, up to you. So it should be a fun workout. We should be in and out quickly. Getting it done. And big stretch. While we're not getting repetition of the same exercises like we do in a lot of traditional strength training formats and circuits, we are getting repetition of movement patterns and muscle groups. Go ahead and walk your hands back. So you're going to feel the fatigue in a different way. Many ways to get progressive overload. Slowly roll it up. Right through here. Tap and reach across. We should also keep that heart rate up for cardio almost always when we're working lower body because they are big muscles to work. They require a lot of energy to work, especially the heavier we go. They require a lot of energy to maintain that muscle, which is why the biggest driver of our metabolism is muscle fiber. And working that lower body is almost guaranteed to also get that cardio that we feel. All right, so we are going to start with a mini band. Again, you can have this one or this one or keep it body weight. We are going to bring the band up above our knees and we're going to get that little side step. So side step, you can make it more of a squat if you want. Either way, step it out. Here we go. Now I'm going to try to Keep the tension. So I'm never bringing my legs completely in, I'm trying to keep them wide so I keep the tension as I go down or out. Also think about pressing those knees out, right? That's going to help not only to work the hips but to activate those glutes and everything that we're going to be working right through here.

Take it down and up.

10 seconds.

Getting that band.

3, 2, 1. All right, take it off. So now we're going to grab 2 weights. We're going to come into a kickstand setup, but instead of your kickstand deadlift like we often do, we're going to do a little bit of a cross between Between a deadlift and a lunge, right? We're taking it all the way down, all the way up. If you can get super low, go for it. One foot forward, one foot back, kickstand lunge. Here we go. So it's a little tricky because your muscle memory— if you've done the kickstand deadlift or if you've done a lunge, probably you've done both— you want to do either or. You either want to do a lunge from here Or a hinge from here, combine the two right through here. And up, down, right? I know.

And here, drop it low, knees.

5 seconds. 4, 3, 2, and 1. Give yourself a little break, right? We feel that all the way through. Let's take it other side. Kickstand lunge, here we go. And if that doesn't feel good on your knees, I know that may be a little close for a lunge, just pick one. You can do the kickstand deadlift or a lunge that feels more comfortable for you. Up to you. The point is, when we get low, right, we feel it. And here. Yes, you can. Push up and in. Remember that mobility is coming. Yes, team!

And here.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Ah, yes team! Set those weights to the side. Let's finish with some mobility. It is a hamstring curl, so we're gonna squeeze up in the glutes. Think of it as that cardio move, keeping the heart rate up, but here we go. If you need it to feel like more mobility, take your time. If you want to get more of that squeeze in the back of the legs, really bring your heel up. And if you want more cardio, obviously you can add that jump, but you probably don't need it. The reason we're doing this, it's going to stretch out those hip flexors, right? So really pull the hips to the back as well. Cardio mobility, built-in mobility, right? Yes, you can! Not so bad, right? Right and left strength moves, but not very long. 3, 2, and 1. Quick sip of water, y'all. My heart rate is up, I don't know about yours. Cheers, y'all! All right, here we go. We're taking it back to that band again, then we're going to take it to a different strength move and a different mobility. Here we go. All right, band again. This time we're going to sidestep, but we're going to have the band at our ankles or halfway between our knees and our ankles. And we're just going to go 2 or 3 steps, whatever you have space for, to the right and to the left. If you want to make it more of a shuffle, Up to you. Here we go. Side, side, side, and back. So a little side step, but again, ankle side step. You feel the difference, right? Good little burn. And if you want to get low in that squat, you can, but you don't have to. Yes, breathe. Oh man.

Burn!

Yes! 3, 2, 1, and relax. Shake it out. All right team, so this time we're going to take it to a plié squat, but if you can, I want to get all the way down. So we're going to take it to a Plié drop. If you can put the weights down, drive them up. A kettlebell might be easier, but it's up to you. Let's get low, plié drop. Here we go. If that's not right for you, you just take it to a regular plié squat. Or again, a kettlebell is going to be easier to drop because it's going to be a little higher. So notice what we're doing here, we're forcing the hinge a bit. Right where we're getting almost everything we're doing is going to get a lunge and a hinge pattern together, or a squat and a hinge pattern together. That is intentional. Right here, drive it up. Yes you can! 3, 2, 1, and relax. All right team, One more from here. Side lunge, pulse, pulse, step through. 3, 2, 1. You can keep it body weight, you can take it with a kettlebell, you do you. Watch me here first. Pulse, pulse, pulse, step it in. You don't have to actually hand off the weight, you can keep the weight in one hand or two. Or take it body weight. Here we go, step it wide. 3, 2, 1, drive in and switch. 3, 2, 1, switch. Yes you can!

And up.

I know.

Burn!

Shift your weight. Can we get one more each side? I think we can.

Pin.

3, 2, 1, relax. All right, here's a different type of mobility. If you're not feeling it, you can take it just to a little standing hinge and And squat if you can. We're going to take it with that half kneeling squat or tall kneeling squat. So we drop it back, we squeeze it up. No weight needed. We're again going for that hip flexor stretch here and also inner thighs. But if you can, drop it back, squeeze it up. It's mobility, but it's also strength. 3, 2, 1. Can you get low with it?

Squeeze.

Yes, I can. I know it feels simple at first. And again, if that doesn't feel good for your knees, just take it to a hinge and a squat, body weight up top. If you can, here and lift, big stretch. You can even hyperextend a little bit because we're not weighted. If you want to get a little stretch here, small little arch in the back. We don't want to do that when we're holding weight here, but in body weight and mobility, we can absolutely get that. Feel that stretch through the inner thighs. And also through the outer hips. That's what we're going for. And squeeze. And also working those glutes. 3, 2, 1, and relax. All right team, bring it up. Get a little stretch wherever you are. So feel free to grab a sip of water. I'm going to take you through our next round. All right, so we are going to start with our bench and we're going to do an elevated bridge lift. I would love for you to do this with the band. If you don't have a band and you want to add weight, you can. So we're bringing it here, we're taking it here, we're dropping it down, we're lifting up and squeezing. So band activation, right? Then we're going to bring it up Woo! No, then we're going to stay down. We're going to get our Copenhagen plank right and left, so we get those inner thighs along with our obliques. Then we're going to bring it up, deadlift and swing. All right, deadlift or swing, it's going to be your choice. So go ahead and join me. If you can elevate on the bench, go for it. Otherwise, you're just flat down on the mat. You're here With your bridge, with or without the band. All right, let's get it done in 3, 2— 40 seconds, here we go. Up and out, slowly down. This is your activation. Oh man, this band is tighter.

I know.

Breathe. Hand down, up and out.

And here.

Yes, press out with the knees at the top. Even if you don't have the band, we want that nice good stretch. We've got 4, 3, 2, and 1. All right, team, Team, take it here. Let's take those knees out, get a little stretch. Stay down. Here's your Copenhagen plank. So we're gonna get inner thighs, we're sneaking in a little bit more core in this round. If you don't have a bench, you can take it here, lift the leg, side plank, bringing it up and down. If you have the bench, I always bend my knees because it's a little more comfortable with my knees. If you can be here, lift and lower, you can. Otherwise, I like to bend this top knee. So we're here, we're gonna lift, bring the lower one in. Inner thighs, a lot of core, a lot of obliques. Bear with me, we're only getting one of each. 3, 2, 1, squeeze. And again, no shame if you do it with knees bent. I find it's less about strength. For me, I'm working on it, but when my legs are straight, that top pressure on my knee is too much. This is again a lingering— this is my knee that has had a few injuries, so I prefer to be here. But you do you. You may find it easier or more challenging, whichever you're going for, to be straight leg or on the mat. 5, 4, squeeze. 3, 2, and 1. Switch yourself to the other side. You can just flip around. I'm gonna come on the other side of my bench.

Woo!

Here we go, team. We're taking it up. We're gonna lift and squeeze in 3, 2, zip it up, squeeze in and out. I like to come all the way down in between. We don't always do that, sometimes we stay up depending on what we're going for, but to give you that resting point but also further to go. So really lift, squeeze inner. So we got those outer and the glutes on that bridge, we got a lot of inners and obliques and core here. Yes you can, team! Bring it up.

And up.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Stretch that out. Yes, team! Bring it up onto your feet. So inner thighs, outer thighs, glutes. You know what, let's do— let's just make this a little bit of a longer circuit. We're gonna do our deadlift and we're gonna do our swing. 40 seconds, 30 seconds. So let's start with deadlift, dumbbells or kettlebells, and you can do this for the second time. But here we go, we're gonna drive the hips to the back, weight stay close to the front of the legs, stand up straight. So pure hinge, no squat or lunge in this. Keep those shoulders packed, keep the rib cage stacked over your hips. Here we go, 40 seconds.

40 seconds.

I was gonna have you pick, but why not? This workout's going fast. Let's get both in so we get that pure strength right through here. Down and up.

Drive it up here and up.

Up. 10 seconds. These are big strong muscles, they can work hard. And again, we do this movement every single day, we want to train for it. 3, 2, 1, relax. All right team, up to you. You can get that again, or why not let's get these kettlebells out. Swing for 30 seconds or deadlift for 30. And then I promise we won't forget about that mobility. But here we go, we're going to drive it up, let it drop. In 3, 2, 1, here we go. And drop. So it's power from the back of the legs. It is not a squat, it's a hinge and then power up. So we're not lifting with the arms, We're powering up through the entire back of the body. Yes you can!

Woo!

Use that breath, lock it out of the top. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, swing and relax. So feel that little stretch here, team, and breathe. All right, good news, We got a really good stretch for that. Here is your mobility. We're going to take it with a hinge here and a toy soldier kick. You don't have to get it all the way up, but flex that foot to get the stretch. Hinge and kick. Here we go. And here, hands behind the head to also get that chest opener stretch. Water after this, one quick circuit.

Yes, breathe! Oh man, yes!

5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Let's drive a quick sip of water. Yes, we are in the home stretch! Cheers, y'all! All right, drink that water. Here we go, team, last time with the band. We're going to do a little curtsy and a lift. So if you're just keeping it body weight, or you want to keep it body weight, curtsy lunge, little lift, step through, curtsy lunge. So we're going to keep the band here, so it's going to make it a smaller range of motion. Don't feel like you have to get as low as you would on a curtsy or as high as you would on a lift. And if you don't feel as secure doing it, just take it body weight. All right, we got 40 seconds alternating right and left. We got a couple quick Strength things, and then we're good. All right, zip up that core. Again, let me show you with the band. Curtsy, get low, squeeze, take it out. Alternate right and left. 3, 2, 1. Curtsy. Again, to get that activation, to have to push through the resistance, right? of the band, not only as we go down, but as we get that abduction away from the body. That band slides, that's okay, that's normal.

And breathe.

I know, I'm feeling it too.

Here we go.

Yes! 3, 2, 1.

Yes, team!

All right, while you got that band on, meet me down on your mat. You probably knew it was coming cuz we got it in. All right, here's what we've got. Instead of— I know you're thinking we're going to go here to here— we're just going to hold and we're splitting the time. 20 seconds here, 20 seconds other side. So I want you to open it up and hold, lift for the oblique and core. 20 and 20, and then we'll finish it strong in 3, 2, 1. So you're holding, you're lifting. I know we've done a million variations on this. We mostly just do reps, but we've done the hold, the drop the hip. We've done the hold, the plank, and be out here, right? This one is just straight up hold. Glutes, core for 5, 4, 3, 2, 2, and down. Switch your sides. You can just flip right over, but go ahead and get set. We're bringing it up for 20. 3, 2, 1, hold it. Yes you can! Glutes, outer thighs, inner thighs, deep core, all the way through. We got 10 seconds. Yes you can! 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. All right team, 2 quick strength moves, then we finish with— you're like, wait, wasn't that strength? Yes, that was certainly strength, but activation. All right, last 2. We're gonna do a surrender. You can choose with or without weights. I'm gonna hold 1 kettlebell. If you can, we're going all the way down, kneeling down, down, up, up. Then you switch your lead leg. So if you go right, left, right, left, left, right, left, right— if that is not right for you, drop it down and just alternate your lunge. All right, you decide. Or tap back with or without the weight. Let's get it done. 3, 2, 1. It's okay to go all the way down to the mat. Do it and breathe. And listen, we do this a lot of the time, right? Maybe you're holding something heavy and you have to reach down to tie your shoes. Maybe you're holding your child or you're picking your kid up off of the ground. Maybe you've changed a diaper and you're reaching back down, right? This is such a functional move. Climbing a flight of stairs— obviously we don't get all the way down on our knees, but you get the gist. 5 seconds to go. 3, 2, 1, and relax. Yes, team! Last thing, your pick. You can do a deadlift again— I know it's no repeat— or you can do a swing. In order to make it no repeat, I'm going to do a handoff swing, but you do You, up to you. Just your deadlift, just your swing. I know this last round was a little bit of a mishmash, but let's finish it strong and then we're stretching it out. All right, let's take it here. Let's prep it. 30 seconds. 3, 2, 1, let it drop. Again, power from the back of the body, not with the arms, and not controlling the weight, right? Power. Let it drop. Walk it out. Let it drop. So close. We have 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Swing and relax.

Ah. Yes, team!

All right, take it all the way down on your back because your last move is a mobility move, but straight up mobility and stretch as we go into our stretching. All right, so we're here, we're just going to get alternate that flex And stretch, and then we're going to cross it over, and then we're going to switch. All right, so let's start with just the flex foot to stretch the hamstring, and then we'll go into some hip flexor stretch. All right, so this one, let's take it here. We're going to finish out cuz I promised you that mobility. 3, 2, 1. So stretch it up. You can do a little flex Flex and point if you want, or just hold it in. A little shaky there. And then other side. If you're me, a little shaky, right? And then just switch that. So starting with the straight legs, holding for a count or 2, doing this little active stretching, right? Let's get one more each way. And last one. And then let's hug those knees in. If you can hug them both in, if that's not right for you, just do one at a time, but really relax in the back. And then maybe let your knees drop to one side, get that nice good back stretch. Great work, team! I know the beginning we had some shorter circuits going along. Those last 2 I know were a little bit longer, a little bit crazier, but you did it, and I'm so proud that you decided to show up with me today. Get a little hip stretch if you can, either here or reach up, push it away. If you need to sit on the edge of the bench, uh, right here, you can put— you can sit on the edge of a chair or bench if that feels better for you. Then switch your sides. Of course, we're keeping the cool down short, so please get more of a stretch. We worked in that mobility, We worked in that gentle cardio, we worked in that core, all with the lower body working hard. Turn it over into your child's pose. Sit back, stretch your back, but really sit back into your hips. Leave me a comment, let me know how you are feeling after this. Again, we did get repetition of muscle groups and movement patterns, but not the same exercises. Roll back onto your feet. Let yourself hang there. If you want to put your hands on the bench or top of the legs, if you can get to the floor, just feel that stretch. And then slowly roll it up. Yes, team! Oh man, thank you so much for being here. One big deep breath in and out. You did it! That was Your lower body fusion workout. Great job, everybody!