16: 27-Mins Dumbbell ISO Strength Tabata

Hey everybody, I'm Amy from BodyFit by Amy, and this is your dumbbell iso strength Tabata workout. In this workout, we are working your entire body for strength, both with some back to basics and some isometrics, and we are doing it in the Tabata interval format— 20 seconds of work followed by 10 seconds of rest. I'll be giving you lots of different options to work to your fitness level, so listen to your body. Are you ready? Let's do it! Let's start just by getting our bodies warm. You can start with just a gentle march. Get the arms moving, get the feet moving, get the blood flowing. Whatever you need to do to just get the energy up and get your body's temperature up. Let's roll those shoulders. Maybe you're doing this first thing in the morning or after a long day at work. Whatever it is for you, you showed up today, you are succeeding. And no matter what this workout looks like or feels like for you, as long as you're here, you're moving safely and effectively, that is a win. Let's So let's go ahead and take it right here. Big Y, and then drive those hips to the back so you just get a nice big stretch through your back. You can start gently if you need to, and then we'll get the big reach long through those fingertips and then drive your hips to the back. So this workout is Tabata style, so if you've never done Tabata before, you're in for a treat. 20 seconds of work followed by 10 seconds of rest in 4-minute rounds. Let's cross those arms over and under, and then we're going to step out into a little side lunge. We're keeping it really simple today, pretty back to basics. The key is we're going to be alternating between a back to basics exercise for 20 seconds and an isometric of that same exercise, which essentially just means a hold. Don't worry, it's only 20 seconds of a hold, and I'm going to remind you throughout this workout that you can do anything for 20 seconds. Let's take it flat back down and then round it up. So again, warming up through the spine. So if you've ever done any isometric tricks with me before, sometimes we hold them 10, 20, 30, sometimes longer. So it's going to be nice to be doing this in a Tabata format of only 20 seconds. Roll those shoulders right here. And within that, that just means that we're going back and forth. So you'll have one exercise that you do for half of the Tabata, 4 rounds. You'll start Back to Basics for 20 seconds, you'll hold for 20, Back to Basics, and then hold. So reps, iso, reps, iso. Let's take those arms overhead and tap the foot back. So it's gonna go by pretty quickly Tabata tends to— I want you, because these are short intervals, to try to challenge yourself. Try to go heavy if you can, even though we're going to be doing 4 rounds of the same exercise or the same movement pattern. Hold this here if you can, and if you want, drop it all the way down, reach it up, and you can reach in and up. But even though we're doing that instead of circuits like we normally do where we alternate between exercises— go ahead and switch that, same thing, other side— I still want you to challenge yourself and go heavy because we have these short 20-second rounds. So we'll get a mix of lower body and upper body and core. All of it should make your muscles feel the strength as we build it, get the heart rate up for cardio. Step back into that high plank. If this is not right for you, you can be on your knees, but we're going to go child's pose to plank, or child's pose to knees, whatever is good for you to get the core warmed up and a little more stretch through the back, shoulders, and spine. So I think you're going to like it. I think you'll find it goes fast. I'll be giving you a few tweaks, especially on those holds, to make sure that you have good form. One more right here, and then slowly walk those hands back. So heavy weights if you can. I'm working with dumbbells today, but of course if you need to go heavier and you have something like a kettlebell or no weights at all, you can keep it just body weight, but if you're able, big stretch here to here, reach it over. We're going to try to go heavy within this. All right, so 20 seconds of work. You can set your weight down in between if you need to. Let's just get a little knee cross again, stretch it out, but you can hang on to it as well if you want. So I'm going to start with one heavy dumbbell in the center, so essentially a goblet squat. If you don't have one heavy, you can have two here or two down below, but I'm going to go heavy with it— slightly lighter than I want to because I'm still rehabbing my knee. But here we go, we're going to sit and bring it up. Join me here, 20 seconds. Regular back to basic squat. Little itch right here. And again, everything for lower body today. I'm going a little bit lighter, but please go heavy for you right here. And breathe. And up. All right, you can set that weight down if you need to. This time we are just going to hold that squat at the bottom, keeping the chest lifted. Bring it up. Here we go. All right, so when we get to these holds, I want you to think the bottom of the movement, or the top of the movement if it's something upper body, trying to get low like you're sitting in that chair. Weight in your heels, but also feeling it through your toes, keeping your chest lifted. Your shoulders back. 3, 2, 1, shake it out. We're gonna do each one of those again and then this one is done. All right, that's what it's gonna look like. I'm gonna talk you through those holds so it's not gonna feel that long. Here we go, 20 seconds. I think you're gonna come away from this workout— in the moment things are gonna feel hard, especially with the holds, but when we're done you're gonna be like, oh, I did That was over quicker than I thought it would be. Right here, relax, breathe for just a second— or 10 seconds rather— and then isometric hold. If you need to adjust, take those toes out a little bit more. Let's bring it down and hold. Here we go, holding weight in the heels, but I also want you to feel your toes. Can you feel your pinky toe with the pressure? Can you also feel into those heels. Can you drop your hips a little bit more? We have only 5 seconds left. Drop those hips cuz lower body is done. In 3, 2, 1, and relax. All right, this time grab a second weight cuz we are taking it to a bent over row. It's going to look like this. You're here, bent over row, pull those elbows up and down. When we hold, we'll rest in between in a standing position. When we hold, we're going to hold up here. Squeeze those elbows in. All right, go ahead, come into that hinge position. Heavy weights if you got them. We're here, pull the weights up towards the hips. Here we go, row for 20. So these are your big upper body pull muscles, muscles along the back. Squeeze and down right here. And again, we're going stand up in between each of these sets so we make sure that we get a breather for those hinge muscles. Last one, all the way up. If you can hang on to those weights, this one's just a hold. I'm going to talk you through some things as we go. Go ahead, core engaged, bring it down, up and hold. So what I want you to think about— can you pull those elbows up to the sky? Not the shoulders, not here, Pull the elbows down and towards the shoulder blades, or pull your shoulders down towards the shoulder blades. Pull the elbows up and in, squeezing in the back, pulling your elbows towards each other. 3, 2, 1, breather if you need it. Shake them out. All right, back to that row. This time we're going to rotate our hands if you want something a little bit different. Let's hinge it, here we go. So I'm just turning my palms as I come up. So again, just to make it a tiny bit different, right, right here. Keep squeezing in the back. Last one, bring it up. All right, we're gonna hold one last time, and then this circuit is over. Elbows up, pull those shoulders back and down. Core engaged, hinge it. Here we go. So this time we're up in here. I want you to do tiny little pulses, pulling your elbows together. So a small little squeeze in the shoulder blade, but also just thinking shoulder blades pulling together. Keep that head and neck in that alignment with your spine. We got 5 seconds to go. Keep squeezing in that back. 4, 3, 2, and 1. Set those weights down. There we go, team. So a little Stretch out right here, and then we're going to go into our next round. Let's grab a sip of water, shake out those arms. So some things, I think especially the upper body, you're going to feel a little bit more intensely, smaller muscles. But cheers, y'all, as we go throughout. I think you're going to like this workout. All right, so now we're taking it to a lunge. I'm going to go pretty light on this. We're going to do a reverse lunge stepping in and up. Then we're gonna do a hold lunge. We got that 2 times through on the right, 2 times through on the left. I'm gonna give you a few little variations as we go. Go ahead and grab those weights. Right foot forward, left foot stepping back on those train tracks. Here we go. So it's just a regular reverse lunge. It's only 20 seconds. Here we go, and breathe. Take your time. Even though it's only 20 seconds does not mean that we have to go fast with it. Woo! Breathe. And here, set them down if you want to. You can even come to here if you want. Our next one is a hold. If you decide you want to do this without weight, that's okay, but go ahead, come up, come down, hold it here. So here's what I'd love, guys. I would love for you to be again at the bottom of that movement. Weight all the way through that front foot, also pushing into that back knee. Can you lower the back knee down a little bit more? Can you hinge forward just a tad? Not rounding in the back, nice and steady. For 3, 2, 1, set them down. Right, all right, one more time, regular lunge. This time, as we reverse, I want you to allow yourself to hinge a little bit so we get a little bit more of those hamstrings. Here we go. Notice I'm keeping my back straight, but I'm making sure— so same leg in front. I know it's burning, but this whole Tabata round is a lunge, but we're gonna go 4 on the right, 4 on the left, and we're almost done with the right. Yes, all the way down if you want. All right team, this time we're gonna hold it up again. You can keep this body weight if you want, but I want you to bring everything a little bit forward 3, 2, 1. So what I'm doing when I let my chest come down, it's not a hinge, it's not a deadlift, but I am getting a little more of the hamstrings involved. If that bothers your back, I want you to come to here but still drop that back knee. We got just about 5 seconds. Can you drop the knee even more? For 3, 2, set those weights down, shake it out. All right, we're gonna give you a few extra seconds before we do that left side because I know It's a lot on the right and the left. So little hamstring curls right through here if you can. Same thing, other side. Reverse lunge, hold. Reverse lunge, hold with a little hinge. Okay, catch your breath. Let's get ready for this. We're going to drop it down, left foot forward this time, right foot back. 3, 2, 1. I can't get as low on this one, but I'm going to do the best I can. Safely. It's always a way to modify. My favorite thing with lunges is just to do more of a tap back. Breathe. Not get as low. Last one. All the way down if you want, but if you want to stay up, you can do that as well. Remember, we're just going to hold nice and tall with or without your weights. Here we go. So I'm trying to avoid this, right? I want to really be in the lunge for an isometric lunge. So drop that knee down, chest open. So I'm not letting myself round here, but I'm also not letting myself be here. I want to drop down. We've got 5, 4, 3, 2, relax. All right, one more time moving lunge, one more time isometrics. then we're moving on. All right, here we go. Step back into that lunge. 3, 2, 1. Can you drop your chest just a little to get a little more of those hamstrings? And good news, our next round is on the mat, so get ready. And here, yes. All the way down if you want. One last time with this hold. We're going to hold for 20. You're holding it here, weight all the way through the foot, slight little hinge. Let's do it, here we go, here we go, holding it here. So again, I'm still keeping my shoulders pulled back, I'm just coming a little bit more forward into that front leg. Can you get even a little bit lower, especially with that back knee? I can't, but you can get down there. We got 3, 2, 1. Oh, shake it out. Woo! Legs. Yes, team! Shake out those quads if you want. Shake out those hamstrings. We're going to take it down on the mat, but let's grab some water first. All right, we are halfway. Cheers, y'all! Take it down to the mat. We're— everything on this round is going to be down on the mat. You can be on the bench too if you want. Here's what we got. We're focused mostly on upper body push, but because we're not going to do some specific deadlifts today because we just got all those lunges and squats, if you want to add the bridge, you can. If you'd rather keep it just your press, and then your press hold is going to be about halfway up, or halfway up. If you'd rather— if you want to add the isometrics with the bridge, you can do that as well. So just your chest press, or chest press with the bridge. Then we got some bicycles and some hollow holds. All right, so start here with just the upper body, elbows tucked in. Here we go, up and down. If you have a bench, you can do this too. But again, if you want to add a little hamstrings and glutes, cuz I love this compound movement, compound exercise together, cuz you can really lift and squeeze. Yes, relax it down. All right, this time we're going to hold the bridge. If you want, you're going to hold the weights just barely off the ground. Ready? Here we go. Lift those elbows so you're not resting them here. This is not an isometric, you're here. And if you want to have the bridge with it too, I want you to think about what is your core doing. If you're in the bridge, what are your glutes doing? What is your pelvic floor doing? Stay lifted. We got 5, 4, 3, 2, relax it down. Woo! Right, this time if you want to turn your palms in at the top, you can, just for something a little bit different, with or without the bridge. Here we go, start with the press, up and in, down and out. If you want to lift right here, take it up and in, down and out. Yes you can! Burn, I know! And relax. We got one more. This time we're going to come up about halfway with the press. Go ahead and do it here with me, and then if you want to add the bridge, lift up, squeeze it here. So not here, I still want that bend in the elbows so the chest has to work. Keep holding. You can drop it down a little bit more for these last 5. A little bit more. 4, 3, 2, a little bit more, 1, and relax. Stretch that out, arms out to the side. We're gonna stay where we are. Here's what we got, team. We got a little bicycle crunch just here and then a hollow hold. I'm going to take you through some stages of that. If you need to just do a little march and a hold with tabletop, that works too. Hands behind your head, slow bicycle, here we go. Each time we get that 10-second break, hug your knees in or drop your knees so you get a little stretch through the back right here. Yes you can! 3, 2, 1, hug the knees in. Hollow hold. We're going to take our knees out just a bit, but slight bend, our arms out. You can choose if you want to lift the shoulders, start here with me, right here. If you want to lift the shoulders, you can. If you want to take your feet out a little bit more, you can. Squeeze those inner thighs together. Everything is pulled in through the center. This is an exercise we do often. Tuck the pelvis, make sure you're not arching that back. Everything should be so tight that if I came and pushed on your legs or arms, they don't go anywhere. 3, 2, 1, hug them in again. One more time each of those, and then this one is done. Let's bring it up in the bicycle for 3, 2, 1. Here we go, slow. Yes you can, I know. Breathe, take your time, and relax. One last one to hollow hold. Knees can be bent or straight, arms can be up, shoulders can be lifted. Either way, strong and tight isometric core. Here we go, start here, lift here if you can. Extend those legs if you can. Pull the inner thighs in together, lift up on that pelvic floor, button up the rib cage, zip up the core. Again, arms and legs are so tight, if I push on you, you are not moving at all because your core So stable. 3, 2, 1, hug them in. All right team, up onto your feet. We are almost there. Quick sip right here. All right, a little bit more arms, a little bit more core as we go. All right, we got your regular bicep curl for 20. We got a bicep hold an iso hold. We got overhead triceps for 20. We got a tricep hold. We're gonna add some little tiny pulses. All right, then we're gonna get some lower body, and then we will finish it out. Go ahead and grab those weights, whatever you got, for a bicep curl. Standing up nice and tall. These only have one of each. Ready? Here we go. So go heavy on this because you only have one back to basics, one isometric hold. All right. So hang with me right here. Up, breathe. 2, relax them down right here. All right, isometric hold. You're just going to hold in that 90° angle. All right, are we ready? Hold them here. Here's what we're not doing is this. 90 degrees. You can be here holding the tray, here you can take them out, whatever you got. But we're just holding so close. What is your core doing? Think about your core. Arms are strong, back is pulled in. 3, 2, 1, drop them down. I know, ah, 1 or 2, whatever you got. We're going over the head, behind the head for triceps. Abs. Join me, here we go. Maybe you want to go a little lighter. I'm going with one. If you need to stagger, this works too. All right, yes, relax. Hold it in center. We're going to hold it down halfway. We're going to have those elbows tiny movement in and out. Bring it up and over. Here we go. So holding it here halfway, elbows are going out and in, out and in. You're trying to keep it low, keep that core pulled in. Try not to strain the head and the neck. Look at me. Yes you can. Out and in. Squeeze, lift up a tiny little bit. 3, 2, 1. Oh, I know. All right, with those weights, we're going to take it into a side lunge, then we're going to hold, then side lunge, and we're going to hold. Here we go. Step out, bring it in right here. Now you can have those weights to the side, whatever you need. And up. Yes, breathe. Last one. All right, get ready, we're going to hold that side lunge. If that's not right for you, you can just keep the regular. I'm going to take it here, drop, hold it here. All right, so I've got my chest coming forward. I'm resting this weight here, but you can be here. Drive the hips to the back. If you need to move a little closer, you can. Keep that chest open again. Eyes up at me. We got 5 seconds. Can you drop a little lower and a little bit more into that hip? 3, 2, 1. Same thing, other side. We got step out and in. We got to hold. Here we go in 3, 2, 1. Step it out, push it up. Here we go, and up. Here again, sometimes I like to rest, especially since I've had to go a little lighter because of my knee, this weight here. But if that doesn't work for the weights that you're holding, one on each side or both in the middle. Relax it down, shoulders back, core engage. Get ready, let's take it down in 3, 2, 1. Hold it here, chest open. So we're still in that hinge. Yes, your chest is coming forward, but I don't want you rounding, right? So keep your eyes up. Look at me, look at me. Can you get a little lower into that hip? Drop the butt down in the back. We got 5 seconds of this isometric. 4, 3, 2, and 1. Relax. Ah, team, that was it! But I think we got time for a bonus move. We're gonna make it a quick bonus plank. All right, you can be on your knees, you can be on your toes, you can be on the wall, whatever you need. We are going to keep it small. It's going to be one long bonus move, 60 seconds, but we're going to take it in 15-second intervals, starting with our isometrics, adding some movement. All right, so join me on the mat. Again, if you need to be on your knees here or knees here, you can. If you can be up and holding in that plank position Try it with me. All right, it's gonna be over before we know it. First 15, up and hold in 3, 2, 1. So I want you to find that good plank position. Elbows are shoulder distance apart, you're zipped up in the core. Gentle lift of the pelvic floor, a little tuck of the pelvis, zipping it up. Button up the rib cage, tighten out the legs and the glutes. Can we add a little knee tap? Just tapping your knees down. A little bit of movement, but we're keeping that good strong plank position. All right, so just small little knee tap. If you need it to be more of a resting point, you can. And then can you take those knees with a little drop, dropping in the hips right here? Just like that. Yes, you can. You're tapping your knee and dropping your hip one at a time. Can we go little pike, little lift, and down using your core to do it? We got 10 seconds, team. Not pushing up through the elbows, but just lift in the center for 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1. Stretch it back. So whatever you need to do, if you want child's pose, if you want up dog, get a nice Good stretch through that. You did it, team! Press those shoulders down. Come up onto all fours, roll through. Cat-cow right here. Oh man, how do you feel? I hope you're feeling good. I hope you're feeling strong. Roll back onto your feet or come up however you want. Let your upper body hang. So if you need to have your hands on your legs, if you can take them to the floor, have them on a bench, just get a little pedal of the back of the feet so you get the stretch to the back of the legs. And then slowly roll it up. Stop at that halfway point, get a little back stretch, little standing cat-cow. How do you feel? I want to hear in the comments how you are feeling. How was that workout for you? Slowly roll it up, take it up right here. Again, as I told you in the beginning, 20 seconds goes by quickly. So I'm sure on some of those intervals, like me, you were like, oh, that wasn't bad at all. Some it was harder, right? That's what we love about these formats. We can mix up our formats where some it's more about endurance, some it's more about strength. Some it's more about balance, agility, endurance, whatever it is, power. That's why I have so many different formats here on my YouTube channel and also very specifically in the BodyFit Athletic Club. Cross those arms, take those fingertips down. I'm going to keep this cool down pretty short, so please make sure that you get more of a cool down and a stretch on your own, that you're stretching through those muscles that we work today and that you work in that mobility and flexibility into your days and your weeks. Take it right here, shake that out. Let's get one big deep breath in and out. You did it! That was your dumbbell iso strength Tabata workout. Great job, everybody!