19: 32 Minute Bodyweight Recovery Cardio Mobility Workout (Stretch & Lengthen)

Hey, everybody. I'm Amy from Bodyfit by Amy. And this is your bodyweight recovery cardio mobility workout. This is a no equipment active recovery workout where we mix in a little bit of mobility, some flexibility, some stretching, and some gentle cardio where you have the option to take it up or down, depending on what you need. Today, of course, I'm going to give you lots of different options to work to your fitness level. Are you ready? Let's do it. So let's start just by rolling those shoulders. I want you to start in a standing position and just roll those shoulders to get a little bit of a release. Knees are soft. We're gonna start and center with our posture. Let's start by thinking about stacking of our ears over our shoulders, shoulders over our rib cage, rib cage over the pelvis, pelvis over the knees, over the ankles, and just take a minute to settle into that. So I want you to try to release the shoulders, relax your jaw. A lot of us tend to hold the tension up here or we're sticking those ribs out. We call that rib flare, or we're rounded here because of work and life. Right. So I want you to find all that trying to release the tension, but really lift up through that posture. Put one hand on your heart, one hand on your belly. And I find the most important thing for me with this is to stack the rib cage over the hips, over the pelvis. That tends to be more of where we get a little bit off, a little out of alignment. So really think about that. Also shoulders and upper back, right from sitting at our desk driving all those things. But if you can really think stacking the rib cage over the pelvis, and then let's connect with our breath. So just take a minute to try to clear your head. We're gonna get moving and we're gonna get those endorphins going, get that energy up. But just take these first few seconds to let it all go. Be here with me today, all right? And we can start with a gentle march. So we're just going to get the blood flow and get the heart rate up, and then we're moving into these moves. We're going to keep this a flow, so you don't have to worry about intervals, you don't have to worry about the clock. Don't worry about any of that. We're to move. And the idea on these recovery days is that we get active recovery. Right. It's certainly good to take full days off as well, but I know for a lot of us, especially if you're tight or tense from a workout a day or two ago or just from life, it feels really good to get the recovery from movement right. So let's roll those shoulders again. So have a lot of these cardio mobility workouts where we can get the heart rate up, we can get the body moving in those movement patterns that we do in our other workouts. But we do it lightweight and we do it where we can get the recovery, we get the stretch, and we get the blood flow, the oxygen, all of the things that we need. Let's take those arms up really big, Plant your feet, reach to the back. I don't know about you, but I'm feeling super tight in my shoulders. Let's take one at a time to the back and then take it to the the front and other side. And for me, I also started doing more cardio mobility because I know that sometimes the idea of a straight up mobility or flexibility or yoga or Pilates feels either overwhelming. If you're not someone who enjoys those type of workouts or feels like, oh, but I really just want to get, get my heart rate up. I really want to just really get moving. That's when I really feel my best. And also, even though this is not true, I know sometimes we feel like, oh, we gotta be burning calories and we gotta be working our muscles for it to be worth it. Not true. All movement is good movement, right? However, I know that mindset. Let's take it right here and let's roll through our back. So I wanted to give you some things where you really feel like you get it all in, right? So flat back down, scoop towards the floor, and then round it up. You to take this even a little slower than we do in a normal warm up. If you've done other workouts with me, take it out right through here. Breathe. Open up the knees a little bit as you go. Taking it here, right here. And can we take this one and hold it down? So first, just little shift side to side. And if you're able to get low, do what's best for you. You can be here if you're able to get low, even a little bit more, just to open up the hips. If that's not right for you, just stay up a little higher. But hip opener, we need that, right? And then let's take these hands right here. Gentle push in as you roll that shoulder. Right. My legs are feeling the burn from yesterday's workout. Back and shoulders are feeling that tightness from sitting at my computer this morning. So we're getting it all in, right? And here and again, we're keeping this afloat. So some things we'll spend a little more time on. Some things I'll give you the option to stay into a stretch or to keep it moving. You make this workout whatever is best for you. Let's bring it up right here. Let's reach over the top. So you know what I always say, if you've been here before, be where you are today. So what do you need today? Do you need more of that stretch? Do you need more of that gentle low impact movement? Do you need to get the energy up? What are you feeling? This workout is whatever you need it to be. Be where you are today. And you also hear me say you do you right? It's your workout. Let's reach across the front. So something like this, you know, we do this often in warm ups. If you want to stretch the leg out with it, you can think about that stretch. If you want to get a little more cardio, you can as well. And breathe right through here. Stretch, stretch. And let's keep this motion. That heart rate's getting up a little too much for you. Just slow it down and let's reach down to the ground. So step out. You don't actually have to touch, but if you can, we're gonna open up those hips, right? You can even take a big arm over, big stretch and be here, here. Or again, if you want to keep it a little more cardio based. Yes. Here we go. Breathe. And we're going to try to have a mix of things that are a little more cardio based. A mix of things that a little are a little more mobility and flexibility. Right through here. I'm feeling it. Right. Roll those hips. Nice and easy mobility through your hips. And if you feel like you need a little balance, just grab onto the wall right through here. Woo. Or grab onto something and trying to bring that knee around to the back. So again, if you need this balance not just here, but let's try to really open it up and bring it around. Can we add a little side lunge to it? So watch me here. Hip roll, little side dip right here. Switch your sides. Hip roll, side lunge. You don't have to get super low. You can keep it small right here. If you want more of that stretch, drop it low. Can even hang out there for a minute. And breathe. Take it forward, up at your own pace. Do not feel like you have to be the same speed as me. You can be slower for sure. Can be faster as long as you got good form right through here. Now let's take the hip roll out of it and just step side to side. And again, you can make it just a gentle side step to open up the hips. You can get more of a stretch. Get down below. Big reach here. Or if you want, you can add a little gentle shuffle. Again, you do you. What do you need in this moment? Breathe. And let's get 4, 3, 2, 1. Take it right here. We're gonna take it straight up to those eyes. You know these, right? Drop it down, out to your wise. I got my thumbs out. You don't have to out to your T. Big stretch. Now, my goal here, mobility, right, is to take it out without arching my back. Right. Core is engaged. We're nice and tight through here. And then I'm trying to bring those arms and the shoulders back behind my body to increase that mobility, right? Let's take it with a little hinge. I want you to start just in a hinge from here. How does that feel? Right. When you're in a little hinge, we get a little back stretch. And it's a little different in terms of reaching, right? So keep that core engaged. Yes, Nice and strong. Why? And T, let's get one more. And we're going to keep all of this, but we're going to move in and out of the hinge just like this. So hinge it down, come up with your eye. Hinge it down, come up with your Y. Hinge it down. And t, drop it low, bring it up, drop it low. And here, two more. Don't forget about trying to reach those shoulders behind. And one more. Oh, man. I know. Let's bring those knees up. So a little hip flexor stretch, right? Let's cross. Don't worry too much about speed. Don't worry about how high you get. Even if this is just a little march, you want to get a little more of that torso mobility. Take it here to here. My shoulders are feeling it after those eyes. Wise and t, right? And if you want, you can really turn your body, reach behind, right? You can keep it just right here. Or big arms, open up the hips a bit. Going to get some water in just a second, cuz then we're going to do a few things from up top that work our way down to the mat. We'll keep the cardio mobility, but we're also gonna get some work from the mat. I'll give you options depending on where you are. Breathe. Let's go four, then three and two and One, catch your breath. Grab a quick sip of water. Notice how you feel. A little heart rate, right? We feel that movement. Hopefully you're feeling more energized and a little better than when we started. I know I am. All right, team, so let's take it. Let's stand on the edge of our mat right here. First thing I want you to do is just that. Hinge down the front of the legs, so drive the hips back. If you just get to here, that's okay. If you can come down to the ground. And then we're going to come up, and I want you to open up those arms. You can do a little arch in the back as long as that feels okay for you. And then pull down, then reach up, hinge it down so nice and easy. It's a stretch. You go whatever pace is good for you. Rounding through the spine. If you just get to here, that's okay. Roll it up, take it all the way down and bring it up. Now, you can keep just that, or if you can, we're going to inchworm it out. So watch me here. Bend the knees, walk those hands out. You can walk all the way out to the hands, or you can drop to the knees, walk the hands back. Notice how I keep slight bend in my knees as I come down. And again, right through here. That's not right for you. You just stay with that hinge. You guys know I say it all the time. I love this little inchworm because we get everything working right. We get the hinge for our back, for our hamstrings, for our calves. We get that upper body as we walk it out. We get that core fired up all the way through, get everything working. Breathe, take it down. Tends to get our heart rate up as well, right? All right, we're gonna add on to this. I want you to watch me one time. You have some options. You're gonna take it down, inchworm it out. We're gonna go big step, big step and bring it up. They're gonna walk it down, walk it back, big step back, and walk it back right through here. If that's not right for you, I want you to do your hinge and bring it here. Then little lunge back, little lunge back so you still get that hip opener and you can do it without going to that full plank. You can also take it down to your knees. So here we go. Hinge it here, inchworm it out when you're in that plank. Big step here, big step here. All the way up. Big stretch, hinge it down, Step it back, step it back, and walk it back. So extremely functional. Take your time. We're not rushing this, right? But again, all movements that we do, the hinge using our arms and core. Hip opener. Right? All the way up and here. Walk it back. And we're just gonna get one more. So at your own pace, get what you need from this. I know. Here we go. Walk it back, walk it back, Bring it up. Last one. Walk it back, walk it back. And very slowly. Just some little hamstring curls right after that. I know a lot of down and up, right? But again, should have released that back. I'm hoping that you feel that. Take your arms down, down here. So classic cardio. A lot of you probably remember those hamstring curls we did back in the day in fitness classes. Really good. We're opening up the hips and hip flexors. A little stretch through the quads. You can get those arms moving. Chest opener, you want a little more from the top. You can take it here. Whatever you need in this moment, you want to take it up a little more, because guess what? After this, we're going to the mat. Take it here, Right here. Just about 15 seconds. Whatever pace is good for you. We got 4, 3, 2, and 1. Relax. So I want you to. You can grab a support water again if you need to. Let's take it down to the mat. All right, team, so let's take it here in a seated position. Little stretch through here. Again, in these recovery workouts, even if we're doing cardio mobility, we're trying to build in that flexibility. So feet out in front, they can be out further, they can be out in. But just get that little hip opener. And then from here, because we love it. 90, 90. So we're sitting in this position 90 degrees each way. If that's not right for you, you can sit on the edge of a chair or a bench and do the same motion. And then we're going to take it into here. Little stretch. And we're going to rotate. 90, 90. I want you to actually, if you can, turn your body into here and then 90, 90. Now this 90, 90. You can turn slow. You can use your hands if you need to. Right through here. Your hands if you need to. Or just right here, turning into it. And reach. Yes. Those hips should be feeling good. One more each side. Take it here, take it here. All right, team, so you're here. I want you to come into. Either hold on to this, or if you can, we're going to come into that Pigeon stretch. So I want to give you a second to get in the stretch, because a lot of us love this stretch, right? So you can shift to the side of the hip. This foot can be up a little more. It can be in a little bit more. You can be up to here. And then if you're able, we're going to take this from a plank up to a down dog into a pigeon. So watch me first, and then I'll give you some options. So we're in our pigeon, we're plank, we're down dog stretch. We're down to pigeon, we're rest the wrist or plank. We're down dog, we're pigeon. If that's not right for you, I want you to feel that stretch and then just rotate 90, 90 into pigeon from here. Okay? You do you find what's right for you. Here we go. So you're in their plank up to down dog. Drive that other knee to your chest. Bring it up. So this should get your heart rate up, even though it's not a traditional cardio move, just by having to move through the different parts. And if you need to take one out, maybe you just do the plank to down dog. Maybe you just do pigeon to plank. Totally fine. Bring it up. Take it here and up. Bring it up and here. Two more and in. Right here and in. So right through here. Come up onto all fours. We're going to sit back into that child's pose right here. Stretch through your shoulders. Get that recovery. And we're going to reach one arm under. So we're going to come up to all fours, reach under, stretch your child's pose. Yes. Come up to all fours, reach under and stretch. Yes. And here, right here. Reach under. A little stretch. One more each side really leaning into the recovery of it, the flexibility. One more here. Yes. Team, sit back into that child's pose. Rest your wrist, press those shoulders down. Come up round through that cat cow rolling through the back. So if you're feeling your wrist come up on those fists, that tends to help me. Or come down on your elbows rolling through his. Especially paying attention to that lower lumbar spine. I know for me, that's where I get locked up. And here. All right, team, so we're coming here. You can stay on your knees to start. Let's take it here. World greatest stretch, big stretch. And then I'll give you some options. So watch me first, then back down. Step either back to the knees or back to the plank. So you're here. You can stay on the knees or you're switching from the plank. Now, if that is not right for you, I just want you to step back, get a little stretch from here just to still get that hip opener. So you're here to here. But if you can team, join me on all fours or join me in the high plank step. Big reach. World's greatest stretch. Down and down. Step and reach. And another option, if you're good here, but you need a little break for your wrist, is just to drop the knee on the stretch. Sometimes you get a little more hip flexor that way, right? Take it here and reach. Boom. And up. We're gonna get one more each way. Wherever you are, take it here. Right here. And wherever you are, I want you to walk your feet in right here. I want you to hang if you can, little petal of your feet and then slowly take your time to roll it up. So I want to do a little step touch right here. So we're going to finish with a couple more minutes of more of the cardio, and then we get some flexibility, we get some good stretching. All right? So don't worry. Want to follow through on the name of this cardio mobility. Starting with a little taking it down. Hopefully you felt it a little throughout. Nothing too much crazy, but I'm gonna make sure that we're getting both. And again, you make it whatever you need today. You and I love this one. Rainbow skater, tap behind. Big rainbow with the arms. Tap behind. You can stay just right here. You don't have to get low unless you want to, but it is that little stretch through here. Right side body stretch, opening up the hips, big arms. If you want to really step wide or really get low for a little more legs, you can you do you. What do you need in these last few minutes of your body weight recovery? Cardio mobility right here. Here. Yes, team. If you want to even make it bigger or add a little more of a chance jump, you can up to you. Breathe. You're like, you tricked us, Amy. We thought we were on the mat for good, right? One last little burst of energy. Four stretch. Three, two. Last one. And here last. Gonna do little kicks, right? Start them slow and low. If you need balance, flex that foot core engage right here. And then as you're ready, if you want, you can take them a little higher and take those arms right like we do in our mobility warm up. So you get the stretch opening of the arms, right? Yes. You can keep it low. You can even just do a little heel tap. What's good for you, team? Four. Yes. Three, two, One more. And breathe. Watch me here. We're gonna side step and do a little lift. So, yes, it's going to look like that kickboxing kick, but I want you just to think about the hip opener right down. You don't have to squat deep. Step out. You can keep just this or you can add that kick, step, reach. Doesn't have to be high. We want mobility right down. Whatever you need. Ha. Four more. Four. Once a kickboxer boxer always right. Two. We can't help ourselves. One. Right here. Tap in front. We get that same thing. Other side. Then we'll work our way down. Team, breathe, breathe. Take those arms. 4, 3, 2, and 1. Right here. So we're gonna step out, step in, hip lift, step out. Little half squat if you want it. Or all the way down. Hip lift, step out and hip. You can keep it just at this or let's take it down. Kick, take it down, kick, take it down. Breathe. Low or high, doesn't matter with that. Kick or lift. Lift and breathe. One more tap them in front right here. Tap. You can keep it here. You can add a little hop step if you want. Take those arms up and down right here. Just about 15 more seconds, then we'll take it down to the mat. A few quick stretches, then we'll call it a day. Right here you got 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1. Nice work, team. So go ahead, very carefully make your way down to the mat onto your back if that feels okay with you. You can come down, however, is comfortable for you. Just a couple minutes here. Not very long, because, you know, I want you to get you in and out. But first thing, I want you to take those arms over your head, take those legs long if you can, and just do a nice big stretch right here. And then bring the knees in. Just one. You can have this foot here, whatever. You can just pull it in gently either underneath, or you can open it up even a little bit more. So start with this here. And then if you want to cross it over, we got a lot of that hip stretch with those pigeons and 90 90s, but you certainly could be here if you need a little extra. We all get pretty tight through there or lift up underneath. Oh, thank you for being here today. I hope you felt it all. I hope it felt like recovery, if it felt like gentle cardio again, remember these recovery days, even if we put cardio in the title, the idea is not to get hit cardio or get super high intensity. Lots of jumping, anything like that. Our body needs recovery from all of it, from that type of cardio, from our high load, our weighted workouts, our strength workout workouts are muscle endurance workouts. But I like to keep it interesting. So if you're not a yoga person, if you're not a true mobility, you know, we all should be true mobility people. But you know what I mean. If you want to get a little variety, you know, I like to have tons of these active recovery workouts for you. Drop your knees to one side and open up the chest, look to the other side so you have options that feel like maybe they move a little bit more or they're a little more what you're used to, but you're going to end feeling good and like you got the recovery that your body needs. Take it to the other side right here. Hug both knees in if you can. Just gentle rolls side to side. And you can hang out here. If you need more time on the mat, that is totally fine. Otherwise you can come up to a seated position. Leave me a comment. Leave me a like. Of course. Don't forget to subscribe to the YouTube channel. Come seated, let your head drop to one side, Stretch those wrists. Subscribe to the YouTube channel and don't forget to check us out on the BodyFit by Amy app. Join us in the Body Fit athletic club. We would love, love to have you and make sure you're getting more of this mobility, flexibility, recovery during your week. Big stretch side to side. Thank you so much for being here for joining me today. Big reach, hand on your heart, hand on your belly, just like where we started. I want you to connect with the breath. Thank your body for showing up for you today. I know that sounds strange, but say it out loud. Thank you, body. We don't have to always love our bodies. We do want to always appreciate them and respect them and everything that they do for us. You showed up today. Your body showed up for you today and I'm so happy that you showed up with me today. Let's get one big deep breath in and out. That was your body weight, weight recovery, cardio, mobility workout. Great job, everybody.