Full Body Stretch for Sore Muscles - Gentle Cardio + Deep Stretch Workout (ENERGIZE DAY 9)

Hey, everybody. I'm Amy from Bodyfit by Amy. And this is your gentle cardio and deep stretch workout. So this is an active recovery workout where we are going to start with just about 10 or so minutes of gentle cardio. Then we will take it down to the mat and get a nice deep stretch. So a little bit of mobility, lots of flexibility, and of course, some relaxation. You don't need any equipment, just some space to move. Are you ready? Let's do it. Let's start just by getting our bodies centered. So I want you to stand soft knees, roll those shoulders back and down. Try to release that tension in your shoulders. Take a few deep breaths, and let's stack our ears right over our shoulders, shoulders over our ribs, ribs over our hips, hips over our knees, and knees over our ankles. So I really want you to think about that for a minute, especially pay attention to what your rib cage and what your pelvis are doing, right? So often where we get rib flare or we're hunched over, really trying to align those ribs and those hips. Then let's put one hand on the heart, one hand on the belly. Just let's do a couple deep core breasts, diaphragmatic breathing, inhale to expand, exhale, pull everything in and up. So I often call this TA breathing, transverse abdominis breathing, because we're engaging that deep core. But what I want you to think about is inhale all, all the way around, let that pelvic floor drop, let everything release, and then exhale to bring in and up. So, so important not only for posture and alignment, but also to really activate our core. So just few of those at your own pace. Really make sure that you're not lifting up to inhale or pushing out or tilting your hips, just getting in touch with your body and just trying to let everything go from your brain. And let's start with just a few little rolls through the shoulders. So again, we're just going to get about 10 minutes of gentle cardio, of some mobility work just to get the muscles warm, but also because I know for a lot of us, it really helps us. One, it really helps us, our muscles get ready to get into a deep stress stretch. Not stress. We're releasing the stretch, right. But it also helps us get centered, get a little bit of. I know for a lot of us, the idea of just doing a deep stretch sometimes sounds boring, or you want to get that adrenaline going, you want to get those endorphins going. So it's helpful to get that mobility work first. Get the heart Rate up, but still keep it active recovery. So you can make this cardio whatever you need it to be. Let's just take those arms with a little cap. So circle in the front. If you want to take it super slow, super low impact. If that's where you are today, that's great. If you want to pick up your pace, pace and get a little more of that where you are today, that is okay too. You know what I always say, I want you to be where you are today and work to your level. We're all in a different journey. We're all in a different place, not only in our fitness journey, but in where we are when we showed up today. And that is indeed the most important thing that you showed up. So now let's reach across stretch log. So you'll notice a lot of these are things that we do in our warm ups to really elongate through the muscles. Still thinking about that core engagement again, you can take it slow and low. You can step out to get a little bit more of that mobility. Totally up to you. If you find that heart rate getting up more than you want right now, just slow it down or take a breath. Let's take it down and just reach down so we get a little more hip opener right through here. Right there. Just releasing in the shoulders, rolling it forward. And let's keep that same motion with our legs and let's tap it out. So again, reaching over the head this time. If you just want a little tap with the feet like this. Or if you want to get of that step out again, you do you. It's your workout. What do you need in this moment? And stretch. That should feel good, right? 3, 2 and 1. Let's get some little hip rolls right through here. Hip right. And then you can add a little arm and shoulder with it. If you need a little balance, feel free to grab onto something. Or again, keep it slow and low. Yes. Add a little side lunge. So I want you to step out and step in. Start with just your lower body. Just shifting your weight. If you want to get deeper into that stretch, you can. If you want to keep it a little higher, just thinking cardio mobility and reach down and reach. Stepping out and again. You can hang out there a little longer if you want more of that stretch. But just know that stretch is coming. We're gonna get it done. Deep stretch. I'm excited about it. I don't know about you. And can we hold it here? I just want you to reach side to side so you can keep it here. Or get a little lower and reach it up. Reach it up. Shift your weight. Open it up. This is where we start to feel maybe some soreness from our workouts earlier in the week, or that tightness that a lot of us have. Right, good. Right through here. Let's bring it up. Little hamstring curls. So notice when I'm here, I'm flexing the foot. And again, you don't have to go super high core engage, but flex the foot. Not only are we getting some hamstrings, but we're stretching out that hip flexor, right? I like to either cross my hands in front, which we'll start with that. Notice, if you really tilt the hips forward and pull that core in, you're going to feel those hip flexors even more right here. And then if you want, open up the chest and shoulders right through here. You can pull down. You can take it big up to you. Feel that heart rate, right? Even though it's gentle cardio. 4, 3, 2, 1. Now let's just. Just do little taps right here. Breathe, tapping forward. And then if you want, bring those heels up. So see that little hip opener of that inner thigh? You can do little taps or reach up, reach up, right? This is often. These are often moves that we do after we've done something really challenging for our lower body or our shoulders or back or chest to really shake it out, right? Get everything feeling good. You don't have to actually tap. You can just go here. And again. You can go slower than me. You can go faster than me. You do you. Right here. We've got 4, 3, 4, 2. Good. Let's take it out nice and wide. We're just going to shift the weight as we rotate those shoulders forward. Right, Right through here. Rolling it a little bit more. Right. And then hold it here. Let's go flat back down and round it up. So I want you to decide working through the back, through the spine, opening it up. Right through here. Pull through and up. You can decide how low you want to get right here. If you want to reach to the ground and then round it up, or if you just want to go about halfway, all the way through. One more and breathe. Let's tap behind. Tap. Almost done with our gentle cardio. It's a little tap working in what we call our transverse plane, that rotational movement. We're going to get some stretching through that as well. But if you want, open those arms to the back. If you want to get a little lower, almost like a little curtsy or a Little skater, totally up to you. Or just make it a little tap. Breathe right there. Yes. Opening it up. Four and three, two and one. Yes. Here, cross, Bring the knees across, bringing the elbows in. You can start with just the legs. Think about that core. Right, we're right through here. Cross, I want you, if you can, to get that rotation in your torso that doesn't feel good for you. You just bring the elbow across, but we're opening up the chest and shoulders while we're opening up the hips. Good news. We are really almost done with this gentle cardio. I know it's gentle, but it's continuous, right? So we keep it moving. Let's get four, three, two and one. All right, team, so little tap back. Start with just this hip opener right through here. Wrap that core if you want, reach it up. So this is going to lead us into our stretching, help us get down to the mat. So you decide, do you just want to step out to open that hip? Do you want to reach those arms up? What do you need in this moment? Do you want to make it more of a lunge? You probably know that that stretch is coming, but do what's best for you. Did I mention that all of our deep stretching is on the mat? So hopefully you feel like you got that energy up, you got those endorphins going and you're ready to stretch. A little cardio, a little mobility and then a nice deep stretch. Coming at you in 4, 3, 2, 1. All right, team, you know, let's grab a sip of water if you want some water after that, cuz otherwise we're going to be down on the mat. I'm going to angle a bit, but let's just take it here if you can. If it doesn't bother your knee, I want you to drop it down to here. If it does bother your knee, maybe you can find a cushion, roll up your mat, a towel or grab it on the wall and keep this standing. But let's lean forward into that hip flexor stretch and at the same time, let's open up that hip here. So I just want you to try to hold it here and you can even do a little rock side to side, see how that feels for you. And you can, even if you can take your hand, your elbow down, hip opener. I know. And if you want, you can reach up and hold in that world's greatest stretch. We're not rotating, we're just going to get the stretch. So reaching through here again, taking it forward, reaching it up. Oh, right. So what you're going to notice is we're going to hold all these stretches longer than what we normally do, let's say in a cool down or even like an active recovery. Now let's come up on that hamstring. So if you're able, I want you to hold here. If you need to take it standing again, maybe you need a little balance. It's just that hamstring stretch we do here. If you're able to be on your knees, we're leaning into it here. Pull the toe towards you and breathe into that. You can even flex and point that toe. If you want a little more stretch, sit a little deeper, pull the toe towards you a little more. And then let's carefully take it down to that 90, 90. So we're here. If this doesn't feel good for you, you can sit on the edge of a chair with this. But let's start with that little mobility. Nine thousand and nineties. So side to side, it does not have to be fluid. Remember, you can use your hands, you can take it one knee at a time. We're just opening up in those hips through here. This is more the mobility move. But when we get that stretch, we'll use our hands. And whatever side you were just on that you were facing, let's go to there. I want you to take it here, and then I want you to look over your shoulder. Now, if you can, let's get a little seated twist, creating the hip opening here. But now we're releasing in that back. So remembering. I know sometimes it seems like maybe we're doing a lot of hip openers, shoulder openers, but that's because what is in between your pelvis and your shoulders, it is your back, it is your spine. So everything that we do for the hips is releasing that back as well. So if you can look over even more for your shoulder to get that back release, also that neck and shoulder release. And then since we're in this position, you can either stay here or let's take it to a pigeon. Now, your pigeon might be here, your pigeon might be getting into more of that pigeon here. Maybe you really got the flexibility. You can take it here, you find what feels good for you. And when you're here, I want you to just kind of shift side to side. If that helps you open it up a little bit more. Again, if you need to be up, if you need to just be in the 9090, that works too. But if you can really get into it. So feel how once we get past those first 10:15, 20 seconds. That's when you really sink deep into the stretch. So we get a little cool down at the end of our workouts, just to kind of calm our bodies, calm our brains. And I keep them pretty short because I want to get you in and out. But I always remind you to get more stretching on your own. Right? Because we really need stretching throughout our days, throughout our weeks, not just those few minutes at the end of the workout. And if we really want to feel it, we want to get a little deeper. Whoo. Go ahead and make your way up, and we're going to roll to that other side. But very carefully, I want you to come up, and let's work our way down from here. Instead of coming all the way back up, we're back down to here, so we're going to lean forward into that hip flexor stretch. So again, you may want to roll up your mat or put a towel or something underneath, but whatever you can do, take that. Separate the knees and the foot a bit. Opening up again. I'll angle a bit so you can see it's not just here. If you can open it out here, maybe lean into it one or the other one, and then the other. You want to come down? You can. And then if you want, you can reach up into that world's greatest stretch, releasing in the back, releasing in the spine, and then leaning it back into that hamstring stretch. So again, you can be here. If you need to take it standing, take it standing, pull the toe towards you. Tight hamstrings and tight hip flexors can really lead to tight lower backs or even pain. So if you're someone who feels like, oh, I just got to stretch my back, let's not forget about the hamstrings and the hip flexors, and then let's bring it down into that 90. 90. You can either hang out here if you want to do a few more switches just to kind of release through that back. Even if you just want to lean back here sometimes. I really like this one. It's a little less focused on the mobility and more just kind of feels good. You're still getting the mobility, but when we talk about core strength and mobility, we want to be up to here, but just let them drop side to side and then go back to that side you were just facing. So starting here again, you can stay here, but if you want to get a little more back looking over your shoulder, even bring that hand on that opposite knee and pay attention to what your core is doing, you don't have to be actively contracting or staying super tight. But you do want to have that awareness. So you are engaged. You are lifted up through that pelvic floor. Not squeezing, not gripping, just to give you that awareness, which is also going to help with movement through your back, through your spine. And then let's take into that pigeon so you can just hang out here if that's right for you, or take it into that pigeon here, either down or up, whatever feels good for you. Let's take it here. You can even shift a little bit side to side if that helps you feel that hip a little bit more. Bring that foot up and then very carefully make your way up. Let's bring those knees out in front so hips are open. Now let's sit up nice and tall. And to get a little back stretch, I want you to lean forward, but trying to stay straight in the back so we're not rounding into it yet. Nice and straight. Lifting up through here and taking it here. So keeping the chest open. Feel that in that left low back. And do a few deep breaths, but I don't want you to collapse into it. We'll get that in a minute. But nice flat back if you can be out a little more if that's better for you. And feel that stretch through that low back. Can you take a few deep breaths and sink a little deeper? I know you're feeling those hips because we just opened them, but I want you to think about the back. And then if you want, you can release the head and the neck into that and really relax down through the spine. Little shift side to side and let's slowly bring it up again, working through the spine. You can sit cross legged, our feet out, set our arms side. If you want, you can take it down to here, back, lats, shoulders. That doesn't feel great for you. Find a version that does. I often say find what feels good. Breathe into it. Yes. When we get trained as trainers, we're told that we want to stretch to the point of mild discomfort, that you want to put yourself a bit little, a little bit deeper into that stretch, but not to the point of pain. And especially on days like today, if you came for a deep stretch and want it to feel like a deep stretch. All right, team, so turn in to your mat. Let's releasing that back with that child's pose. So reach those hands forward, let your head and neck drop. We're going to start here with those fingertips out in front so you can really lengthen down through the spine. Let your. If you can Let your forehead drop to the ground. Few deep breaths into that. On the exhale, sink a little deeper. Just maybe push the shoulders down, side to side, connecting the shoulders to the back. And then come up on all fours. Mobility and flexibility through our back. I want you to get that cat cow on your own pace. Let's inhale on one, exhale on the other. I prefer the exhale as we roll up so you can connect with that core inhale. But whatever feels natural to you. I want you to really focus on that lower lumbar spine right through here. Now, I can already tell how tight I feel through there, so even though I have more movement, it comes more natural in the top of my back, upper back, shoulders, T, spine. I'm really trying to focus the movement in my lower spine. From this position. Let's take our arms out wide. You know, I love this little mobility move where you open up the shoulders, But I want you to sit here, roll the shoulders. Let's do it. Just do a couple. You need to turn to see what I'm doing. I'm not just going side to side like this. I'm also internally rotating that shoulder to get that stretch. And again, because we're in that child's pose position, you should also feel that down through your back. So if you're just alternating and then find one and hold it turning in towards the mat. Again, you can rest your head down, find what feels good for you. And again, feel that release in your back too. And then switch your sides internally, rotate that shoulder, rest your head down. If you want, bring it up. And then let's just very carefully, hopefully, come down onto your back. So take your time getting into it. And then we're gonna just do that open book, just a few at your own pace. So one and then the other. And a lot of we're adding in a little bit of active stretching so we can get into that deep stretch. But you're just taking knee and hand, following one side to the other. So it's kind of getting everything here. So we're opening chest and shoulders. We're opening up through the hips and hip flexors. And then we're releasing in the back. So one more each side. And then I want you to first hold with those knees out, maybe move your feet out. Do you feel. Feel that release in your back? If you're holding tension, try and then roll the knee to that side and settle into that back stretch. So you're letting your knees drop. If you want, open up those arms and look away from Your knees and just hang out there, releasing in the back. If something doesn't feel good, find what does. And then very gently roll your the other side here. I'm modifying a bit because I have my mic pack on this side, but open up the chest. You want to just let the knees drop, looking over the shoulder, breathing into that, and then bring it back center. I just want you to bring both knees into your chest if you can. So again, this is a stretch that I like to. I tell people if you're someone who wakes up with tightness in your back or goes to bed with it, if you're able to get both knees in. And if not, we're gonna. We're gonna. Right after this, do the version of single, but pulling in and then breathing into that. As you exhale, try to pull those knees a little closer. And again, feel that release in your back. Inhale, exhale. Knees come a little closer. So you can be here if it's better to be in that happy baby pose, whatever feels good for you. And you can either just hang up there, you can drop one knee down and just pull one in. Feel that release. Can extend that leg up and get a little hamstring stretch. Feel how that is. Again, directly connected hamstrings, glutes, hips to that low back. If you want to just keep the knee in, keep the knee in, other leg up, bring that knee in, releasing in the back. And then if you want, take it up to that hamstring stretch to feel more of that release. Right. That feels like we could just go to sleep. So take a minute to just find a comfortable position. If you want one last stretch, really reach those arms up, point from the toes, reach from the baby, fingertips. Big, nice stretch, making your body as long as it can be, and then circling around to hug those knees in one last time. So feel free to hang out. If there are some other stretches, stretches you wanted to get in that we didn't cover, you can hang out here as long as you need. Can even just find a comfortable position. Either feet up, all the way down. Just try to release your body into the mat, into the ground. Feel what that feels like. So many of us hold so much tension throughout the day. Day. I even notice it in my sleep. I wake up with pain because I'm thinking about too many things consciously or subconsciously. So feel how it feels just to let it all go, Let it all go into the mat. Whatever it is that's stressing you out or giving you anxiety or causing you tension, just let it release into the mat again. You can hang out here as long as you need to. Stay here. Let's get one big, deep breath in. And out. You did it. That was your gentle cardio and deep stretch workout. Great job, everybody.