Mobility Basics Workout - Active Recovery & Gentle Cardio

Hey, everybody. I'm Amy from Bodyfit by Amy, and this is your mobility basics workout. In this workout, we're going to cover all of the basics of mobility, and I will give you options to take it up or down as needed. Are you ready? Let's do it. Let's start just by standing, feet about shoulder width apart, slightly wider maybe, and just really check in with your posture. So one of the things we'd like to do on these active recovery days is just take a minute from the busyness, really think about our alignment, our breathing, our posture. So we're going to stack our ears over our shoulders, shoulders over the rib cage, rib cage over the pelvis and pelvis or hip bones over those knees and those ankles. And I just want you to be aware, making sure that as you do that, that you're not pulling out or back or pushing the ribs out. We call that rib flare. So we want to close the rib cage while we keep the nice, good open shoulders and chest. And we really want to pay attention to the r ribcage over the hip bones or over the pelvis. That is where we often see posterior or anterior pelvic tilt, or we see the rib flare or we see an arch in the back. So just really thinking about wrapping the core. You're not sucking in, but you've got a strong, stable foundation. Hands on your sides. Let's take some big diaphragmatic breaths. Big inhale, expanding all the way through the belly, sides, and back. Exhale in and connect. Now, I often call these TA breaths, ta breathing inhale. Because we're using our deep core, our transverse abs. Exhale. But either way, we're getting that strong, stable foundation. We're connecting through our core, but we're also releasing the tension. So again, we're not sucking in. We're not breathing up and down. We're breathing inhale out, relax, exhale in, contract. Now that you've got a feel for that, let's just take it to a little march. So we're not going to do anything to really get your heart rate up today or to get you sweating, but we do will. We will. Will get a little bit of movement in the beginning to get the muscles warm. And the reason for that is because we know that we get more mobility and flexibility when our muscles are warm. That doesn't mean that it's terrible to, you know, do some stretches when your muscles haven't been moving. I know a lot of us like to get some stretching right first thing in the morning, but it Is good, if you can, to just get a little blood flow right from here. And let's take our arms one at a time, shoulder to the back, trying to keep the hips, the shoulders square. And then reverse that, bring it to the front, big circle, whatever mobility is good for you. And then we'll switch our sides right here. So opening to the back. Now, the goal with this workout, the reason I called it basics, I have a lot of mobility workouts, reverse your directions, is that we're going to start slow and low, as in lower intensity. Let's cross those arms right through here. You can go back to that march if that feels good for you. And then we'll ease our way into a deeper stretch or a little bit more mobility. So you always have options. I'm also hopeful. Let's take this as we step out that with this, we will also give you options. So maybe when you are doing another mobility workout or a yoga or a Pilates or bar or something like that, and you think, oh, I, you know, down dog isn't really right for me right now. But I remember from that mobility basics that I could be here that you have some options for where you are today. If you've been with me a while, you know that I always say, be where you are today. This is your workout. You do you. And this workout is going to give you lots of options to do that. So shift your weight side to side. I'd like to think all of my workouts give you options to be where you are today and work to your level. But I know that sometimes with mobility, people get a little worried that it's going to be a bunch of yoga poses or hard things that they can't necessarily do. So we're going to give you lots of options here today. Speaking of, let's take it to our eyes wise and T's, so shoulder mobility. Watch me. We're straight up with an eye. Take it down, straight out with a Y. Big stretch out with a T. Now, I know that may be tough. It's tough for me, right? Our goal is to bring those shoulders back. So instead of here, we're here without arching our back and without having to move through the hips. So eyes, bring those shoulders back. Y and T. Let's get one more just like this. So we're opening up through the shoulder, and then we're going to add a little hinge with it. So we're going to drop those arms down, straight up with the Y. I take it down, up with the Y. Soft bend in the Knees and T. Right here. Take it down, up. I why and T. Let's get two more like that. So we're just getting a little hinge through the back of the legs, folding forward, but keeping that back straight. And T. And let's go one more. I why and T. There we go. And just right through here. Let's just do a little rotate of those arms, right? A little bit of movement. We can even shift the weight side to side. Opening up the hips can make it a little bigger. Through shoulders, wrist, elbows. Trying to still keep the chest open. I know you may feel your arms a little bit. I know I do. We've got four, three, two, and breathe. Roll the shoulders here, right here. One and then the other. So let's take it now out to that little side lunge. So we're going to start slow and low, and then we'll add on as we go to increase mobility. Step out. We're going to do a little hinge here. Straight leg, bent leg, and push out a bit. Step out. Now, sometimes when we're doing this in a strength workout, I will give you the option to keep it stationary, which you absolutely can do. But if you can, I want to get the movement with it, because part of the mobility. Mobility is movement, right? So we have to move in life. We have to move laterally as well as forward and back, as well as twisting. So all of our planes of motion. So actually want you to have to step in and out, of course, with any of this, if it's helpful for you to hold on to a chair, have your hand on a countertop or the couch or the wall to give you a little balance. That works, too. Now, if you can. Can you get a little lower and reach up and down and here up to you. You don't even have to get all the way to the floor. You can just get down on the knee. Maybe you're here. Reach and up. Maybe you're here. Trying to get low into it. Reach here. Nice. Good stretch. But again, good mobility. Last one like this. Now we're gonna get into that low down to here. If you want, you can be here. Or if you can keep that foot down. I know that's hard. See, it's hard for me. We're just gonna go side to side. Can you be here? You can use your hands for balance. Take it here. This ankle doesn't have as much mobility for me, so I tend to be up on it. But you can have that flat foot towards the center here. Can you get lower and take it through right here. If that's not right for you, you keep either version that we just did. Just the step out or the step out with the right. One more each side. That's hard for me. And then wherever you are, walk your feet in and slowly let's roll it up. Let's do some little taps, little reaches out, like we often do in that warm up. That actually made my heart rate get up a little. Maybe it is for you too, which is okay. Can we reach over that right here? So stretching through that side body right here. And let's take it right here. So we're just going to do a little reach over and bring it back. Stay on that same side. Reach over and back. Can you bring that hand in front? You probably know where we're going with this. We're going to take it into that windmill pose right here. Can you go down a little lower? So this toe is turned out. We're gonna go straight arm up, straight arm down. Little rotation with up the torso. Now if that's not right for you, you just take it with a reach over. But if you can, down the front leg, little twist with the shoulders, and take it back, reach. And you don't have to go super low. Maybe it's here. Maybe you can get all the way down. But again, reach over windmill or all the way down. Think of that triangle pose in yoga. Last one. Can we hold it wherever you are. Four, three, two. Back to center. Turn that other foot out. Start with just that little reach over. Back to center. And the way. I don't think I said this before, but the way we're going to do this is starting up top. Then we'll make our way down to the mat. Can you take it to more of the windmill? So this hand goes down the front of the leg, this hand goes up. Maybe you can just get to here. Maybe you can get lower up to you. Let's take those toes out and right through here. A little flat back down. Lee, stretch through the back while we're also opening up the hips, right? And then you're going to keep that or you're going to walk out to your knees, walk your hands back, and you're here. It's a great option if you're in my and you can even walk out. Get a little more of a stretch, then walk it back. Now you can keep either of those or walk it all the way out on your hands. You know what to do. Walk it out here. Keeping the knees off the ground, and then walk it back. Is Good for you. Maybe you're just hinging and bringing it up. Maybe you're walking out to the knees. Maybe you're walking out to that high plank up to you. Either way, let's get one more all the way through, and then slowly walk it back. If you need a quick sip of water, now's a good time to grab it. I know often in these active recovery workouts, because we don't have intervals or sets or super high heart rates, we forget to get water. So let's grab some right now. One more thing. Standing, then we take it down to the mat. So we're right here, feet hip distance apart. We're just going to start with a little step back right here. And this time let's press the heel down. So watch me here. So you get heel stretch, calf stretch. Let's take those arms up. You're still staying wide with it, but we're getting that calf stretch right. Two more. Now, you can keep it here, or we're going to drop it in that lunge. Low lunge right here. You don't have to go down as low as me. You can stop it a little bit short, and you can keep those arms by your side or for balance or out in front. But I like to go over the head so we get that big reach. Tapping back if you need to, or lunging back to center. Here we go. We're going to step it back right here. You're going to drop it down in that low lunge if that's good for you. Otherwise, stay up, up. Reach those arms up a little forward and back. Now what I want you to do either way is open up that hip so it looks like this. So we get this stretch, too, as well as hip flexor. A little bit to the side. If you're standing, that's okay. That bothers your knee. Just keep it a little higher and then take it back to here. So come up out of that leg. So you're either here with balance or here. World's greatest stretch. We're gonna reach it through. You can drop the knee if you want, or keep it up. Or if it feels better for you, you can keep that knee down the entire time, creating that space. So we're getting a Little Spinal Twist. 4 and up. 3, 2 and 1. Step it back up. Now, if that's not right for you, you keep all of that here, and you can do a little stretch here. And you can still get that reach without going all the way down. But if you can, we're here. Drop to that knee. And you can just do a little opening up. So starting forward and back, if you need to roll your mat up, or again if you just need to stay a little higher with balance to get this here. And if you want to open up that hip to get a little more through here. Opening it up good. And let's take that hand here, leg here. If that's not right for you, you keep it upright. If you can join me here, we're going to reach through and up right here, through. Two more. You need to keep that knee down. You can return to center. All right, Breathe for a second. I know this one gets us sweating a little bit. That's okay. Now, you have a few options here. You can just step it back, reach it over right through here. Or you can alternate world's greatest stretch from the lunge position so you return to standing. Last option will be taking it to the plank, but let's start here. So step it back. If you are taking it down, reach and up, step it back, down, reach. If you're staying high, you're just here, stretch over. And if you want, you can take it to that high plank position. So we're here. Step, reach, and you don't have to be the same speed as me. Be where you are today. Let's get two more. I know one more. And everybody bring it down. Wherever you are, let's bring it down to that child's pose. So meet me on the mat. If you're not here already, set those hips to the back and just little side to side. And we're going to hang out here for a minute. So if you want to rest your head down, you can. If you want to bring those hands to the back or keep them in front so you can get that little shoulder. I like to rotate shoulders in or towards the back. And from here, come up to all fours. We're going to do that child's pose, but we're going to reach under. You can really sit deep into that. And then bring it back up and reach under and bring it back up. Take it under, and as you come up, think about using your core to stabilize one more each side. My favorite mobility moves. Last one, and bring it back to center. If you can come to all fours. If you need to be on your wrist or hold a pair of weights, that works, too. And we're just going to round through. Cat, cow. Now a few options. If this is not accessible for you or not good for you. Again, you can have wrists like this. For me, you can prop Your wrist up on a towel or a blanket, or hold dumbbells, or you can bring your hands here, either seated or standing or on your knees here and just roll through your back. The important thing we want to get is all the way through. And I usually remind you, and I will today to really think about that lower lumbar spine. Many of us have more of the mobile mobility through our cervical spine, our T spine up at the top in the middle. But that lumbar spine gets pretty tight. So really think, can I really get that roll through the lower part of my spine? Speaking of that, you can just do a little side to side, even some little rolls in the hips if that feels good for you. And let's come off those hands. I want you to come to a seated position in that 90 90. So this is what we call 90 90. So if you think 90 degrees here, 90 degrees here. Now if this is not comfortable for you, you can prop yourself up on a pillow or a couple pillows or a rolled up blanket or a yoga block, or you can sit on the edge of the chair. So if this is not comfortable for you, I want you to find something to sit on if you can. We're going to be right here and we're going to start low again. Hands behind. We're going to rotate those knees. So it's a 90, 90 switch. Starting with a little bit of balance, hands behind and just trying to get those knees down if you can. If you can't, that's okay. And turning your torso if that's accessible to you. So we're here. If you're not twisting very much for whatever reason, you can stay here. But if you can look a little bit over that shoulder, take it here. Now you can try it it without the hands. Great. That's even a little bit hard for me. I end up sliding a little bit forward on my mat. But use your core to engage and I'm going to give you one more option. Watch this. We're here. Little lift, open up the hips slowly down. If that's not right for you, you just keep that 90, 90 switch. You're bringing the hips forward so we get more of that opener right here. Here. Wherever you are gonna get one more each side. Feel that there. Right? And last one. Now you can just hang out in this 90, 90 and just turn your body, get a little torso stretch or if it feels good for you, come into that pigeon stretch. Now I know that pigeon is challenging for a lot of us, so don't force it. If it's not right for you, but if you can get into it and shift your weight, I like to move a little bit into that hip, breathing into that nice good stretch. Let's rotate to that other side. So 99, you can just hold it here or here or turn into it here. Here you can take it down or up, whatever feels good for you. And then we're going to come back to center. Let's take those feet out in front and just little stretch. So I want you to try to open up the chest, have a nice flex, flat back and a few deep breaths. Sinking a little deeper, but trying not to round into it. We want to be here now your feet can be a little further out in front or bring it back here. Whatever feels good for you and where you are foreign. We're going to bring it back up onto all fours now that our wrists had a little break and we're going to take it. We're going to start child's pose. Watch me. Into cat, cow or all fours into quadruped. We're going to start with that. Then we're going to take it up to the plank from child's pose. Then we're going to take it up to the down dog and we're to going just going to progress from there. So listen to my cues and find what's best for you. So we're going to sit back into that child's pose and you can just hang out here the whole time if you want. And then using your breath, using your core, you're coming up to all fours. Optional cat, cow. Sit back into the child's pose. Weight in the hips. Release the wrist up onto all fours. One more. Just like that. Feel your core kick in and feel that stretch in your back and your shoulders and your hips and then to here. Now we're going to take that to that plank. So sit back in the child's pose and you're either up on all fours like we just did, or up into the plank. Back into the child's pose. You stay where you need to stay. Maybe it's just child's pose to all fours. Maybe you're in that plank. One more like this. And here. Now, child's pose to down dog. It's going to look like this to here. So join me here. You can keep plank or all fours if you want. Child's pose. Press up, down dog. You can get a little pedal of your feet. Slow, slowly lower to hover. Child's pose. You can press up, down dog. Lift those hips to the ceiling. One more time here. And down, dog. Now hang out in this down dog, if you can. Or in the all fours, we're gonna slowly take it up and over. Thinking of your yoga moves, slowly down. And if it is right for you, we're going to come up in that modified cobra or a little baby cobra. So we're here. If that's not right for you, I want you to stay on all fours if you can. We're going to be here. We're going to look side to side right here. And if you want, we're going to bring those hands by our sides. We're going to press up. Up dog or cobra looking over our shoulders. And then slowly down. I'm going to stretch those arms out and bring them back so you're up either here or on your elbows. If you're on your all fours, we're just here. And then slowly down in front. Kind of like that puppy pose, not your child's pose. One more time. Up on the elbows or up on the hands. Look side to side. Slowly down. You can just rest your head if it's not right for you. If you can't come all the way down, come down on your side. Just a little movement here. Flex the feet and very carefully, let's roll over onto your side or onto your back. We are almost done. I'm coming this way because I gotta move my microphone all the way down on your back. Almost there. Okay, we're gonna take it here. Hug the knees in one at a time. And you can either grab underneath the leg, flex the foot, or on top of the lower leg up to you. Just getting a little gentle stretch. And then let's take our feet here. We're going to bring our arms in the goalpost position. If that is not accessible will for you take them out to a T. And if you can, we're going to flip those arms one and then the other. That's not right for you. Just hold the open te. If you want to add a little bridge with it. Lift the hips, take it down. I know we get a little glutes and hamstrings added. Two more. Last one. Lower it down. Back up to that goal post. Arm slide so big. Reach up and then pull those arms down. If this is not comfortable on your back, you can also do this against the wall. And slowly down. And again, if you're in that T, you can do a little down and just up to however is comfortable for you. One more. Yes. And let's open those arms up. Take your knees to One side if it's comfortable to drop them. Otherwise, just keep them right in the middle. Look over your shoulder opposite away from the knees and then very carefully open up one and then the other and look over your shoulder. And we're just going to finish with that open book mobility. So you can do just the hip opener of the knees or if you can take that arm over and your arm follows the knee here to here, opening across your body. You can also just do the upper body. Maybe that's feeling like too much for you with both. Pick one or just hang out on the mat. You do you and then let's return to center. Hug the knees in either one at a time or together and very carefully roll to your side and come up very carefully. Come up to a seated position. Find what's comfortable for you. Again, maybe you want to sit on pillows or a yog yoga blot or sit on the edge of a chair. But let's just come here. Let your head drop to one side. You can close your eyes if you want. And down to the front, chin to your chest. We're not going to go to the back. We want to keep that spine. Just gentle movement over to that other side and then back to center. Let's take one hand on your heart, one hand on your belly, and I just want you to take stock of how you're feeling. Do you feel a little lighter, a little more mobile, a little more flexible, a little less tight, a little less stretch? Stressed, not stretched. I hope you feel very stretched and not very stressed, but just feel that in your body. Go back to those big diaphragmatic TA breaths and bookmark this workout when you want to come back to something that builds so you ease your way into that mobility so you don't feel like you have to jump right into something crazy. Don't forget to check out all the links in the description. Make sure that you leave me a comment. Leave me a like. Let me know how you're feeling after this. Subscribe to the YouTube channel and join us in the Body Fit by Amy app. Thank you so much for being here today. Let's get one big deep breath in and out. You did it. That was your Mobility Basics workout. Great job, everybody.