In this 10‑minute guided workout, Master T (Theresa Byrne) leads viewers through a dynamic, martial‑arts‑inspired warm‑up designed to raise heart rate, improve flexibility, and shift emotional energy. The session begins with cross‑midline punches that rotate the hips, emphasizing whole‑brain activation. She stresses maintaining a neutral spine and stacked alignment (head‑neck‑shoulders‑hips‑knees‑toes) throughout all movements. The routine progresses through bob‑and‑weave drills, low punches, squats with knee touches, hip‑activating booty squeezes, arm circles, shoulder openers, and a series of boxing combos (jab, cross) that can be accelerated or slowed to suit the participant. Optional kicks or knees are added for a Muay‑Thai element. Throughout, breath in/out is highlighted as an antidote to stress, and participants are encouraged to adjust speed, depth, and range of motion based on personal comfort. The session concludes with hip circles, a gratitude pause, and a reminder that these movements can be repeated throughout the day to keep the brain and body in a positive, energetic state.
Chapters
Hi, Theresa Byrne here, Master T. That's what my students call me. Let's start my timer. If you want to do some movement and you've got the room for it, let's make some space and let's get you some space in your head and work through whatever might be going on there. I'll turn on some music. So we're going to start with your hand— your feet are about shoulder-width apart, and as you punch across your body, you're going to rotate your hips. Good. Anytime we can cross the midline of our body and use opposite side from what we're always used to, it actually increases our brain's ability to function. It helps us be more whole-brained. And that is what you want, really, because that's a happy brain. A whole brain is a happy brain. Good. Now we're going to take it a little bit lower, kind of a bob and a weave. And if that's too much, if it's kind of confusing to think about your hands and your feet, just punch. But make sure you're actively using your legs, even if you're just rotating. Punch, punch, punch, punch. Nice. Breathing in and breathing out. I have been teaching martial arts and fitness. I'm a master trainer for many, many years, and I'm all about alignment. Take your punches up higher. So any punch that I do, any move that I do, I want you to think about you are in a neutral spine. That means your neck is not forward when you're punching, your hips are not back when you're punching. Whatever the case may be, I want your spine to be neutral and you're stacked right on top. Head, neck, shoulders, hips, knees and toes, knees and toes. All right, now we're going to take these punches and you can do them whatever speed you want. I tend to go a little bit faster, but that's entirely up to you. So you're going to rotate all the way over and punch. Before, we were just punching kind of facing forward. Now I want you to rotate your hips as you punch all the way to the side. So imagine that you are about to get blindsided, but no, you stop, you stop whatever's coming at you. Breathing in and breathing out, whatever speed is comfortable for you. Rotate, rotate, rotate, rotate. 4, 3, 2, and 1. Good. Now we're gonna punch low. So I want you to imagine something is coming up towards you. Maybe it's, I don't know, fear. That tends to be— doubt actually tends to be my biggest gremlin. So I want you to think about bam, doubt, bam, disappointment, bam, Bam! Comparison. Bam! Whatever that is, punch down. Boom, boom, boom, without leaning your body. 4, 3, 2, 1. Good. Center stance, hands are up. We're just gonna squat and up. And in martial arts, this is called a bob because you're avoiding something coming at you and you're bobbing away from it. Then we add the weave like you're going under something. If someone was coming at you with a hook punch, You'd be bobbing underneath that hook punch. 4, 3, 2, 1. Nice. Now my absolute favorite. You'll always see me do these. We're going to touch knee, opposite side, knee, knee. And again, you can do it slowly or you can do it quickly. You are the determiner of your heart rate. And if this is easy, You're gonna go opposite arm and elbow all the way. It's really easy. 3, 2, 1. Nice. We're gonna combine squat, knee, squat, knee. And that squat does not have to be a full all the way down squat. You can do a shallow squat, knee, squat, knee. Activate your booty and knee. Boom. Active booty. Boom. Active booty. Boom. 4 more. 3, 2. Last one. Nice. Go ahead and rotate your arms. I will do these arm rotations almost every single workout, starting with your arms in a more contained position. And if you've got shoulder flexibility or if it's getting better, you can make bigger circles. You can go slow or you can go fast. Same thing going backward. Check out your flexibility. Balance and flexibility change daily. So you might notice that you've got more, I don't know, flexibility on some days. You might notice that you have less. Same with balance. There's something we move in and out of. Cross in front. My students all like to clap, but if your shoulders are like that, will not be happening. You don't have to do it. Cross in front, clap. Cross in front. Nice. And keep breathing. Kind of the antidote to anything you're dealing with stress-wise, it's breath. We're gonna do some punching combos today, and I'll probably add a kick or at least a knee. 3, 2, 1. Nice. One of my other favorite shoulder openers and stretches, range of motion, you lean over And you rotate your arm like you're stirring the pot. This is really the only kind of pot that I like to stir. And then switch direction. Do you know you have a favorite direction? You do. Your brain has a particular way it likes to do things. And we mix it up, mess it up by going the opposite. Good. Same thing. And you guys are going to look down when you're doing this. You want that straight spine. Almost like you could rest A, um, what would you call it, a broom handle down your spine, and you would hit with the back of your head, top of your spine, all the way down your back. And switch directions. So you're just rotating that arm. It's one of my— oh my gosh, that feels so good— one of my absolute favorite range of motion exercises here. All right, we're gonna do some boxing. So you don't need gloves, just a good attitude and a can-do spirit. So I'm gonna have you put your left leg in front, and you're gonna start with a jab, which is your front hand. Thumb always on the outside, and you're gonna jab, cross. Both of these punches also require your body to move, so you're going forward and back. I'm rotating my hips that way as my jab comes out because it extends my arm and extends my reach. On my cross punch, I'm rotating my hips forward using the Leverage, and it allows me to get further without getting my face any closer to my opponent. Nice. Good. Get a little wiggle on. Do whatever feels good to you. Now I'm going to speed these up. I do tend to like to go fast. And if you want to stay here, this is totally fine as long as you're working those hips and activating your legs. For the rest of you, we're gonna go turbo fast, whatever that looks like for you. I like fast punches and I cannot lie. 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Nice. Shake it out. Good. Switch to the other side. Same idea. Punch, punch. Rotate your hips. Move your body. Your feet are never just planted. You're using them to help rotate. All of our punches come from our center, our core, and you're just extending that arm. Not just— you're not just extending your arm, but you're extending your arm as a method of rotation, not just strength from the arm itself. 3. We're gonna go turbo. 2, 1, turbo if you want to. Woo, woo, woo! Nice. Good. Still active legs, still active turns, working the core. 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Nice. Shake it out. We're gonna add a little something-something to that. Let me check my timer. I want to try to keep these under 10 minutes, so Let's see where I'm at on my timer. Oh, we're good. So we're going to do 2 punches and a kick. So let's start with your left leg in front. Jab, cross, and we're going to do a back leg front kick. If that is not possible for you, you can do jab, cross, knee. In Muay Thai, a knee is a great move. You might be using it to defend yourself. You might knee into someone's groin. You might knee into someone's head if you're using it for defense, but you can go jab, cross, kick, or jab, cross, knee. Go! 1, 2, whatever. 1, 2, kick, or 1, 2, knee. 1, 2, kick. Never hyperextending your joints, doing whatever it is that you can do. A few more. Whatever height is comfortable for you. 2, 1. Shake it out. Taylor Swift had it. Shake it off, shake it off. We're gonna go on the other side. Jab, cross, knee, or jab, cross, kick. Jab, cross, knee, or kick. 1, 2, 1, 2, 1, 2, 1, 2. Knee or kick? Ha! So kihaps are spirit yells. You're engaging your whole body and you're sending out that energy. You might also be scaring your opponent. Hua! Good. 4 more. 3, 2, 1. You did it! And I always do hip circles because they're really good for us. So circle those hips. Breathing in. Hopefully you got your heart rate up a little high. I did. And switch directions. Maybe this is your warm-up. Maybe you could do this a couple of times today. Maybe this is to get you ready for whatever's next. That to me is kind of the, the reason— side to side— that we do these kinds of warm-ups or workouts, to get us ready, get our brains in the right place, energy, emotion. Motion, it all helps to change our brain. So I'm grateful you're here. Give yourself a second of gratitude, and thank you for joining.
