Barlates: Fusion Flow/Easy Cardio

My doctor finally gave me clearance to exercise again–though I have restrictions. No impact, I cannot lift dumbbells heavier than 2-3 pound dumbbells, no planks or push ups. Though that limits things, there are still quite a few workouts I can do–including some of Linda’s new Barlates workouts. Yesterday I did one of Jessica Smith‘s fusion workouts using 2 pound dumbbells. This morning I decided to do a workout in Linda’s new Fusion Flow series. Easy Cardio was easy (as in, no complicated choreography) but it still had a nice intensity. I never went into my peak heart rate zone (according to my FitBit), but it did get my heart rate elevated nicely. I enjoyed it. Linda did do some low hopping in a few of the moves (nothing high impact) but I left the impact out of those moves. Linda is doing the workout barefoot. If you want to make the workout more intense, she suggests holding light dumbbells.

Linda has added some interesting decorations to her studio–a bookcase with some cacti, knickknacks and other plants, a tree and a parrot picture. You can do this workout for free on YouTube, purchase the whole Fusion Flow Collection (4 workouts) on DVD, or order it via download from Linda’s website.

Easy Cardio is 24 minutes; 2:30 minute warm up and 1:30 stretch. There are wide arm movements with every move, even if I do not mention it in the breakdown.

1. Wide plie squat and when you raise up, lift one leg out to side, alternate legs
2. Alternating knee raises to the front; changes to crossing knees across body when raising knee while doing figure 8 arms
3. Side lunges to one side with a knee lift at top and figure 8 arms
4. Alternating insole taps (tap insole w/ opposite hand in front of you)
5. Alternating heel taps behind you (tap heel with same side hand behind you)
6. Combine 4 & 5 doing 4 reps of each
7. Alternating side leg raises
8. Curtsy step behind you into a side leg raise
9. Stationary side to side lunges; changes to lunging side to side but this time you are stepping out into the lunge; add holding the lunge to each side while swinging arms and upper body up and down 3x
10. Alternating crescent knees; changes to alternating crescent legs w/ a wide squat between each crescent leg
11. Wide plie squat into a single straight leg lift, sweeping leg across opposite leg (when Linda repeats this on the other leg the plie squat turns into a side lunge about halfway through–I continued with the plie squat)
12. Stationary alternating side to side lunges touching the floor near foot with opposite hand each time you lunge and reaching other hand overhead
13. Stationary side lunges on one leg, alternate touching opposite hand to floor near foot and reaching both arms out straight while lunging
14. Hold at bottom of wide plie squat and alternate pushing arms across body; add raising leg out to side when pushing arm across body (alternate legs)
15. With feet a little wider than hip width apart, alternate tapping toes out to side quickly, while still pushing arms across body (fast low impact jack legs–Linda adds a little impact to this, I didn’t)
16. Combine 14 & 15, doing 4 reps of each
17. March in place w/ arm circles; changed to heel digs with arm circles; continue heel digs but now arms swing side to side; changes to 4 low front kicks alternated with 4 heel digs
18. Wide plie pulse squats
19. Stationary alternating side lunges w/ various arm movements

For more info on Barlates and other (free) streaming workouts I’ve sampled and reviewed, check out my Streaming page.