Total Body Tabata + Stretch is Day 7 in Heather Robertson‘s week long Glow Up 2.0 Challenge. Since this is Day 7 and the first of the Glow Up 2.0 workouts I’ve done, I am obviously not doing these workouts in order. This is an intense workout! Heather gives you a 16 minute burst of intense cardio followed by a long and relaxing stretch. This is a perfect workout to add onto the end of another workout, which is how I used it today. According to my FitBit I burned 229 calories and spent a total of 4 minutes in my peak heart rate zone. I loved the long stretch at the end, especially since, with the tabata combined with the 30 minute workout I did before this one, I was ready for a relaxing cool down!
This is Heather’s second Glow Up Challenge. (Here are my reviews of all of the workouts in her first Glow Up Challenge) Here is a little trailer about the second challenge. And here is her description of it: The Glow Up 2.0 is a free 7 Day workout series to help get you moving and will have you feeling your very best. The program also includes a free glow up guide that discusses nutrition and mindfulness and how incorporating these aspects into your daily routine can help you transform from the inside out! If you click on this link, then you can access the free guide.
The first part of the workout is set up tabata format. A tabata is a type of HIIT (high intensity interval training): 20 seconds of work followed by 10 seconds of recovery; repeat this 20/10 interval 8 times for a 4 minute tabata circuit. There are 4 tabata circuits in this workout, which equals thirty-two 20/10 intervals. There is a timer in the lower right hand corner of the screen counting down your recoveries and intervals. During the recoveries Heather previews the next exercise. This is not a low impact workout. The extended stretch at the end is done follow along–no intervals or talking. There are little “dings” signaling you when to change position.
Total Body Tabata + Stretch is 29:31 minutes; 2:25 minute warm up, 16:30 minutes of tabata and 10 minute stretch. Equipment: fitness mat.
Tabata 1:
- Jack & kick (one jack + one hopping straight leg front kick, alternate legs when kicking)
- Cross climbers (mountain climbers, bringing knee to opposite elbow)
- Repeat #1 & 2 three more times
Tabata 2:
- Side to side hops (lateral squat jumps)
- Walking plank jack (in straight arm plank, jack the legs once then lower to forearms and raise back to straight arm plank)
- Repeat #1 & 2 three more times
30 second rest
Tabata 3:
- Side leap & hop (lateral leap the length of the mat + one hop)
- V-crunch (sit on mat with torso leaned back and legs elevated off mat, extend legs straight while also lowering torso then pull knees into chest while also raising torso and tapping hands to ankles)
- Repeat #1 & 3 three more times
Tabata 4:
- Bear hop ups (start standing, place hands on mat and jump feet back so you are in bear pose (on hands and toes with knees bent and hovering a few inches off the mat), jump feet back into hands, stand and hop)
- Station sprints (high knee run forward and backward the length of your mat)
- Repeat #1 & 2 three more times
Stretch:
- While standing, reach arms out to the sides and overhead and when you lower arms, hinge forward into forward fold, flow between these two positions
- Reach both arms overhead and with one hand circling opposite wrist, do a side bend stretch
- Stand with legs wide and clasp hands behind back, do a forward fold, reaching clasped hands to ceiling behind you
- Neck stretches
- Forward fold with legs hip width apart; bend knees so you are in a deep squat then straighten legs so you are in forward fold, flow between these two positions
- Downward facing dog, pedal feet
- In kneeling lunge, reach both arms overhead and shift forward to deepen hip flexor stretch; rotate torso to side while opening arms into a T; lower one hand to floor while reaching other arm to ceiling
- Still in kneeling lunge, grab back foot and pull heel into glutes to stretch quads
- Repeat #7 & 8 on other side of body
- Seated butterfly stretch
- Sitting cross leg, circle head/neck
- Still sitting cross leg, place one forearm on mat and reach other arm overhead and to the other side in a deep side bend stretch
- Lay on back, pull knees into chest and bring forehead to knees
- Lay on back with one leg extended straight on mat, other leg is stretched straight to ceiling
- Lying spinal twist
- Repeat #14 & 15 on other side of body
- Lay on back, knees bent and feet on mat close to glutes, raise hips into bridge
- Seated spinal twist
- Seated straight leg forward fold
- Child’s pose
For more info on Heather Robertson’s workouts and other (free) streaming workouts I’ve sampled and reviewed, check out my Streaming page.
