Day 19: No Repeats Abs + Mobility / HR12WEEK 4.0

No Repeat Abs + Mobility is Day 19 in Heather Robertson‘s 12 Week 4.0 program. This another of Heather’s not so relaxing recovery day workouts. The first half of the workout is challenging core work and the second half is active mobility/dynamic flexibility work. I was perspiring during this workout. The core work made me sweat and the mobility work kept me warm. I finished this workout off with a more relaxing yin yoga practice. Heather gives you the bonus of no repeat abs, meaning every ab exercise in this workout is only done once. The mobility circuit is repeated so you do each of those exercises twice.

This workout is made up of three circuits. Two ab circuits followed by one mobility circuit. The exercises are done interval style. For the ab circuits, the exercises are done for 40 seconds of work followed by 10 seconds of recovery. For the mobility circuit the exercises are done for 50 seconds of work followed by 10 seconds of recovery. There is a timer in the lower right hand corner of the screen counting down your intervals and recoveries. During the recoveries Heather previews the next exercise.

No Repeat Abs + Mobility is 41:03 minutes; 30 second intro, 3 minute warm up and 2 minute stretch. Equipment: fitness mat.

Ab Circuit 1:

1. Cheerleader crunch (lay on back on mat with legs extended straight and arms overhead, crunch upper body while pulling one knee into chest and bringing straight arms down so they frame bent leg, return to start position and repeat on other leg)
2. Cross toe crunch (lay on back with both legs extended straight to ceiling, hands are behind head, crunch upper body while reaching one hand toward opposite foot, other leg lowers until it is a few inches off the ground, return to starting position and repeat on other side of body)
3. Frog crunch (lay on back, hands behind head, legs are raised off floor, keeping feet together, pull knees into chest, opening knees and bringing elbows to knees then push legs out straight at a 45 degree angle)
4. Side bridge & kick (start in side elbow plank with top arm extended overhead, lower hip toward mat, raise hip and kick straight top leg in front of you and tap toe with hand of top arm)
5. Repeat #4 on other side of body
6. Bent knee crunch (lay on back, both legs are raised with knees bent at 90 degrees, place hands behind head, crunch upper body while reaching hands to ankles)
7. V-crunch (sit on bottom on mat with hands on mat behind hips, lean torso back while extending legs, lifting torso while pulling knees into chest)
8. Seated twist (sit on bottom, knees bent and heels on mat, lean torso back slightly, w/ fingers clasped twist torso side to side, lowering hands to mat beside hip on each side)
9. Plank kick & crunch (in straight arm plank, lift one leg up behind you then bring knee to same side elbow outside of body)
10. Repeat #9 on other side of body
11. Hold elbow/forearm plank

30 second rest

Ab Circuit 2:

1. One way bicycle (lay on back, legs are raised with both knees bent at 90 degrees, hands are behind head, crunch upper body while bringing one elbow to opposite knee while other leg extends straight)
2. Bike lock (lay on back w/ hands behind head, bring one knee into chest, lifting shoulders in a crunch, bring opposite elbow to knee and hold in this position the entire interval, other leg is extended straight, raise and lower straight leg–from ceiling to a few inches off the floor)
3. Repeat #1 & 2 on other side of body
4. Bicycle crunch
5. Full sit up (lay on mat with legs wider than shoulder width and knees partially bent, arms are extended overhead, do a full sit up reaching arms to mat between legs)
6. Dead bug press (lay on back, legs are raised w/ knees bent at 90 degrees and hands rest against thigh, raise one arm overhead while also extending the the same side leg straight and in line with your hips, alternate sides)
7. Prayer crunch (same as basic crunch but arms are extended to ceiling with palms together)
8. Oblique crunch (lay on back with one leg crossed over other knee, hands behind head, crunch upper body while reaching opposite elbow toward knee)
9. Repeat #8 on other side of body
10. Cross climbers (mountain climbers with knees aiming to opposite elbow)

30 second rest

Mobility Circuit:

1. World’s greatest stretch (start in down dog, lift one leg into 3 leg dog then step leg forward into deep runners lunge, extend arm to ceiling (same side as front leg) while also rotating torso so you are looking up toward ceiling, place hand behind head and lower elbow toward mat then place both hands on mat and bring front leg back so you are in straight arm plank, push glutes back into down dog and repeat on other side of body)
2. Bird dog reach (on hands and knees, lift one leg out straight behind you and opposite arm straight in front of you, keep leg raised while wrapping arm behind back, bending elbow as you reach hand toward opposite shoulder, alternate sides)
3. Lunge & shift (in kneeling lunge, shift forward to stretch hip flexors then shift hips back while extending front leg straight and pulling back on toe to stretch hamstring and calf)
4. Repeat #3 on other side of body
5. Bridge & reach (sit on bottom with knees bent and feet on floor, one hand is on floor beside hip, raise hips so you are in crab/reverse table top while reaching other hand/arm over to opposite side of body, alternate sides, lowering bottom back to mat when changing sides)
6. Squat & reach (hold deep wide yogi squat with hands on mat between legs, rotate torso while reaching one arm to ceiling and looking up at hand, alternate sides while remaining in squat)
7. Kneeling twist (in high kneeling on mat, lean torso backward, rotating to one side while reaching one arm behind you and other arm overhead, raise torso back to start and lower glutes to heels while bringing hands together in front of chest and repeat on other side of body)
8. Up & down dog (flow between upward facing dog and downward facing dog)
9. Repeat #1-8

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