41 Min Pilates & Core is Day 4 in Heather Robertson‘s HR12Week 5.0 program. I really like how Heather is including workouts like this in her program. I am hybriding this program with two of Caroline Girvan‘s CGX programs (Intent and P.E.) and they do not include anything but tough strength training. So I was looking forward to my HR12Week 5.0 week for something a little different. The beginning of the week started out with more tough strength training but then I got this. A bodyweight strength workout that felt like a really nice change of pace. It is a mixture of exercises. Some are feel good mobility and dynamic flexibility moves, and others are more strength based. Heather works your entire body nicely. For the standing exercises there are some balance challenges so if you have bad balance (like me) you might want to be close to a wall or have a chair nearby for stability.
This is a circuit-based workout. There are 3 circuits, and each circuit is done twice. The first circuit is mat based, the second circuit is all standing and for the 3rd circuit you are back on the mat. The exercises are done interval style: 45 seconds of work followed by 15 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.
41 Min Pilates & Core is 40:09 minutes; 35 second intro, 4 minute warm up and 4 minute stretch. Equipment: fitness mat.
Circuit 1:
- Up & down dog (flow between upward facing dog and downward facing dog)
- Bird dog crunch (on hands and knees, extend one leg out straight behind you and opposite arm straight in front of you, alternate sides)
- Single leg rocket push up (starting in straight arm plank, push glutes back to heels keeping knees elevated a few inches off mat, return to plank, lift one leg and do one push up, alternate legs when doing push up)
- Plank saw (in forearm plank, shift body forward and back, pushing with toes)
- Plank kick & tuck (in straight arm plank, lift one leg up straight behind you then bring knee to elbow outside of body, alternate legs)
- Repeat #1-5
30 second rest
Circuit 2:
- Single leg deadlift & reach (start standing, hinge forward at waist while lifting one leg straight behind you and both arms straight in front of you, return to standing and repeat lifting other leg)
- Chair twist & reach (start standing with both arms extended overhead, lower into chair pose, bring hands together in prayer and twist torso to one side placing tricep against outside of opposite leg, return to standing reaching arms overhead, alternate sides when twisting in chair pose)
- Lunge & tuck (do one reverse/step back lunge extending same side arm overhead, raise out of lunge bringing leg forward into a front knee raise while also bringing elbow down to tap thigh)
- Repeat #3 on other side of body
- Skate tap & reach (lateral skaters, reach both arms overhead between sides, reach one arm toward foot when in cross-back/curtsy lunge)
- Repeat #1-5
30 second rest
Circuit 3:
- Laying press & kick (lay on side, top arm is on mat in front of chest, bottom arm rests on opposite/top shoulder, do a single arm tricep push up keeping legs straight, when you lower back to mat do one straight side leg lift)
- Repeat #1 on other side of body
- Double knee pulls (lay on back with head/shoulders elevated, bicycle legs, when knee is pulled into chest, hold shin with both hands and pulse it in twice)
- Pilates 100’s
- Bicycle twist (bicycle maneuver, extending legs straight when knee isn’t pulled into chest)
- Repeat #1-5
For more info on Heather Robertson’s workouts and other (free) streaming workouts I’ve sampled and reviewed, check out my Streaming page.
