40MIN Pilates & Core // Day 14: HR12WEEK 5.0

40 Min Pilates & Core is Day 14 in Heather Robertson‘s HR12Week 5.0 program.

This was a really nice bodyweight workout to break up all of the weighted workouts I’ve been doing. It is a bit lower key but still works your entire body with a core focus. There were a few tough exercises in the mix but also some feel good ones. In the first two circuits she inserts a bit of cardio to elevate your heart rate and make the workout more metabolic.

This is a circuit based workout. There are 3 circuits and each circuit is done twice. 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. Heather shows a modification for one of the exercises that has impact.

40 Min Pilates & Core is 40:26 minutes; 25 second intro, 4:40 minute warm up and 3:45 minute stretch. Equipment: fitness mat.

Circuit 1:

1. Bird dog crunch (on hands and knees extend one leg out straight behind you and opposite arm straight in front of you, alternate sides)
2. Bear plank in reach (hold bear pose isometrically (on hands and toes w/ knees bent at 90 degrees and knees hovering a few inches off the mat), extend one arm straight in front of you, alternate arms)
3. Up & down dog (flow between upward facing dog and downward facing dog)
4. Plank saw (in elbow plank, push body forward and back using toes)
5. Plank hop & twist (start standing, place hands on mat and jump feet back to plank, jump feet back into hands, stand and twist body to one side while opening arms into a T, when you repeat, twist to the other side)
6. Repeat #1-5

30 second rest

Circuit 2:

1. Side leg lift & crunch (in modified straight arm side plank (one hand and same side knee on mat) with top leg extended straight and top arm extended overhead, lift top leg then bend knee, pulling it into chest while bringing top elbow to meet knee)
2. Repeat #1 on other side of body
3. Single leg deadlift & reach (hinge forward at waist while also lifting one leg up straight behind you and lifting both arms straight in front of you, alternate legs)
4. Chair twist & reach (start standing with both arms extended overhead, lower into chair pose then bring hands together into prayer and twist torso to the side bringing opposite elbow outside of thigh, return to standing with arms extended overhead and repeat twisting to other side)
5. Heel clicks (stand with legs wide and toes turned out, lower into wide plie squat with both arms extended in front of you, jump, clicking heels together and land back in plie squat)
6. Repeat #1-5

30 second rest

Circuit 3:

1. Frog toe tap (lay on back with hands behind head and head/shoulders elevated, legs are bent and raised to 90 degrees, insoles of feet are together and knees opened wide, keeping knees bent and insoles together, lower legs tapping feet to mat then return them to start)
2. Bridge & tuck (in side elbow plank with top arm extended overhead, lower hip toward mat, raise hips then bend knee bringing it in to chest while also bringing elbow of top arm to knee)
3. Repeat #2 on other side of body
4. Bicycle twist (standard bicycle maneuver)
5. Pilates 100
6. 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.