40 Min Pilates Core Strength is Day 38 in Heather Robertson‘s HR12Week 5.0 program.
I am not personally a fan of pilates but I really enjoyed this workout. Maybe because it takes things down a notch and I needed something a little easier today. For me at least, Heather put together an enjoyable sequence of core exercises–other than the mountain climbers at the end. I always do them when they appear in a workout but I do not enjoy mountain climbers for some reason. Other than that, this was a very enjoyable workout that worked my core, and really my entire body, nicely.
There are 2 circuits and each circuit is done 3 times. The exercises are done interval style: 40 seconds of work followed by 20 seconds of recovery. The finisher at the end is done tabata style: 20 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. At the bottom of the screen during the preview, there is a small graphic with a weight recommendation–light, medium or heavy.
40 Min Pilates Core Strength is 38:14 minutes; 35 second intro, 4:40 minute warm up and 3:50 minute stretch. Equipment: dumbbells and fitness mat. Heather recommends light and medium dumbbells (3 to 20 pounds). The weights listed below are what I used.
Circuit 1:
- Loaded dead bug (lay on back, legs are raised w/ knees bent at 90 degrees and arms/DBs are extended straight to ceiling, lower one arm/DB overhead while also extending the opposite leg straight, alternate sides) (15# DBs)
- Side bend & tuck (stand holding one DB in one hand at side, other arm is extended to ceiling, do a side bend, reaching DB toward floor while reaching other arm over to other side, return to upright and raise knee, bringing elbow down to knee as it raises) (one 20# DB)
- Repeat #2 on other side of body
- Sit up & press (lay on back with knees bent and feet on floor, hold a DB in each hand at you shoulders, do a full sit up, at top of sit up do an overhead shoulder press) (10# DBs)
- Repeat #1-4 two more times
30 second rest
Circuit 2:
- Loaded toe touch (lay on back, legs are extended straight to ceiling, hold one DB in both hands, crunch upper body reaching DB toward toes) (one 15# DB)
- Loaded reverse crunch (lay on back, hold one DB in both hands, arms are extended to ceiling and held there isometrically entire interval, lower straight legs until they are a few inches off the mat then raise legs and push them overhead while also lifting hips into a reverse crunch) (one 15# DB)
- Seated twist (sit on mat, legs are extended and partially bent, hold one DB in both hands, twist DB hip to hip) (one 10# DB)
- Plank pass thru (in straight arm plank with one DB on floor outside of one hand, reach under body with other hand, grab DB and pull it under body to other side, set DB on floor, alternate sides) (one 20# DB)
- Repeat #1-4 two more times
30 second rest
Finisher: (exercises are done for 20 seconds followed by 10 seconds of rest)
- Reverse tuck & kick out (lay on back, do a reverse crunch pushing legs overhead, lower hips and bend knees then push legs out straight in line with hips)
- Mountain climbers
- Repeat #1 & 2 two more times
For more info on Heather Robertson’s workouts and other (free) streaming workouts I’ve sampled and reviewed, check out my Streaming page.
