Who doesn’t want a bulletproof spine? I love Julia Reppel‘s mobility workouts and I love working my back, so of course I was going to do this workout! And having now done it, I love it! I did it on my recovery day. Maybe it is a little a little much for a recovery day but again, not enough for a true strength day. But that’s okay, I did this in combination with one of Julia’s more gentle mobility workouts. Once I finished this, I went straight into 20 Min Spinal Mobility & Back Stretches. That worked nicely to cool me off while still working my spine.
This workout has a long “Movement Prep”, which I think of as the warm up. It is 57% of the workout, so your spine, back and shoulders are very warm for the strength work. The Movement Prep ends at #18 below. #19 starts the strength portion of the workout. The cool down is about 2 minutes and starts at #34. The movement prep is much more than a warm up. It is a full mobility/dynamic flexibility session. For the strength portion Julia used 2 kettlebells that are the same weight. I used a variety of kettlebells depending on the exercise: 30, 20 and 15 pounds. There are 2 exercises in which Julia uses 2 kettlebells. Since I do not have 2 kettlebells that are the same weight, I just used two 20 pound dumbbells for those exercises.
Though the back and spine definitely get a lot of strength and mobility work, this also works and mobilizes the shoulders. My shoulders were starting to get fatigued by the end of this workout. This is really an excellent workout.
This workout is done interval style; the exercises are done 35-45 seconds followed by a 12 second transition. There is a timer in the lower left hand corner of the screen counting down the intervals and transitions. Julia previews the next move during the transition. She also shows different levels of some of the exercises. If there is a different level then the video of it remains in the upper left hand corner of the screen the entire interval for you to follow along with. There is also a progress bar in the upper right hand corner of the screen counting down the workout time.
30 Min Bulletproof Spine is 32:57 minutes. Equipment: kettlebells, a wall and fitness mat. Julia is using two 8kg/17.6 pound kettlebells. The weights listed below are what I used.
- Circular spinal curl (round spine down into forward fold to one side rag doll style, at bottom shift arms/torso over to other side and roll back upright)
- Shin grab spinal circles (sit on mat with knees bent and open, feet on mat, hands hold ankles, circle and round spine)
- Supine 90-90 switch (lay on back with knees bent and feet on mat, let both knees fall to one side until the leg closest to the mat is on the floor then to the other side)
- Alternating tuck pendulum (lay on back, legs raised with knees bent and pulled into chest, arms are extended to sides in a T, lower bent legs to one side into a spinal twist then to the other side, keeping knees pulled into chest the entire time)
- Hip bridge roll down (lay on back with knees bent and feet close to glutes, slowly raise and lower hips/glutes; for level 2 a KB rests on hips) (30# KB)
- Alternating floor scorpion (laying on stomach, bend one knee and reach it over across other leg so toe touches floor, repeat on other side)
- L-spine segmentation (knees and elbows with forehead resting in hands on mat, round and arch spine)
- Neck CARS (kneel on mat, arms are extended to sides with hands in fists, draw large neck circles leading with neck)
- Screwdriver (still kneeling, extend arms out to sides in a T, rotate wrists/elbows in opposition to each other. each time you rotate, shift/lean torso to side that palm faces ceiling)
- T-spine CARS (still kneeling on mat, arms are crossed over chest with each hand on opposite shoulder, circle spine drawing large circles leading with elbows)
- Eagle pose reach (with arms in eagle pose, round and arch spine, lifting elbows upward when arching)
- Kneeling T-spine rotation (kneel on mat, twist spine so torso faces one side, place elbow on the mat, one hand cupping other fist and other elbow reaching to ceiling, in this position twist torso so chest rotates toward ceiling, pushing upward through bottom elbow, then release back to start)
- Half pancake cat-cow (sit on mat with one leg extended straight out to side, other knee is bent with sole of bottom foot against inner thigh of extended leg, place fingertips on mat in front of you, round and arch spine)
- Supine T-spine opener (lay on back on mat with one leg extended straight, lower spine twists to side with other knee bent and resting on mat, same side arm as top bent leg draws a circle from one side of the body, overhead and to the other side then back)
- Repeat #14 on other side
- Wall slides (stand with back against wall, arms are bent and open to sides in goalpost and also against wall, raise arms overhead then lower them bringing elbows down towards sides, keep backs of arms against wall entire time)
- Y-W-T Lift off (lay on stomach and extend arms straight in front of you and slightly open (in a V) with thumbs pointing to ceiling, lift arms and hold briefly, open arms to sides in goalpost and raise them, holding briefly (thumbs still point to ceiling), extend arms to sides in a T, raise and hold briefly, thumbs still point to ceiling)
- Beast wave (start in child’s pose but with knees raised off mat, straighten legs so you are in downward facing dog then round spine as you shift forward, lowering into plank then arching spine as you lower into cobra, reverse this move returning to start)
- Jefferson curl (stand holding one kettlebell in both hands, slowly round spine down into forward fold until kettlebell touches mat then round back up to standing upright) (30# KB)
- KB around the world (standing holding a KB in one hand by handle, pass KB from hand to hand, circling KB around body and changing directions every 5 reps) (15# KB)
- Alternating KB row (hinge forward w/ flat back, do alternating single arm back row, passing KB hand to hand for each row) (30# KB)
- KB pendulum (hold one KB by handle with both hands, hinge forward with flat back, swing KB side to side like a pendulum, only arms/shoulders are moving) (20# KB)
- Staggered stance Romanian deadlift (single leg deadlift, all weight is on front leg, Julia is holding a KB in each hand but you can just use one heavy KB or 2 DBs) (20# DBs)
- Repeat #23 on other leg
- Double overhead KB walk (extend both arms straight overhead, a KB (or DB) in each hand, walk the length of your mat then turn and walk back to start, keeping KBs/DBs extended overhead entire time) (20# DBs)
- Good mornings (hold one KB behind neck, you are holding handle in both hands, keeping back flat, hinge forward deadlift style then raise back to start) (20# KB)
- Kang squats (hold one KB in both hands in front of chest, hinge forward deadlift style until back is flat then bend knees and lower into wide squat, reverse this motion and return to standing upright) (20# KB)
- Half Turkish get up (lay on back with one leg extended straight and other knee bent, hold one DB extended to ceiling in same arm as bent leg, other arm is extended to side on floor, keeping arm holding DB straight and extended to ceiling entire interval, push body up with other arm so that you are on forearm while KB arm reaches to ceiling) (15# KB)
- Repeat #28 on other side of body
- Superman extensions (lay on stomach with arms extended in front of you superman-style, lift arms and legs off mat and hold isometrically entire interval while pulling elbows down toward ribs then pushing back in front of you)
- Half kneeling windmill (in kneeling lunge holding one KB in one hand, arm is extended straight overhead (same side arm as front leg), keeping arm/DB extended to ceiling entire time, lower torso until forearm of other arm is on mat, raise torso back to start) (15# KB)
- Repeat #31 on other side of body
- KB plank drag (in straight arm plank with KB laying on its side outside of one hand, reach under body grab handle of KB, drag it under body to other side, repeat with other arm and continue alternating dragging it from one side to the other) (20# KB)
- Child’s pose w/ fingers intertwined (in child’s pose extend arms to one side with hands stacked and fingers intertwined)
- Repeat #34 reaching to other side of body
- Knee circles on back (lay on back with legs raised, knees bent and pulled into chest, hands rest on knees, draw opposing circles with knees)
For more info on Julia Reppel and other (free) streaming workouts I’ve sampled and reviewed, check out my Streaming page.
