Progressive 40 Min Full Body Mobility is part of Julia Reppel‘s January challenge. This is definitely not one of her more gentle, feel good routines. That’s not to say it isn’t a hugely beneficial workout. It is. It is a full body mobility and functional strength workout. I love how it is structured. There are 4 circuits: a shoulder circuit, a hip circuit, a spine circuit and a full body circuit. Within each circuit you do 4 “level 1” dynamic mobility/flexibility/strength moves then you repeat them but when you repeat them, you do a more advanced “level 2” version. That is where the “progressive” comes in. But you don’t have to do the more advanced version. During the entire level 2 working interval there is a video in the upper left hand corner of the screen showing level 1. So if level 2 is too much for you, then just repeat level 1. I loved this because my shoulders were really hurting this morning and few of the level 2 versions of the exercises were too much for my shoulders so I just repeated level 1 for those exercises.
Each exercise is done for 50 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. During the transition Julia demonstrates the next exercise. There is a progress bar in the upper right hand corner counting down the workout time as a percentage.
Progressive 40 Min Full Body Mobility is 42:11 minutes. Equipment: fitness mat.
Movement Prep:
- Wrist walk variation (on all 4s with fingers facing knees, lean body back to stretch wrists and alternate raising and lower palms)
- Cat-cow variation (do cat cow but hands are rotated so palms face knees)
- Seated angel > rotation (sit on mat, extend arms overhead then pull them down so arms are in goal post, while in goal post lower forearms while keeping elbows and shoulders in alignment, return to goal post then push arms overhead again)
20 second break
Shoulder Circuit:
- Alternating thoracic rotation > TTN (start on hands and knees, place one hand behind head and rotate spine so elbow points to ceiling and you are looking up at ceiling then bring arm down into thread the needle, alternate sides)
- Bear scapular push up (start on all 4s, lift knees off mat into bear pose and hold briefly, return knees to mat and lower chest bringing shoulder blades together)
- Quadruped shoulder circles (while on hands and knees roll shoulders)
- Half kneeling alternating swimmer (in kneeling lunge with torso hinged forward, place one hand behind head and other hand at small of back, straighten arms and sweep them around so their positions are swapped, lower elbows then raise them and repeat)
- Alternating rotation > TTN on elbows (same as #1 but start on knees and forearms)
- Bear > scapular push up > down dog (same as #2 but when in bear, push back into down dog)
- Bear shoulder circles (in bear pose (on hands and toes with knees bent at 90 degrees and elevated a few inches off mat), roll shoulders in this position)
- Prone alternating swimmer (same arm movements as #4 but lay on stomach on mat with forehead on mat)
20 second break
Hip Circuit:
- Side lying hip CARS (lay on side with arms extended in front of you, keeping top leg bent at 90 degrees, draw large hip circles leading with knee)
- Repeat #1 on other leg
- Rounded squat > alternating knee drop (in deep yogi squat with arms extended in front of you to round spine, alternate lowering one knee to mat)
- Rounded squat > alternating deep lunge (start in deep yogi squat with arms extended in front of you to round spine, then step one foot forward into a deep kneeling lunge, alternate legs when stepping forward into lunge)
- Forearm hip CARS (same leg movement but you are on knees and forearms)
- Repeat #5 on other leg
- Leg extension > squat > alternating knee drop (same as #3 but add straightening legs so you are in forward fold after knee drops)
- Gorilla squat > alternating deep lunge (start in deep wide leg squat with fists on floor, jump legs out into a deep runners lunge (back knee elevated off floor), jump feet back into gorilla squat, alternate legs when jumping into lunge)
20 second break
Spine Circuit:
- Kneeling cat-cow variation (kneel on mat with glutes on heels and hands on mat in front of you, round and arch spine while also drawing circles with spine)
- Alternating kneeling twist back (kneel on mat with glutes on heels, twist torso to one side while reaching same side arm behind you, alternate sides)
- Deep lunge wave (in deep kneeling lunge arch spine, round spine as you shift hips back straightening leg into hamstring stretch)
- Kneeling spinal wave > scorpion (start in child’s pose, round spine as you come forward into cobra, lower to mat and bend one knee and reach it over across other leg so toe touches floor, repeat on other side)
- Kneeling T-spine CARS (kneeling on mat, arms are crossed over chest with each hand on opposite shoulder, circle spine drawing large circles leading with elbows)
- Kneeling backwards reach (in high double kneeling on mat, lean torso backward while keeping straight from knees to head while reaching one arm behind you while also twisting torso to same side, alternate sides)
- Deep lunge wave (same as #4 but this time keep both arms behind head and spine rounded during hamstring curl, when in deep lunge arch spine)
- Beast wave > scorpion (start in down dog, bend knees lowering glutes toward heels and keeping knees elevated off mat, return to down dog then round spine as you flow forward into cobra, lower to mat and bend one knee and reach it over across other leg so toe touches floor, repeat on other side)
20 second rest
Full Body Circuit:
- Reverse table > knee push (start in crab pose with hips lifted and shift knees forward, return to crab then lower glutes to mat)
- Bear lift-off > down dog heel tap (start in bear pose (hands and toes with knees bent at 90 degrees and elevated a few inches off mat), raise one hand and opposite foot, place them back on mat and push back into down dog and reach one hand back to tap opposite foot, alternate sides with this combo)
- Plank > alternating step through (start in straight arm plank, bring one leg underneath body and extend it straight while raising opposite arm to ceiling so you are in a side plank variation, return to plank and repeat on other side of body)
- Alternating deep lunge > crab (start in down dog, bend knees lowering glutes toward heels and keeping knees elevated off mat, step one leg out to side and rotate body so you are in crab pose, return to down dog and repeat on other side)
- Reverse table > knee push > supp L-sit (repeat #1 but instead of lowering glutes to mat, straighten legs with heels on mat and glutes still raised off mat–legs are extended straight in front of you, hands are on mat on either side of hips keeping glutes raised off mat)
- SL/SA bear > down dog tap (same as #2 but when in bear pose extend one leg and opposite arm out to sides)
- Plank > alternating step through > reach (same as #3 but when in side plank variation lower hips to mat briefly)
- Alternating deep lunge > crab > reverse table (same as #4 but when in crab, lift hips)
20 second rest
Cool Down:
- Wrist decompression (kneel on mat with glutes on heels, rest backs of hands on mat, keep arms straight while opening hands then curling fingers into fists)
- Single leg happy baby
- Supine knee hug (lay on back and bring knees into chest, wrap arms around legs)
For more info on Julia Reppel and other (free) streaming workouts I’ve sampled and reviewed, check out my Streaming page.
