WORKOUT

This work­out serves as Day 9 of our 10-day Chal­lenge, Func­tion­al­ly Fit with Nicole, but can also serve as a stand­alone workout.

Focus & Ben­e­fits: Wel­come to the ulti­mate active recov­ery rou­tine; where steady-state, low-impact car­dio meets mobil­i­ty. This rou­tine includes a great series of body­weight move­ments that will increase cir­cu­la­tion and loosen stiff joints, per­fect for an active recov­ery between more intense ses­sions or a begin­ner-friend­ly work­out. A brief warm-up and extend­ed cooldown are included.

Equip­ment: None; mat optional.

Tips & Help­ful Infor­ma­tion: The for­mat of this rou­tine is a unique mash-up of car­dio and mobil­i­ty pairs with length­i­er time inter­vals than you might be used to. This allows us to real­ly under­stand the motion and repeat in a steady-state fash­ion, as opposed to a high-inten­si­ty, short burst interval.

After a brief 3‑minute warm-up we con­tin­ue to ease into the cardio/​mobility pairs. With­in each of the 4 pairs you’ll encounter 1 car­dio exer­cise (90 sec) fol­lowed imme­di­ate­ly by 1 mobil­i­ty exer­cise (45 sec). We’ll take a brief rest and repeat. The 2 paired exer­cis­es are designed to com­ple­ment and work with one oth­er. By the end of the work­out, you’ll have moved in many ranges of motion and should be feel­ing well-bal­anced and less creaky, like a well-oiled machine :) Each super­set will be com­plet­ed for 2 rounds.

At the end, enjoy a slight­ly longer, 6‑minute sta­t­ic stretch. This will feel mag­i­cal on war­m/se­mi-loose muscles!

Dif­fi­cul­ty & Mod­i­fi­ca­tions Explained: This is rat­ed a lev­el 2 out of 5 dif­fi­cul­ty for its low-impact exer­cise selec­tions, and low-inten­si­ty for­mat. Over­all it’s a very approach­able rou­tine, requir­ing no equip­ment that can be mod­i­fied or advanced to your preference.

Clos­ing Note: I’ll be hon­est, while I nev­er want to do an active recov­ery work­out, I’ve nev­er regret­ted a sin­gle one. I always walk away from a work­out like this feel­ing like a ​“well-oiled machine” ready to take on the day and upcom­ing work­outs, and over­all feel more recov­ered than if I had opt­ed for noth­ing. I’m con­vinced this will be a work­out you won’t regret either.

-WORK­OUT OUTLINE-

Warmup (3:00) — 30 sec each
Box­er Shuffle
Swim­mer Arm Cir­cles, switch halfway
In and Out Hip Cir­cles, alternating
Curt­sy Step w/​OH reach, alternating
Down Dog + Spi­der Lunge, alternating
Cat Cow

Cardio/​Mobility Work­out (18:00) — 90 sec­ond car­dio exer­cise fol­lowed by 45 sec­ond mobil­i­ty exer­cise; 2 rounds. 15 sec rest between supersets

Hip Open­er to Squat Walk
Down dog to spi­der lunge, alternating

Franken­stein March + Tap Down – switch sides halfway
Dynam­ic Side Lunge + Ham­string Stretch

WATER BREAK

Inch­worm Walk­out + 4 Heel Jacks
Thread The Nee­dle – switch halfway

2 March­ing Pull-downs + 2 Floor Taps
Runner’s Lunge + Glute Acti­va­tion – R/L

Cooldown (6:00) — 40 sec each
Quadruped Wrist Stretch
Half Kneel­ing Oblique Stretch/​OH Reach – R
Half Kneel­ing Oblique Stretch/​OH Reach – L
Fig­ure 4 w/​rota­tion – R
Open Book – R
Fig­ure 4 w/​rota­tion – L
Open Book – L
Hap­py Baby
Long Body Stretch/​Freestyle