Burn & Build - Low Impact Cardio and Core

Hey, GHU TV squad. My name is Leah, and I am here with your burn and build workout. This is low impact cardio and core. We're starting with a burn. Fifteen minutes of low impact cardio movements.

We're gonna flip it around on the tail end and build 15 minutes of strength workout. We've got some dumbbells here. We're gonna start with the dumbbells, move to some body weight movements, and I've got what I think might be some good news for you. We're not doing a single sit up for core today. What do you think?

Yes! I have Chris over here. You're gonna keep an eye on her. We are already doing low impact, but she's got some really great tips that she might be sharing with you, especially if you're kind of trying to gauge how to make low impact work the best for you. Sam's over here on the other side.

We're all moving and grooving with you together. We're gonna do a brief warmup and then we're going to get into that burn. So go ahead and find yourself a spot. Step your feet wide enough that you feel nice and grounded. Big inhale, dip down, reach up.

Exhale, ah. Inhale, dip, and reach. Open. Just two more. Open and lift.

Stay up at the top. Take it big side bend, side to side. You'll bend over to the right. Lift up, take it over to the left. Over.

And up. What's happening here is you're opening through the core, starting to wake up the obliques. Say hello before we get into any of that cardio burn. Let's do two more each side. Big lift swaying like a tree.

Very calm, very cool at the beginning, and then lift up one more over to the side, and up. Take some big arm circles back. Both arms at the same time. I know a lot of times we swim one arm at a time. Sometimes just moving both together changes it up.

After this one, take it forward. Big drops forward. There you go. Feel your chest open. Ah, two, one.

Alternate hugs with your arms. Ooh, I love these. Remember our phrase? Motion is lotion, right? Oh, that's right.

Lubricate those joints. It feels so good. As you're warming up, start to think about those low impact cardio moves that are coming your way. We're gonna start with that burn. That means we're gonna move down into the low body to finish up this warmup.

Release that hug. Hands down by your side, butt kickers. Just pull your heels up and up. If you like that reach, you can go reach, pull, pull. Yeah, get the back starting to work.

Not doing a lot of focus on the back muscles in this particular workout, but they're your posture muscles. It never hurts to get them involved. Pull the hamstrings, stretch the quads. You've got four, three, two, pull your knees forward. Just pull up and up.

You'll see this again, so keep it a little bit smaller here. Eight more. Eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, and one. Shake out anything you need. I'm gonna grab a sip of water.

I know they've got water back there. Super important. I've got a timer for all of our movements today. We are not counting reps. We're just moving with the clock.

Forty seconds of work. Little bit of break while I'm gonna introduce you to the next cardio movement. We are burning 15 minutes. This first 15 minutes is all for cardio. We're gonna get started with toe tap jacks.

All you're gonna do, tap one toe to the side, both arms reach up like snow angels. Get ready in five, four, three, two, one. Toe tap jacks out and in. Yes. This is one of my favorite modifications if I'm ever nursing any injuries in the low body, but it's also really tough, right?

Chris, where do you feel this? Well, you know, when you pull your arms all the way from hip to head, you feel it through your whole shoulder, side body. Ah-hah. But if you bend your knees a little bit, I feel like I get a little bit more range of motion. Why don't you imagine you're moving through some mud, mucky mud, instead of air.

You've got three, two, one. You get a little breath. This is where you're heading next. We're going to high knee poles. We were here in the warmup.

We're gonna go here this time. Higher intensity, still low impact. Go five, four three, arms up, two, one. Start to pull the knees. Lift, pull, lift, pull.

Depending on your flexibility, your height may be different. It might only come to here, but instead of making it small with the arms, make it big. Yeah. That's how you make this heart rate go up, even when we're not jumping. Ha.

How's it feel back there? Oh, yeah. Yes. You've got some core working here. Even though we're still kind of in the cardio section, we're doing standing crunches basically, And the speed is fast so it That's right.

So it gets the heart rate up. Three, two, one. You get another break. We're moving into a sumo squat stance. You're gonna drop down into your sumo squat.

When you lift, little calf raise, drop and lift up onto your toes. Find your stance. We're going in five, four, three, two, one. Big drop, calf raise. Start to smooth it out and feel like you would be ready to jump at any time.

It's not a jump, but you wanna feel like you're powering right up off of the floor. Ha. If you have trouble with balance, just lift one heel at a time. There's an option. Always an option.

You've always got some choices. If you're moving your body, you're winning right now. Less than 10 seconds to go. Push through the toes, get the calf muscles engaged. Three, two, one.

You're gonna step your feet in line. You get a little bit of break. We're heading to alternating runner's lunges. You're gonna come down to a big runner's lunge. Step right back up, down, and up.

Join me, three, two, one. Full range of motion means your hand touches the floor. I'm gonna turn sideways so you see what that means. I'm not touching the floor because I'm bowing forward. I'm touching the floor because my front knee bends.

If these lunges are rough for you, take a peek at Chris. She's not quite touching the floor, but she's still doing these lunges. Push, reach. If lunges bother your knees gonna give you a little trick. Notice if your knee starts to fall into your midline in the lunge.

If that happens, push it out by squeezing your glute. See if that doesn't make your knees feel a little happier, and if it does, go lower again. Three, two, and one. Go ahead and stand up here into your last movement, then we'll do these two more times. That's gonna be your burn.

Last movement, front kicks. Kick. That's all it is. Get your hands up and ready. Five, four, three, two, one.

Take a kick, kick. We're elevating those knee pulls. Instead of just pulling your knees, you're extending through the heel, and just like before, all of your flexibility goes into this kick. If your hamstrings are tight, that kick might be low, low, but it's still energized. Push, push.

There it is, yes. Ooh, how's it feeling? Woo. Five moves gone. Those are your five.

You're gonna do them two more times. Ten more seconds with these kicks. Speed it up. You don't have to leave the floor. Just give your heart rate that extra bit of love.

Five, four, three, two, one. Fifteen seconds. Shake it out. Woo. Woo.

Man. Toe tap. Jacks are coming back at ya. They're doing amazing back there. I know you're crushing it at home.

Join us for round two, toe tap jacks. Three, two, one. Out and in, out and in. I'm actually gonna turn around. When I turn around, want you to focus on these muscles back here.

They squeeze and press, and even though you can't see them, these muscles here are doing some work too. Then the legs get involved. You can get a little bounce, and by then you've got a full body movement. You've got your heart rate up, and hey, we're not even leaving the ground. How about that?

Ten seconds left. Can you speed it up? Can you take that balance a little bit more into an intensity level that you like? Three, two, one. Shake it out.

High knee pulls are next. You're starting with your arms up. Try to find that big reach here while you're resting. Open up through your chest, ground your feet into the floor. High knee pulls in three, two, one.

Pull, pull. Almost like you've got something in your hands you wanna break over your knee, break it over your knee. Ha, ha. It's a little intense. Maybe there's just some things you need to work through.

This could be the workout you do that. Exhale, exhale. Ooh Ooh, man, I do feel my heart rate up. Uh huh. Up, up.

Try to land with soft feet, but with powerful intention. Ten seconds left in these high knees pull down. Woo. Yes. Oh, Chris and Sam, I can feel their energy.

Three, two, one. Step the feet down and wide. You're headed to your sumo squat next with your calf raise. Remember, you're not leaving the floor, but feel like maybe you will, just maybe. That's how powerful you feel.

Three, two, one. Squat, calf raise, down, up. One of my favorite cues for things like this is the calf raise doesn't actually start here, it starts down here. So from the bottom, you're already thinking about that fluid motion to lift up to your tiptoes. Yes.

Oh, man. And that's where it'll turn into a jump later. Yeah, hello. Wait, did you say we have three rounds? We have three.

I know, I know, but we're gonna do it. Ha. One of the other great things about this workout doesn't take up a lot of space, doesn't use a lot of equipment. Three, two, one. Go ahead and shake it out.

We're headed to runner's lunges. You can do this at home. You can take this on the go with you. Highly encourage you. It's only 30 minutes.

You have 30 minutes. Get ready for your first runner's lunge. Three, two, one. Tap down, stand up. Tap your fingertips, stand up.

Maybe the fingertips tap the shin. Maybe they tap above your knee. I don't know. What's working for you today? Yeah.

Ha. Woo. And Leah, since we're going for time and not reps, if someone thinks we're moving too fast, just slow it down. Absolutely. Just slow it down.

Do your thing. Or if you're thinking, "Hey, today, I could probably go faster than these three." Give it a try. We won't be offended. We'll cheer you on. Yes.

Five, four, three, two, one. You're set for front kicks. These are the most intense hip flexor work that you have in this section so it's okay if they start to light up a little bit, push more energy through your heel. Five, four, right leg first, three, two, one. Kick, kick.

Yeah. Once you get those kicks going, start to think about your standing leg. You are recruiting those muscles as well. Even though you're only on one leg for a brief moment, you're balancing. Hello.

Yes. Woo. Nice. It's almost like this is a core workout. Hey.

Pull the abs in, especially as you fatigue. Try to pull a little work up out of the hip flexors into the core. Five seconds. Three, two, one. You get to break.

Woo. We've got one more round and then we're out of the burn and into the build. It's gonna feel good when we get there. Shake it out. Find your stance for your toe tap jacks.

We're going in five, four, three, knees soft, two, one. Take it out, out. Remember the cues from the last round, moving through mud, using the muscles in your back, in your shoulders, and then start to down. I like that visual. That's good.

Yes. Uh huh. And all you're doing is thinking differently or activating muscles at all. Sometimes we forget about the upper body in jumping jacks, right? We just start to flail.

You don't need to flail. Ten seconds. This is your last chance to go for some speed here. Five, four, three, two, one. Shake it out.

High knee pulls, this is a big reach up. See how tall you can get on the reach and how strong you can crunch your knee towards your hands. Five, four, find your reach, three, two, one. Pull, drive, drive, in, in. And then once you find your balance, can you go faster?

Mm, no, there it is. We've got some jams going. Oh, man. If you like working out some music, I recommend it, but it doesn't mean you always have to follow the beat. Sometimes that beat's too fast.

Sometimes it's a little too slow. Don't let that trip you up. Take your speed. Oh, 10 seconds. Yes.

I'm breathing back here. Five, four, three, two, one. If you need a recovery position, this is it. Otherwise, stand tall. Keep your heart above your hips, head above your heart.

Step your feet wide for those sumo squats. Five seconds before we're in it. Three, two, one. Down, calf raises, ooh. I gotta tell you, bending the knees open after those high knee pulls feels so good.

Feels so good. Woo. No, it's something we don't do a lot of unless we're jumping, right? Man, and I mean, at this speed with using the large muscle groups, I feel my heart rate go up. That's right.

We say it all the time, but sometimes you have to do it to believe it. Exactly. You don't have to jump to get your heart rate up. You just have to go range of motion, go speed. Three, two, one.

Runner's lunges, and then front kicks, and then we are building. We're almost there. Less than two minutes left. Get that runner's lunge ready. Five, four, three, two, one.

Lunge first, stand up and switch. Your last time through I challenge you to think about this stand just as much as you think about the lunge. Instead of just passing through, squeeze your glutes at the top and hey, it doesn't even have to slow you down. Just get that little squeeze. Two fists.

Ha. How's it going back there? Oh, yeah. I know it. It feels good to be working out with friends.

Woo. We're here for you, working out with you. Five seconds of these lunges. Three, two, one. All you've got left are front kicked, one and done.

Now we're grabbing a dumbbell. Ah, take your breath. It's gonna feel good. Bring the arms up in front. Kicks in three, two, one.

Kick, kick. Maybe visualize something, something that's been holding you back. I always think that I'm kicking my car door shut. Yeah. I'm holding groceries and I'm kicking it shut with my heel, Because nobody, nobody take two trips.

You gotta push that door. Get it. Twenty seconds. Oh, I know you can push. Look at that screen.

If you've got a mirror in the room you're working out in, maybe find your eyes in that mirror. Give yourself a smile. Yes, you can be intense and happy at the same time. Five, four, three, two, one. Feet down.

Woo. We are out of the burn into the build. You only need one dumbbell. You probably need a sip of water, so go ahead and take it. Our next sequence, we have seven movements, but two of them are on a single side, so you'll see them twice.

We're doing the round two times. As we move through, we're gonna be working the core without any abdominal crunches. We're gonna start with a windmill. I'm gonna show it to you first before I start the clock. You're gonna take your dumbbell in your right hand, feet will go wide, toes forward, not quite a sumo squat width.

You'll do one push press to bring the dumbbell up overhead, and then it stays there. The opposite leg, your left foot will turn out, you'll track your left hand on the inside of your thigh and look up at the dumbbell. Bend your knee just enough that you can hinge over. This is an oblique crunch, and then squeeze your obliques to stand up. Just down and up.

Range of motion is up to you. If you need a super modification, you don't use the dumbbell, but I recommend trying it with one. It helps you to feel how you have to balance your weight and really put it into your obliques. Instead of turning this into a lunge, which is kind of easy to do, I'll give you some cues as we go. Grab your dumbbell.

Get ready for your push press up. I'm gonna join you in five seconds, four, three, two, one. Once you're set, toe turned out, gaze at your dumbbell, take your hinge, feel a stretch in your obliques before squeezing back up. After you get a few of these reps in, I encourage you to stop checking in with the screen, try to keep your gaze up at your dumbbell. The gaze up high is probably the hardest part.

It's pretty tough. But it also encourages you to be safe with where your dumbbell is. The reason this is an oblique move instead of a lunge, is because you're keeping the dumbbell over your center of gravity, looking at it, stabilizing at your shoulder, using your obliques to stand up. Yes, again, if this feels uncomfortable, practice the movement without the dumbbell, you'll still get the oblique squeeze. Oh, almost to your break.

Five, four, three, two, one. Woo. Bring the dumbbell in. You're gonna grab the heads of the dumbbell feet hip-width apart and parallel. Take the dumbbell towards the same side, to your right side, sink down.

We're gonna swing the dumbbell up and chop it down, up. Join me in five, four, three, two, one. Dumbbell chops, little dive from the legs here, but the twist comes into your obliques in a different way from the windmills. Ha. And what you'll feel is that your weight shifts foot to foot as you go up, it's in one foot, as you go down, it's in the other.

Try to stay centered rather than letting your body sway with it. You've only got five seconds left. Four, three, two, one. Go ahead and bring the dumbbell into your other hand. Step your feet wide.

We're gonna transition into the windmill. You're gonna take that dumbbell to your shoulder, push press it up, then turn your right toes out, right hand on your thigh, gaze up at your dumbbell. Here you go. Windmills. And up.

Second time through. Start to notice, can you go down a little bit further? Or do you have to stay up higher? That's totally dependent on you, and you're gonna find out a lot about shoulder mobility here. If you have trouble with an overhead press, this is probably a movement you want a lighter dumbbell or no dumbbell at all.

You're stretching the oblique that's on the same side as your dumbbell, and then you're contrasting it to come up. Five seconds before you're coming back into that dumbbell chop other side. Four, three, two, one. Woo. Bring your feet narrow.

Yeah, that feels good after a while. That one is slow but deadly . Yes. Take the dumbbell over to that same side. It'll be your left side low to start.

Five, four, three, two, one. Swing it up, swing it down, up, down. Now, the reason that the dumbbell is not knocking into your knees is because you're using your obliques to twist your upper body. It is not because you're dipping your knee out of the way, right? Might have caught a few of you.

Think about keeping your knees ready for that squat. Use the obliques to swing just wide of the knees. Did that change anything for you back there, thinking of it that way? Yeah. Ten seconds and then we're on the mat for a few reps.

Four, three, two, one. Safely bring that dumbbell down. Woo. Set it to this side. Man.

Oh, we're coming to a plank, but we're not gonna hang out there for too long. We're going to a down dog, and then back into the plank. Go ahead and find your plank position. Once you're there, join me right away. Hips pike up, lower down, and instead of thinking about speediness like we did earlier, think about abs.

So as I come back over here, Chris is on her knees for the plank, but she's lifting her hips up into that down dog. If I attach a puppet string to Sam and Chris right at their tailbone, that puppet string pulls up and then lowers down. Yeah, there it is. Ten seconds left of these. Find your abs for each one of them.

Three, two, and one. Go ahead and come to your knees. We're staying down on the floor. The next sequence, you will hold your plank. We're going to slow oblique knee pulls.

We're gonna be out to the side, step back, out to the side, step back. Join me in five, four, three, two, one. You'll notice Chris dropped right to her knees. That is a fantastic option. If you have the ability, if you have something that you can elevate your hands, I really recommend that as well, even if it's one or two stairs, Bring your hands up higher and do your plank position there.

Ha. How are these obliques feeling? Woo, on fire. You've got an isometric hold down the front side of your abdominal wall, but the obliques are pulling your knees out and up. Three, two, and one.

Go ahead and set your knees down. Anything in front of you, get it out of your way. We're doing a big Superman, big Rocketman. You'll reach your arms forward. Join me in three, two, one.

Lift up, sweep your arms back, reach them forward, drop down, lift, sweep back, sweep forward, and drop. This is a great time for one of our favorite cues in this workout. What if you're moving through mud? Push. Push.

Ha. This gets the backside of the core muscles. Your core doesn't stop in the front, right? Ha. You gotta strengthen the back as well.

All those muscles that wrap your spine, wrap through your organs, keep them in place. You want them strong. Three, two, one. You'll be back on your feet. We get to do all of those again, windmills first.

Oh, and just like that, we're so close to the finish. Pick up your dumbbell. Let's start on the other side this time. Left hand has the dumbbell, feet wide. Bring the dumbbell up.

Push press it up to the ceiling, turn your right toes out, take your gaze up to the dumbbell. Windmills right away. Down. And up. You may have seen this movement with kettlebells before.

It's a pretty effective kettlebell movement. The kettlebell just changes where the weight is. Right now, it's pretty secure in the palm. Makes this a little better stabilizer. Kettlebell's more challenging.

If you ever wanna step up, that's where you'll go. Yeah, you've got it. You got about 10 seconds left. Keep breathing. Three, two, one.

Carefully bring that dumbbell down. We're going into dumbbell chops. The low one is over to your left side, so grab the dumbbell by the heads. Go five, four, three, two, one. Chop low, swing high, chop, swing.

There it is. Wrap an imaginary rubber band around your knees, and don't let it pull your knees together. Yeah. Even though this is core, we got a little low body going. Man.

Yeah. Oh, just 15 seconds left. I love this one. Yeah, it's a good one. This is one of my favorites.

This is the one you'll wake up tomorrow and be like, oh my goodness, my obliques. Huh? Three, two, one. Carefully, come back down. Switch the dumbbell into your other hand.

Set your feet wide, bring the dumbbell up. Do one push press. Turn your left toes out, take your hand inside of your leg, gaze up at your dumbbell. Start your windmills. Down.

Up. Make sure that you keep weight in the leg that is the same as you're holding your dumbbell. So right now, that's your right foot, right hand. If you start to shift too much into your left foot, you're doing a lunge. The gaze is the game changer.

I mean- Holy moly, right? It really is. Oh, yeah. But imagine you were holding something much heavier than this dumbbell. I think you'd wanna keep track of it, huh?

Oh, yeah. Or maybe you're holding a platter of your favorite dessert. Ah. Or your favorite coffee. You don't wanna spill it.

Ah. Five, four, three, two, and one. Stand up for your last set of dumbbell chops. Below chop into your right, the high lift is to your left. Grab the heads of the dumbbell.

Three, two, one. Chop low, lift high, chop, up. Does anybody feel like they need firewood? Woo, right. I feel like maybe we could have been useful here.

Ha. Yes. It's one of the things that happens first, when you start to fatigue, the knees start to fall in, and before you know it, you've lost that glute strength that stabilizes you, protects your spine. Five seconds. Three, two, one.

Dumbbell gets to set down on the floor. You are so close to the finish. We've got our downward dog to planks, we've got our plank oblique pulls, and we've got our Supermans. That's where we'll finish. Get ready for your plank.

You're up to the downward dog in three, two, one. Hips up, lower down, find your plank. Pull your abs to initiate the lift of your hips, and then keep them tight as you find your plank. Ha. If you need a bend of your knees in the downward dog, you can take a small bend.

You can hit your knees in the plank position. Just come on down to those knees, your choice. Make sure your elbows stay soft so that you're not stressing your joints. I like to say strong muscles, but relaxed joints, supported joints. Woo.

Three, two, one. You can breathe on your knees. The next one is your plank. Oblique pulls. Big wide wide of the knees.

You're ready in six, three, two one. Pull, hold, then step back. Little pull, hold, step back. Yes. Oh, what a difference a hold makes.

Oh, yeah. I think a lot of times we use these as mountain climber variations and they're great. They get the heart rate up. They're super effective. But this hold adds a different kind of intensity.

Silent. Yes. But hard. But deadly. Oh, 10 seconds left.

Woo. You are so close to your finish. Five, four, three, two, one. Bring your knees down. All you've got left are your Supermans, your Rocketmans.

And then we get a brief stretch here on the mat, so get everything out of your way. You're lifting in three, two, one. Lift, sweep, reach, return. I said get everything out of your way, and then I didn't listen to myself. Here we go, up.

Yes. I'm gonna move one hand here. Think about the muscles in your low back. You wanna squeeze them without compressing your spine. So as you lift, send your toes and your arms away from each other, and that should help lengthen.

Ooh, yes. Ten seconds left and then we're stretching. Oh, think about it. Five, four. Oh my goodness.

Yes. Three, two, and one. Collapse down. That is you all done. Woo.

Rest your head. Man. Ah. Thank you, I think. Oh, yes.

That's what we're here for. We're gonna push up to all fours and do a little cat-cow. Comfortably find yourself in all fours position, and then push the floor away from you. Round your spine. Think about the Supermans you just finished.

Stretch them out and forget about them. And then arch your back. Super important to also push your shoulders out of your ears on this one. Ha. Exhale, drop your head, push the floor, and then arch your back.

Carefully, come back in. Find yourself a seat, face your screen, cross your ankles however you'd like. We're gonna do just one side bend to each side. Take your right hand down to the floor, left arm up. Let yourself side bend and stretch out those obliques, also your lats.

You did ask them to support quite a bit of your movement in this workout so they get some love. You're always good at sneaking in core, Leah. Lift, not a crunch to be had. She sneaks it in and don't know that you're doing it. Side bend up and over.

That's right. Now, if you love crunches, come back to some other workouts. I promise you'll find them; however, this one sneaky core. All right, lift yourself back up. Give yourself a couple hugs and then a smile.

You made it through 30 minutes. The first 15 you burned. The last 15 you built. And we'll see you again for another GHU TV workout soon. Thanks for joining us.