Hey babes, ok I finally figured out how to make an iMovie. Sorry this has taken so long but given the circumstances of the world, I haven’t been too hard on myself in regards to making deadlines. What is time when our society as we know it is completely being reworked.
Regardless, here it is, my essential everyday work out. This workout has been the backbone to my body, mind and spirit over the last 7 years. My body was able to easily regain its better than original shape after two pregnancies while also getting my ass into initial shape in 2014 after being a partier in college.
My dad wrote this list of exercises down for me the summer of 2013 and I have been doing this exact work out at least three times a week since I started. I’ve definitely taken some time off here and there, postpartum, being sick, being overworked, etc. Working out has never been an obsession for me. It is the time to give to myself, to give my body it's time to be taken care of and fully focused on.
I really suggest getting your mind and body connected prior to this workout. I like to walk for 5 minutes. Getting outside is honestly clutch, it really is needed to give yourself a break and fully get everything out of this time with your body. So if you can get child care or bring them with you to a field, getting outside in fresh air enhances every aspect of this workout. Regardless, the 15 minutes you consistently dedicate to this workout will change your life. If you can’t get outside, then I’ll show you how to do this in your living room in the next video.
Before we get into the actual work out, please listen carefully, this work out is meant for moderate to advanced workout experience. I am not professional and I do not recommend doing this without proper supervision or experience. This workout, although gentle for every stage of life, should be done supervised if you are not familiar with over 70% of these exercises. That being said, I want to eventually break down every single exercise so you can really see it up close and make sure you’re doing the exercise properly. But just to cover my ass ;) by reading this and following exercises in this video you are inherently signing on all risks associated and deeming yourself fully responsible in the event of injury.
My dad was my soccer coach and was a college strength and conditioning coach so I am all about technique. I’m trying to look my absolute best, while sure as shit not getting injured. So I’m going to break down the exercises here and have a little voice over in this video that gives you points to really concentrate on to make sure you’re properly positioned in these exercises. Nothing should ever hurt it should burn but you should never feel pain anywhere in your body. If you do, stop what you’re doing immediately.
The Workout Broken Down
Like I said earlier I like to sync my mind and body prior to exercise. This means, I like to walk around and loosen up my joints and muscles while also releasing all the anxieties and tensions that my mind has been stewing over. Once my mind has cleared and my body is ready then it's time to begin the work out.
This series should take you about 15 minutes in the beginning. Once you’re comfortable and have practiced for a bit you’ll be able to get down in under 10 minutes while also doing max reps. You want at least 10 yards of space, the more the better. I like to go to a soccer complex and will do one exercise all the way to midfield about 50 yards. You can also do this in as little as 8 feet, you’ll just be changing sides more frequently which actually is perfect for booty building in the long run. As you get more comfortable doing this, you can start working on going through this series of exercises faster and at a longer distance.
I generally stick to reps of 20 lunges. This might help some, but I’m a freak so I count when I run and jump. I usually do about 20 when I’m going the skips, shuffles, etc.
Ok without further ado, here is my every day workout.
GMS Essential 10 Minute Work Out
- High knees
- Only bring your leg up as high as you can, if you can’t get your thigh parallel to the ground on day one, that is ok! Just do your best to get your leg as high as you can, not as high as you can’t, that means there shouldn’t be a pinch in your hip flexor when you bring your leg up. Also focus on your landing foot when you’re bringing your leg back to the ground. The ball of your foot should land first while gradually releasing to the rest your foot until you rock to being flat.
- Butt kicks
- Take butt kicks, slow! You might not be able to literally kick your butt the first day, and that is ok! Just bring your heel as close to your butt until you can feel your quad start to stretch just a little bit, then release. Never feel pain, and never go into a deep stretch during this warm up. Repetitions are what will warm you up and make your muscles more flexible in the long run, not stretching.
- Side shuffle
- The most awkward feeling exercise of this series is also the most crucial in building that booty. You want to start this exercise in a fully engaged position. Meaning knees are slightly bent, core is engaged and you’re light on your feet. You are going to push with the outside leg, focusing on your hamstring, outside hamstring then isolating the booty cheek. The front leg, literally just goes up and down to land, it should not step out in any way. Switch sides
- Carioca
- This exercise is the most advanced and puts a lot of focus and strain on your core and lower pelvis so if you are pregnant or less than 6 weeks postpartum, or feel at all uncomfortable in this exercise, skip this exercise entirely until I can break it down. I hurt my pelvis during my first pregnancy doing this exercise and I avoided it for almost two years after I recovered. This is a great exercise if you can do it properly. You want to To start this exercise stand with your feet hip width distance, core engaged, arms out to the side. Your legs are never crossing over each other, you are actually twisting your lower body while keeping your chest and upper body in the same position. Make sure to focus on keeping your core engaged.
- Power skips
- Basically a high knee jump. You want to focus on getting your knee parallel to the ground while jumping directly up. This exercise focuses on your jumping leg by engaging your jumping leg hamstring and butt cheek. Jumping up helps isolate the hamstring and butt. Also pay attention to your jumping leg foot and ankle when landing. Always land soft by landing on the ball of your foot and gradually rocking to flat by putting your weight in your heels.
- Punt skips
- Really engage your core in this one. Focus on keeping both your legs engaged and as straight as possible, never locked. Your core is what is going to bring your leg completely parallel to the ground. I find being on the balls of your feet (kind of like a ballerina) during this exercise really helps get momentum to swing your leg up. Also try to focus on keeping your hips level by keeping your core really engaged.
- Knee hug lunge and reach
- Start this exercise standing, bring one leg up to your chest by hugging your knee, swing this leg into a wide forward lunge. Once you are positioned in the forward lunge, bring your weight forward by bringing the hand on your back leg side to the ground next to your front foot. Then bring the front leg side forearm to touch the toes on your front foot. Your front knee should be 90 degrees, weight in the heels and try to keep your back leg’s knee just barely off the ground. If you find this is too much or too complicated, drop your back knee to help stabilize. After you drop your forearm to your toes, release this pose by placing the hand to the outside of the front foot. Once your hands are shoulder width and in line with your front foot, shift your weight backward and bring your hips inline, parallel with the ground. Usually your hips will open toward your back leg when you bring your weight back, to counter this opening, bring your back leg hip parallel to the ground. You can see the micro adjustment I do to make sure my hips are even after every lunge. Start with 5 lunges on each side and gradually build on this until you find a happy number of lunges that doesn’t make you feel sore. I tend to do about 10 lunges on each side.
- Next Back lunge and twist
- Avoid twisting in this lunge if you are pregnant or less than 6 weeks postpartum. To begin this exercise you are going to take a nice long back step, engage your lunge and twist toward the opposite side of your back leg. So if you step back with your right foot, engage and twist toward the left. If the twist is confusing or you are pregnant or postpartum, then just focus on perfecting the back lunge
- Walking quad
- This is a dynamic quadricep stretch. You get more out of this pose by doing more repetitions versus stretching deep. Start by standing and bringing one heel to your butt, grab this ankle with the same side hand and bring the opposite arm up straight along side your body. You are going to shift your weight by reaching your arm forward and kicking your leg up and back. Release, take a step, grab the other leg and repeat.
- Flying hamstring
- If you have SI problems, avoid this exercise until I can break it down a little better. This exercise will have you walking backwards focusing on making sure your hips are parallel to the ground. Your arms will reach backward while your flying leg will isolate and reach backward even further, once you are in a “T” shape check in with your hips and make sure they are parallel to the ground.
Ok so that’s my “warm up”. This is my secret. It might not seem like a lot or it might seem super intense. But it's neither. It is the perfect, most essential warm up for anything you do in life, especially once your body gets used to it. You’re probably going to be sore tomorrow. Even when I take a week off, I’ll be sore the next day. And once your body can do this soundly and comfortably, we can add on because that is where we will start working towards “results.” But before we get there, we focus here because this series of exercises really does build the perfect foundation for your body for life. Let me know how it goes! xx
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