This is a quick workout you can do while lying down!
Mondays can be hard, and you might struggle to find the motivation and energy to get out of bed, let alone workout! This way you don’t even have to get up, but can still workout!
Do each exercise 16 times, and you can add hand weights to the exercises involving arms if you want an extra challenge.
If you do both these sets, you will work your upper and lower back, quads, glutes, shoulders, triceps, abs, and chest! To avoid straining your neck, keep your gaze down about a foot in front of you on the floor.
For the exercises in the first video, keep your core engaged and pulled up so you are using your back muscles - at Barre & Soul, we often say to imagine you are making a little “house for a mouse” under your belly button!
First video: Back, shoulders, and glutes.
Start by lying flat on your front. Bring your arms out to your side in a goal post position with your elbows bent and in line with your shoulders. Float your head, neck, and shoulders up off the ground and start to raise and lower your upper body. Try to maintain a slight hover at the bottom of your range if you can! If you need to modify, you can set your upper body down on the floor each time you lower your chest.
Hold your upper body up at your highest point and extend your arms straight out in front of you. Draw your elbows all the way behind your back as if they could touch, then extend them out again. On your last one, keep your arms straight out in front of you and lift your legs off the ground, keeping them straight as well. Do some “swimmers” here, raising your opposite arm and leg and then switching. If you need some encouragement to go fast, just pretend you are swimming away from a shark! Or toward some ice cream! Whatever motivates you haha!
After swimming for a while, hold both arms and legs straight out and lift them up together, using the strength of your back muscles.
Next comes prone glute work! Bring your upper body back down to the mat, and bend your knees so your shins are perpendicular to the ground. Press your heels together - you will feel like a frog somewhat! Keep your tail bone tucked under so your hip bones press into the mat - aka, avoid arching your back and sticking your butt up! Keep your knees about hips-width apart - the closer they are, the harder this is and the more glute work you get!
Contract your glute muscles to lift your legs and float your thighs up off the mat. Hold this position, and squeeze to take small lifts up from here, as if you were stamping your feet on the ceiling. Remember to keep your heels pressing together to engage your inner thighs. Start to open and close the knees, keeping the heels together. And that’s the end of the first set of lying down exercise!
Second Video: core, chest, and triceps.
Start by lying flat on your back. Engage your core and press your lower back into the mat, then slowly lift your legs up until they are right over your hips. If your lower back starts to come off of the mat, stop there. With control, lower the legs back to hover over the floor. To modify, you can add a slight bend in the legs, or take your legs turned out to relieve hip flexor strain.
Lay all the way back down, and bring your hands behind your head. Bring your right hand and left foot up to meet, twisting across your core. Return to the flat position, then switch arms and legs. You should always be bringing your opposite arm and leg together for this move! Try to reach as far up your leg as you can, and to get your head, neck, and shoulders off the ground as well.
Bring both legs straight up so they are perpendicular to the floor, and raise your head, neck, and shoulders off the ground. Reach your hands towards your toes, lower slightly, then reach up again. Maintain the curve and lift in your upper body and lower one leg, then the other, for a set of “leg scissors”. After doing an even amount with both legs, hold one leg up, and reach both hands on either side of your leg with some small pulses. Repeat on the other leg.
If you want to use light weights, now is the time to grab them! Lay down on your back again, and reach your arms up overhead. Turn your palms to face inward as if you were hugging a beach ball, then bring your arms down to the floor on either side. Repeat! Next, bring both arms straight up overhead, and bend your elbows so your hands/weights reach over the top of your head. Keep your elbows close together to better work your tricep. And you’re done! And since you are already lying down, if you are tired, you are ready to take a nap! Hopefully now you have some energy to get going and start the day!
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