10-Minute Functional Strength

Well, hey there everybody. JC here with a 10 minute functional strength workout. We'll have a one minute warm up, a one minute cool down. And then we'll hit four movements, two lower, two upper body, to go ahead and fire you up in really practical ways to play throughout the rest of your day. All right, let's begin. We're going to get it with a one minute good morning. So go ahead and bring your hands up behind your ears. Press your elbows back so they live just behind your shoulder line. Pull your belly in and hinge your hips back. Now you may need to bend your knees a little bit here to go, "Okay, I still feel really supported in my core." Awesome, go there. Drive your hips forward. Hinge your hips back. Every time you stand up, put a little pop, right? Let there be an acceleration, here. Press your heels down to stand tall. Rather than thinking, "Drive your hips forward." Think about bringing your head to the sky. You are right here. 25 more seconds. What are we doing right now? We are allowing your body to go ahead and warm up that posterior chain of muscles. Whenever you hear that word, what do we mean? All the muscles you don't see in the mirror, that back line of your body. You're here for 10 more seconds and then we'll get right into our four movement sequence for the day. Take one more down, hinge your hips back. Stand up nice and tall. Step to the back of your space. As you lift your right knee up. Here's your option today, we're going to do a single leg plank walkout. So bring your hands onto the mat. Walk it out to a plank. That right leg is still hovering. Walk on back, place your right foot down. Lift your left knee up, walk on out. As close as you can get to your foot before you stand on up. Yeah, this may create some wiggles and some wobbles. No problem, right? Find your challenge for this minute. Single leg walkout. What are your options here? Hey, you can keep both feet down. Walk on out to a plank, bring your knees down. Maybe extend your leg there to create that imbalance to activate that oblique. Bring it back down. Walk your hands back in. You can always bring, whenever you need, that foot down for that stability, for that support, for that break, for that change. Try it on one more time. And then stand on up, sucking in that little body. Now we get into a front lunge. Fall forward, push on back. Fall on forward, push on back. Think about that freedom you find in that fall, right? The second that your toe heel touches the ground or heel toe, that's when that knee softens, that's when those obliques, that you fired up with your single leg action at the beginning in that single leg plank walkout, comes to life. Settle on in here. That heart rate's going to start rising, as it does. Does it feel good? I bet it does, right? Your body goes, "Oh yeah. Now I'm ready to work out. Now I'm ready to settle on in to my work at hand." If you need a little more, maybe hands come up overhead. Bring your awareness to the length. The balance of your side bodies. 15 seconds and we'll get into a little plank reach. Yeah, we're spending a lot of time moving upper and lower extremities. But of course what connects them all? That core. Here we go, one more time. Each side. Find yourself to a plank in three, two, and one. Here you go from that plank, reach right arm forward, take a little shoulder pull, reach back, plant it down. Other hand reaches, a little shoulder pull, a little back fly, reach, plant it down. Knees can come down. Oh yeah. And maybe if you're like me your quads are shaken from your lung work. So it feels really good here to go ahead and take that break. Keep going, y'all. I'm going to show you what that back fly looks like right here, ready? Pull your shoulder blade down towards your back pockets and then reach forward, hand down, other side. Pull on back. What are we creating here? You're creating that space. That opportunity for chest to be open, for back to be strong. This pull and press action is exactly what sets you up. If you're thinking a pushup, by golly you're smart. That's what's coming up for our last movement here in five seconds. I'll get one more each side with you. Yes, you can. Three, two, and one. We have a hand release pushup. Lower your body all the way down to the ground, lift your hands up, plant them back down, push on back up. Lower down, lift your hands, plant them down, push them back up. Here we go. Here's what I want you to think about today, lift your ribs before you lift your hips in your pushup. All of a sudden you may be going, "JC, that's a lot harder than if I lift my hips first." Right? You're exactly right. Feel what happens when your ribs lift before your chest, when your ribs lift before your hips. The good news is that's going to rely and tap into that strength you have. I'm coming down to my knees. We always know our knees are here. It is not a lesser option. It is a better option. If that is where you can find your strength, your strong today. 10 seconds and we will be halfway through our 10 minute functional strength. We are right back to the top. Come in here in three, two, and one. Back of your space. Lift one leg, plant your hands, walk on out. I'm slowing my tempo down a little bit, so I can find my breath, so I can return to me being mindful in my movement. When we use the phrase "functional strength," what do we mean? We mean doing things that humans do, right? We lunge, we sit, we squat, right? We hinge, we drive, we pull, we press. All these things that are really natural. So right now, as you look at this plank walkout, what are we doing? We're getting down to the ground. Often we have to pick up heavy things. How often are we imbalanced? That is exactly where we are warming up our body right here. 15 seconds from now we go into a lunge. Both legs, get to play, get to be supportive at the same time. Find your functionality. Find your application of the work that you are doing right now. Five seconds. You got one more walk out. We hit our lunges right here in three, two, and one. Step forward, fire back up, step forward, fire back up. Hey knee, think about where your knee is coming in relationship with your ankle. If it's crossing so far forward, I bet that knee's not feeling great. When we stack joints, what happens? Our muscles will work for us. That's what we're being here, knee over heel. And all of a sudden, all those muscles come to play. Ligaments and tendons are not designed to do the work, they're designed to hold things in place. As we find that structural solidarity with our skeleton, muscles understand what we're asking them to do. Keep it up. 15 seconds. 10 minutes is more than enough time. If you go, "I don't have time." 10 minutes, five minutes. Maybe you do half of this workout. Maybe you go, "Hey, you know what? When I get home later, I'll do the second half." Exactly, right? Five minutes. One minute of mindful movement every single day is exactly what you need, if that's what you have right now. Walk out to that plank. Here we go, three minutes left. Reach one hand, shoulder, reach, down. Reach your hand forward, thumb to shoulder, reach, and down. Every time you lift your hand can you think about the balance of your side bodies? And can you think about your obliques staying equidistant from the ground, your rib cage staying non-rotated, towards the ground. Every time, right here, remind yourself of how many elements of your body are firing. You can hear it in my breath right now, right? It's getting short, it's getting choppy. Intercostal muscles, that line your rib cage, that invites you to inhale and exhale, they're contracting. So if your breath sounds and feels like this, bravo, you're doing it right. One more time, each side, come on. Yeah, you can. I'm breathing with you. I'm moving with you. Here we go. High plank, lower down to your chest, lift your hands, press down. Leave an impression of your hands in the mat. Ribs lift, then everything else lifts. Yes you can. Yes you can. Y'all, 45 seconds and we are cooling down. Make sure you do not want to work out more after this. Use the energy that you have right here, right now to get you to the bottom of that tank. Knees for one, knees for two, knees for all, knees for none. All sound like wonderful options, y'all. Come one. Exhale as you press. Your exhale is your exertion right here. Come on, come on. Back to the toes, if you got it right here. Last opportunity, try it. Find fatigue. Find failure. What do we learn from those two things? A lot, y'all. Practice them right here. Five, four, three, two, one. Ooh. I'm taking a moment. You taking a moment? I hope so. Give yourself a little round of applause and then bring yourself back to all fours. Press your palms down. Bring your hips right over your knees. Now squeeze your triceps, right? Rotate your elbows back. Squeeze your inner thighs, lower your belly, look forward. Then lift your belly, tuck your chin to your chest. Take a moment here. Full cycle of breath, inhale and exhale. Lower your belly, look forward. Yeah. Lift your belly, look back. As you continue to move your cow and cat here, for the rest of your 10 minute workout today, think about what you're feeling right now that you would not have felt 10 minutes ago. Think about what you are aware of now that you were not thinking about or aware of 10 minutes ago. It is more than enough time for you to give yourself to amplify your state, to change the rest of your day. Y'all, take one more inhale, look forward, and exhale, carve out your belly ,and sit on up. Give yourself that round of applause. We will see a next time, y'all, right here. Have a good one, bye.