LIFT - Low Impact Cardio and Core Workout

Hi, I'm Jodi Sussner, and welcome to Lift, low impact functional training. This is Lift Core Cardio, where we will sculpt your core and burn serious calories with your cardio without any impact. Here to help me as Chris Freytag. She's going to do all of the modifications, so she's going to show options. If you're looking for those, watch for her.

This workout is done with zero weight nothing but bodyweight, your core, and your energy. You're ready to get started. Ready to go. Let's warm-up. Feet apart, reach up, deep breath, relax it down.

Go again. Deep breath, relax it down. Reach across with your left arm. Reach across with your right arm. Just like you're reaching and swimming to open up that mid-back.

That slow control. A couple more right here. Speed it up. Step your feet a little wider. So we go reach, push.

A little bit more. Open up the mid-back. Get that heart rate up, a little pep in your step, little bounce as you go. Four more right here. Squat down, elbows to your sides.

Reach up, go again. Try to pull your elbows into your back, into your sides. Squeeze your shoulder blades to warm up that spine a little bit more. Now we take that elbow pulse, sink into a squat, round forward. Open up your chest and get to that squat round forward.

Go again. Speaking of warming your spine, do you feel that. I feel it. Oh, open up at your chest, round your spine. Two more.

You might even be feeling your legs a little bit here. A bit of a burn. Now open up and hold that pulse, elbows down right into your sides. Four more here, stand up tall and reach across again. Up, up, up.

Good work, four more. Arms up, add the pulse. Down, two, four more. Dive forward, round your spine. Open up your mid-back.

Open up your chest and bend your elbows. Go again. Let's do one more set. Reach across, left, and right for eight. Tap your toe.

Four more reach. Arms up, elbows down, reach up. Do it again. Press down. Reach up.

Stay in pulse hold. Let's go eight like this. Bend your knees. Bend your elbows. Last four.

Round your spine, right here, dive down, open up. Oh, just flex your spine. Even tuck your tailbone under a little bit. Last two. This feels so good to warm up, right?

Doing awesome. Open up your chest now march, right, left. Just march. Cardio does not have to be high impact in order to be effective. We can do intensity and movement with big range of motion a little bit of pep in your step and lots of intention to move with great form and a range of motion and a pace that works for you.

So let's do this marching a little bit wider. Bring it back into narrow, c'mon. Right back up to wide, into narrow knees higher. Four counts, up, up. Feet wide, here we go.

Back to narrow once more, knees up. Feet wide, knees up. Hands to your hips. Tap left and right. Tap your toe.

Tap your toe. Use this to open up your hips a little bit. Beautiful. Get a little rotation to stretch and squeeze through your glutes. Remember your core is everything from your rib cage all the way down to your hips and all the muscles in between.

So when we work your glutes, know that's part of your core. We're not just cheating it for you. Sneaking in some glutes. Okay, sink your hips down. Take a deep breath, reaching up, relax them down once more.

We're ready to work right away here. Relax your shoulders back and down for our first exercise. Now your sequencing today will be core for 30 seconds. Followed by cardio for 30 seconds. We will repeat that four full sets four full minutes of work.

Can you do this with us, all-out effort? You ready, Chris? We got it. High five, lots of energy. Your first exercise is sit through to a sit-up.

Hands go to your mat, bring your left foot right between your hand and your foot. Kick it through and sit down. Keep your outside leg bent. Do a full sit-up, sit all the way up. Bring your hands down to the straight leg.

Right back into what I call beast mode. Okay, here we go. 30 seconds. Sit through, sit up, hands down. Right back up, sit through.

Sit up, hands down. Ugh. I promise you 30 seconds will go pretty fast. Last one. Come all the way up.

Stand tall. All the way. Wide squat, arms go down. Arms reach, left knee pulses, arms down. Reach.

Right knee pulses. Sweep up, hold. Go again. Reach up, two more. Bring your knee wide.

Carve out that oblique. Last time, reach up and pull. Sit through, sit up right away. Ready, sit, kick. Lay back, all the way back up.

So we're going 30 seconds, 30 seconds right away. Just do your best to move at your pace. Watching Chris for any modifications. Now I am attempting this entire sit-through but of course, you could slow it down, right? Yes.

Last one here. Stand all the way up, and squat with me. With two knee pulses. Go. Right leg this time, go again, Squat, reach pull, go again, reach pull.

Couple more. Ah. Notice your heart rate stays up the whole time, for me at least. Whew. Last two here.

Reach up. Big arm movements, I love it. Big arm movements. Gets that heart rate up. Sit throughs, two more sets.

Hands go down, kick your foot. No mercy today. No mercy, hands down. No mercy from this lady. Ah, while we keep moving, you will get a break after this set.

Once you know the movements, you get right to it. Keep going, try the last two, one each way. Always working at your own pace. Every time you come back to this you will get better and better. Stand it up.

Roll it back, squat with two pulses. Here we go. Left knee up, sink down. Reach pulse. Now you do not have to go to any beat.

You need to work at your pace. Pull. Reach, good work. Let's do two more. Pull.

Last time, pull. Last set of sit-throughs. Can you do this? Whoo! Let's do it.

Ah, hands down, kick it out. Sit back, up, hands flat, kick it out. We are moving and grooving. When you hear me winded, that heart rate is up. You have time.

Let's try two more. Can you do it? Whoo! Yes? You can.

Our mantra That's the right answer. Don't make it complicated. Kick your foot between your hand and your foot. Stand it up, feet go wide. Roll up.

Pulse squat, right knee up, pulse it pull. Go again. Make those arms strong. Ugh. Like you're pulling your elbow to the outside of your thigh.

Keep it up, keep it up. Reach. Beautiful. Sinking as low as you can into that squat. Pull.

Let's do two more. One side each side. Ugh, again. Last time here. Nice.

That's that, four sets. You did it. Whoo. Good work. Now we breathe a bit.

Grab a sip of water. We hydrate, we move, we hydrate, we move. That was fantastic. Good way to get started. You know, I always say this, that your first set of strength work is often an extension of your warmup.

It's kind of when your body just gets going again, your brain gets catches up. Yeah, and I feel like I take a little longer to warm up as I get older. So your next exercise is a mountain climber, knee up to pulse, knee up to pulse and we switch. Then we'll get right to our cardio. But for now, hands go to the ground.

This is your core movement. Chris, will show you an option with range of motion. Pull that knee in and switch. Here we go, 30 seconds. Up, up switch, up, up switch.

Pull, kick. Try to get your legs straight back. Now I'm just going to go to my knees, Jody, just to demonstrate that if you can't hold the plank the whole time. Absolutely. You can go to your knees.

Now core, remember, isn't just about sit-ups, stabilization on this movement. Knee up pulse. You've got 10 more seconds. Breathe. Try to get your knee all the way to your elbow.

To the back of your arm. Stand up tall. You got a bowler lunge. I call it a bowler like you're sweeping a bowling ball and step touching. Here we go.

Step right reach and bring it up. I haven't bowled in years. Ah, well now you have. Maybe I should practice. That's right, here's your practice.

So we don't put a lot of pressure on that front knee. Try to sweep your left leg back and across. Whoo. Big arm movements, give big heart rates, right? Let's do one more.

We're right back to plank. Mountain climb it. Get right to it. Hands down, heart rate might stay up. Pulse your knee into your elbow, switch.

Okay, I'm going for it this time. Go for it. But remember you can go on your knees. I'll tell you what, I feel my core so much in a full play. Whoo.

Chest, shoulders kicking in with it. You've got five seconds left. Make the most of it, don't quit. Whoo. Switch, last one here.

Okay, stand up. We're going to go to the right again. Bowler lunge, stepping, sweeping, step touch. Go again. Up, in, up.

So get low to get high. Up. Burn more calories. That heart rate goes up, the bigger your range of motion. The bigger that arm sweep.

I'm imagining throwing my bowling ball. Yes. You're like. I bowl a lot of gutters. I like the bumpers personally.

Couple more, one here. Okay. Two more sets of plank, double pulse. Mounting climber. Here we go.

Up, up, switch. Knee right up to the back of your arm. Try to keep your hips low and your eyes focused out on the spot in front of you. Listen to our words. Whoo.

Breathe. What I can tell you is that this on your toes is 50% harder than your knees. For sure. Oh my gosh. Four seconds.

Yes, you can. Three, two one, stand up. Now your bowler lunge goes to your left. Sweep it. Step it.

Here we go. Come on 30 seconds. Now the question is, can you bowl... to the opposite side? I do not plan to throw a bowling ball with my left hand Ever Yeah, that could be a catastrophe Focus low to high.

You just have 10 seconds. Notice that heart rate coming up without leaping, without jumping. You got this. Come on baby. Two, one.

Mountain climber, get right to it. Here we go. Plank pulse up, up switch, up, up switch. Abs in tight, the whole time. Ooh, we're just breathing, focusing on a spot slightly in front of your hands.

That good head alignment. How are you doing Chris? I'm doing great. Keep our energy up. Come on all of you at your home.

Three, two, one. Stand it up. Last set of cardio. We go left. Sweep, step touch.

Try to reach that arm with intention, with intensity. Big step, get low, get high, down, and up. Yeah. Good work. Ten more full intention set.

Keep moving. You're almost there. Five. three, two, one. Shake it out.

Oh, good. Fitness with friends. Good gracious. Grab a friend and do this. Fitness friends and fun.

And fun. Grab us our water. But that was good. I got tell you, maybe I should try bowling a little more often. It's a good workout obviously.

Okay, third exercise. Let me show you this movement. This is a challenging movement. It has plenty of modifications. So make sure you watch Chris.

We've got a plank, right arm, left leg. And then you switch. We go all the way down in a plank, lift your hands. Tighten your abdomen, press back up. Are you ready?

Okay. And I will show the motive, modifications, so keep your eye on me. Chris has modifications. All right. Here we go right and left up, up, down.

Lift your hands, tighten your abdomen and go. Now you will all get a different pace here. Try to get your chest all the way to the ground. When you lift your arms and your leg work to keep your ribs and your hips level. All the way down.

Tighten your abdomen. Yes, this is core, your ribs, your hips, abs, and glutes all working here. Okay, relax your knees down. Walk your hands to your feet. Stand up, reach up, roll down.

Walk your hands out. Let's try to go together, four count out. One, two. Tap your toe. Out and in, out and in, out and in.

Tap or walk yourself in, roll up and you'll squat up and down, up, down. We're gonna make that a little faster. You're ready. Walk it out. Tap right, left.

Walk it back in, squat up, down. Do one more time. Walk it out. Tap right, left, walk back in, squat up, down. That's set one.

Whoo. Three more sets. Let's get to that plank. Whoops. Whoops.

Oh my gosh. Right left up, down. Chest to the ground. I was walking off the set. We were like, we're done.

I was walking away. She's like, I'm done. That was good. Chest down, lift your hands. Come on.

Just two more, try. All you can do is try. Right? You'll get better and better every single time. One more up, up.

And I just want to say Jodi, no shame in modification. No way. No way. You're here and your moving. Walk your hands to your feet, inchworm four sets.

Go. Tap out. Right, left. Four steps. Walk that inchworm in.

Squat, up, down. Watch Chris's range of motion if you're looking for a modification. So I'm just tapping my feet slightly to the side. Walk it in. Reach up.

It's ah hard. Let's do one more set. Okay, we got it. One more, walk it out. Whoo.

Tap right, left, big taps if you can. Up and up. That is set two, two more. Get to that plank. You ready.

Right and left, all the way down. Lift your hands, press up. Oh, 30 seconds goes fast, kinda. Kinda. Longest 30 seconds of your life.

One more set. Yes you can, yes you can, try. Come on. Up, press, go to your knees. Walk your hands to your feet.

Inchworm. Walk out four steps. Tap your toe wherever you can. The bigger the better, butt comes up and squat. Moving versus not moving, better.

There's no competition here. Jodi, I've always said any movement is good movement. Absolutely. So whatever the heck you're doing at home, it is better than sitting on the couch. Just remember that.

For sure. Well, this is your last one. How about. At least this set. Whoo.

Walk it back in, squat up. You have one more set. Are you with me? Whoo. Let's do this.

Walk out to your plank. Stay there. Right left, left. Plank all the way down, rest, lift your hands, abdomen tight. So if you are cursing these push-ups and planks, we're almost done.

I'm right there with you. How about that? Down and up. Whoo. Last one.

Come on, try another rep. Any version. Any amount of movement is better than no movement. Walk your hands back. Sweating, inchworm walk it out.

Here we go. 30 seconds out in, walk it in. Up to squats. Do it again. Walk out, tap tap.

Here's breathing, yes? Up squats. Okay, do two more. Try. Try.

Every time you do this you'll get better and better. Up up, last one. Walk it out. Tap, tap. Whoo.

Walk it back in. Two squats. And done. Wow. Four sets.

Wow, okay. Here's what I like. I like a lot of these exercises are like hidden core. Yes. Like you don't know you're actually, you're not doing a sit-up, but holy connection.

Holy connection. That bear crawl thing, that back, and forth inchworm. That kills you. Good job, everybody Shoulders to hips. You're doing great.

So we're on our fourth set of exercises. This is yet another plank. We're going to sneak in a little bit of glute strength. So I want you to go hands and feet backs. So you're hovering right over the mat with your feet a little closer to your hands.

The closer your feet are the less pressure on your hands. So do what works for you. We press back with one leg and then the other, all right? Squeeze your glutes. 30 seconds.

Go I will show the modification right here on your knees. So you're all the way down. And either way, you're getting a ton of glute work if you're pressing your leg back. So you can have your knees on the ground. No problem.

You're going to love the cardio. You're going to feel like heart's pumping, but it's a break on your shoulders. A little bit of break on your abdominals. Squeeze your glutes. Stay here for four, three, two, one stand it up, shoulders back.

We're going to duck down and reach up to one side. Here we go down and right, down and left. Big reach, simple movement. I want you to see how low you can get with your legs. And how big of a reach you can get with your arms?

Yeah. Go to work. Try not to get dizzy. And if you are just look straight forward that really helps. I love this down, up motion.

Cause it's such a great way to get the heart rate up without jumping. Totally, five more seconds here. Breathe, breathe, breathe. We're right back for set two, hover and press your glutes. Here we go, right to it.

Press, squeeze, switch. Now you go, whatever pace you want. If you're all about just kicking out the reps, do it. It's all about the timer. Not the number of reps.

Make the movement quality focus first and really squeezing your glutes. So extend through those glutes. Yeah. Yeah, because when I extend my leg, Holy activation Totally. Core, glutes, help with that, we're already up.

Stand tall for your cardio. Let's go reaching to the right, squat down, and reach. Here we go. Down and up. Both the movements are important.

We're getting down, we're getting up. Full range each way. Come on. And you know what I love. We're getting our heart rate up.

But I'm getting a little stretch right through the shoulders, chest, hips, abs. Five more seconds. Four, three, two, and one Set three of four. You're almost there. Let's get to it.

Beast mode. This is a beast hover, kick your leg. Hashtag beast mode. Hashtag beast mode. Go This is a beast hold.

Beast hold, beast mode. With a little glute press. C'mon, now you decide your pace. I'm going to go to the beat for a second. I want you to see this.

Okay. Push, switch, switch. For those of you modifying with me, really focus on the glute extension and the abdominal contraction. Three seconds, two seconds, one. Bring it up.

Whoo. Here we go, ready? To the left, to the right go. Oh and exercise is fun. She says with a smile.

With a smile, you know what? Sometimes you got to smile. Fake it till you make it. I love that. Fake it till you make it Keep at it, you're halfway there.

Can you get a little lower with each movement? Oh baby. Here we go. Yep. Let's say four, and three, there's two, one each way.

Whoo. Last beats mode. All right Let's sweat. Let's work. Hands down, feet tap.

Pulse back, squeeze. I'm showing tempo with the kick. You can go to your knees as Chris noted, follow her. There's no shame in modification, it is moving It is. You're doing your best.

Doing the best you can. Very good. Because we all have to start somewhere, and you know what? It's better to do this with friends. Keyword is try.

Meaning Jodi and I. Yeah We're happy to be your friends. Come with us. Three seconds, two, and one. 'Kay so the more they work out with us.

We're like your besties. Right? Okay. Here we go. We're ready for cardio, go to the left to the right, 30 seconds.

Give it all you've got. I think we need this stretch and this sweat, after all those beasts. Keep working, last 15 seconds. Down, up. As you're tired, keep getting low four, three, two, one each way.

Hey, nice work. You just have one more set. Block five is all about your glutes and your obliques. Let's get down onto the ground into a bridge position Lie flat, knees bent. Now here's a twist on an old glute, kick, or march.

Hold your abdomen in, press your hands down. Tighten your glutes and lift your hips up. Keep your feet nice and flat but bring your feet wide and then narrow. So we go, out, out, in, in. Here, we go.

Out, out, in. Range of motion on this one is where it's at. Cause you've got to keep your hips nice and level and lifted. There's a lot going on in this simple-looking movement. How you doing Chris?

I'm doing great Jodi. I'm going to drop my hips to show everybody that you could drop your hips down and get those feet moving as fast as you can. Keep your abs tight. You just have 10 seconds to really squeezed, really lift. It's supposed to be fun, right?

Whoo. Let's go three, two, one. Take it all the way down. Come on up to standing. You've got lunges.

We're going right left, right. Step up on four. Here we go. Reach two, step up together, reach. Side to side, get as low as you can.

Watch Chris for the modification. Reach up. I'm going to the knee with these side lunges. I see that you are going for the floor, girlfriend. Oh yeah.

I want to show you where you can go with this. Right? Without having to jump, and my heart rate is jumping, but my feet are not. Hey, reach up. We go last four, three, two, and one.

Okay. Let's shake it out. Bridge, second set. I like you that. Two in one!

Two in one! I don't want to jib you on your time and do too much. So lay down into your bridge. Knees bent, feet flat, pull your abs in tight, lift and go out, out in, in. Right to it.

Squeeze your glute, lift your hips. Huh, notice we're sweating here, even though we're not beating our bodies up we are certainly working. I hope you feel it too. Pulling my belly to my spine and really trying to keep those hips up is a challenge. It is a challenge.

Let's go four seconds, three, two, and one Come on up. We are lunging right again. 30 seconds to go, here it is. Side, side. Take it up, again.

Reaching to the floor, to your knee, you pick. And your pace. Now, if you want to add a challenge you can come up onto your toes! Right at that center up onto your toes. Quick little balance.

We know that balance, and good balanced is part of core. Do one more. Bring it up. Third set. All right I'm ready.

To that bridge. Here it is Challenge to change yourself, baby. Challenge accepted. Tighten your glutes, lift, squeeze, march, go. Hah, nice work, c'mon.

Like you said, challenge just to keep your hips lifted. Second challenge, stable. Squeeze. Press your arms into the mat, that helps you. That's your rib cage, your obliques doing some work too.

Four seconds. Four, three, two, one. Come on up. We're lunging to the left this time. Three lunges and a reach.

Here we go. Left, right, left, stand it up. Go Bring it up. Are you still reaching for your knee? Are you still reaching for the floor?

Do you need to make a change? Assess here, just enough to keep moving. Motivation. Bring it up, one more time. Bring it up.

Bridges. Okay. Last set. So make it your best. Lay back.

feet flat, squeeze in, boost. March it out, out, out in. The wider you go with your feet. The harder this is. Just stabilize at your hips, feel your glutes more than your hamstrings.

If you need to, lift a little bit higher to get into your glutes. If you feel this into your back, lower your hips a little bit. You've already got four seconds. Here's three, two, one lower down. Get on up.

We're lunging left again. You ready? Here we go. Left. Right.

Left. Bring it up. Hey. stand tall. Get full extension at your hips, pull them forward.

Big stretch to the ceiling, actually get up onto your toes. Reach. Bring it up. I can taste the finish line. Yes we're almost there.

One more. Bring it up. Reach. Hah, that's that? That was awesome.

Core and cardio. Fun and new moves. I love it. Fun new moves. Let's cool it down a little bit.

Nice, easy march, right and left. So easy, small movements. I want you to let your heart rate come down. The faster your heart rate comes down. The more conditioned you are, typically.

So use this as a measuring point, every time you do this workout kind of assess how long did it take me to get my heart rate down? I'm feeling better, sooner. That's a good thing. My face is not as red at the end, right? That's how you know you've made progress.

Checking a heart rate monitor and seeing progress. Nice work, bring your feet a little bit wider. Shake them out. Just nice, easy sway here. Add a little rotation at your torso.

Last two, one each way. Hold your hands to your thighs. Reach up with your right arm. Stretch to your left and just hold here for a moment. Take a deep breath into your right rib cage.

Turn your head. Look to your right arm if you can. Take a deep breath here, you're going to look down towards your left leg, and reach to the front corner of the room. Round down towards your left foot. Roll yourself to the center.

Head down, roll yourself. Up to standing. Shoulders up, shoulders back, left arm up, stretch to your right. Hold here for a deep breath. If you can look to your left hand, just turning your chin.

Deep breath into that left rib cage. Look over to your right foot. Reach for the right corner of the room. Round down to the center. Get down, roll up slow, shoulders up, shoulders back.

Bring your feet together. Turn, and just see the side body. Pull your hands right behind your low back, so your fingers point to your seat. Pull your elbows inward to open up at your chest. Just push your hips forward and draw your hips back.

Don't be afraid of this extension, you've got support in your sacrum, your lowest back. So you're opening up the front of your hips. This should feel really good for your chest to the front of your abdomen. Chris how's this feeling for you. This feels awesome.

I always love to open to the front of my body. Chest to shoulders cause I am tight. Especially if you sit for your job if you travel a lot in the car. You need to open up your hip flexors, extend your spine. One more time.

C'mon back to center. And when you got your hands on your low back. I mean you have that safety catch where you don't have to worry about it. Absolutely. It's supportive for your sacrum and your low back.

Let's bring two big deep breaths. Reach up, relax your arms, relax your shoulders, go again. Relax those arms and shoulders. And you did it. Thank you for joining us on Lift, Core Cardio.

See you again, real soon.