Class #3950

HIIT Recovery

10 min - Class
479 likes

Description

Now that you've worked hard and gotten your heart rate up, Courtney invites you to cool down and release your body with this quick recovery class. She focuses on stretching and finding length so that you can feel fluid rather than rigid. She also encourages you to remember your breathing so that you can gently soften into each position.
What You'll Need: Mat

About This Video

Dec 26, 2019
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Transcript

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We have worked so hard, it's time to stretch. We're going to begin with our warmup routine, swinging those arms up, breathe in, and exhale forward fold feels a little bit different after taking your class, maybe a little bit of tightness in those legs. So let's work on lengthening. Inhale arms up, and exhale. Just kind of let that breath create the tempo. Arms up, bend your elbows, pull your chest through your arms, a little tail tuck, a little back bend and reach.

You can feel all that work that you just did in your class. Just let it release it from your body. So there's a big difference between being strong and being rigid and we don't want to feel rigid. If you want to feel liquid, softening and rebuilding, that's lengthen out to a downward facing dog. So forward fold and walk the hands forward. Drop me one heel down to the mat.

So all the jumping that we did works through our calves and our feet and we want to feel length and release. [inaudible] pressing your chest towards your thighs, your hips towards the sky, and just letting the neck decompress. Step one foot four through the hands and drop the back knee down. We're going to allow the hips to push forward. Think of your pelvis like a wheel.

So sort of roll it forward and underneath you taking the chest up in the arms back, letting those hips open up, reaching the hands down. Walk the foot a little bit wide. You can either stay here on your hands, hips coming forward and down towards the mat. Or you can work your way down onto your elbows, letting the shoulders relax. This is a really good time just to slow down the breath, lifting back up, swinging that leg back that's pushed back to a downward dog and step the opposite foot forward. [inaudible] through the hands. Lower the knee, so before you lift the chest and the arms, allow the hips to press forward so they jump in.

That we did really works through those quadriceps. So let's open them up now. Feel the front of the hip open and then we can lift the chest swing arms back at that opening and that width through the front body, hips, pushing forward, hands reaching down. And all that heat that we generated in the class. All that internal heat and energy is going to allow for those muscles to open up a little bit more. Dropping down onto the elbows or staying up onto the hands and notice that the exhale allows for a little bit more room, right?

And the exhale allows for a little bit more length and stretch. So take a deep breath in and then when you breathe out, just soften into that lens. Three more [inaudible] coming back up onto the hands and taking that knee back. It's open up those glutes a little bit. So come on to a seated position and we'll cross one leg, one foot that is over the thigh. Sit nice and tall. Take your hands back, lift your chest, take a deep breath in and on an exhale begin to forward fold.

Now as your chest goes down, your hips stay anchored and you feel this sense of widening through your hips. Your tailbone lifts up and you can walk your hands forward, allowing the upper body to fall. So feeling a glute stretch in one side of the body. So whichever foot is on the top, we're feeling the stretch in that glute. This is a good time to feel length through the pelvic floor.

So that sense of lifting the tail feathers up and lengthening the distance from your Seagram to your pubic synthesis. Rebuild, coming all the way up, lifting the chest, and then walk you in the hands over to one side and you can use that thigh to give you that extra little twist. I want you to think about posture here. Your backhand is basically a second spine, so put it right behind your sake. Grim, push down, lift and twist. Let those shoulders melt. This is a great time to feel Polonius breath.

So inhale into the back and sides and exhale. Take it over to the other side, push down, lift the chest, and then rotate and feel an evolution here. So the longer we stay in the posture, the taller we can lift, the more we can twist, come on back through center. One hand goes down, stretch overhead, and come all the way back up. Other side. [inaudible]. We worked so hard in those lats and O Bleaks. You can feel it here as you lengthen and switch to the other legs on the top. So cross the other foot over.

Feeling anchored in the hips and in the legs. Lift the chest first and have a sense of rooting down through the seat and a sense of widening through the seat as you lean forward. So avoid rounding the spine in the beginning. Walk those hands, reaching your hands away from your tail. And then when you feel like you can't go any further, allow the upper body to rest down. [inaudible] your breath is so powerful. It moves your bones.

So when you breathe in, you feel your ribs expand and open. And when you breathe out the diaphragm and the ribs close and tight, [inaudible] rebuild the spine. Coming all the way up. Take your twist, push down to lift up. Drop the shoulders. You want the neck to be part of this rotation. Now there's the side looking over your shoulder, taking it to our sideband. One hand down. Look up. Anchor that opposite hip. Other side one more time. [inaudible].

We are so ready to do the next video. I'll see you guys then.

Ready, Set, Glow!: with Courtney Miller

Comments

Nice!
Perfect stretches for my morning routine! Feeling energized
Nice little yoga routine :) Pilates yoga. Same same but different.
love the stretches very energizing 
This entire series has been great for me getting back to my Pilates after the holiday’s and great ideas for adding high intensity to my classes! Thank you!
Very nice, thank you
The classes were great.  The last class was very hard on my knees. I think working at a slower pace with more focus on placement of feet is best for me. Also hurt my shoulder on some of the earlier classes. I found a wide forward fold stretch to feel great after the classes. Thank you for the challenges
1 person likes this.
Thank you for doing this series. It is perfect to fit in to a hectic life as a teacher and mum! I am loving the mix of intensity & strength work. I love finishing off with this class aswell. You have such a lovely way of explaining and encouraging. Def one of my favourite teaches on PA. Thank you!! 
Michaela M
It’s a great workout! thanks 👏🏻🙂
Sofia P
My body loved it!! Thank you. 
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