The Bottom Line
- This straightforward routine targets endurance and strength with low-impact exercises
- You don't need any equipment and can do this workout anywhere
- The workout is challenging but easy on the joints with a focus on building endurance
- None
Description
- A 30-minute postnatal workout that includes cardio and strength exercises for the abs, hips, thighs and upper body
- Cardio includes low-impact kickboxing moves like knee lifts, front kicks, side kicks and back kicks
- Strength exercises include body-weight moves such as squats, lunges, plie squats, pushups, leg lifts and crunches
Guide Review - Sara Holliday's Postnatal Total Body Toning Workout
This 30-minute total body routine requires no equipment - a plus for people trying to fit exercise into a busy schedule. The work begins with a short warm up and moves into low-impact cardio mixed with lower body exercises. The cardio focuses on kickboxing moves like knee lifts, front kicks, side kicks and back kicks. You repeat these moves several times and alternate them with lower body moves like squats, lunges and plie squats. You don't use any weight, but Sara changes up the tempo, adding short pulses, to add intensity.
After 20 minutes of cardio and standing exercises, you move to the floor for pushups (and these include pulses as well) and an interesting compound move where you rest on one knee for side leg lifts and front kicks to work the abs and the thighs. After this you do simple abdominal moves like crunches, oblique crunches and reverse crunches. The workout ends with a soothing stretch for the entire body.
Like many of her other videos, this one is filmed on the beach with a great view of the ocean behind her. There are no other exercisers, just Sara demonstrating the moves with quiet background music.
Overall, this is a solid workout and a good choice for women who've had a baby or even people coming back from an exercise break. The low-impact moves keep the joints comfortable, but she keeps the intensity at a moderate level with a fairly fast pace.
