Class working to strengthen our core, abdominals and glute muscles

The class begins in standing then continues onto the mat onto our backs and sides.  There are some more challenging exercise sequences in the class so please remember to work at a level that you feel safe and comfortable to do.

This class includes:

• Standing arm opening and circles
• Standing scissors and hip twist
• Speed skater
• Side plie with side bend
• Lunges
• Roll downs
• One leg stretch with abdo prep
• Double leg stretch with abo prep
• Scissors
• Criss-cross
• Rotation stretch
• Side bend with combined clams
• Side lying toe taps
• Leg lift sideways
• Arm openings
• Bridge with arm raises
• Glute and hamstring stretches
• Sitting chest opening and spine twist

The class starts in standing warming up our upper spine with an arm opening stretch. We then begin to challenge our core and balance with a standing scissors movement and hip twist. We continue to work our glutes and movement control with a speed skate and lunge exercises. We then mobilise our spines with some roll downs and transition onto the mat on our backs to continue the class.

On our backs we begin to strengthen our abdominal muscles with a one leg stretch with abdo prep then challenge them further with a double leg stretch with abdo prep. We then work our core control further with a scissors exercise before bringing in some oblique muscle strength with a criss-cross exercise. We then stretch our spines with a gentle rotation stretch.

Moving onto our sides we work our glutes and engage our abdominals with a side bend, combining a clam movement for an extra challenge. We continue to strengthen our glute muscles in this position with a leg lift sideways movement before stretching the upper body with an arm opening stretch. We then begin to cool down with a bridge with arm openings and stretch out our glute and hamstrings on the mat. We then finish the class in sitting with some gentle upper body stretches.