This quick and effective cardio barre workout is low impact but high intensity! Get all the benefits of a heart-pumping, cardio barre class without jumping.
Barre is a great form of low impact strength training and cross-training. If you’ve tried our barre workouts you know they are sneaky hard (always harder than they look)!
Today’s cardio barre workout is a great low impact option to improve flexibility and posture. The cardio exercises in this workout will get your heart rate up in a low impact way.
Bonus: this barre workout is totally pregnancy-friendly. The small, targeted movements found in barre workouts are great for building pelvic floor and deep core strength as well as strengthening the stabilizing muscles around our joints.
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A cardio barre workout is an upbeat, high energy barre class that combines traditional, lightweight barre exercises with non-stop, fat burning, metabolic movements. Think tiny, pulsing exercises to tone paired with larger, multi-muscle, resistance exercises to raise your heart rate and burn calories. Today’s cardio barre workout is low impact, making it a great option for beginners and pregnancy or postpartum!
Who Can Benefit From This Cardio Barre Workout?
Barre is known for its ability to tone muscle, strengthen the core, and increase flexibility, while remaining relatively low-impact and safe for joints. A cardio barre workout like this one is designed to be challenging, yet accessible to all fitness levels.
How Do I Modify Cardio Barre Workouts for Pregnancy?
Barre workouts can involve intense abdominal work and deep twists through the spine, which should be avoided as your pregnancy progresses. An easy modification for plank and push up exercises is to add an incline (by placing your hands on a chair or bench), and swap out twists for one of these pregnancy-safe ab exercises.
15-Minute Low Impact Cardio Barre
These barre-inspired, bodyweight exercises will get your heart rate up while targeting your arms, thighs, glutes and core!
This cardio barre workout is great for beginners and advanced athletes alike — I’ll talk you through various options to scale this workout to fit your fitness level.
Add this full body strength and cardio workout to your beginner or pregnancy workout routine 1-2 times a week to maintain strength and improve cardiovascular endurance.
Workout Equipment:
No equipment needed for this bodyweight workout.
That said, there is always the option to add a set of light dumbbells to increase the intensity of this workout (I’d suggest no more than 5 lb hand weights).
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Targets: Glutes, quads, hamstrings, inner thighs (adductor muscles) and obliques.
How To Do A Plié Squat and Leg Lift
Find second position by stepping wide, heels in, toes facing out towards the corners of the room. Imagine your back is pressed against a wall. Slide your back down the wall, lowering into a wide squat position. Tuck your tailbone, anterior pelvic tilt, to engage your core.
Place your hands on your hips, bend your knees, lowering into the bottom of your plié squat. Shoulders should remain directly over hips.
Drive through the heels to stand tall, engaging the core. As you stand, drive your left leg up into a side leg lift, kicking your leg up to hip height if possible; maintain a slight bend in the left knee.
Lower your left leg back to the ground, then repeat the squat and leg lift movement.
Rear Kick and Arm Fly
Targets: Hips, hip flexors, glutes, quads, hamstrings, shoulder, arms, lower abs and core.
How To Do A Rear Kick and Arm Fly
Start standing feet shoulder-width apart and parallel. Hinge slightly at the waist.
Shift your weight into the left foot as you perform a rear kick on the right, sending the right leg long behind you. As you do so, drive both arms up, locking out biceps near ears. Think higher the arms, higher the heart rate.
With control, lower the right foot back down so it’s flat on the ground. Lower the arms as well.
Then shift your weight into your right foot and perform a rear kick on the left, sending the left leg long behind you as you drive the arms up.
Repeat, alternating the rear kick for the timed interval.
3 Knee Drives and 3 Lunge Pulses
Targets: Legs, glutes, quads, hamstrings, hip flexors, arms, back, shoulders and core.
How To Do 3 Knee Drives and 3 Lunge Pulse
Start standing in a neutral position, feet hip-width apart.
Step your right foot back into a reverse lunge. Lowering your right knee towards the mat, aiming for 90-degree angles in both knees. Pulse for a three-count in this loaded reverse lunge position.
Then, perform three knee drives on the right leg by quickly pulling the right knee towards your chest and sending it back.
Repeat this, alternating the lunge pulse and knee drive for the timed interval.
Oblique Crunch and Side Kick
Targets: Obliques, abs, outer glutes and inner thighs.
How To Do An Oblique Crunch and Side Kick
Start standing in a wide stance, slight bend in the knees.
Shift your weight into your right leg as you perform a standing oblique crunch, pulling the left knee in to meet the left elbow.
Lower the left foot down to the mat with control, gently tapping the left toe to the ground.
Then, immediately perform a side kick on the left by driving the left leg up, left foot is flexed and left heel is facing the wall.
Lower the left leg down with control and repeat the standing oblique crunch and side kick sequence.
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2 comments
Hi…this is great for me. Am in my second trimester and been struggling with exercise. This is just what I need. Thanks a lot😃
Hi Mary! Congrats on your pregnancy! It’s hard to keep moving with all the changes that happen throughout pregnancy, but I hope you’re proud of yourself for completing this workout! Way to go! Keep up the good work mama! -Lindsey
Barre Workout
Barre Workout
Hi…this is great for me. Am in my second trimester and been struggling with exercise. This is just what I need. Thanks a lot😃
Hi Mary! Congrats on your pregnancy! It’s hard to keep moving with all the changes that happen throughout pregnancy, but I hope you’re proud of yourself for completing this workout! Way to go! Keep up the good work mama! -Lindsey