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Need a Little Upper-Body Recovery? Give your muscles some love with this FREE quick recovery workout!

Express Upper Body Active Recovery Low-Intensity Cardio, Mobility & Stretching

22 Min • Upper Body
  • View on YouTube
    • Training Type Cardiovascular, Stretching/Flexibility, Mobility
    • Equipment Mat, No Equipment
    • Membership Free

    Overview

    Erica profile picture
    Erica

    Related Short: How to Strategically Pair Stretching and Mobility for Optimal Recovery and Performance



    Focus & Benefits
    Do this routine a day or so after a heavy upper-body workout to keep your muscles moving, break up soreness, and encourage blood flow for recovery. By the end, you should feel more open, mobile, and energized through your shoulders, chest, back, and arms rather than stiff or stagnant.

    Workout Overview

    • Low-Intensity Cardio & Mobility Workout: 10 exercises, 50 seconds active / 10 seconds rest (10 minutes)
    • Upper Body Stretching: 10 exercises, 50 seconds active / 10 seconds rest (10 minutes)

    Equipment

    • Mat

    Tips & Helpful Information

    • The first half of the routine uses gentle, continuous movements to lightly increase your heart rate while moving the shoulders, upper back, chest, and arms through different ranges of motion. Think about movement and circulation rather than exercise intensity - our goal here is to restore instead of trying to make it feel like another workout.
    • In the second half, we'll take it to the mat for longer, more relaxed stretches. Use this as an opportunity to explore the positions that feel especially good for your body today rather than forcing a particular range of motion.
    • Just like the lower-body version, this is intentionally short and easy to fit between harder training days. It can work as active recovery, a mobility and stretching session, an extended cool down, a way to loosen up after sitting, or a gentle end-of-day movement routine. 
    • No warm-up or cool-down is necessary given the gentle theme and structure.

    Difficulty & Modifications Explained
    Due to the low-intensity gentle pace and mobility and stretching-focused movements, this is a level 2 workout. There is plenty of room to modify range of motion, pace, and positioning based on how your body feels today.

    If you enjoyed this upper body version, you may also like its lower body counterpart! Express Lower Body Active Recovery 


    Low-Intensity Cardio & Mobility Workout: 10 exercises, 50 seconds active / 10 seconds rest (10 minutes)
    March + Crossbody Arm Swing
    2 Front/Back Arm Circles + 2 Front/Back Steps
    Shoulder Fly + 2 Alt Side Steps
    Alt Rear Step Bow Extensions
    Alt OH Reach/Side Bend
    Lateral Tap + Crossbody Reach 
    Hinge + Lateral Raise 
    Standing Cat Cow
    Quadruped Scapular Retractions
    Wrist Halos + Fingertip Support 

    **Water Break**

    Upper Body Stretching: 10 exercises, 50 seconds active / 10 seconds rest (10 minutes)
    Child's Pose + Alt Side Reaches
    Thread the Needle (One Side)
    Thread the Needle (Other Side)
    Puppy Pose
    Chest Stretches 
    Kneeling UB Opener + Neck Circles 
    OH Tricep Stretch + Side Bend 
    Mermaid 
    Open Book 
    Lay Long & Breathe