Turbo Fire Stretch 40/Stretch 10

The Stretch 10 is a extended stretch that is supposed to be used after the TF HIIT workouts. Stretch 40 is a 42 min. stand alone yoga routine, the first half is a mostly standing poses (repeating sequence of poses, intensity & pace pick up w/ each subsequent time), the second half is floor poses (mostly static stretches). There is a stage w/ Chalene in the center and two background exercisers (facing the other background exercisers), the exercise modifier is on the right (mirror, not Chalene’s right). There are 3 rows of background exercisers, with 6-7 people per row. There is a timer for each workout, but the exercise names are not displayed. Chalene performs & leads the workout (does not walk around & point out form issues and/or good form).

Equipment: mat, and for Stretch 40 a flat resistance band is used (but not for many exercises, just a few on the floor to increase range of motion, really don’t need one for the workout).

I think that Stretch 40 would have been better if Chalene had walked around to point out form issues & correct them, as there were many people who had poor form (and for newbies to yoga or exercise that’s not a good thing). The number of background exercisers could have been drastically reduced, and created a better environment (looks cluttered, and cameras are panning at larger views of the cast vs. focusing on a few, who did have good form). Another negative, is that Chalene cued often for people to push or pull down on their joints (ex. knees) vs. soft tissue around the joints for an exercise (this in butterfly stretch to increase range of motion, and for lying hamstring stretch to straighten the leg more & increase range of motion), I could imagine that some people could hurt themselves following those cues (and carry those tips to pull/push on joints into other workouts, and set themselves up for injury).

Another frequent comment of Chalene’s was “to give her 2 inches more” depth or range of motion increase for stretches, it did not seem motivating/realistic to me at all (rather hear that people should stretch to the best of their abilities, increase range of motion as they feel ready to, so they don’t hurt themselves). Chalene had questionable form in a few exercise, her standing split has a overly rotated hip so that her leg (held in the air) is not in line w/ her body (off to the opposite side), many of the cast had a bent knee w/ that overly rotated hip (could have cued lower leg & straight vs. what they were doing), and Chalene’s upper body looks collapsed in some of the Warrior 2 poses (not sure why, maybe cuing & posing did not work for her at that time).

The most challenging exercises is likely chaturanga push-up & modified lotus stretch, everything else is common yoga poses is a basic workout. I think the floor section has a better flow (poses held a bit longer vs. feeling rushed) than the standing section. Stretch 10 is a good short stretch workout, will be using that more often than Stretch 40 (but even that I did not really care for either). I really liked Chalene’s CLX Dynamic Flow Yoga, and even her CLX Recharge workout had a better flow/vibe than this one.


Stretch 40 (42:05 min.)

Mountain pose w/ arms to the side of body, 30 second hold (Chalene discusses breathing technique during this exercise)> Arm sweep overhead into fan pose> Arm sweep into crossing hands (back of hands face each other) w/ straight arms & then place in front of body, static hold, 2 reps> add static hold squat after 3rd rep, complete 4 reps w/ squat> straighten legs into Fan pose (hinge at hips, flat back) w/ hands on thighs, 15-20 second hold.

Plie/sumo squat position w/ both arms held out to side, static hold in lowered position, 10 seconds> lean forward w/ flat back & arms crossing in front of body in lowered position of plie/sumo squat, stand up w/ arm reach overhead, 3 reps> Turn feet to face front (cued slightly pigeon-toed) w/ arms to side of body, fold forward (flat back, hinge at hips) to place hands on ground, 20 second hold.

Plank position> lower to knees, Chaturanga push-up> Up Dog> Child’s pose> Down Dog (w/ bent knees)> low lunge (knee on floor) w/ right leg, body leans forward w/ arms to side of head> lift body & arms overhead, arch back and hold> bring left leg into meet right> rag doll (bent knees, head relaxed forward): roll up into standing position> Arm Sweep, fold forward> plank position> repeat sequence on left side. Repeat entire sequence on both sides w/ more intensity: high lunge (knee off floor) is performed in place of low lunge and straight legs w/ arm fanning out to sides, flat back returning to standing position replaces Rag Doll, and then Fold over w/ flat back, hop or step into plank position, repeat sequence again> forward fold, 40 second hold> roll up into mountain pose.

Fan arms & Fold forward> Plank position> 2 triceps push-ups> Warrior 1 (cued that next series of poses will be held for 4 breathes each, about 20 seconds)> Warrior 2 > Right angle> Triangle> Pyramid> Runner’s lunge> high split (standing split)> Plank> step or hop feet forward, straighten legs> fan arms up w/ flat back & return to standing position. Repeat on left side. Repeat entire sequence again but at faster pace (2 breathes per pose).

Floor exercises

Fan arms & fold forward> pigeon (prone glute stretch)> fold upper body forward in pigeon> repeat on other side> Modified lotus: cued as knees should stack on one another, both bent knees, bottom leg’s foot (outer part) is next to the opposite hip, upper leg is crossed over bottom w/ (outer part of) foot resting on floor, upper body folds over & hold> rotate upper body to left side & fold over for static hold, move upper body to right side & repeat stretch> add opposite arm & bend to side to stretch in same position> flex & rotate forward w/ arm & upper body to stretch> Seated spinal twist> cued as staff pose (single leg hamstring stretch) uses band looped around flexed foot> same stretch w/ pointed foot> then alternate between shorter holds w/ flexed & pointed foot.

Roll body down to floor w/ bang looped round foot for Lying hamstring stretch, foot is flexed foot> leg w/ band lowers to side, opposite hip w/ bent knee, opens to side for static hold> add press w/ hand to bent knee> return to starting position, straighten leg w/ band, place opposite hand on knee to keep it straight & pull leg closer to body, bend knee to rest, 3 reps> bring both knees together & roll up.

Repeat entire sequence on other side.

Chalene cues to fold mat in the center to provide cushion for the hips.

Plank position> slowly descend into hover/static hold at bottom position> bring knees down>Cobra> return to prone position into single leg quad stretch, both sides> place hands on both ankles & lift quads & knees off floor for static hold> quadruped position into reverse stretch (cat stretch)>round back and sit back into child’s pose w/ the elbows on floor, then slide forward w/ head & chest, then push up into quadruped position.

Supine position into lying glute stretch> lying spinal twist> same stretch w/ straight leg> return to starting position w/ straight leg, it lowers slowly to floor> repeat sequence on other side.

Guided Meditation (breathing): supine position, arms rest on abs or out to side of body, feet are in open stance (not close to body)> bring right knee into chest for hold, then left> knee circles in both directions.


Stretch 10 (12:28 min.)

Standing exercises

Shoulder stretches: Shoulders rolls to the back w/ hands on hips> release hands for shoulders rolls w/ larger range of motion> Circumduction (circles w/ straight arms) for shoulders (to the back)/alternating arms, slow pace, then fast> reverse direction (forward).

Neck stretch: static hold head tilt (right side of head moves laterally towards right shoulder)> opposite arm moves to side of body, reaches as far to to the side as flexibility allows> tilt head forward a bit & hold> repeat on left side> alternate slow head tilts.

Hip stretch: Overhead reach into Sumo squat, w/ flat back & arms crossing in front of body in lowered position of exercise> static hold in previous lowered position w/ hands on inside of knees, pressing out “towards back of room.”

Adductor stretch: Knee of one leg is bent w/ ball of the foot on the floor, other leg is rotated & straight to the side of body w/ a flexed foot. Hands are placed on floor, in front of body> Warrior 1, facing the side of room> pyramid> turn to face front w/ flat back & arms to sides, into what’s cued as a straddle stretch (forward bend w/ legs in wide stance, hands on floor or on shins)> repeat sequence on other side.

Floor exercises

Butterfly: static hold w/ hands on feet> press left knee down, then the right> IT band stretch (hands in back of body, bent knees: right leg crosses, horizontally over left knee/vertical, foot on floor), complete on other side.

Rotator cuff dynamic stretch: in cross-legged position, w/ single arm bent at 90 degrees (fingers/hand point up), alternate rotation down (hand/fingers point down to floor) & back up to starting position> hold static hold w/ bent elbow/90 degrees w/ palm of hand to the back (as far as comfortable> then static hold w/ arm rotating down w/ palm pulling to the back> place outside of hand on floor & move to the back for stretch, static hold> repeat on other side.

Still seated in cross-legged position, place hands on back of head & hold> arms move to sides of body & pull back, gently, for a static hold> round back (C- curve w/ spine) w/ hands on knees.

Instructor Comments:
Chalene gave many good form pointers & attempts to motivate people, but w/ the lack of pointing out form issues in her class, giving some poor cues (push down on knee, give her 2 more inches of depth or range of motion) & w/ her own form being off at time (plus the very large class) contributed to an odd flow/vibe in the workout.

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