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Mobility — Workout 5

This 25-minute beginner workout focuses on gluteal muscles exercises. Led by Yasmin Masri, it targets hips, spine, glutes with evidence-based exercises designed for women of all fitness levels.

Exercise Breakdown

11 exercises in Workout 5

Warm-up2 exercises
1m 14s
0:15
Jumping Jacks

Nothing too harsh on the body.

full bodycalves
medium
0:46
Pelvic Isolations and Hip Rotations

Just the pelvis without your torso.

hipsspine
low
Flexibility8 exercises
16m 42s
1:31
Controlled Hip CARs (Controlled Articular Rotations)

Go up, control it.

hipsglutes
medium
4:01
Pendulum Leg Swings (External Rotation)

Knee facing the ceiling, butt squeezed in.

hipsglutes
low
5:11
Pendulum Leg Swings (Internal Rotation)

Internal rotation, meaning knee facing forward.

hips
low
6:01
Spinal Waves

The knees stay straight.

spinecoreupper back
low
7:11
Flat Back Hinges and Bounces

Flat back, parallel to the ground.

hamstringslower backspine
medium
8:31
Wide Leg Active Squats

Belly button towards the thighs. You're not rounding, you're actually opening up.

hipsinner thighsquads
medium
10:21
Kneeling Side Lunges

Keep your butt squeezed in.

inner thighshipsglutes
medium
14:11
Frog Pose with Pelvic Tilts

Exaggerate the movement as much as your body allows you to.

inner thighshipspelvic floor
high
Cool-down1 exercise
5m 51s
18:21
Cool Down: Hip Shakes and Glute Bridge

Squeeze your butt in. Feel that stretch on the quads.

hipship flexorsquads
low

Muscles Targeted

Primary

hipsspineglutes

Secondary

inner thighsquadsfull body

Equipment & Modifications

Equipment Needed

  • block
  • chair
  • mat

Don't Have Equipment?

You can substitute with:

thick bookfirm pillowrolled towelsturdy tablecounterwallthick towelcarpet

Available Modifications

  • Point toes or flex feet
  • Fluid/not controlled version
  • Bent knee
  • Straight knee
  • Arms sideways
  • Arms behind neck
  • Arms down
  • Use blocks if hands cannot reach floor
  • Block under base knee
  • Block under side foot
  • Adjust depth based on level

Coaching Highlights from Yasmin Masri

Belly button towards the thighs. You're not rounding, you're actually opening up.

Form

Make sure that the chair is on the opposite side of the working leg.

Safety

The further away the arms are from your center of gravity, the harder it gets.

Modification

Easy, just loosen up your body.

Motivation

Yasmin teaches with joy and authenticity. Her sessions are challenging but never punishing, and she celebrates small victories throughout.

Form

She celebrates your third rep with the same enthusiasm as your first.

Form

Health Benefits

Women who want to move freely again. If chronic pain, vaginal dryness sound familiar, the joint mobility work here directly supports your recovery. The hips, spine, glutes emphasis addresses the most common restriction patterns in women. Beginner level with modifications — depth comes with time, not force.

Relevant For

back painbalancecardiovascularflexibilityhip painjoint painknee painpelvic floorposturesciaticastress

Frequently Asked Questions

What muscles does this flexibility workout target?

This session works through hips, spine, glutes as primary focus areas, with inner_thighs, quads, full_body getting secondary attention. For hip mobility exercises, what matters is the combination of active and passive range of motion work. Yasmin Masri sequences these 11 movements to progressively open tissue — starting gentle and building depth. A systematic review in Sports Medicine found this progressive approach yields better long-term flexibility gains than aggressive static stretching alone.

Do I need any equipment for this workout?

You'll need: block, chair, mat. Don't have these? A thick towel on carpet works fine as a mat substitute — I've coached women who started with nothing but a clear floor space and still got results. The equipment here supports comfort and alignment — it doesn't make or break the workout. This aligns with principles of flexibility workout that make sessions like this effective.

Is this workout suitable for beginners?

Yes. Yasmin Masri built this for people who are starting or restarting their movement practice. Every exercise has a clear entry point, and she demonstrates modifications throughout. Here's what I tell women who are nervous about starting: the first session is about learning the movements, not about intensity. Your body needs to build motor patterns before it can build capacity. Give yourself three sessions before you judge whether this works for you. This aligns with principles of back flexibility exercises that make sessions like this effective.

How long is this flexibility session?

About 25 minutes, including warm-up and cool-down. Yasmin Masri packs 11 exercises into that window — I want to be honest: 25 minutes doesn't sound like much. But research from the British Journal of Sports Medicine shows that even 15-20 minutes of structured exercise produces measurable improvements in cardiovascular health and mood when done consistently. It's not about marathon sessions. It's about showing up regularly.

Are there modifications available?

Yes, and this matters more than people realize. Yasmin Masri demonstrates modifications including: Point toes or flex feet; Fluid/not controlled version; Bent knee — I've worked with women recovering from knee replacements, managing chronic pain, dealing with diastasis recti. Modifications aren't 'cheating'. they're how you make the exercise YOUR exercise. The American Physical Therapy Association emphasizes that individualized modification is key to long-term exercise adherence. Skip the ego, take the modification.

What's the difference between hip mobility exercises and general stretching?

I get this question constantly, and the answer actually matters. General stretching typically targets muscle length in a single plane. Hip mobility exercises works through multiple planes of motion — flexion, extension, rotation, lateral movement — to improve how your joints actually function in daily life. This session uses active range of motion challenges alongside passive holds. Yasmin Masri's sequencing moves through hips, spine, glutes in patterns that mirror real-world movement. A resistance band for glutes exercises approach addresses not just muscle flexibility but joint capsule mobility, fascial glide, and neuromuscular coordination. That's why you'll feel improvements in how you move, not just how far you can reach.

How often should I do this flexibility workout?

3-4 times per week is the sweet spot for flexibility work. Your tissues need time to adapt and remodel — daily intense flexibility training can actually be counterproductive if you're not giving connective tissue time to recover. Alternate this session with complementary sessions from the same course. Rest days aren't lazy days — they're adaptation days. The research is clear: progressive overload applies to flexibility just as it does to strength.

Is this workout suitable for women over 35 or in perimenopause?

Flexibility work matters more for women over 35 than most people realize. Collagen production declines starting around age 30, and accelerates during perimenopause as estrogen — which stimulates collagen synthesis — drops. That's why joints feel stiffer, recovery takes longer, and range of motion quietly shrinks. This session counteracts those changes through progressive tissue loading. Yasmin Masri's approach targets the fascial system alongside muscle flexibility, which research in Frontiers in Physiology (2019) identifies as a critical but often overlooked factor in age-related mobility loss. Consistency here literally changes your tissue architecture.

How does this session address glute exercises at home?

Glute exercises at home requires a combination of joint mobility and muscular control through range. This session addresses both. Yasmin Masri includes active flexibility challenges — where you're building strength at end ranges — alongside passive holds for tissue adaptation. That dual approach is what the literature calls 'functional flexibility': not just how far you can go, but how strong and controlled you are at those ranges. A 2020 review in the International Journal of Sports Physical Therapy found that active flexibility training produced better functional outcomes than passive stretching alone.

Related Workouts & Topics

About the Trainer

Yasmin Masri

Yasmin Masri

Flexibility Trainer

From: Mobility