Shay Mitchell recently shared a look at a typical weekend on Instagram, and it included a glamorous event, a messy kids’ playroom, and a tough gym session.
In slide six of an Instagram carousel post, Mitchell does a dynamic core exercise using a few props while wearing an all-black outfit. She places her palms wider than shoulder-width apart on a mat, and her toes rest on a unique abs roller. Unlike typical rollers that only go forward and backward, this platform on swiveling wheels can move in any direction.
Mitchell moves the roller in a large circle around a small weight plate on the ground while keeping her upper body as still as possible. She pulls her knees in toward her chest before pushing them back out to the side and over to maneuver the abs roller behind the weight plate and back up the other side.
“The body position targets the anterior chain of the body right away, so, chest, core, and legs are working just to hold this position,” Susane Pata, a NASM-certified personal trainer who saw Mitchell’s Instagram post, tells Shape. “It really is a total body exercise when all of the pieces come together,” she says, adding that the circular motion of the lower body works the obliques and challenges shoulder stability.
Working on stabilization is the main benefit of this exercise, according to Pata. The move “calls on more muscles for the coordination and control and can challenge the shoulders and core in a unique way,” she explains, comparing it to traditional mountain climbers that don’t employ this circular motion or require both feet to continuously stay off the ground. (Check It Out: 5 Mountain Climber Variations That Work for Every Fitness Level and Goal)
Mitchell tagged trainer Kollins Ezekh of Members Only training studio in her latest workout clip. However, Mitchell has also shared many sweat sessions with her longtime trainer Kira Stokes on social media over the years.
Most recently, she shared a peek at a workout session with Stokes, which included an unexpected way to use a treadmill, with Vogue. Rather than running on the cardio machine, Mitchell did a bear crawl variation with her feet on the belt and her hands on a short plyo box in the front of the treadmill.
Last fall, Stokes also revealed the Dollface actress’s three-move lower body finisher. It’s made up of squats, lunges, and lateral jumps for a final burn to wrap up a workout or stand alone as a quick workout.
Here’s hoping Mitchell continues to share her innovative exercises with her followers on social media.
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