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Hi. I’m Courtney Miller, and I’ve got Sydney with me. She’s a friend and fellow Pilates teacher at Pilates Republic. I have planned a very unilateral workout for you. So one-sided workout, the beauty of this is it’ll help you to feel rebalanced. It’s a great reset.
It is gonna be challenging, of course. But you’ll also be able to feel and correct maybe some muscle asymmetries. Let’s begin in bridging I’ve got 2 springs on for Sydney, 2 reds. Make sure you’re in the bridge that feels best for you. Head rest down, lie down onto the carriage, heels of the feet onto the footbar. And feet about hip distance apart, yeah, hands down by the sides. Lift your hips up and find your best bridge before we start to move, just go ahead and dial in.
So Tuck your tail, squeeze your glutes, close your upper ribs, and remember your arms are part of this move. So narrow the arms flat in the wrist. Good. Take one leg up to tabletop, keep that leg in table. We’re gonna go right about here and press back with your other leg, 5 big presses. 1, and bring it in. 2, the nice thing about all this unilateral or one-sided work is you’re gonna do everything twice.
That’s a good thing because if you’re struggling with something, you’ve gotta second opportunity to really dial it in and learn it. Last time like this, push out. Now add a bicycle into that bridge. So extend the leg when the carriages in, press out and bend to table. Good. Keep the hips level and lifted.
That’s 2. Left knee stays over the mid foot. 3. That’s 4. And one more time like this, 5 press all the way out. Now keep the leg straight. Kick up as you press out.
Big kick and bring it in. 1. That’s 2. Arms are strong. 3 hips stay lifted. 4. And one more time, 5 bring the carriage in, bend the knee, place the foot down, and take a moment just to find center again.
I think it’s cool to observe the real life feeling of how the exercises change your body. So, obviously, that left leg was working. You can feel it. Let’s go into it now. Left leg comes to table. Right leg is your supporter.
Push back 5 times. Big push and pull straight, my right leg all the way. 2. Yeah. As the knee drops down, so do the hips, 3. That’s 4. And push out. That’s 5. Bicycle, extend the leg, and bend it in 1.
Good. Driving that heel down, using the hamstrings to push 2. 3. That’s 4. And one more time. 5. Legs stays straight. Kick it up. Big sweep.
1. Bring it down. 2. Good. 3 hips up even higher. 4. And last time, press kick.
Carriage comes in, leg goes down, hold the bridge, reset, feel the feels, and then roll your spine down to the mat. Next move is single leg footwork, which you’ll want more tension than this. So drape your legs over the bar, lift your arms to the ceiling, exhale roll up, Sydney has 2 red springs on, so add the blue. So we’ve got two and a half springs. You do the single leg footwork setting that you love. Roll your spine all the way down to the mat. And arms down beside you.
Let’s go toes on, heels high, feet, hip distance, really similar choreography. So right leg’s gonna come to table Keep it in that tabletop position. Push back for 5 with your left. 5. Good. We’re talking a lot of ankle stability. 4.
Nice. 3. Really lengthen all the way up. Push against that up bar. 4. And 5. Time for bicycle. Extend the leg and bend to table.
1. Yeah, not just right into the chest, just a table, 2. There it is. 3. It’s an oppositional feeling. 4 like a bow and arrow.
5 leg is gonna stay straight. Kick it up as you press out big kick. 1, swing it down. 2, 3, 4, one more time like this, 5 carriage comes in leg down. We’re gonna do the dev Lape full variation. So keep that leg straight.
Let’s slow it down. Follow along with me, and we can speed it up if you want to. As you push out with your left leg, bend your right leg to table pause. The develop del dev la pay or the development of the leg happens at the knee. So the leg extends up, and the upper leg bone doesn’t move. Now the whole leg swings down, tap the foot bar. The whole leg lifts up hold.
Both feet dorsi flex. Yeah. Both feet plantar flex. Almost there. You bend the knee while keeping the femur steady, and then you go through your bicycle, how you started. So I’ll gonna still talk you through slow, but I’m not gonna touch you. Here we go. So press and bend straighten the leg and hold. Leg sweeps down. Leg sweeps up.
Flex the feet, point the toes, bend the knee, and send it through. Here’s the tempo. Ready? You press and bend. Lift and kick. Sweet. And kick flex the feet, point the toes, bend the knee, send it through. Again, press and bend extend, lower the leg, and lift You flex and point bend the knee one more time. Press kick. Sweep it down. Kick.
You got it, flex. Point, bend the knee, send it through. Oh, that’s hard for your brain. Let’s do the other leg. How’s your ankle feel good? Okay.
So right foot stays down. Left leg comes to table. Just leave it in table. Push out with the right five times. 5. And let’s bring that leg more to table. 4, 3, all of this one-sided work is going to definitely challenge your coordination as well.
Good. One more press like this and into the bicycle. So leg extends as the carriage comes in, bend to table. Bend just to that table. Yeah. So when I say table, I mean a 90 degree bend at the hip, 90 degree bend at the knee. Last times, and the leg long, and straight leg kicks.
Here we go, leg up and down five times, up, And down. Find the opposition. 3. And down. That’s 2. And one, sweep the leg down. Pause. Here’s that big one. We’ll do two together as you push out with the right, bend the left to that sharp tabletop, 9090. Use the quadricep to develop the leg or straighten the leg.
Swing the leg down, tap the bar, swing the leg up hold, flex your feet, point both ankles, Bend the knee while keeping the femur pretty steady and extend the leg long. Good. One more time slow. So you press and bend hold. Extend the leg to the ceiling, swing it down, swing it up, flex, point, bend using the hamstring, and extend it. Now here’s your tempo. You bend and kick.
You lower the leg and kick. Flex the feet. Point the toes. Bend the knee. Send it through 2 more. Bend. Up, swing it down, up, flex, point, bend the knee one more time. So you go table to the sky, sweep it, kick it high, flex the feet, point the toes, bend, and send it all the way through. Well, then, drape your legs over the bar, lift your arms to the ceiling, Give yourself one reformer roll up to get there all the way up. You go.
Single hand and strap supine, so reduce your tension. Your option is one blue. Or one red. One red will be more challenging. So pop 2 of those springs off. Decide what you want.
I won’t tell you what she did. Lie all the way down. Good. So grab one strap. I’ll grab yours for you. If you did the blue spring, you might wanna use the short loop.
If you have a red spring, you might wanna use a long loop, place your hands into it. Both hands go in. So what I always do is the opposite hand, the one that’s not on the same side as the loop, that hand goes in front. And then that way when I’m doing my rotation, I feel like I’m getting that shoulder off the mat and more of a twist legs come up to table. Good. Take a big breath in, exhale curl up, pull the arms down to the same side as the strap hold. So that’s that lift and rotation I was talking about.
And then lower the head lift the arms back up. Good. We’re gonna do 5. X Hill lift. Inhale lower. Nice. X Hill push lift. Inhale. Try to keep the hips steady and the legs still.
Look towards the corner of the footbar while you’re at. Good. So that’s 5. The next time I want you to curl up, stay up. And as the arms lift extend the legs long, so arms and legs reach away from the midline, everything comes in, bending the knees in 5. Very nice.
4. If it doesn’t work for you to stay up, drop the head, take breaks. 3. Good, big, open, big, close. 2. One more time like this. Open close.
1, hold the arms and extend the legs. You have 2 options. 1 is tucking your knees in and out. 2 is straight legs going up and down. Pick your poison 5 times 1.
Straight legs is harder. 2. Keep reaching through the arms. 3. Stay lifted. Stay twisted. 4. Last time, 5, bend the knees, rest, and recover. Well done.
Time just sides. Grab the opposite strap. Make sure you recreate the same sensation. So if you use the short, use the short. So it is the right strap that she has in her right hand.
So her left hand is coming in front. Legs come to table, lift, and twist, exhale up. You go? And then inhale down. That’s one. Getting the shoulder completely off the mat. 2, looking towards the footbar pushing through the hands. 3, feeling like the pelvis isn’t moving, 4, and 5. So she did 5 lifts, lower the head. This time, curl up stay up.
Hold the curl. As the arms go up, the legs extend, think of double leg stretch, and then exhale, bend the knees in, right, coming into that hollow body lever position, and then pulling in through center 3? Good work. 4. Can you twist more? And hold the arms down for 5, knee tucks in and out, or straight legs up and down. 5, reach energy through the fingertips, 4 gaze at that corner of the foot bar. 3, 2 exhale to swing those legs up.
And one rest feet, rest head, and hook up that strap behind you. Good. Drape the legs over the bar. Lift your arms. One reformer roll up is what you need to go all the way up. Swing your legs off to one side. So seated facing back, take a seat.
Legs go through the shoulder blocks. Cross your ankles, if you’d like. You’re gonna be using one rope, one strap, Right now, this is the left. It’s gonna cross to the other hand. Anthony’s gonna hold nice and high on the rope.
The higher you hold, the heavier it’ll be reach your arms forward. Scooch back just a little bit. You don’t need too much space behind you, but four fingers is just what you need. No rotation. Just a row. Pull those elbows back.
And extend long. Good. Try not to lean back if anything a little forward. Good. 5 is our magic number for each variation. 3 4. Well done.
And 5. Now without leaning back, I want you to add a rotation when you row. So this arm stretches forward as the opposite elbow pulls back and then come on through center. Try not to move in the legs. Twist. And center. Hips don’t move.
Legs don’t move. 3. Good. That’s 4. And then one more time, that’s 5. Now as you rotate in a row, I want you to actually hinge and lean back.
Look down at that elbow. Here we go. Lean and rise. That’s one. Lean and rise. That’s 2. And sometimes I kinda press my calves out into the shoulder blocks if I feel like I need to so I can get a little leverage on a lean. 3. All the tricks.
4. And then last time, 5. Well done. Take that loop into the same side hand and use the short loop for bicep curl. Reach both arms forward. Good. Palms down on the nonworking hand palm is up on the working hand, roll down into a low c scoop bicep curl, single arm, curl it in. If it starts to get too heavy, drop the elbow a little bit, Yeah.
Elbow doesn’t need to be any higher than the shoulder. No neck tension, curl in. Good. Now you don’t have to add this variation, but cross your right ankle over your left, And then as your left elbow bends, right knee can come in and out. Mhmm. Exhale pull in and out. Well done. And curl. So either doing 2 sets of 5 without the leg or 5 without the leg, 5 with the leg, one more time, big scoop, and rest. Straddle the machine.
Hang on to that loop and place the long loop around the arch of your left foot. Before you do anything wild, come up to a hover position, hands behind the head, push your head back into your hands, laterally bend to one direction, and reach your arm overhead, and then return. And then other side. So this is basically doing side bending without the box. When you laterally bend, you want this arm to be really close to your head. So arm comes over like this. Yeah. And then come on back up.
And then same thing. You got it. Yeah. Ribs are closed. Keep going. Try to lean your shoulders back a little bit so your shoulders are stacked right over your hips.
Well done. The chest feels very open during the lateral flexion and the side bend. Good. One more each side. Make sure you feel even. And once you’ve evened out, place your hands on the shoulder blocks and step the foot that doesn’t have the strap in it up onto the carriage, making your tripod or your triangle shape, then bring the foot and leg does have this strap into a bent position. Both knees are bent.
And I want you to round your back and think of your body like a little seed coiled up and very small. On an exhale, extend the strap leg, lengthen the spine, and straighten your standing leg. One long line, and then bend everything to come in. And exhale lengthen everything to press out. Good. Inhale as you bend and scoop, exhale as you lengthen and press.
That’s it. We’ll do 10 here. In heel bend and scoop, exhale, lengthen and press. Good. Sydney’s opening her hip like arabesque style as she press out. I think that’s fine. Some people really like to keep the hips square, so that’s something you can play with.
2 more makes 10. Just keep that tension out of the neck. One more and press. Good. Take the knees down. Walk your knees back towards the very front the carriage so your shins hang off and then roll onto your side for side lying, foot, and straps, drop all the way down onto your elbow and shoulder, support your head scooch your hips back towards the back of the carriage towards me.
Booty back even more towards me. There you go. Bottom knee stays bent in. Top leg comes up to a tabletop position. You can hold the shoulder block if you want and then flex your foot. You’re kicking towards that foot bar for 5. Kick.
And bend to that table. Good. Kick and bend. You still have some room behind you, so scoots your butt back a little bit. There you go. Good. Kick. Is your bottom knee good? Tucked in and okay? Okay. Kick and bend and kick one more time. Keep the leg straight hinge the leg forward.
Big breath in. Pull the hip back as the leg hinges forward and sweep. Good. Inhale forward. Can you lift up through your ribs just a little bit finding those abdominals too? Good. Children’s relaxed. 3.
4, finding that full range of motion, finding that evolution within the exercise, and 5. Time for oval. So go forward as far as your hamstring will allow up about 6 inches and around. 5 in each direction. No end and no beginning, very fluid in the motion. 2, 3, Good.
Hips are staying stacked. So are the shoulders 4? And one more time, 5. Let’s reverse. 5 in the other direction.
1. Good. So I really like my circle stretched out and big. I want to get that hamstring length, as I get that glute strength. Good. Back up. Forward down. Last two. And last one. Awesome. Bend the knee, swing your feet forward so your feet are on the floor without losing the strap.
Good to help yourself come up to seated, and then place your inside foot into the long loop. So it’s around your ankle, and take your outside foot out. Good. Come into a low squat. Booty’s just hovering over that carriage down and up. Inhale down, exhale up.
That just testing the waters here, we are about to go into a unilateral or one-sided exercise in 3. In 2, and stay low into your squat. Now what I usually do before I begin this exercise is I take a pretty big step with the foot closer to the foot bar and I lean into that leg. Yeah. That allows you to lengthen through the strap leg without losing tension, step it in and out. In and out. If you’re feeling like the blue feels too heavy, your option if you have it at home is to go down to a yellow spring or a quarter spring.
The blue is heavy. You’re not just feeling it. It actually is heavy. Pull in. We’ll do 10 here, so 3 more. Stabilizing glute, and then mobilizing inner thigh 2.
And 1. Now go into your wide squat. It’s gonna take a couple repetitions to really dial this one in. Gonna go down, come up to a balanced position on one leg, drawing the knee up, and back down, and just go through a few reps. And you’ll notice the more you do, the better you get, you’re coming up to, like, a passay. So you’re bringing the foot up towards the knee. Yes.
Finding that connection. There it is. Inhale, down, and exhale. Good. Last four.
Zipping up abdominals as you come up, it’ll help with stability. 3, last two, And one more time. 1. Well done. Take a seat onto the carriage, make sure it’s on behind you. Go ahead and hook up that strap. Legs go through the shoulder blocks.
Face back. You’re about to the same thing again on the other side. So you don’t need too much space behind you. I’ve got now the right rope, and this knee’s gonna hold in her left hand, and she’s gonna hold nice and high to increase the strength training component of this. Both arms forward. Find your best posture just the elbow pulls back for 5. Good. And 4, if you feel neck tension, drop the height of the elbow.
3. Co contraction, abdominals tightening as the elbow draws back. 2, And one more, just like this, one, time to add the rotation. So as elbow pulls back, opposite arm reaches forward, and return. It feels good, doesn’t it? When somebody pulls on you and return. Good. Legs don’t move because the hips don’t move. That’s 3, 4, and then one more time. 5. Time to add that hinge.
So lean back, row, and twist. 1, rise to come up. Think of your flat back, short box abdominal series. 2. Think of your short box abdominal series magician or or cast a spell. Right? One more time. Big lean, big hinge, and rise. Now you’re gonna hold the loop into the same side hand, so it’s not crossed anymore.
One palm down, working palm up, roll down into your low scoop, and just go into your bicep curls first. You’ve got 5 here, You have the option to do a second set of 5 just like this. You can cross your right ankle over your left. Is that interesting in the way it’s always the same length as your forearm? Always get caught on your elbow. Okay. Add that left knee in, curl in.
And out. 5, 4, 3. Good. 2, staying wide in the chest, 1, and rise. Into the straddle, you go. Long loop goes around the arch of the same side. So this happens to be your right side.
Right and left doesn’t really matter. Come on up into your hover position. Squeeze your calves into the frame of the machine. This time, we’re gonna do what’s called around the world. So keep your hands by your head, laterally flex your spine in one direction.
Now do a really accentuated flexion. So scoop to come forward. Come all the way over to the other side. Make sure your shoulders come right up over your hips. And come to vertical. Good. Do it the other side.
So tilt, flex, find the length, and lift. Nice. Tilt. Flex, scoop, scoop, scoop, scoop, you wanna come shoulders in line with the hips or chest back more, chest back more, chest back more, and then lift. Good. Do it again. Tilt. Scoop around.
Nice. Good. And then lengthen 1 more each side or even yourself out. Good. Pretend like your back is against a wall when you’re here. Yeah. Tilt, flex, just getting that thoracic spine to move and lengthen hands go to the shoulder blocks. The foot that doesn’t have the loop steps up onto the machine, make a triangle between your foot and your two hands, The leg that does have the loop comes up into a knee tuck, heel to butt, knee to chest, round back. When you’re ready, you push out with the leg, lengthens for the spine straight in the standing leg.
So it’s almost like an exclamation point when you’re here, and then round scoop be small. Good. 10 times. Yeah. When I do this, I have to remind myself to lean back. So my weight is more over my standing foot and lessened to my hands.
Good scoop. Bend. Lengthen extend. 10 is your goal for this one. If it feels right to open the hip more towards an arabesque, do it. If you like to keep those hips square, maybe coming more into like a three legged dog, that could be your jam as well.
When you get to 10, take the knees down, and walk the knees way back. When you get into your side lying position, you don’t wanna feel tucked like a ball. You wanna feel long, like that exclamation point, come down onto your elbow, rest your head into your hand. Good. And then scooch your hips back so you’re real close to the back of the carriage. Bottom means bent in.
Top leg extends towards the foot bar all the way out, pause. The height of the bar is approximately the height of the foot. Bend the knee in. The strap’s gonna go in front of the knee because you’re coming to that 9090 and kick it out. Bend it in. And kick it out. 2, bend it in, and kick it out. Nice.
Stay lifted. 3. 4. Hips are stacked. 5. Sweep it forward. Big, sweet. All the way. All the way.
And sweep it back. Good. So when I talk about the hip stacked, it’s not just this top hip over the bottom hip, like rolling forward or rolling back, it’s this top hip directly above the bottom hip. So lift up your ribs higher. Does that make sense? This hip needs to pull down away from her armpit. Yeah. Swing that leg back.
Pull your hip down away from your armpit more. Yes. So now the hips are stacked. Do you see that? Keep it. Go forward. Good.
And back a little bit harder. Go into your circles. Forward up and around. 5 Yeah. 4. So hip stack means that the sides of the waist are even on both sides.
3. 2, and 1, reverse the direction of the circles. Your leg bone and your hip socket is a ball and socket. So it’s really nice to circle that joint. It feels really good.
Last two. And one Good. Bend the knees in. Let your feet meet the floor. Help yourself come to seated. So you have to make that switch.
So your inside foot goes into the long loop. So it’s around the ankle. And your outside foot comes out, rise to standing, wide stance, parallel legs, practice the squats, just kind of dial in a standing movement. You’re just lying down. So feel how your core and your body has to work in that vertical alignment.
Good. 2. And then one more time. Nice. Go down into the squat and then take that step closer to your footbar. So it’s easier to extend the strap leg without losing tension. Step in step out. Good. There’s a bit of, like, this anticipation that needs to happen.
So you know you’re gonna get pulled off balance as soon as that leg comes in because the tension increases. So you feel everything tighten up before you get pulled off balance. We’re working around 10 here. And if you choose to and you’re ready, you’re gonna add in the lift down. The lift.
Good. Down. The lift. Good. Down. Yeah. I always have one side that cooperates in one side that doesn’t. And lift. Yes.
There you go. I find that usually if I just keep pushing through, I get it. If not the first time around, then 10th. Good. 2 more here. One more? Well done.
Great. Okay. Take a seat onto the carriage. Keep that strap. Just take your ankle out of it. Hold on to it, though. You’re gonna need it in a second.
Swivel around so you’re facing back again. Bend your knees and scooch really far forward towards the shoulder blocks. So same strap to leg. You’re gonna take your leg through the short loop if you have it. So it’s tight right above your knee. Yep. And scooch forward because you do want room to lie down.
Lie down onto your back and place your hands behind your head. Come up into a chest lift, pause. Keep the pelvis anchor to take that strap leg up to table. Good. Keep the non strap leg down for now. Let’s do 5 extensions with the leg.
Inhale out, exhale draw the knee in. 1, yep. 2, see if you can curl a little higher using those hands behind your head. 3. Nice work. 4, and 5. Now, you have a second set of 5, but float this leg to table and go.
Leg out in 1. Yes. 2. So now that that leg is not down there anymore, it has to work harder to stabilize 3. You have to work harder to stabilize 4. And now we’re gonna do bicycle 5.
So twist to whatever needs that is bent, twist, and twist. That’s one. Twist and twist. That’s 2 elbows are wide twist and twist. That’s 3. Rotate and rotate. That’s 4. Twist and twist. That’s 5 feet.
Go down to the headrest. Use a little strength and momentum to help yourself sit up. And then you can slide the loop out, hook it up, meet me in a straddle position, We’ll do the other side in a second before we do hands to the shoulder blocks, hips hover off the mat, push the carriage forward and hold. Good. Take your right hand behind your back, knuckles to your spine, hold the shape, left elbow bends in, and out. Let’s go. If you’re looking for more tension, step forward, if you’re looking for less tension step back.
So you’ve got your hand on your back, which is a bull’s eye reminder for where you wanna pull your abdominals towards. Try lifting your tail feathers up more Sydney. Yeah. So what I want you to try to create is that curve in the low back in that hinged forward, not in the round, but actually in that arch. Yeah. 10 is your goal.
One more like this. Bring the carriage all the way in and take both hands on to that left shoulder block. Good. Now you’re gonna have to really arc your leg like a rainbow. The opposite leg to shoulder block comes up and over the footbar. So you’re standing on one leg, square off your hips, bend and extend your standing leg down and up. Yes. Down and up.
Nice. You’ve got the hand on the shoulder black, but you’re not really using it. It’s pretty light. Most of the stability is coming from your core. Got 10 in total. We got 4. We got 3, 2.
Now bend the leg and keep it bent. Since it’s your right leg that’s back, it extend your left arm. So it’s opposite arm to leg. Keep your standing knee bent. Bend knee to elbow in.
And out. Let’s do 5 of these. 1, think of that c scoop. Think of that length. 2, good. 3, Get ready to hold it out. 4, and then hold the arm and leg out 5. Can you bend your standing knee a bit more? Yeah. And get your chest a little bit lower.
This elbow’s really bent. And now press the carriage forward with that right arm. Adjust your body if you need to. Tweak it. 2.
Good. 3, 4 back legs long and strong. 5. Good. Both hands can go to the shoulder block. You have to arc that leg back over into the straddle, take a seat down onto the carriage. Well done. Bring your feet onto the head rest.
Now you’re gonna grab the opposite strap and short lip, if you have it, goes around the thigh nice and high by the knee. Scooch forward so you have room and then lie down. Hands behind the head stay lifted nice and high. The nonworking leg is nonworking right now, and the other leg comes up to table 5 times in and out. 1.
2. I find when I do this, the blue feels a little bit light in the beginning, but then the more we go, I’m like, okay. That was the right choice. Good. And when you get to 5, float the non working leg to table, but just leave it in table for now. Practice the stability challenge.
Send the leg out and draw the leg in. Good. 1, 2, the higher you curl, the more stable you’re gonna feel. 3, 4, and 5 into the bicycle. Just turn to whatever knees bent. Don’t worry about left and right. 1. Good.
2. Stay lifted high. 3. 4. And 5 rock and roll yourself up to seated. Slide the leg out of the loop.
Hook up that strap. Nicely done. Meet me in the straddle. Hips up, hands to the shoulder blocks, get nice and low, push the carriage forward. So this time, you’re taking opposite hand to lower back, 10 presses in and out. Good. Bring the hand a little bit higher onto your low back if you can. Yeah.
See if you can lift your tail feathers. Good, sit even deeper into the squat, roll the knees open over towards the baby toes. Step forward to make it heavier. 3, 2, and 1, bring both hands to the same shoulder block So now, so left leg has to arc like a rainbow up and over nice and high, and then square off hips towards the ground. Get low in your standing knee and straighten it down and 10.
If you wanna let go of the shoulder block, you can. I like it. I mean, you don’t have to hold on tight, but it’s just just in case. Drop your left hip, so square off the hips to the floor. Yeah. Bend and extend. 4, 3, 2. Now keep the deep bend.
And since it’s the left leg now, the right arm will extend. So it’s the opposite arm to leg. Round the spine scoop, chin to chest, lengthen out. Keep the standing leg bent. 5. 4. Nice job. 3, 2, keep everything long, everything long, get lower if you can.
Adjust your body. If you need that, yeah, a little angle change, 5 presses. 1. 2. Good. Leg is super strong. 3. You can drop the hip a little bit. 4, and 5. You don’t have to windmill. Just rise up to standing, feet to the floor, voila.
Time to use our box. We’re gonna grab our long box, place it on to the carriage. We’re still on that blue spring, And lay prone onto the box head towards the risers for a single strap series. Chest hangs off the box. Grab one strap. Pick your favorite side.
And then the higher you hold onto the rope, the heavier it’s gonna be. Take the non working hand fingertips to the forehead, chest is lifted, legs are lift it. The goal is not to get twisted or turned. Stay strong. Give me 5 straight arm sweeps back. 1. Good.
2, the more you can pull your shoulder blades down, the more you’re gonna feel your obliques, the less you’re gonna twist. Good. One more time like this. If it feels too heavy, hold the loop and not the rope. Good. Okay. Now we’re reciprocal arm motion.
So you can drop this arm, swing the other arm back, and then exhale reverse. So one arm’s going forward, one arm’s going back, 2, chest to stay in lift. It’s almost like you’re doing swimming. 3, legs are staying long. 4, Last time, and I want you to hold non working arm forward, grab the riser. Don’t let go of the loop.
You are gonna need it. Bend your elbow. Pull your chest forward. Riser pull ups. 5. Extend the elbow all the way.
4. Good. 3. As the elbow draws back, think about the neck getting longer. 4. And last time, 5.
And then you wanna lengthen out until you feel some pension the rope, let go of the riser, and then come on in for a break. Good. Let’s switch sides, hook up that strap, and then grab the other. It’s interesting, very interesting on this one, how it feels from left to right. You’ll see, take your fingertips underneath your forehead. Stay lifted. Keep those legs strong.
Straight arm pull 5. Good. Shoulder stays wide as the arm drops down 4. So what I mean by that is the arm drops down, the whole shoulder doesn’t roll with it. As the arm drops down, the collarbone stays wide. So it’s looking more like this, then it’s looking like this.
Sydney’s doing a great job. Add the reciprocal arms. She’s like, where’d you go? Pull and resist. 5 Keep the neck really stable. 4, can you lift your legs a little bit higher? Good. 3, feeling like your pelvis is your anchor.
2, Left arm pulls back, right arm goes forward 1. Find that riser. Don’t let go of the rope and pull. 5. 4.
Slide the shoulder blade down the back as you pull 3. Nice. 2. One more big pull big squeeze 1, lengthen all the way out. Make sure the rope is taught. Let go with the riser.
And then bring that carriage all the way home with control. Nice. You can hook up that strap. Come off your box. We’re gonna leave the box on. Leave the blue spring, but put your footbar down so that the platform is exposed. It’s a little tricky to get into this position.
You have to push the box forward So you’re seated onto the platform facing towards the box in a straddle position. Yeah. Get sitting all the way down. Once you’re there, it feels pretty solid. Okay. Take one hand towards the center of the box and the other hand behind your head. Good. Push the carriage forward and keep your arms straight forevermore.
So there you go. Just lock it out. From here, I want you to lean forward, lift the hips behind, and then lean back up. Good. 5 like this. Lean and push. 4.
So we’re thinking of this as like a flat back hinge and 3 legs are staying anchored onto the ground, 2, and then one more time. Lean and hold. Now bend your elbow box comes towards the crown of the head, push forward for 5. Good. Keeping the shoulder down, 4. So kind of like the riser pull, but now it’s a push. 3, 2, and one rise to come all the way up. We’re gonna add just a little bit of complexity into this. So arm is straight.
As you lean I want you to rotate towards the elbow that’s bent. Stay here. Do one bend and extend with the arm. You got it. Now keep the arms straight. Rotate back to center and rise back up. Do that again. So as you lean, you rotate, hold it.
Do one bend and extend? Good. Rotate through center and rise back up. 3 more. Big lean. Bend and extend, rotate through center and rise. Last two, hips are staying anchored onto that platform, shoulder blades staying onto the back, and last one like this push lean, bend extend, rotate center and rise to come up.
Good switch hands. So hand behind the head. Arm stays straight. We’re practicing the flat back hinge. And the flat back lift.
5. Good. It should feel really good. An opening sensation through the hips, through the back, 4, Stabilizing through the shoulder, through the shoulder blade, that is. Good. Big lean. And then the next time you lean hold, bend and extend the elbow box comes towards the crown of the head, push out with power 5.
Keep the shoulder blades strong. 4, 3. Got 2. Leave the arms straight for 1. Rise to come up. Adding just a little.
So as you lean, rotate towards that bent elbow, hand behind your head, hold the twist one bend and extend. Rotate through center, rise to come back up. Good. Keep the feet anchored. Lean and twist. Bend and extend.
Lean and return. Rebuild the spine to a vertical. Do it again. Lean and twist. Bend and extend. Rotate through center and rise to come up.
2 more lean and twist. Bend and extend. Rotate through center. And then rise to come up good one more time, lean, and twist, bend, and extend. Rotate through center.
And rise to come up. Good. It’s just as interesting to come out of this position as it is to come in. So push the box forward, swing a leg over, and you’re done. Okay. Carriage comes in. I’m gonna change this box to a short box position, but that is for later.
You’re more than welcome to that blue spring on. I’m gonna add a little bit attention because I know Sydney really likes working her lower body, so we’re now on to one red spring, a little bit heavier than that blue. Stand in front of your machine facing towards the carriage. You can stand real close to that foot bar. It’s not gonna be in your way. Take one foot up onto the carriage, toes onto the carriage edge, arms out like a letter t.
This is about your stabilizing leg holding you up. Carriage leg is gonna push the carriage forward and bend it in. Good. 1st set of 5. Nothing fancy. 2.
Try not to lean forward, so maybe lean back a little bit. Wait over your heel. Good. 3. 4, and 5. Now, I want you to keep with that pushing. So bend the knee in as you push rotate away from the leg, rotate. 5. Good. Try to pull the hip back as you twist. 4.
Nice. 3. Can you lean back a little bit more over that standing leg? 2. One more time.
And one. Now push the carriage leg forward, but don’t rotate. Good. Hold that leg straight. Now lower the carriage heel. Carriage comes a bit closer towards you as you lift your arms up. Now lift the heel.
Carriage comes away from you as the arms go down. That’s it. 5. Lower lift. Good. 4, lower lift. 3, pull the hit back. 2, and 1, bring it all the way home. Keep the foot up there, but rotate your whole body to the side. Good.
Now adjust your foot so it’s right at the carriage edge. Take your palms to prayer. Two things happen. Standing leg is gonna bend deeply as the carriage leg extends out all the way. Good. And then standing leg is gonna straighten as the carriage comes in.
That’s it. Do it again. Deep, bend, and rise. Keep your weight over your standing leg, your heel over your standing foot. Yeah. Press out and bring it in. Good. Push for the heels. Press out and bring it in.
Let’s do 4 more here working right around 10, 4, 3. Good. Neover toe on that stabilizing leg. 2. Now stay low for 1. Hips are back. Chest is low. Just the carriage kicks in and out. Let’s do 5.
5. And 4, can you push more through the heel? 3, and 2, And one rise to come all the way up to standing. I want you to keep your feet as they are and pivot your whole body to face away from the machine. Good. You’ve still got your toes on. Lift your heel up. Good.
You’re coming into a lunge. So bending into your front knee, extending the carriage back, reaching the arms overhead. Nice, and then rise to come up. Good. Keep going. As you go down into the lunge, pull left hit back, right hit forward, and rise to come up. There it is.
Remember that lunging leg, the knee’s gonna move forward towards the toes. So get low. Allow your knee to come forward forward forward. Now drive the heel down to rise up. Press and rise. 4 more like this. 4 Good work. 3.
Arms are lifting with intention. 2. And then press and hold. Just leave the arms to scooter that back leg in out 5 big presses. 1, knee a little higher than that platform. 2, Good. 3, 4, last time here.
5 carriage comes in step both feet to the floor. And turn around. We’ll do the whole thing again. Nicely done. Feel it. Yeah. And that standing leg, this reminds me of the chair series where you’re standing pedal presses. Okay.
So opposite leg comes up. Arms out to a tee, easy peasy, nothing too fancy, push the carriage, and bend the knee to come in. This is a great exercise for strengthening the muscles above the knee. As you push the carriage out, stay shifted back so your weights over your standing heel. And let’s add the rotation away from the leg. Twist.
5. Good. 4. Can you pull that left hip back? Keep the hips squares rotate 3, 2. Yeah. It’s hard work. And one come through center. Stay in center. Extend the leg all the way straight.
Keep it straight. Lower the heel. The care just gonna come towards your shin as the arms reach overhead. And then plant our flex, push the carriage away 5, push the carriage away 4, 3. Wait back. Wait back. 2. 1.
Very good. Bring that carriage on home. Keep the legs as they are. Just pivot your whole body to face the other direction. And make sure your foot’s at the edge. You’re gonna feel a lot more secure if you do.
Low squat. Extend the leg as you get down. Rise to come up. Bend the knee as you come up. Good. Take it down, lift it up. We did 10 here last time, pressing through the heel and rising to come up. Good. Press and rise. And really setting those hips back.
Send them back. Send them up. 4, Get ready to stay low for those carriage kicks. 3. Good. The spine is staying long. You’re looking so strong.
2. Stay low. Leave the arms. Leave the spine. Bend the knee in and out. Push through the heel.
5. 4. Good weight shifted over your standing leg. 3. 2. Last one like this. 1, rise to standing. Pivot away from the carriage, pivot that back heel up. You’ve got your foot secure against that carriage edge.
Here we go. Low lunge reach the arms forward. And rise to come up. I love this series because you see how the foot bar is helping you to stay in that lunge alignment. Yeah. Bending the front knee forward and rising up.
It feels good to feel that foot bar of that platform underneath you. You know, you’re getting really low if you can. Reach forward, rise to come up, last 4, and then we hold it down for scooter. Last three, Good. That’s 2. Now stay low. Arms forward.
Back legs scooters in and out five times. Big power push. 1. And 2. Left hip down. Right hit back. 3. 4.
Last time, 5, bring it all the way in, the feet come down, and shake it off. Good. Let’s give those legs a break. Add another spring or 2 onto the carriage, so it feels pretty stable. Sit onto the short box and face towards your foot bar. Feet go underneath the foot strap, toes forward to the foot bar, heels stay down, knees are bent.
Sit up really tall. Reach your arms forward. Take a big breath in on an exhale. Roll back and find your c scoop. Hold. This would be easy.
We’re not doing this. Well, it wouldn’t be easy. But we’re doing something harder. Bring one knee out, knee to chest. Good. Place your hands behind your head. Rotate that towards that knee that’s bent.
And then as you rotate through center extend the leg long, let’s go. Exhill twist. 5. It’s gonna kinda remind you of those knee, knee tucks that we were doing earlier. 3, 4, and 5. Now as you twist, I want you to reach the opposite hand to the outside of the thigh. Yep. Bend that knee in and then extend it long. Yeah. 1. 2. Can you roll back a little bit more? 3.
4. Now this part’s gonna remain the same. 5. Here’s the difference. Straight leg kicks up. It’s like you’re reaching to the outside of the baby toe. 1. Reach up. Baby toe. 2.
Right up here. 3. 4, and 5, hook the foot. Round the spine forward. Take a moment. Take a break.
K. Rebuild the spine, come all the way up, roll back into your c scoop hold, take the opposite leg out, hands behind the head, turn towards that bent knee, as you rotate to center, extend the leg long. Here we go. 5. Big twist. 4. Good. 3. We’re about to add on that arm reach in 2 and 1. Good. Arm goes to the outside of the thigh. Big twist. Big exhale.
54. 3, 2, and 1. Here’s the big difference. Straight leg up. Reach the baby toe on that side. 1, 2, 3, 4, and last time five foot goes under, and then you can round all the way over your legs good. Rebuild the spine.
Come off your machine to either side. That extra spring that you added, take it off. So you’re left with 1 red spring. You don’t need the box anymore. Lie down onto the carriage. We do some single foot and strap.
Lie down, get comfy, grab one strap, and then whatever side strap you have, place that side foot in long loop. So if it’s the left strap, it’s gonna be the left leg. Take your legs up to table. Good. Hands down beside you. So it’s just the strap leg moving for the first five.
Big push. 1. Good. Color bones are wide. You might wanna turn your palms up here too. Whatever feels good for you. 3, 4.
Now keep the strap leg straight for 5. The non working leg is gonna become the working leg as it extends up. Scissor kicks, swing and kick. 1. Good. 2. Using the back of the thigh to push down.
3. 4. And one more time like this, I want the strap leg low, the nonworking leg high. We’re gonna do an exercise called helicopter or windmill. I’ve heard it called both.
I want you to open your legs to a big letter v. Continue to circle the legs around. So now the strap leg is high. And the non strap leg is low. Now scissor legs two times.
So you go left leg down, left leg up, hold, helicopter, wide, wide, wide, wider, round two scissors. You go up, down helicopter, wide, wide, wide, wide, around. Do it again. Up, down. Take it around. Keep those hips square.
Last time like this, kick lower and take it all the way around to that big circle, helicopter all the way around. Yes. And then draw the legs low and together. We’re coming up into inversion. I want you to pretend like you’ve got both straps on right now. Lift your legs up to the ceiling.
Like you’re gonna do short spine, exhale roll up onto your shoulders. Good. Now the leg that has a strap in it is gonna hold. It’s gonna hold you steady. Carriage is closed. The leg that doesn’t have the strap is gonna go straight leg down, think forehead to knee, and then exhale, lift it up, see if you can lift it past the strap leg, like you’re gonna do jackknife.
And then take it down. 5. Lift it up, up, up. Good. Find that hip extension. 4. If you’d like doing long spine, or long, yeah, long spine heard of me and Jackknife, those kinds of movements.
This is a good preparatory move for you. Good. I think that’s 5, but do one more. Nice. And then draw the heels together, toes apart, bend your knees as if you’re gonna do short spine, roll your spine all the way down, keep your heels together, toes apart, Good hips go down to the mat, booty all the way down, good flex your feet, lift your head, neck, and shoulders up into a chest lift, turn your palms up, and we’re gonna do our frogs here. Ex he’ll push. It is a weird sensation when you’re doing frogs with one strap. Waste a good exercise to do really recalibrating kind of the body and the brain.
Keep the pelvis as stable as you can. Press and bend. One more here. Press and bend. Head goes down. Good rest the nonworking foot on whatever you can find, probably the platform, and then take that strap off and grab your other one. So long loop goes around the arch of the foot.
Legs come to table. The initial focus is really pelvic stability and coordination as we press that strap leg out and in first 5. Good. Bend the leg to a sharp table and then power up through the hip. Nice. 3, 4. And then one more push out.
Hold the leg straight. Freeze. Extend the opposite leg. There’s your scissors. Good. Just scissoring the legs. One leg down, one leg. Hi.
Here we go. Push with the back of the leg. I want you to feel like you’re pushing from high up by the hip, by the glute, and not by the knee. So if you’re feeling the knee, maybe soften your knee just a smidgen, you can even take one hand and kinda poke the booty where you wanna feel the hip extension work. The next time the strap leg is low, leave it down. Leave it low.
Here’s your helicopter. You go out to a v, wide, wide, wide, around, around, freeze, two scissors. Strap leg down, strap leg up. Here’s your helicopter wide, wide around strap leg up. Strap leg down. Do it again. Wide, wide, wide, around. Kick it.
Lift it one more time, wide, wide, wide around. Kick it and lower it. Good. Both legs go down. Here’s your inversion. So legs up to the ceiling, straight legs, get the stretch. Use your arms roll up onto your shoulder blades.
Good. So there’s no tension in the strap, but you’re still gonna keep it taut. The leg that doesn’t have the strap drops down low, low, keep the hips square. Now work on your hip extension leg up up past that leg if you can. 5. 4 arms are strong. 3 hips are level.
2, one more time. 1. Good. Connect the heels. Flex the feet, bend your knees, roll your spine down. Once your hips touch down on the mat, lift your head, neck, and shoulders. Hover your arms, 5 frogs.
Focus on center. 1, focus on pushing even lean to both legs. 2, 3, 4, and last time like this, 5, bend the knee. The non strap leg’s gonna go down onto something, probably the platform. You can ditch that loop, good, straighten your legs long, lift your arms up to the sky. 1 reformer roll up is all you need. Roll yourself all the way up. Give yourself a nice little squeezey hug at the top. Rebuild the spine.
You guys did a great job today. Nice work, Sydney. So this entire class was all about the coordination challenge of working one side and then the other. Some of the other benefits you get from that is doing an exercise twice. So you get 2 times to really dial it in and working on rebalancing your body. This is a great class to come to.
Back to you over and over again. Thank you for joining me, and we’ll talk to you soon. Bye.
