Beginning Mixed Equipment

Hi. Today, I am excited to teach my friend Tara again. In class number three zero six one, I introduced her to my way of teaching because she already has been doing Pilates on her own, but I wanted to show her maybe a a taste of Romana's Pilates, and I taught her as if she had never done Pilates before. I introduced her to the Pilates frame box, the powerhouse, how to pull your belly in and all kinds of alignment things. So you might wanna check out that class if you wanna see other cues and how to work with someone with a week back and she has right hip dysplasia. And it's super important to get to know your client. That was the big emphasis.

It was really exciting to get everybody's comments back from the class and see everyone's questions and everyone was really getting into it. And we wanted to step back and remember that we are amazing Pollies instructors that do great good for our clients, but we are not a medical doctor or a physical therapist or a chiropractor or any other type of medical session. So we wanna stay, as Tara would say, in our own lane, in what we do, and then we can really help our clients. And that's by communicating constantly with your client. So I get to do that now on the reformer today. This would be the next step if I was working with Tara, it gives your body so much feedback. So I'm excited to teach you about the reformer. Have you ever been on the reformer? Never. Okay.

So the head is Monica go on here. These shoulders get to go against there. You're gonna lie your back down. So you wanna sit kinda close to this side. Okay. And I'm always gonna guide her because when you have a back issue, you're nervous and you're gonna brace for collision almost.

You're like always on like, oh my gosh, this is gonna be bad. And I need to take care of myself. So you wanna try to give your client a lot of reinforcement and talking to them. Slide over just a tiny bit. Good. And we're gonna put your toes and try to build that trust with your client because as you build trust, their muscles start to get relaxed and just being on a reformer, is weird for the first time.

Pilates Stance

You can do your footwork on three or four springs. And we want to revisit that you have a box. So you have a straight line from one shoulder to the other, a straight line from one hip to the other. Okay. And what the most important thing was for you were two things. Proper hip alignment that we'll keep working on, as well as making sure your belly button pulls into l five, and you feel really supported like you have a corset on, or like you have a girdle.

And the performer gives you that feedback. So you're Monica pull Wilson, and I want you to push out just like five inches, not too far. You're gonna go out that way. A little further. Good. Because there's three springs, and I want you to put them in your head and pretend that your stomach can pull against those springs into your lower back to pull the carriage all the way out now, all the way to straight legs. All the way to straight legs until you're standing like you should, nice and tall, and bend the knees to come back home. Good.

And we're gonna do it one more time at that tempo. You're gonna pull into your back. Do you feel yourself pulling into your back? Good job. All the way to straight legs and bending in. Do you feel any pain or discomfort? Okay.

And pulling in. Good. And now you're gonna go out a little maybe double time that tempo and but still feel like you are comfortable. Am pulling out with your stomach. Good and in. Good. We're gonna do five more. One of the things that you did in the other class was the line between your right shoulder and right hip was a little shorter than this line. And that threw off our box.

So we have to remember to keep your right hip a little longer working towards me. That was already a really nice change. One more. Belly pulls in and we keep working like that. Great. Stay here. Needs together. And we're gonna put your feet up.

Did your hip ever bother you when you would hold child on your hip or anything, because I know you've always helped out with that and everything. No. It did. Right back. You're just your back. Okay. I never had any hip problems with that. That's good. So does your hip dysplasia ever surface?

Yeah. Oh, yeah. What with running or with what? No. It doesn't hurt during any activity. It's when I'm sitting, like when I'm sitting criss cross with my legs. K. That's and I try to get up from that position. That's when it just freezes up.

When do you sit criss when I'm doing laundry. What are you doing laundry? So you sit on the ground and you sit down with your stress? Okay. Yeah. So I don't have to stretch and then that hurts. And yeah. That's Wow.

I know. Isn't that weird? Okay. Yeah. Alright. You know, some people might say To stop doing laundry. Yeah. Or or to stop sitting at risk. Oh, try a different approach to doing your laundry. Okay. You're gonna stay there.

We go right there on arches, and we're gonna wrap your toes around and then pull your heels under the bar. You could also not do laundry anymore. And squeeze your legs together. And we're gonna do the same thing, but with our arches on the bar. And you're gonna pull out.

Arches

Now stay here. We're gonna go up to the heel of the foot. So Joseph applies, he used to work with certain pressure points which is pretty cool too. So now we're on the heel and pull those toes back and you're gonna pull out again. Same leg work and in good pulling in and when we did one of the last exercises, actually, was in the middle, the spine stretch forward that gave you a cue that was I remember you saying was really complicated. And it is.

Heels Parallel

Tendon Stretch

Here's from this hip. We're pretending our red and white stripes are going all the way down and that engages the outer thighs and your glutes. Okay. And you're Monica stretch your heels under the bar. You get to press them down. And you're gonna lift them back up.

Great and stretch down. We're gonna do this eight more times. Good stretch. Good now. Let's do one more and then we're gonna stop. Good heels together.

Good. And what I want you to do is not let these roll in. Keep the stripes going out as you lower your heels. And then pull them up. Good. Keep the stripes going out. That's amazing. Good. And down and pulling in before you were rolling in your knees and now we're really getting our outer thighs and hopefully our bottom a bit stretch one more time making sure our stomach's pulling in and in hold and bend the knees and come back home.

Perfect. So in on the mat, we only have the 100 to warm up. Here we have footwork and the 100. So I'm gonna have you slide a little bit away from the shoulder pads. Good. Alright.

And I'm gonna give you let's actually start here. See how your feet are supported. Mhmm. So it makes it really easy to pull your belly into your back. So that's why Joseph Supply created this was to help support you while you say that you can get stronger that way. So I want you to reach your arms long and good and we're Monica pump them up and down. Mhmm. And I want you to take a big breath and as you exhale, you're gonna pull the belly in.

Hundred Preparation

Keep pulling in though you don't get to push out at all and take a big breath. And I'm gonna have you bring this foot up a little bit. Yep. So it's just like that. Light leg. And on the next exhale, big breath. We're gonna pull in and we're going to feel this like good and I'm just gonna have you do one more and we're gonna take a break, but remember this exercise.

And exhale pulling in in in in and rest your feet down and rest your neck and heady. Okay? Yeah. Alright. Neck didn't bother you. Good. So we're Monica add something crazy to it and it straps handles in our hands. And that, opposition that, complicated stretch I was talking about earlier, you're gonna pull your belly in and as you straighten your arms, you want your belly to feel like it's going that way and stretching that part of your back. Okay? So I'm gonna hand you handles. We're still on three springs.

And bring your elbows down by your side. Great. Right there. Good. And you're gonna pull your belly in and we're gonna lift up your head. Uh-huh. Look in there.

Hundred

I need to see more contraction here. Thank you. Okay. And I'm gonna assist you here. You're gonna pull your belly in straight and your arms forward. There you go straighten your fingers and pump your arms straight up and down. Good. Now pulling in. Good.

And I'm really holding you here because you're gonna use this to stay there and that's gonna be a safe area for you. And exhaling. Good. Do you feel your belly pulling into your lower back? Do you feel your belly trying to pull in and up against those straps? Mhmm. Good. Yeah.

Two more. Excellent. Last one. Pulling Wilson, in, in, and that is enough. Bend everything.

Rest your neck and head. Anything too uncomfortable? Not at all. Okay. Good. Nice. Alright. So I'm dropping one spring and you get to rest your feet there. I'm gonna add some extensions.

Okay. And we are gonna do frog and leg circles. So, any questions so far, Tara? No. This is great. Okay. Alright.

So I'm gonna want you. We're gonna watch that, right hip. Quite a bit. Okay. Quite a bit. And you know, I'm even forgot that I want to revisit that magic circle. So I'm gonna go grab a magic circle real fast staying there.

This will make sure you definitely feel super awkward. That's my favorite thing. That's I'm sure. Okay. So we are going to drop one knee, and then the other knee is great. Good.

Alright. Everything good. So your feet are Monica come here, and we're just gonna slip them into the strap. See you're more flexible than you thought. Alright. And now I want you to bend the knees a little bit apart. And pull your belly in as your feet come down to your bottom. So you're gonna bend the knees right there and your feet just pull down coming down this way. Yep. Don't move the knees though.

Bend them. Stay there with the knee joint and just stay there. And lower the v. There you go. That's it. Good. Alright.

So this is called frog. So frog, it means, you know, when you when this is a position of a frog. Right? Okay. So that's where you're at and all you're Monica do is straighten your legs to my hand. Good and bend in. Good. That's enough.

Frog

Frog w/Magic Circle

Good. And you're gonna pull your belly in and it should feel like, oh, my back is so good and bend in. Good. Now I'm gonna let go and you're gonna go out good and bending in. It's a teeny bit lower when you go forward. Better and in. One more time. Work evenly from your hips.

Think about working, oh, that was your best one and bending in. Okay. We're down with our magic circle, but we're gonna do the same thing. We're gonna go out and put that right there. And you're gonna pull your belly in, heels are together. Good. And you're Monica go out to my hand.

Circles

Okay. So I wanna strengthen your hips. So I want you to keep your belly in, but push the arch of the foot into that strap and try to make your legs a little longer. Longer. Good. Really good. That's it. And then from this bone, I want you to picture. There's barbershop poles, and that means your knee is slightly turned out and your foot is slightly turned out.

I'm gonna come up here to give you a little visual. And we're Monica just open the legs the width of the carriage, come down a little bit, squeeze the legs together, and come up. So when we were on the mat, we did single leg circles. And the only thing you had to do was keep your belly in and keep your knees turned out. Okay. Okay? And here and squeeze. Good. And so you're gonna pull your belly in and good.

So keeping the knees turned out, and go down. Right? You're gonna pull down. Push down. There you go. Squeeze and two more. Try not to come up all the way to the ceiling, so stop shy.

Right. There's good. Now stop there. I'm gonna let step down. Do you think about your knees? What do you mean about your feet? Alright. Good. Let's do three more. We're gonna open.

Go down. Squeeze together. Excellent. Open. Go down. Good.

And coming up. Love it. One more. And you're still trying to get that delicious supported feeling. Come in. Guess what? We're gonna go the other way. Good correction. But we always wanna correct not from the foot but all the way from up here.

That's what turns out your feet. And we're going to go the other way. So you're going to go down and then open up and together. Good. Down. Good. Open up and just shy of straight to the ceiling and scoop.

Very nice. How are those legs are they uh-huh and going down. Love it. Two more. And here.

Yes. Last one. Good. And here. So again, a lot of things helping to hold up your body. So you don't strain your back. Mhmm.

And it's feeling really supported. Gravity's really helping you. For you, you know, there's some people that feel better if they're doing a backbend when they have a herniation for you. It's flexion. It's like this. So it feels really good for you to be on the reformer.

Go ahead and grab those handles and enjoy a little stretch as you pull the legs towards you. Good. Really good. Alright. I'm gonna slip these off. On the reformer, what's a little awkward is you're gonna lie down on it like you are. You're gonna sit down on it.

You're gonna sit on the box on it, you're gonna kneel down all kinds of stuff. So now we're gonna step off and we're gonna get ready for stomach massage, which never sounds quite like you think it is. So, feeling good so far? So far. Okay. Love it. Good. So we are going to add one spring and it is just like the beginning that you did.

Where you pushed out the carriage and brought it back in, but now we're gonna sit down and see if we can still feel that. Okay. So I'm gonna put three springs on and go ahead and turn your back to the reformer. Good. Say it again. Uh-huh. And now you're going to see that black path.

So we're gonna we're actually gonna stay sitting. Okay. Okay. So you're gonna turn towards here, put your hands behind you. Good and carefully put your toes up there in pilates stance. Excellent toes apart and he'll see that was great. Could you lift your bottom up for a second? There we go. Alright.

Now you wanna make sure you're right in the middle which you pretty much or or you're a little bit to the left. You're a little to the left. Go a little to the right. Thank you. Okay. Now, here's the mat. Right? Mhmm. I want you to put your hand here. Good.

Very good. So on the mat, We do the exercise called the roll back, which I made you roll down your lower back. So I want you to round your back right now as if your head could go between your knees. Good. Yes. Bend the elbows out to the side. Oh, that allowed you to round a lot more. So we've got this nice round upper back.

Round Back

That is fantastic. Stay curved? Uh-huh. Straightening and bend the knees in. Is that too much on your back? Does it feel good? Yeah. Okay. Good. So pull your belly and pull into here stretching and bending in.

Good. Keep your elbows bent and pull your belly in. We're Monica add a stretch. Stay here. Keep stay like that. Never bend your elbows even.

There you go. And don't let your knees roll in. We're gonna push your heels under like we did earlier. Down they go and lift them up and bend in. Bend the knees back home. That's a lot of lot of knees.

And that explains the bend the knees. Yeah. So we're gonna do four things now. It's like a dance routine. You wanted to dance. Right? That's what I thought. Yeah. So bend the elbows.

And it's all about getting back to dancing. So we're gonna pull your belly in and straighten your legs for one. Lower your heels down for two. Nope. Push them down. Lift them back up for three and bend your knees for four. Good. We pull out for one.

Press down for two. Lift up for three, bend in. Good. Pull out. You're doing great with pulling out, but those knees aren't allowed to talk to each other. So as you push down your heels, don't roll the knees in. Okay.

Oh. Oh. There you go. See how that one rolled though? We'll watch it. Here we go.

Better. Okay. Ben the knees. And I want you to do three more like that. Eyes on your belly and your knees. Scoop. Yes. And and we're strengthening this hip. Okay. That's it. Down with the heels.

Lift in it. It's got it's got responsibilities now. It's just you are telling it. You can't just do whatever you want. You can't just roll in. Stay here. Good job. Usually we put our hands back next, but this is your first time on the reformer and I wanna leave it out.

So I'm gonna give take your hands and now feet stay up there. Mhmm. And you're gonna say, look, ma, no hands. You're gonna hold your arms here Okay. Chills together. And no more extra choreography here. We're just gonna straighten our legs and come back in. Good. But now when you straighten your legs, you wanna pull your belly in as if you were a bad act on a show and someone's pulling you back by your waist. Okay? So you're gonna go out.

Reach

And exhaling. Wonderful. And that's enough of that one. Good work. We're gonna step off completely again, and now I'm going to grab a box, and we're gonna work primarily a box and a pole on your stomach muscles, on your powerhouse. Okay? So how did that stomach massage feel? Oh, great. Good. I wanted to I wanted to You was.

If my butt tendency was to wanna sit up. Yeah. So you possibly would be great on with the next one, which is putting your hands back and lifting your chest up. But a good rule of thumb is to do everything that's safe for your body and then add one thing that you might be like, so next time we add something that we're like, maybe maybe yes, maybe no, because everybody's body is different. And then if it's your body hurts after it, we know, don't do that one. But if it felt great, we're like, great.

We can keep doing it. But you don't wanna add like a ton of stuff and not know which one was the one that actually bothered you. So we stay really safe. And again, we're pretending we love and trust the reformers. So you're gonna sit down on this pad here now facing that way. Good. And we're gonna put your feet under here.

Good. And separate. Good. Alright. So we did the rollback a lot in that mat class, and then we're gonna do it now. We're gonna put your hands right here. And I want you to keep your shoulders right over your hip bones, but round all your back. Excellent. Head looks down at your belly. Good.

Round Back

So this strap is your safety strap, and I want you to push out on it. Okay. And it'll always hold you. Okay. And then your hands just stay here and you're gonna pull away. There we go. I like that a lot better. Keep pulling this away. Uh-huh, and take a breath. And then exhale forward it by coming forward with your stomach. I love it.

And three more. And set strap top, make sure it is. You feel secure and then pull this against the strap almost. Not your upper back. This has to move. This has to move. That that's it. And now use your more your upper belly to come forward.

Good. Let's do two more. And so when you're here scooping in, you want to feel like you're really working hard. When you've left here and coming forward, I don't want you to be sore or anything like that. And last one, So we're not doing many exercises. Keep pulling back, but I want you to, like, really feel like, wow, that was not easy.

And exhale forward pulling this in. Pull away from me. That's it. Really good. Good. Did you work hard? Yes. Okay. Good.

Now we're gonna grab this bar. And you're just gonna hold it with straight fingers. Beautiful. Okay. And we're gonna work a little on your posture. So here are your hip bones and here are your shoulders, and they're supposed to be right on top, but you also need to be right on top of your sit bones. Do you feel your sit bones there? There you go.

Mhmm. Good. Alright. Now your tendency is to wanna arch right here. And I want you I want you to lift your chest up like you are so beautifully, but I need it to be that you pull your belly in first and then lift your weight up rather than just lifting up your chest. Okay. So we're pulling in and now I want you to lift your arms up to the ceiling right there. Good.

Flat Back

Really good. Give yourself a little break with the seat, just a seat. And you're Monica pull in, lift off that pokey box and go back and come forward. Good. And rest the bottom, just the bottom, pull it in. So you should feel that corset. Right? And we're gonna use that corset to go back. That's fantastic.

And come forward. And one more time lifting off the seat that supports the lower back too and back. That one was a little less. Go ahead and put your hands down and I'm Monica demonstrate What was the difference? So you had a really nice posture, and you pulled your belly in, and you moved your whole box tall and straight. It's a little hard to do without, anything holding you, but trying to increase the range of motion a little more.

How's that? But when you did the last time, you left your hips and only moved your upper body. Can you tell the difference here? Yeah. I see that. Okay. And so that is gonna impinge in your back.

And so we wanna be really careful. We support with our stomach. We lift off of our bottom and we move it as a solid unit rather than leaving it and then only moving the upper back. Got it. Alright. So let's try a couple more because those are really important for you. So we're gonna pull in, we're gonna lift off your seat, and we're gonna take our lower back with us good and forward.

Lifting up and one more time, pull this away. This always moves. Yes. Good and rest. Nice. I might stand corrected on that one. You did really you really good.

You weren't leaving your lower back actually What the one that you did incorrectly was you sunk into it, which is another common thing to do. So you wanna keep lifting because we always wanna keep stretching. Yeah. A nice job. Now we're gonna do side reach. We're gonna pull our belly in and lift those arms up again. But this time lean a little forward in front of your hip bones. Great.

Side to Side

In front. Ah, that was nice. Pulling in like you have a corset and now in front of the right corner. Well, that's great. Pulling in any side bending bother you? No. Good. Pulling in and go in front of this corner and center and one more pulling in and going in front of that corner and rest your arms down. Great. Normally, we would do twisting next, but that's gonna be for next time. Okay. Okay.

We're gonna put your bar underneath your legs. Okay. And we're gonna challenge you. We're gonna keep your box nice and square. I'm gonna make this look easy. Okay? And we're gonna pull our belly in and we're not gonna fall over to the left as we just slide your right foot onto the mat out of that strap. Mhmm. Stay square. Good.

And keeping your belly in, we're gonna bring that leg up to us. And hands right here. Good. Try not to have it out to the side. Mhmm. And now you're gonna straighten it up to the ceiling. Good. I was afraid I was gonna kick you and bend it.

Modified Tree

That's making it holding your balance. And you're gonna walk your hands up your ankle. Good. And I want you to flex your foot and point it. Good. And flex, and this should be a big stretch and point. And flex and point. Now with your belly pulling into your back, relax your foot and pretend you can put your stomach onto your thigh, your chest onto your knee and your head all the way to your foot.

We're just gonna yeah. And stretching. Good. Good. Good. Good. That's wonderful. And bend the knee, and we're gonna slip that foot under the strap, and we're gonna do the same on the left except we're not gonna push with that right foot this time. Right? So we're gonna sit up tall, scooping in, and we're gonna drop I'm gonna step back a little drop the left foot onto the mat's fine, actually, and make sure you still feel square.

Yeah. Then put your hands underneath and now staying beautiful posture. You're gonna extend it up, and bend it. Awesome. Really great. So as your leg goes up, you almost wanna pull your belly in more. Yeah. And last one, hold it there, walk the hands up, grab the ankle. Maybe lower the thigh a little bit so it's not throwing your hips off.

And now Oh, sorry, we're Monica flex some point a few times first. Yeah. Good. The next time we also add a sit up to this, which is very interesting, very fun, and it's great for your back. And now we're Monica relax the foot and we're gonna pretend we can lie our stomach onto your thigh, your chest onto that knee and head all the way here. There you go. Great job. Okay. Ben the knee.

And now we are done with our box. So you're gonna go ahead and step off. Good. I'm gonna bring the pad down. Good.

And I'm gonna bring the box down. We're gonna do elephant next. So now we're gonna end up standing and then kneeling on our reformer. Okay. Doing well? Yes. Okay. So we're Monica, we are going to revisit I'm gonna actually demonstrate something for a moment.

We're gonna revisit, our c curve and pulling our belly into our back, but it's we're flipping you over. Remember how when you lie down, it was so easy, the feet were being supported. Right? And your belly was being pulled in to the mat, and you could feel that. When we flip you over, it's really hard to do that. So I'm actually gonna show you.

So when you were lying down, put my pack on the side a little here. Again, your legs are up and it's easy to pull your belly into your back. If I had you do a sit up like so like so or even with your legs up which is what the elephant is gonna be and I said lower your legs. You could still pull your belly into your back. And you could feel that.

I'm not doing it's not like my legs are super strong, right? I'm not doing heavy leg work right now. Would you say it's more leg work or powerhouse work? Power house work. Good. So the odd thing is trying to translate that to this next exercise. Okay. So I'm gonna show it to you because, again, when you have a weak back, your back's gonna wanna brace and it's gonna wanna say, this is foreign territory.

I don't like where we're going. Yeah. So try to take that image and we're gonna flip it over. Okay. And your hands are gonna go here and your feet are gonna go hit. And if you're five nine and above, your heels would be here, but mine are gonna be a little ahead. And instead of being flat, I'm gonna see curve. Okay?

And I'm gonna keep my belly in and again it's not really leg work. It's a little bit of back of thigh and seat, but it's more powerhouse work because you don't wanna go out with the whole body. Your body stays and just the legs go a little bit and then you pull it back in with your belly a little bit and then you pull in. After you do this one, we're Monica kneel down like this for the next exercise. Okay.

So you're Monica put a hand here, a foot standing up. Mhmm. Good. Alright. Nice. And you're gonna bring your head through your arms all the way, chin to your chest. Uh-huh. Good. But I want your shoulders and your hips to be at the same height, so we're gonna bring our shoulders forward for five, four, three, two, one, right there. Good.

Elephant

Uh-huh. It doesn't even have to be big. And then you're gonna pull your belly in to support that area, right? Out a little and then you're Monica scoop in. Out a little bit and scoop in. Out, that's fine. And scoop in. I love how your stomach's working.

Out and pulling in. Two more. Out and pulling in one more and pulling in and now bring your knees down onto the mat. And you're gonna do almost the same thing, but feet this one's beautiful. Can you put it like that against the shoulder pad? So your toes will be pointing towards your knees? Awesome. Reround your back, and sit towards your heels a little more. Beautiful.

Knee Stretch Round Back

Really great support for your ribcage and your belly. And I want you now. Do you see my leg back here? Mhmm. Okay. I want you to pull your belly in always pulling away from me and try to bring your knees back to my leg. Uh-huh, all the way back, and then let them come back in pulling your belly in. Good. Always pull your stomach in and go out, and then you're Monica bring those knees back in. Nice. Pulling out and bringing it in. Basically, you're learning how every single movement that you do should start with your belly and should always support your back and pulling out even when you do leg work.

One more, and that's enough. I love it. Go ahead and step off carefully. How was elephant and knee stretches? Oh, good. Alright. So we shortly will be adding an arch to that. Okay.

And then even a knees off, which is kind of crazy. But we're on three springs again, and we're gonna cool down here And then I wanna take you onto the Cadillac and do a few exercises. Okay. We're gonna lie down like you did in the beginning, and we did our warm up line down, and we're gonna do our cool down. Okay. Blind down. So toes on the bar. Good.

So heels together. Good. So now you get to lie down, right? You keep your box square and the most important thing is supporting your weak back. So we're gonna straighten our legs by supporting our weak back. Awesome.

You're Monica stay here and then I needed to strengthen your hips. So I want you to keep your hips working hard and the knees not talking to each other, and you're gonna press your heels under the bar. Awesome and lift them up. Good. Do that one more time because we're actually not gonna do this exercise. Stay here.

Now I want you to bend one knee. Mhmm. And that good. So one foot goes down. Straighten both. They both squeeze.

Running

Good. Uh-huh. Pulling up. Excellent. And bend the other. Good. And bend the other?

Good. Now, I want you to watch my hips. I want you to stay there and practice pulling your belly in. If I don't use my hips strongly, I'm gonna go side to side like this. But we want to strengthen your hips. So we're gonna keep them square as we run.

We're gonna go like that instead. So now try to think about, oh, that's much nicer and keep pulling your belly in good, and keep lengthening your hips. Pulling the belly in. Good. Maybe enjoy the pace a little bit.

Move a little more freely. Just go ahead and uh-huh. There you go, scoop your belly in supporting your back. Supporting your back, pulling in, and I used a love to run last time, and hold the legs straight and bring the carriage back home. We'll do one more exercise.

It's called pelvic lift. That's super important to strengthen your hamstrings and glutes. So you're gonna pull your belly in and you're gonna use your bottom to rotate your pelvis and lift it. Yep. A little higher. A little higher. Both of them. Not just uh-huh, right there. And try to use your hamstrings and glutes to straighten your legs.

Pelvic Lift

You wanna get your bottom stronger. So use it there. Yeah. Can you feel it? Uh-huh. Good. And four more. Try to lift your tailbone off just a bit more. Good.

Three more. Mhmm. And it's good, really good engagement. And we're gonna do one more curling that tailbone a little more towards you. Good. Hold You can go one more.

That's fine. Hold hold here. Hold hold all the way home, but it the bottom was lifted. Right? And now we're gonna melt down your tailbone. Great. Bring your knees together. All end feet. You're you're now taking me super literal. I love it. And knees are together.

And we're gonna finish. We're gonna do an ending on the Cadillac. Super important for you. Okay? Here we go. Alright. So to end your lesson today, we're gonna do leg springs. I have those hooked up right here on a little bit lower level, on a good introductory level because I work with grotte springs and they are no small thing. They are really strong.

So we're gonna work on an introductory level, and then I'm gonna switch them out to the arm springs, and then we're gonna enjoy doing the rollback. So I want you to be able to have your hands about 10 inches up off the pole, off the mat, but your elbows bent. So slide back a little bit until your hands about here and you have like a right angle with your good and you're nice and centered. Beautiful and feet here. Awesome. So it's just like the reformer.

You have your box and it makes you want to pull your belly in and you're supported. The hands here, I'm just gonna raise this one a little bit, are there so that you can actually have opposition with your ribs so that you feel really grounded through here. Do you feel that? Yeah. Yeah. Like that. Good. Good. I'm gonna teach you one leg and then the other.

And I'm gonna try to move it at a little faster pace than I might in a tutorial. But so we're gonna straighten that leg and it's gonna have to act like a barbershop pull. So from this l, hip bone, we're gonna turn. I'm gonna try not to use a knee joint, but actually the back of the thigh and see. And we're Monica pull down the strap a few inches and we're gonna stay right there.

Single Leg Lift

It stays like it is, but lowers lowers, lowers. About there, soften that knee again. Good. Good. See if you can feel it here. Good. Now we're Monica lower almost to the mat, but we wanna make sure our back stays nice and anchored. Again, it gets to be supported and hopefully we're out of 10. What do you think? Yeah. Good.

And we're gonna bring that leg just like it is all the way up. Just shy of the ceiling actually and then down again. Feeling uh-huh and then up and of course, we always initiate and one more using the uh-huh and then bringing it up. Excellent. Bend the knees and we're gonna switch. Nothing is better for the hip, then I don't wanna cross you, then leg spring super good for your hip strengthens it. And then you get support for your lower back.

I'm not twisted that. Let me There we go. So same thing. Push with that anchor, good, and the leg is going down the middle, nose, belly button, and heel. And we're gonna bring it down just a little bit hold. So the first one your thighs are about the same level. Good job with your knee this time.

Really good. Do you feel a set of five? Yeah. Okay. Good. Let's intensify it. Go down a little lower about mid calf. What do you think? Is it about a seven? Are we using our knee joint? Yeah. Maybe a little bit. Uh-huh.

And now let's get it all the way to a 10. Don't lose that lower back. You kinda popped up there. That's it. How does that feel? Yeah. Good. Bring the leg all the way up.

Pull your belly in and go down with it. Bringing it up. Try to get a little more grounded in your powerhouse. Nothing. Oh, that's nice. End up.

One more little less knee. Good. I'm bringing it up, and then keep it there. We're gonna stay right there because we're just gonna add this one. Good. And now both heels are together.

Uh-huh. And we're gonna anchor and we're gonna pull both down increasing to a 10 just to there and come up. And anchor this. Yeah. Good job. And now we're Monica add circles.

So same thing start like it is. Getting this to a 10 as you go down. Keep those muscles working open. Circle up. Squeeze them down. Open together and squeeze them down.

Circles

And take a break with your arms. So you go down by your side because you weren't gripping or anything or holding too much tension. And then you're gonna put your hands back. Good. And we're gonna do something called walking.

So you're gonna pull your belly in. And you're gonna go out again. But instead of lowering both legs at the same time, you're gonna walk them down. So you're gonna walk two, three, four, five, six, up, two, three, four, five, six, and four more walking from the hips, not from the knee down, and up. See, sometimes like to bend your left knee, and right here, two, three, four, five, six, that's beautiful. Up, two, three, four, five, six, and down, two, three, four, five. Great power ups, up, two, three. Yes. And one more time, don't let those knees talk to each other.

Walking

Beats

And we're gonna squeeze down until we hit a 10. Pulling the belly in. Hold. How's that? Are we at a 10? Yeah. Good. Staying there. You're gonna stay at this level and open and close 10 times. One, two, three. Four.

Look at how nice your springs are. When they move like that, you're moving from the right place. Hold tight. If you use your knee, your foot, they're gonna go all sonic wave on you. So I'm gonna let go, and you're gonna do 10 more.

One, two. Three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine. Hold. Let's see if we soften the knees a little bit and try one more set of 10. Here we go. And one, two, inner thighs. Five, six, looking good, seven, eight, nine, hold. Very nice, bend the knees.

Now part of the the vibration was more that you banged your heels together, not that you weren't doing it correctly. We're gonna get the stretch again, so grab these straps, and you can keep your head down and just stretch your legs. Yeah. Good. And you can even do a little inner thigh stretch. So hold the legs up high like they are, but open them out to the sides. Good.

Hamstring Stretch

My daughter. No. Oh, maybe maybe yeah. Yeah. K. We are going to put your feet down and do arm springs. So you're gonna be about this much further that way. So slide down. Good. Anyway. Good.

What's important to note about you, Tara, is you do not have a bad back. You just have a weak back. It's not in an acute stage or anything. So Like, you were able to sit up just then and slide yourself down, and you're really, like, on the major road to recovery, which is huge. So, okay, we are going to put your hand here and your hand here. Good.

Arms Reaching Forward

Normally, they're hooked a little lower. So I'm gonna bring it down a little lower. Okay. Okay. Good. And you wanna still support your back. That's what it's all about. Whether you do legs, whether you do arms you always support, even pretend you have a magic circle between your inner thighs. Okay.

And we're gonna pull in, and I'm gonna help you. Your head stays down. You just reach your shoulders away from your ears. And bring them all the way down to your side and control it up. And pull into the mat.

Into the mat. Where's the mat? Pull your belly into the mat. Thank you. It's in my arms. I'm gonna let go now and you're gonna pull into the mat. Yeah. Yeah. And, and two more, scooping in.

So we are really making sure we understand last time that anything that we do, one more pulling starts with your powerhouse. And coming up, and bend the elbows for a little break. Good. And now you're going to straighten your arms, and we're gonna do five circles each way. So you're gonna start the same way. Pulling in. Nope.

Circles

Sure. Uh-huh. I'm gonna just keep pushing it. Yes. This is the shoulder placement I want. One more. Get the belly in. Thank you. Can you go into the reverse? Yeah. More stomach like a corset.

Oh, I like it. And three more. That's it. Trying to pull it in. Always gives you more strength, last one. And that's enough. Bend the elbows for a little break. Good.

You guys were hard. Those were hard. You're gonna do one more tricep work. But right now, our shoulders look like this, and we want them to look like a beautiful hanger. Mhmm. So we're gonna draw this in straight arms.

Tricep Press

Pull the belly in and bend the last one, keep the belly in in straight arms, and the arms lift all the way up, and you're done with that. Good job. Next, and the last thing we're gonna do is the roll back. It's delicious, but stay there. Because I'm gonna remind you of an exercise we did to finish last time, which was a teaser with assistance. So you had your feet on my thighs, and give me your hands.

Good. And I want you to pull your belly and lift your head up to look at your belly. Good. Alright. Take a breath and kind of breathe into your back more. Feel it really connected to the mat. Right now, you're like kind of popping up off the mat instead of want you to pull me down into the mat down, not with your arms. Oh. I want your powerhouse to pull back into the mat. Uh-huh, like that. That was excellent.

Teaser Prep

It's all about your powerhouse. Good. As you roll down, just like last time, you roll your shoulders to the left. So make sure you continue staying straight. We're Monica bring your head up, pull your belly in, and we're gonna come up Good. And pull the belly in and I love it and stay right.

Stay a little right. Good. Good. Good. Good. Your hips and everything. One more time. Head with me and scooping in. Good. So see how your arms are straight. And pull your belly in and see how your legs are straight.

Keep going. Pull but you're moving from your belly. Right? Yeah. Good. That was really good. Hug your knees into your chest. So the same thing goes with the last exercise, which is a delicious stretch. But it's about your powerhouse stretching yourself.

So sit up any way you can. And you're gonna put your feet against these pulls, and you're gonna stay seated, straight legs. Perfect. If you were less flexible, I'd have you bend your knees, but you're not hands on the bar shoulder width apart. Good. And you're Monica round your back and pretend your feet are on my thighs Okay. And pretend I'm holding your hands.

Roll Back

All the way down. And then you get to inhale and lift your head to look at your belly. And exhale roll up. And it's a ending and a relaxation and a stretch because you're pulling each bone away from the other and and really getting a stretch and take the bar all the way forward each time. Good, head down. And just two more.

You pull back as if you're pulling me back from the teaser. Pulling me back from the teaser. Good. Really good. Rolling through the neck, through the head. And then the head comes up and exhale expanding the ribs on the mat, keeping your navel pulling back to the mat, pull back more with the waist. Yeah.

Just like that bad act on the stage, but you are a really good act today. So One more head to your chest. Big breath to start, but then exhale to just roll out your spine and enjoy that. Pulling in support that lower back. Right? Yep. That's it. Can you feel how connected you are? Mhmm.

And then inhale, lift the head and exhale. Really, really good, scooping in. Good. And we're gonna let go of that bar. And that is enough for today. How do you feel? Feels great. Good.

So we're initiating everything from here. Good. And your hips worked a lot with our leg springs and those straps and everything to keep your hips going. Can't wait to teach you next time. Thank you.