Class #1897

Safe and Effective Reformer

50 min - Class
88 likes

Description

Jonathan Oldham teaches a safe and effective Reformer workout for "Grown Ups." He focuses on going into more depth and finishing each movement, rather than using complicated choreography. At the end of the class, Jonathan channels The Supremes with an exercise to test your balance. Have fun!
What You'll Need: Reformer w/Box, Pilates Pole

About This Video

Transcript

Read Full Transcript

Hi, I'm Jonathan Oldham, and this is Karen and Candice. And we're going to do a reformer for grownups class today. And a grownup is someone who has experience and has walked the planet. And this class, um, is not in the beginning of class necessarily, but I call it a, it's a basic class and it's safe and effective and going more into depth rather than going into really complicated or difficult, um, advanced pieces. So I'm going to ask you to please both lie down on your reformer.

And we're gonna use a moderate spring. These are balanced body. Um, so we're going to use, we're going to start with three red springs. And of course, if it feels too heavy, you can make it lighter. And if it feels too light, you can add a spring. And what I think of with the springs is you want to have something that gives you substance, but that you don't feel like you're going to string. So we're going to start in, um, in a v I'm just gonna move you over just a little bit, Candace, you in the middle.

And actually I'm gonna ask you both to just go ahead and just press out for me one time please and just see how those springs feel. So that looks good. And we're just going to start right away with the, with the foot work, you're going to press out on the inhalation and bend in on the exhalation. Very good. Good. And finishing the movement. So bring the legs together at the top. Um, some people use the image of, uh, weather stripping in your windows. So when you stretch out, you want to pull the legs fully together. So there are no drafts, right? You're really pulling the whole length of the legs together. Inhale, stretch out. Exhale. Good. Inhale through the nose, exhale through the mouth. And two more.

And one more. Inhale, ex hale. Now, um, what we're going to do next is, uh, a pulse pattern. So you're going to press out and in about a third of the distance, um, from, from the bumper, but not touching the bumpers. You just go out in a, in and the breadth, I'm gonna ask you to do a percussive breath. Two inhales to exhale. So it sounds like this. Sure.

And how in Oh, in two more sets. Sure. Last set out in, out and in. And then you're going to stretch all the way out and you're going to reach your arms straight up to the ceiling. Ron Fletcher used to say, you pierce the clouds and then you bring your arms back down. So it's very specific position.

And go ahead and band in and I'm going to ask you to move now onto your heels, heels on the bar, flexing the feet back. Good. And lengthening out. Inhale. And Xcel. So much of this class, um, has been influenced by my prime influence in Poe in Peloton, which is Ron Fletcher. And He, uh, had, he added this, the pulse pattern to all of his footwork. So it's nicer to have a little bit less spring tension, um, because it's a cumulative effect. So if you load it up too much, you might regret it by the time you get to the end of the footwork series.

Could, I'm gonna ask you to just do two more stretching out and in stretching out and in, and you Paul's here we go. Out in, out and in, in hell and exhale. Shh. Nope. Think about your weatherstripping pulling together. Very good. Out in, out in, in one more set and bent in any search. All the way out. Yeah. Pierced the clouds. Reach up and come in. You bend the knees as your arms come down.

Very good. So we're going to go now into a Relevate position. So you're going to go back to the ball of the foot, lift the heels up high, and it's a parallel Relevate. Yes. And you're going to keep your heels high as you linkedin out. Go ahead and stretch out and then recommit to lifting your heels up as you come in so that each time you, when you come in, you're pulling your heels up once again. Otherwise the heels might slowly start to sink down.

So you have to recommit with each subsequent repetition. Inhale and exhale, linkedin and yeah, stretch long. Bend in, two more. And in last and in. Now you pulse. Here we go. Out in, out, in, in, uh, in, out in, in Hell Ex. Hell, two more sets. Very good. Good breathing. Last set, all the way in to press all the way out to reach up, pierce the clouds and come home. Great.

I'm going to ask you now just to reach behind yourself and grab hold of your posts by your ears, right? Good. And let your elbows be slightly just as you have them right here. Um, sometimes people feel like they're supposed to pull them way back and that tends to kind of distort the shoulder position. So you're going to just keep your elbows almost in your peripheral vision and we're going to do a rotational movement. You can just keep your feet on the mat, on the bar rather, and you're going to rotate your lower body to your right.

And as you rotate the rack to the, to the right and then come back to center and then rotate to the left and back to center. What I'd like you to ask yourself is how far is my spine willing to go today? This moment? So you're assessing where you are and what's available for you. So instead of just, um, over, over going too far, you're going to just go to where it works best for you. Right?

So I'm not looking for a specific range. I just want you to work within your frame and what your spine wants. Good. All right. Then you can, I'm going to ask you both to just come to center. I'm going to ask you both to go to the right and then we're going to do another little pulse. This pulse is an oscillation into the stretch, so you're just asking for a little bit more movement in the spine. Inhale, inhale, exhale, exhale.

And you're just nudging the spine. So it's a gentle movement and back to center versus the ballistic motion. And then you're going to go to the other side. Good. And just pulse. Pulse. And what I'd like you to envision is the, as you're doing these pulse says you're stimulating the lubricating fluids of the spine. One more set. Good. Back to the middle, to the right word. It's going to do eight this time.

So you go to the right and you do eight, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. Back to the center and to the left. Eight more. Here we go. Eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. Center to the right just for inhale. Inhale, exhale. Exhale. Back to the center and to the left. Four more. Four, three, two, one and center.

Now singles to the right and center to the left and center. Inhale, right. Exhale, center. Inhale, left. Exhale, center. Arms down by your side. Stretch out. And now I'm just going to have you peek at your feet and make sure they're in the middle of your foot barn. If they're not, you might need to make a little adjustment. When we do those rotations, the feet can get off the center.

It's important to recheck that after doing those rotations. Good. You're going to stay out there please. And we're going to just take, um, three counts to lower the heels. Three counts to lift the heels so it goes low or low or lower. Lift, lift, lift. Good. Inhale to lower. Exhale to lift. Inhale. Inhale. Inhale, exhale. Exhale.

Two more sentence. Sure. And the last set, inhale two, three and exhale, two, three and band and good. So this class was inspired by Ron and also just from, uh, my students. I have a lot of students who are grownups and this class is developed, um, from my experience with them. So, um, I've learned from my grownups, you know, you learn from grownups, so I'm gonna ask you both to do now is just rise up to sitting and we're just going to go to two red springs and then lie back down. And, um, actually let's look at these um, loops.

Just make sure they're even okay. You're going to lie back down and grab hold of your loops in your hands. They look perfect. And I'm just going to ask you now we're gonna do, um, a movement. Um, it's, it's kind of like the double leg stretching the mat work. So you're gonna extend your legs up towards the ceiling.

Go ahead and then lower the legs as far as you can where you're not straining your spine. So you're just going to challenge your challenge yourself by lowering the legs a little bit. So this is your inhalation. As you exhale, I'm going to ask you to just bend your knees into your chest and stretch your arms down to the table. That's your excalation, and go ahead and really bend in. As long as that feels okay to you. Then inhale, reach the arms and legs. Long. Good. Exhale, pull back in. So you're attending to your spine as you extend your limbs out to the side out long, and then pull back in, keeping your spine connected to the table the whole time. Inhale, linkedin Xcel band in and inhale, lengthen.

Good. Exhale and bend. Yeah, right. Great. Now I'm going to ask you to just bend your elbows and we're going to do a coordination. Do you going to do, I'm just going to have you keep the head down so you're gonna just stretch the arms. You stretch your arms to the mat and your legs out. Long Open. Close the legs. Bend the knees and hips. Bend the elbows. Inhale. Exhale, extend. Long Open.

Close the legs and the knees and hips. Bend the elbows. Inhale, exhale, stretch, open and close. Bend and bend. Two more. Stretch it out. Oh, and then close bend, bend, last one. Stretch long, open and close. Bend the knees and hips. Bend the elbows.

So that's a coordination and the coordination, it's, it's more than just coordinating the limbs. You're also coordinating your center with, with your extremities. So there's there, there are two things going on with that. Very good. We're going to place the feet now in the loops and I'm going to ask you to just, uh, start in your [inaudible] v and let's just do a few, uh, frog kicks. You're going to bend in and, and lengthen out. And I'm going to ask you today to just strive to keep your tailbone anchored as you press, as, as you pull in.

So not letting the pelvis tilt as you pull in, but deliberately anchoring that tailbone down and even perhaps feeling that the muscles of the lower back, the d, the deep muscles of the lower back are helping you keep that tail bone anchored as you hinge at the hip. And me, good. Press out in band in [inaudible] and press out. And I'm going to call this position when you're pressed out here, this is your extended frog. Okay? Now what I'm going to ask you to do is, uh, just to make a little split. So you're gonna have to keep your feet as if they're underneath, uh, a low ceiling and just go why and then together as wide as you can. So again, asking your hips, how far are you willing to go today? Right?

And it's an inhale and exhale and inhale, and an so now I'm going to ask [inaudible] ask me to go from this extended frog position and you're just going to bend your right knee into a frog and your left leg is going to go out into that split. So this is what some people call the Peter Pan, and then you press back out to your extended frog position and to the other side. And these students are doing very well, keeping the pelvis level go ahead and place your fingertips on the pelvic bones, right? Just to make sure that, um, things aren't going, um, into right or left field. But you're staying right in the center field as you do that. Good. I'm just gonna give you a little, just a little more through the center with your heel, right? Right. So just imagine you're doing your frog kick, but just with one leg.

Do you see how those two go together? Very good. And e nef good. All right. Did you do not do both? Why don't each side do you finish? Yeah, I think you have to do one more. Yeah. All right. And then you're going to, um, take your feet out of the loops and we're going to move on. And that's a step off. We're going to set up your long boxes. So what I'm going to ask you to use is your lightest spring. Um, so, uh, I'm this machine, it's a yellow spring and we're going to take the bar down to the lower notch.

The lowest notch if you, yeah, it's locked. Okay, good. So, uh, and you're going to lie down face line with your forehead over your box. And I'm going to ask you to keep your right hand on your, on your bar. Just take your left hand behind your back if you can. Good. And then have those, the elbows in, in that peripheral line, just like you were earlier when you were lying on the back. And then the forehead is just slightly off the, the bar and you're going to, what we're gonna do eight of these.

You're gonna just press out with your right, right arm and just extend out. Oh yeah, yeah. So there we go. Take two. Good. So press out. Good. And what I, I like to put my hands here, um, on the, on the shoulder blade, just so you can feel how there's kind of a, there's a dance that happens between the shoulder blade, the upper arm bone, and the collarbone. And so I feel like you can really feel that motion of the shoulder blade as it rotates upwardly when you stretch out in this position. So I think there's something to be learned here just in terms of the mechanics of the shoulder. Let's do I think two more of these.

So you'll do eight on one side and then we'll do a on the other side and again, stretching out. And um, another thing that's very important is the head and neck position. And these students are demonstrating very good alignment. I'm actually going to give you just a little suggestion, Karen. Just sit nice and long. They're good. So you can use the foot bar as a gauge to see, um, you know how high up you want. You need to be, you want to clear the bar, but, but use the bar as, as a, as a reference so you know where you are in space.

Couple more of these. Then after your eight on each side, I'm going to ask you to change your spring. So put on a red and then take off that light spring and then we'll go right into a swan. So you're going to press out in that straight body position, I call it an Arrow position. And then when you come in, you're going to inhale and you're going to arch the upper back and you're gonna lift your lowest rib up off of the box. And then you're going to press back out into your Arrow position and the head and neck follow the line of the spine and then come directly back in.

Good. And again, stretch out. So here when you're coming in the spring is assisting you in helping you lift yourself up. And so feel how that spring, let the spring assist you and what you can focus on them when you're coming in is, is how you're bending the spine. So how the spring actually lifts you or helps you lift so that you, you don't have to hoist yourself up with your, with your, um, extensor muscles, your, your, um, long extensor muscles here and you can get a little bit more into the segmental motion. That looks very good. Do you want us to come all the way in? Yeah. Come all the way in if you can. Yes, that's a good point. So you, you see again, you ask yourself, how far are you willing to go today? So yeah, if the back doesn't want to bend, you just come as far as you can. Otherwise, something else would have to take over, like the shoulders would have to come up with something.

So that's a very good point. You come in as far as you can without distorting the position where you're still targeting the movement. All right, we'll do the, we'll let Karen finish this last one out and then we'll go onto the next piece, which is going to be a single leg kick. So I'm going to ask you to place your forearms on your foot bar just like this. Just kind of along along the foot bar and then let the shoulder blades come down and lift the head and neck and chest. You're, you're lifted. So you're starting to ask the tissues in the front of the body to Elongate and the ankles, knees, and thighs are together and you're going to bend the right knee slowly, kick, kick, extend, and the left kick, kick extend and it's inhale, inhale, exhale, good kick, kick, extend. Good.

And just feel how your core muscles come into play as you bend, kick, kick, extend, and that you're elongating the all of the tissues in the front of the body. And again, which is so important because of our lifestyle, where we were, we do so much forward and things get tight. So we're just giving you a link. Last one, kick, kick and extend. And we'll leave it there. You're going to step off please. Let's go to two red springs and take your foot bar down all the way down.

All the way down please. Yeah. Okay. Now you're going to have a, you'd take the head rest down. You're going to have a seat facing the back of your reformer. And the important thing here is finding the vertical position, finding that upright posture. So I like to think I call it the ABC.

So we've got the, the sacrum is a, you see, you're going to lift your sacrum up. But what happens when the sacrum lifts is it feels like often the ribs will, will, uh, move forward. So B is connecting the rib cage and then c is lifting the chest. So you have really three segments to think about a, the say Crim, be the lowest ribs and see the upper chest and you're going to maintain that length. Okay? So you can think of those three segments and be successful and keeping an upright posture.

I'm gonna ask you now just to take your reins and we're going to do a chest expansion. Good. So go ahead and just hold around the straps. Good. Yeah. Good. Let me have you come back a little bit so that you're, your carriage is in, you're reaching your, your straps are taught, but your shoulders are placed. Okay? So that's your initial position. Now from here, you're going to end. Let's just practice this part first. You're just going to inhale and pull back, holding onto that a, B, c of your, of your spine, and then exhale, come forward. Very nice. And it's a chest expansion.

So you're going to expand your lungs inside the ribs, which expands your chest. And then exhale, control forward. Two more like that. Inhale, pull back and whole exhale. Inhale, pull back and hold. [inaudible] X. Hey, you have an extra spring here. All right. Yeah, that's why you're working so hard. All right.

Now let's add the head turn. So you're going to pull back and hold. Look to your right. Look to your left. Look straight ahead. Exhale, release, and again, pull back and hold and look left. Look right. Look front x, Hem. Now I'm going to ask for something. I'm going to ask you to think about your center access and and make sure that as you're turning your head, you're staying on axis. Okay.

So be just use your visual, the visual field to help you find your axis. Does that make sense? All right, two more. Here we go. Inhale, pull back and hold. Look to your right. Look to your left. Look straight ahead. Exhale. I have to give you a little help here and you're going to pull back and look to your left. Just wanting to kind of look down a little bit then right? Front X. Yeah, so just something, all right, now you're going to cross your ropes.

Yup. And I would hold maybe around where these rings are. Okay. Find your ABC posture. Yeah. Do I have the right numbers? Springs on? Does it seem heavy? I can change it. I'll change it. Let's see how this is. Yeah, that's the good, that's the thing about springs. That's good as you can change them. So if you need to, so you're going to pull back like so.

So it's a high row. Good and stretch and stretch forward. And the knuckles will come just in front of the shoulder. So let not quite as wide. Good. Yeah. And forward. And this is where if Karen had tattoos on her knuckles, she would show them to the camera. But you don't have any tattoos? Not Today. Okay.

But that's helpful to think about with that position. Very good. Yeah. Alright, two more. Inhale, pull back. Exhale. And one more. Inhale, pull back. Exhale. Now I'm going to ask you to just uncross your ropes. I'm going to take a spring off. So we'll just have one red spring here and we're going to do a rotation. And so there are three ingredients to this.

Next exercise. One is you're gonna pull back with one arm and row. The second is your is going to slide towards your spine. And the third ingredient is you're rotating. So you're going to pull back with the right arm and squeeze, and then come back to center. All right. And then pull back left and center. So my elbow should not be out to the side. It should be more down by my side. And kind of pull. Yeah, more next to the body. So streamlined. Good. It's an e. Um, let's inhale as you rotate and really look and see something behind you and exhale. So this, this is, um, like backing up or changing lanes.

So you're really going to rotate and see something behind you. And, and working on that center access or being aware of your center access, rotating about that axis. One more each side. Good. And the last inhale, pull back and hold. Exhale and come forward. Great. Holding onto the straps.

With one hand you're going to turn around face the other way and straddle the box. Okay. And now the hands go in the loops and you can just place your feet on your carriage. Good. The fee are at the front of your carriage. And then you want to have a 90 degree angle here at shinbone and you're gonna bring your arms forward so the arms are aligned with the body and just soften the elbow and you're going to lift up, inhaling and exhale, come back down. And I had a client who is a grownup and he called this one Moses.

So, so you really want to have that kind of commitment to the movement. And I think of this as a chest expansion in a way too. So using your breath, that's it. A so as, so it's not just an arm movement, but the breath brings the trunk into it. Holding onto that ABC alignment. Two more of these. Inhale up. Exhale. One more. Inhale up.

You're going to stay here now and we're going to make a transition to a press. You bend the elbows in line with the body and the elbows and wrists in line with the body as best you can. And then you press something away. That's your inhale. Exhale and control it back. Nicely done. And inhale, present. Pretty close to the site. You know, within reason. Yes. Good. And inhale. Good.

I'm going to ask you to pull this back just a little bit, two more. And the last one, inhale, press out. Exhale and banned in. Very good. And please your loops back down on your pegs. And I'm gonna have you please step off and you're going to life face down again.

But this time looking into your well and um, you're going to take hold of your, uh, straps probably about right where these rings are again, and we're just gonna do a tricep extension. So what I'm going to ask you to do is find your Arrow position and I'll help you find that. So Chin in just a little bit and you're gonna bring your elbows right up next to the body, so aligned with the body, and then you'll just bend the elbow. So it's just a tricep press, just pressing from there. I like to just kind of tap the triceps and sometimes that helps them to wake up and you inhale, lengthen, exhale, bend, good.

And strive to keep your wrists, um, neutral. So the, the thumb side of the, of the, of the wrist likes to come in sometimes towards that forum. So you just really try to lead with that Pinky side of your, of your hand. And let's do just two more of those. Press out long and bend. [inaudible] press out long. And Ben, go ahead now, place your loops on your pegs if you would. And we're going to do a, um, kind of a modified, um, pole straps. So we're not going to actually pull the strap. So I call this a, it's just a real, basically another swan.

You're going to take your hands forward on your frame and we may need to change the spring tension, makes sure that your thumbs are on the same side as your fingers. Go ahead. And then from here you're going to lift yourself up into a swan. So you're going to pull up and lift up. Inhale, very good. And then exhale, come back down.

I find that sometimes this is a little more available to people than the regular pole straps. And I learned this from my friend Anne. And, um, I think it's a, it's a good option for the pulse straps and inhale, pull back and it's very nice to watch. Exhale forward. Two more. Inhale, pull back, lift the chest, exhale, come forward. Nicely done. Last one in help. Pull back and lift and then exhale, come forward. And Go ahead and dismount. Good. And you're going to just turn your boxes and add all of your springs yeah. To the short box position.

Add all of your springs and go ahead and find, well, we'll grab the dowels here and we'll just stow them for now. In front of the box for safe keeping, go ahead and have a seat and you're gonna place your feet under the foot strap. So I'm sure one thing that you feel like you feel like something's missing. And that is the a hundred. So we haven't done a hundred yet, so we're going to do a modified hundred here that I, um, from a up here.

So the a hundred, let's just practice the pumps. So it's inhale too. Three, four, five, exhale, two, three, four, five. You know that part. Now, what I'm gonna ask you to do is as you inhale, you're going to hinge back. So you're gonna hinge, two, three, four, five and up. Two, three, four, five, hinge, two, three, four, five, and up. Good. I'm just going to give you a little suggestion here. Again, Lee, two, three, four, five and up. Two, three, four, five. Inhale, two, three, four, five. Now exhale, two, three, four, five. Inhale, two, three, four, five. Exhale, up, up, up. Good. Inhale, two, three, four. Exhale, two more. Set. Inhale, two, three, four, five. Exhale. Nicely done. Inhale, two, three, four, five. Exhale, two, three, four, five. And you're going to grab your strick.

All right. You're just going to hold your doll in front of you at about chest height. Go ahead and just anchor your shoulders and lengthen your spine. We're just going to do another rotation. Students rotate to your right. That's your inhalation. And exhale, come back to center.

And inhale. Exhale, back to center. Good. Inhale to the right. So we're going to call this the twist. Okay. Exhale. You're going to lean and let your, your, um, opposite sit bone come up a little bit. Inhale back to your twist. Exhale centers, you know, go back to your twist each time. Twist, inhale, lean, let the right sit bone come up. Exhale. And then inhale, come back center. Sorry. Sorry.

Inhale, twist. Exhale, lean. Inhale, come back to your twist XL center. Good twist. Then lean back to the twist and center one more each way. Twist and lean, twist and center. Last twist and Lee, back to your twist and centered. Good.

And you can just place your stick in front of your box and I'm going to ask you to place your right hand, um, just on your box. Good. And then your left arm is going to come up towards your ear. Good. And press your feet away from one another. So you're gonna really press out. Yup. And I'm going to ask you to think of elongating your waste. And the waste to me is that space between the pelvis and ribs.

You're going to make that waist long and then you're going to just lean slightly to the side. Go ahead and bend that right elbow to go to the side, come back to the center switch. So left hand down, right arm up, lengthen and then lean. So less important. Go and come back to center and switch. So less important. Um, how far over you go more. Think of this as a long gating your side and then you're just kind of indicating that you're bending over. Does that make sense? So it's not a sigh as much of a big sideband.

It's more elongating the side, right? Maybe it's a lengthening exercise. Good. One more each way. Here we go. Lift and bend and lift and center and up. Linkedin. Bend the elbow, lift and center. Good. I'm going to ask you now, just take your right foot out from under the strap and you're going to hook your arm underneath your, um, um, underneath your thigh. Good. And just check your alignment.

So make sure your sit bones are equidistant from the front of your box, right? So yeah, that looks good. And you're going to straighten and bend the leg. Here we go. Straighten the leg and bend. Straighten the leg and bend. Good and just a softly pointed toe here.

Not Too much tension in the foot, just softly pointed. Good and Ben, two more of these. Straighten the leg and then last one, straighten and band and now you're just going to circle your foot and ankle around here and reverse the direction. Just get movement and all those joints and articulations of the foot and ankle. Then you're going to straighten the leg out as best you can and flex and points of flex and point and flex and point.

Inhale, exhale and flex and point to more. Flex and point, last flex and point and just go right on. Switch to the other side. It's going to take the left thigh close. Check your sit bones, make sure they're equal distance from the front of the box. Nicely done. Straighten in, bend, straighten the legs and bend, straighten and bend again. Inhale, nice work.

Exhale, straighten and bend two more. You Straight and bend. Last one, straighten and Ben in a circle the foot and ankle around. Get all the kinks out and reverse and then straighten the leg in. Flex and point, flex and point and flex and point and flex and point and flex and point to we flex and point, flex and point. And Go ahead and take your right foot out from under the strap and dismount and we'll get rid of the boxes and the dowels. And we're going to go back to, um, you're going to kneel now looking into your wealth. So, and what we're going to do is go from all the springs to zero springs.

So be careful. So we're going to take all the springs off. So it's, it's a loose canon as it were. Good. And you're going to, oh wow. This is getting away from us. So you're going to kneel with your knees up against your shoulder rests. So it'd be careful and your hands are gonna go on the frame. I call this one the coffee table. So you want to, so this is just kind of a hinge.

You're going to have a nice straight back and I'm going to ask you to take your arms at an angle away from the body. So I'm going to ask you Candace, sorry, just to step, just to reach for a little farther forward so you're more at an angle C so, so, so this is no bleak angle. Now you're going to strive to keep a straight back like a coffee table and you're going to bring yourself forward. It's just so that your arms are aligned over 90 degrees and you'd go back to that position. So the hinges that the shoulder and your task is to maintain the alignment of the spine as you go back and forth and you'll feel work in your chest with this one.

Very good. And so just keeping that straight line as you're going back and forth. So a nice safe maneuver, not asking for too much, um, flection from the spine. More working in that more neutral position. Two more of these. Good.

Yeah. And have the thumb on the site. Same side as the fingers just in case you overshoot. Probably be okay. But go ahead and bring the carriage back to the bumper and then very carefully step off cause you don't have any springs. Good. And now we're going just going to go to, let's go to two red springs. All right. Head rest is up and bars up to the, um, higher. No, middle middle for this one. Yeah, middle position.

Good. Alright, go ahead and lie back. How are you doing? Good. And you're going to be in a parallel position in your Relevate position. Remember that Relevate position. So it's, it's pretty light. So, um, yeah, so, so just be careful the first time you push out. Now you're, we're going to define three positions. You're going to take your right leg over your foot bar. Good.

So it's in a straight line over the foot bar. The pelvis is level and stable. And so we're going to call this position hover. The next position is the leg go straight up towards the ceiling. We'll just call that position up. The third position, you're going to rotate in your hip. You're going to cross over to this figure four and that's cross.

Okay. And then we go back to Oh, and then to hover. Okay. So what's going to happen is you're both going to stretch out. As you stretch out, your leg goes to up in inhale, go ahead and stretch all the way out. So there's this moment we have two straight legs. You're going to come in and cross, stay in your relevant, press out, go back to up, then come home to hover and back to hover and [inaudible] and cross bringing the carriage in.

Ah, and hover. And we need to go any faster than this. I think it's good to go. Very deliberate pace with this one cross so you can feel the stretch. Ah, and hover. Good up. [inaudible] two straight legs crass. Nicely done.

Up. Hover up. Now very actively rotate in your hip joint to cross, right? So you're not just wedging your leg against the other leg, but you're really activating up and so it's deliberate motion in your hip. Last one, take it up, bring it across and lift up and to hover. Do you think we should do the other side? Okay, I'm an agreement. Can't wait.

Great. Left leg long. Good. Notice if there's anything different on this side. Yeah, we'll hover a little lower. Here we go, and up. Actively Cross back to up to straight legs and hover again. Inhale up. Exhale, cross. Inhale up and hover.

Lyft and cross and lift and hover. Up and cross and up and hover. Last one up and cross two straight legs for up and hover. Nice. Now you're going to take your left foot in relevant. Your right foot is gonna sneak underneath your foot bar all the way to straight leg. As long as that feels okay to your back, you can strive to just keep that leg just straight in line with the, with the body and this, you're going to, this one you're going to press out.

Go ahead, press out, lower the heel, the left heel, lift the left heel and band in and stretch out. Lower the heel, lift the heel and Ben in and inhale. Inhale, inhale, exhale. Good. Inhale, inhale. Inhale. Last one. You stretch, lower the heel, lift the heel and bed in and switch legs.

That's now the left leg is hovering under the foot bar. Here we go. Stretch out, lower the heel, lift the heel and bend. And stretch. Lower the heel, lift, lifting and bending. Very good. Go ahead and take your fingertips just on your pelvis here. Lower the here and lift. Just makes sure everything's staying centered.

So it's the challenge when you're using one leg, if things want to twist sometimes to accommodate the leg. Last one we go and we go steward much lower the heel. Lift the heel and band in. Good place both feet on the foot bar. I'm just going to add a spring for you. So we've got our three reds like we did at the beginning and very, without any further ado, you're going to stretch out long hills together. Parallel.

Yep. And you're going to run this lower one heel and the other good. What I'm gonna ask for is you run is that as you lift, there's a moment again where you have two straight legs, down, two straight legs, down to straight leg. See that up, down and up. Inhale and exhale. Inhale and exhale.

Inhale and exhale. Last set and bend in. You're going to place the arches of your feet on the corners of your foot. Bar. Good for a bottom lift. What I'm going to ask you to think about is that you're going to keep your lowest ribs, uh, anchored on your table.

You're going to tilt the tail and rise up, but, but feel that, um, powerful placement of your lowest rib and equal pressure in the feed and in that lowest strip. And then you're just going to stretch out in. Then inhale, lengthen, exhale, bend in. And we'll just do six of these two. And in Nice taking your time to finish the motion. Inhale and exhale. Inhale and exhale. Last one. Inhale and exhale. I think that was six. And then go ahead and lower down in the knees and feet together. And then you're going to step off to your, to the center. Good. And I'm going to ask you both to do now is just, um, you're just gonna stand here if you would, Karen, and I'll ask you to stand here. Candice, go ahead.

And so what we're gonna do is I'm finished with a little balance exercise. So let's just, first we're going to figure out what the, where the balance is. So you're going to just stand on your right foot and hold it for three, two, one. It's hard. And then left. Three, two, one. So this is kind of like being a backup singer. Um, so what we're gonna do is we're gonna do, I'm gonna, you're gonna throw in a little bit of momentum to it. So it's gonna go like, like step, touch, step, touch, step, balance, balance, balance and step touch. How you doing back there? Touch step, balance, balance, balance. Here go step, touch, step, chat, step. Stop. In the name of love, step, touch, step, touch, be for you.

Break my heart again. Step, cut, step, touch, step. Stop. In the name of love. Step be for you. Break my heart and I think that, well, where we'll leave it here. You didn't break my heart. Thank you very much.

Comments

1 person likes this.
I really enjoyed watching this class. I have many "grown up" clients that would appreciate and benefit from Jonathan's selected exercises and the pacing and flow. The ending balance exercise was fun! Thank you Jonathan.
1 person likes this.
Omg! Loved! My clients are going to love some of these exercises! really liked that little hip thing.... the up, hover, crossover. thank you! I feel so grown up
Great class...very nice Energy ...my grown ups will thank you !
You're fun! This class is great---for my 14 year old basketball playing daughter or my 73 year old mom...or 43 year old me. Thank you for sharing your gifts and talents.
2 people like this.
Fab Fab Fab Class :) Thank You
I feel wonderful and I think Im a grown up….
Would love to see more of you on PA Jonathan
Jonathan, I thought this was a great class. Your awareness of "grown up" bodies is helpful. I didn't have to modify anything, which is a pleasure because I usually do for my 62 year young body. I would love to see a more difficult class done with the same "grown up" body awareness that you have leaving out the contortions that I can no longer do but making it a level more advanced. Thanks for a wonderful and thoughtful class that I will do again.
Great ideas! I love the hinge 100 and the coffee table. And the Supremes!
I loved this! I can't wait to use Jonathan's advice and technique to help my own grown up clients achieve better quality movement and awareness. Thank you, Jonathan!!
What a great class!! Jonathan has such great cues and the pace is perfect! I have many grown up clients and am always looking for something refreshing and challenging (safe challenging). My mom would love the ending balancing exercise! How fun!
Thank you Johnathan, Candice and Karen. I loved the pace - gentle and effective. Beautifully executed and masterfully taught! I am going to use this workout for my clients.
1-10 of 16

You need to be a subscriber to post a comment.

Please Log In or Create an Account to start your free trial.

Footer Pilates Anytime Logo

Move With Us

Experience Pilates. Experience life.

Let's Begin