Class #2060

Pilates/Barre Fusion

55 min - Class
801 likes

Description

Work your whole body with Courtney Miller in this Pilates/Barre fusion Mat workout. To add resistance to the movement, she uses two 2 lb Weighted Balls, but if you don't have them, you can use light Hand Weights or no weights at all. You'll start with a standing warm up and move through Kneeling Side Kicks, Swan, Teaser, Shoulder Bridge, Rolling Like a Ball, and more. Have fun, and allow your muscles to really move your body!
What You'll Need: Mat, Weighted Balls

About This Video

Feb 03, 2015
(Log In to track)

Transcript

Read Full Transcript

Welcome guys. Thank you for coming. We have a super fun mat class. I think I say that about all my classes though. They're super fun.

So you guys will have to tell me at the end of the class if that's an accurate statement or not. But I'm super excited to be here. It's a beautiful day. We're gonna work our whole body. What we're using today are toning balls and these balls are two pounds each.

They come in a variety of different colors and weights and all kinds of stuff. These ones just happen to be two. You could use weights instead of these although you'll see that there are a few exercises that these come in really handy for and I just wanna also give you permission to not use them so you can put them down if you'd like. And at home if you have these, great. If you don't, do the class without them and then you may decide to pick some up.

Totally your call. Let's begin. I'm gonna have you guys turn to face towards me to start. Excellent. We're gonna begin by finding our natural Pilates V.

Usually rocking to the heels and turning out is an easy way to find that. Open your legs nice and wide to wide second position. Your feet are wider than your hips. Shoulders over hips and then weights in the hands. We're just gonna begin with some breaths so breathe with me.

Inhale, arms go up. And Pilates breath. (exhales deeply) Arms come down easy breezy. Inhale, arms go up. (inhales) And exhale.

(exhales) Good. Two more times. Breathe in oxygen into the lower lobes of the lungs. Neck is long. Last time.

Breathe in. (inhales) And exhale. Now keep the arms at shoulder height. Bend both of your knees and everyone stretch over to your right side. Chest lifted.

Inhale, bend the knees. Stretch over to your left side. Chest lifted, bicep by the ears and bend in little bit quicker. It's up and center. Good.

Up and center. So this is our warm up and you will get warm. And up. And center. Lift bicep by the ear.

Let's do one more each side. Little deeper plie. And all the way up. Now stay low on the next one. Place the weights onto your thighs.

Roll the shoulders open. Keep the right hand where it is. Take the left hand up. Roll the ball down towards the knee and then roll elbow to hip. So I reach for eight.

Working into those obliques. Seven. Staying low in my plie. Six. Chin up, chest lifted.

Five. You are disassociating the upper body from the lower body using your obliques. Last two. And one. Quick switch.

Other side. I reach over and cinch. Keep the chest lifted here so there's no forward and back. It's only side to side. Good.

This is a great time to breathe into the side body. Get into those lower lobes of the lungs. Last two. And one. From here take the arms out to the side.

Shift your weight over to your right leg. Bend into that right knee. Now this exercise has four parts. This is part one. Part two, reach overhead.

Scoop the abdominals in, C curve. Part three is the same as part one and the last part is tap behind you. Here's our flow. We go side, scoop, side, and back. Side, scoop from the pelvis not just the neck, and back.

Good. Side, scoop, and back. Really move that spine. (exhales deeply) And back. Four more.

Side, overhead, using those abdominals. Three. (exhales deeply) Melting the ribs to the body. This is two. (exhales deeply) And back.

Last one. (exhales deeply) Hold it back. Lift the back leg, pulse the arms. Ten, nine, eight, seven, scoop those abs in. Good.

Last three. Two, hold for one. Take it down, shift the weight. Other leg. Good.

Arms to the sides. Tap the toe. Bend into the standing leg, this is part one. Scoop as you reach, mobilize the pelvis. There's two.

Open, that's part three. Arms down. Ah, let's flow. Side, scoop, side, and down. Very good.

Up, over, work that standing leg. Up, over, axle to the C curve. Up. (exhales deeply) Four more. Good.

Reach, two pounds is gettin' heavy already. Reach. (exhales deeply) Good. Two more here guys. Really pull that navel in.

Warm it up. (exhales deeply) Hold it back. Pulse it back. Small, little press. Open up the collarbones, legs, and arms.

Up, up, up, and hold. Bring it in. Heels together. Toes apart. Bend the elbows.

Shoulders down the back. Lift your heels high as you reach your arms forward. Bring it down and in. Let's flow. Lift and lower.

Lift, you guys keep going. I'm showing you from the side. You're going straight up a chimney here. Push down to come up. Lift.

Good. Get those inner thighs to work as the heels lower down. You got it. Eight. (exhales deeply) Lift.

(exhales deeply) Good. Pull up to the front of those thighs, heels connect before they touch. Lift and lower. Lift and lower. Shoulders down.

Hold everything up. Bring the elbows in. I pulse my heels for two as I open and close my arms. It's open, open, close, close. Good.

Growing taller. Collar bones down the back. Lift, lift, good. Hold it here. Lift a little bit higher and release everything down.

Good. Turn to face each other. That's your warmup. Now we start the work. Stand towards the back of your mat.

Parallel legs. Arms by your sides in front of the thighs. Right foot steps forward as the arms reach forward. Back knee bends and then with intention you come back. Stay on the right side.

We go up. (exhales deeply) Up. (exhales deeply) Good. Lift. Close those ribs as you lift those arms.

Up and pull. Up and pull. Up and pull. Good. Now step forward and hold it.

Freeze. Turn towards your leg that is forward and deepen your lunge as you open the arms. Come back to center. Repeat. Turn towards the front leg and also turn towards the camera, ready?

Turn, there ya go. And up. Four more. Turn, and up. Find the balance.

Turn, and up. Last time. Turn, up and hold. Hinge forward. Elbows draw back.

Turn the weights towards your body. Extend your back leg. Extend the arms and bend. (exhales deeply) And bend. You're like a bullet flying through the air.

Long spine. Pitch forward a little more guys. Press. And press. Nice.

On the next one hold the arms, turn the weights up, circle up. Up and around. Up. The beauty here is we're opening up the collar bones. Reverse.

Up. See if you can get the hands a little higher than the hips. Nice. Up. Up.

Now this is a good one. Freeze here. Bend into that front knee a little more. Back leg lifts if you can. Arms go down.

I want you to bend your standing knee and as you lift your leg, arms to a T. Watch your neighbor. Bend, arms up to a T. Good. Bend, arms up to a T.

One more. Back leg stays high. Arms up. Lower the back foot. Rise up.

Roll it out. Very good. If you traveled forward, move back a little bit. But we like each other right? We're like magnets coming in.

Okay. Other side. Left leg. Let's do one slow. Big step.

Yeah, bigger is better here. And (breathes) let's flow. Forward and pull. Focus on this lift. So the arms lift and so does the spine.

Length as we step forward. Keep those shoulders right over the hips guys. The reason your torso is moving is your legs. It's not a lean yet. Good.

Four more here. Four. Resist the weights. Three. Good.

This is two. And one. Lunge forward and hold it preparing for rotation. Turn towards the leg that's forward as you deepen your lunge and back up center. Same side.

(exhales deeply) It's a good time to notice if one side feels different than the other and the weights will definitely exacerbate any muscle imbalances. Good. As you rotate do so from your center, from your ribs. Keep your knees traveling right over your mid feet. Last rotation here.

You're up. Bring the elbows in. Pitch forward. Turn the weights in. Extend and bend.

Really hug those elbows into the sides. Good. Deepen the lunge if you can. Nice. Draw the navel in and back.

Perfect. Two. (exhales deeply) Hold the arms back palms up. Small little circles up. Try to keep your hands higher than your hips.

Up, up. Chest is lifted. Reverse the circles. Up, up. Knees right over those mid feet here.

Four. Three. Two. Precision is the name of this next one. Arms go down.

Back leg up. Create a capital letter T. As you bend your standing knee, arms open and as you extend your standing leg, arms close. You have four of them if you can. Nice.

Good. Rise all the way up. Plant the feet. Inhale, arms up. Exhale, flex the spine.

Fold forward. You can place the weights down. Bend the knees. Come into a squat and a seated position. Great job.

Are we warm? Did it work? Okay. So from here changing the muscle focus, weights in hands, sit with the feet hip distance apart. Press down into the weights.

Now I have them just a little bit forward of my knees. Heels of the hands on them because I'm gonna roll to my fingertips. So press down to sit tall. Shoulders down. Feet anchored.

Inhale. Exhale energy into the waist as you roll back. (exhales deeply) Now the initiation is from the pelvis. Breathe in as you press down a little deeper. Exhale, flex forward, forehead over knees.

Inhale, press down to roll back up. Stacking the shoulders. Repeat. Pelvis first, exhale, roll. (exhales deeply) Good.

Toes stay anchored. Inhale, hold. The breath goes somewhere. It goes into your back and sides. Push down as you roll forward.

Forehead to the knees, belly draws back. Inhale, sit tall. Two more. Exhale. Let me see you roll from your pelvis.

Really isolating that pelvis. Good. Inhale, stay. I should see you width into the back and sides. Exhale, chin to chest.

Pull the belly in and back as you fold forehead over knees. Inhale, rebuild. There it is. Last time. Exhale, heavy the feet as you roll.

Inhale, breath width. Exhale, ribs to hips. Inhale as you roll back up. Weights in hands now. Arms extended forward.

Breathe in. (inhales deeply) Exhale, roll back (exhales deeply) to your half roll back position. Maintain the C curve here. Inhale, arms open sides. Exhale, deep and scoop.

Inhale. Exhale deep and scoop. Good. We can all holds hands, it's very nice. Exhale deep and scoop.

Keep going. As your arms close I should see your ribs melt into the body. Knees don't move. Good. Elbows a little lifted and scoop.

One more time. Beautiful work. Hold it here. Inhale. Lift arms just for a moment.

Tuck the chin, exhale, flex forward over the thigh. Shoulders melt. Inhale, spine rebuilds. Let's add a little movement with the torso. Arms forward.

This time knuckles up. Breathe in. (inhales deeply) Exhale, roll back. (exhales deeply) Inhale to hold the position. As you exhale arms come up.

Chest comes up. Inhale down. And I'm just doing a little flex with my wrist here. So I go up like I'm painting the fence and down. Let's flow.

Up and (exhales). Up and (exhales). I'm now pulling from my hips. I'm trying to really deepen my scoop to lift. We've got four.

Shoulders down. Three. (exhales deeply) Two. If you work on a computer this is a good one. One.

Hold it here. Lift just for a moment. Tuck the chin. Flex forward over the thighs and inhale as you rebuild. Lovely.

You can roll these weights with you. Come to a position lying down onto your back. Draw your knees together. Knees are bent but if they're too close towards your tush it'll inhibit. So lock them away a little bit.

Turn your palms up and you may get to know your neighbors a little bit on this one. Weights are still in the hands. So we're gonna circle the backs of the hands wide. So the hands come behind us. Keep those ribs closed though.

On an inhale I circle my hands back to my thighs where they were. Tuck my chin, lift my chest. Here we all are. Good. Feet stay heavy.

On an exhale single leg extension as I roll up. There's a picture. Perfect. Inhale, bend the knees as you roll. Exhale, circle around.

Inhale, circle, head comes up. Exhale up. (exhales deeply) Inhale, control it. Exhale down. Now that we know it, little bit quicker.

One exhale up (exhales deeply) and down. (inhales deeply) And up (exhales deeply) and down. Now one leg. One leg for now. Up (exhales deeply) and down.

Last time here guys. Up (exhales deeply) and down. Now do the other leg. Let's do it slow again though so we can focus on pelvic stability. So now we have right leg.

If you were alternating that's okay. You can keep alternating. So we circle the arms around, tuck the chin, lift the head. Here we are. Inner thighs stay connected.

The higher the arms the more challenge. Bend the knee as the pelvis rolls back and take it around. So here's our slower breath pattern. Inhale to the chest, lift. Exhale, (exhales deeply) to the top.

Inhale to control. Exhale around. Now that we know it, one exhale up. We go up (exhales deeply) and down. And we go up. (exhales deeply) So these weights can be used for good and evil and this is good right?

It's helping us. Okay helping to curl through the spine. But they can be used for evil too. We'll get there soon. (exhales deeply) Let's do two more here.

(exhales deeply) And on one we're gonna stay up because we can control. Good. Bend the knees and take it all the way around. Nice. From here arms go straight up over the head.

Take a deep breath and exhale. Tighten your abdominal muscles, navel to spine. Inhale, draw one leg up. Exhale, draw the other to meet it. Flex up, lift.

Now one ball can go between the ankles or the knees. Ankles is a little more advanced. The other ball goes right on top of your belly button. (laughs) The knees it is. If it's slippery go over the knees.

Okay. So hold them behind your knees for a second so we can all stay up here. So everybody just take a couple of deep breaths and notice if you see the ball on the belly moving. This is gonna be your visual cue for when we breathe for the hundred which is coming up next. On the exhale the ball should drop.

On the inhale the ball should not lift. Arms extend long. Legs extend to challenge. Pull it down. Collar bones wide.

Breathe with me. Inhale. (inhales pulsing) (exhales pulsing) (inhales pulsing) (exhales pulsing) In through the nose. Two, three, four, five. Out through the mouth.

Two, three, four, five. Arms are straight and long. Inhale one, two, three, four, five. Exhale, lower the legs to challenge. Inhale one, two, three, four, five.

Exhale, check it out. What's happening? Inhale, one, two, three, four, five. Exhale, reach. Inhale, one, two, three, four, five.

Exhale, reach. Inhale, one, two, three, four, five. Exhale, reach. Inhale, one, two, three, four, five. And reach.

Two more sets. Two, three, four, five. Pumping those arms. Last set. Two, three, four, five.

Hold it. Curl up a little bit higher. Bend your knees and take it all the way down. Woo! Good job. Who dropped the ball?

It was me. It was me. Good. So a nice little image there. The ball is your instructor on that one.

You know how we come over with our little pincher fingers? That's what it is. Okay so ball is in both hands now. One in each hand. Again tighten the tummy, draw the legs up.

Flex up. Good. This time the ball's not going between the ankles. You're gonna rest one on top of the shins a little closer to the ankles and then on top of the shins a little closer to the knees. Good.

And we can use one or we can use none. Good. Hug the knees towards you. Anchor the tailbone. Inhale, stretch the arms away.

Exhale, lift a little higher. Inhale, stretch the arms away. Lift a little higher. Hold. Extend the legs a little.

Maybe a lot. Exhale, bend the knees in. Now put the two together. Inhale, reach. Exhale, scoop.

Inhale, reach. Exhale, scoop. Stay lifted onto the tips of the shoulder blades the whole time here guys. Scoop. Inhale, reach.

Exhale, scoop. Abs are flat. Last three. (exhales deeply) Two. (exhales deeply) One.

(exhales deeply) Scoop a little higher. Grab a hold of those weights. Lower the head, neck, and shoulders down. Lovely. Lower one foot.

Lower the other. Allow the knees to rock side to side. Extending your legs out straight. Let's mobilize the spine just a little bit here. Arms go up to the sky.

Arms go back not too low. Close those ribs. Inhale, head lift. Arms lift, look at the toes. Exhale, flex over the thighs.

Reach beyond them. Inhale, roll halfway back. Hold the position, scissor the arms. One. Two.

Three. Four. And exhale. (exhales deeply) Roll the rest of the way down. Let's do it again.

Anchor the feet. It's an inhale, head and arms. Exhale, use the breath to roll through the hardest part of the exercise. Now tug of war here. Balls go forward, stomach goes back.

Inhale, C curve back. Hold the position. One. Two. Three.

Feet don't move. Four. And exhale, roll it back. One more. Inhale, arms up, head up.

Look at the toes. Exhale, articulate up and over. Freeze. Put those shoulders down. Arms parallel to the ground.

Dig a little deeper for it. Roll halfway back and we go up. Two. Three. And four.

And exhale. (exhales deeply) Take it all the way down. Good. Circle your arms around and place the weights down for a moment. Now if you've got the room I'd love for one arm to be out like the letter T.

How 'bout we all do our right arm out like a letter T. I don't have the room so you're not gonna see me do that. My arm's gonna be here. And I'm gonna keep the hand on the weight the whole time. Now my left arm is gonna go up and back just like it was.

Not too low otherwise my ribs will pop. My right leg. Everyone lift your leg for a second. You see how it's opposite arm and leg kinda like swimming right? Okay cool.

Turn the knee out, frog leg, and place the ankle on top of your left ankle. So this is our start position. On an exhale you'll press into your right hand. Lift the arm and the leg up and connect them. (exhales deeply) Inhale to go down.

Now that we know it, eight times. Ready? One. Down. Two.

Yes, I knew you could do it. Three. Four. Half way point. Five.

Left leg, more abs. Six. (exhales deeply) Seven. And eight. Take it down.

That was so good. I wanted to do ten but I have to keep my promise. Okay. Switch opposite leg on top. You could have done two more I think, I think.

Okay so now the left hand's out like a T. Right arm is over head. Just so we're all on the same page can we all lift and hold so I can see? Beautiful. And you are pushing into the bottom hand.

Control to come down. Together here we go, eight times. Up one (exhales deeply) and two. (exhales deeply) Push down to come up. Three. (exhales deeply) Nice. Four. (exhales deeply) Five. (exhales deeply) Six, navel in.

Good. Seven and a half. Just joking. We're even. That's eight.

Good work guys. Extend the legs long. Inhale, arms over head. Let's roll up with grace. Head comes up, arms go up.

Exhale, flex the spine. Place the weights down. (exhales deeply) Roll up without them and carefully come to a kneeling position. Great job. So we're taking this into a four point kneeling challenge.

We're gonna use both weights at some point and we're going to use a single weight at some point. So just keep them close. The first exercise we're going to do is with one weight only. So pick your favorite one. The lighter one.

And then take one weight and put it behind your right knee. Why don't we all do the same side. And toes are curled under. Fingers are spread. So I'm about to come into a preparatory exercise for the flank.

All of the principles apply. Soft elbows, soft shoulders. Knees lift an inch. Now to modify this series, knees go back down. Not a problem okay?

Knees up if available. The foot that has the ball, right leg, lift it up. One. Two. Heads are lifted.

Three. Four. Five. You're not done, it goes to the side now. One.

Two. Three. Four. Five. Butt down.

Knees down. Pivot turn. Take your legs into mermaid position. Beautiful. Very graceful.

Hands onto those mats. Chest is lifted. Lean forward. Lift the back leg. Now kick the leg behind you.

One. Two. Three. Four. Five.

Lift the leg out. One. Two. Three. Four.

Five. Take the ball out. Come on to the elbow and forearm. Now lift through those lower ribs to have the ground and lift up. Two.

Three. Four. Hold the leg, five. Hand goes down. Circle the arm and the leg.

Five. Four. Three. Going for length. Two.

One. Reverse. Long. Two. Three.

Four. Five. Lift the arm and leg and take it all the way down for the other side. Now that's a little warm up of something to come. Don't forget about it.

Ball behind me, opposite knee. Spread the fingers, middle finger point straight ahead. Curl the toes. Abdominals in. Planking principles, neutral spine.

Knees up. Left leg it goes up. One. Two. Three.

Four. Five. Knee to the side. One. Two.

Three. Four. Five. Take it down. Pivot turn.

Good. Chest stays lifted. Hand down. Lean forward. Back leg lifted up.

Kick it behind you. One. Two. Three, I'm impressed guys. Four.

Five. Lift the leg up. From the booty. One. Two.

Three. Four. Five. Take the ball in the hand. Elbow and forearm down.

Arms extends overhead. Go for the length. One. Two. Lift the chest, three.

Four. Five. Hand goes down by the thigh, circle the arm and the leg. One. Two.

Stabilize those ribs. Three. Four. Five. Reverse.

Collar bones are open. Two. Three. Four. Five.

Lift the arm and the leg higher and come back onto the hands and knees. Very good. Now you'll need both of your weights for this next one. Kneeling in parallel position with the knees hip distance apart. Arms extend forward.

Abs draw in. Use the glutes to lift up, squeeze and resist. (exhales deeply) Good. I'd like to see those glutes engage up and down. Good job.

Up and down. Nice. Up and down. Good. Now on the next one lift up, lift your arms, take a bicep position.

Tuck your tail, thighs stretches, the arms reach forward, the weights help you. (exhales deeply) Pull it up. You have eight of them. Inhale, (inhales deeply) collar bones wide. Inhale, good work guys.

Four more. Use those obliques to stabilize the spine and the glutes of course to stay lifted. (exhales deeply) Last time. (exhales deeply) Arms come down. Now at home you guys can stay where you are.

I'm gonna have you guys turn towards me so I can see your beautiful smiles. Good. One weight. Leave it. That's the great thing about these, you can literally just drop them.

Arms go to the side. Good. Let's all have yeah, yes. Beautiful. It's perfect for the pictures.

Okay so we lift up. We latterly flex the hand that does not have the weight, that's the hand that goes down. Lift the leg. Remember this? Up.

Up. Up. Up. Hold. Knuckle to thigh, circle.

Five. Four. Three. Two. One.

Reverse. Five. Close those ribs. Four. Three.

Two. Hold. Leg and arm lift up. Here's a little something special. You're going to pivot, bend the knee and elbow.

Almost sit, almost sit, almost sit. (exhales deeply) Inhale, you can add the sound effects. (exhales deeply) Inhale. Kick. Scoop.

Kick. For two. (exhales) And one. (exhales) Foot comes down. Weight comes down.

You come up. Ball in the hand. Anchor the foot. Inhale, stretch towards the leg. Exhale, stretch away.

(exhales deeply) That's one, you have four of them. And you feel those obliques fire. (exhales deeply) Stretch. (exhales deeply) Arms up. One more piece.

Open the arms like you did before. I haven't switched arms yet. Hand goes down. Foot comes back. Arm comes up.

Thread the needle. Lift the hips. Scoop. Inhale, open. That's one.

Scoop. Drawing opposite rib to hip and open, that's two. Chin to chest. (exhales deeply) Pull those abdominals and three. (exhales deeply) Four.

Let's do one more. Chest is open. Shoulders down the back. That's five. We're open.

Plant the knee. Take a seat. Good. Let's take a well deserved little stretch. From here the weight that's in the hand can stay in the hand.

Find your mermaid legs. Circle the arm in front of the body and open the hips. Take the hips down and stretch towards the legs. One more. Take the hands in front of the body.

Open the hips. Take the hand down and stretch. Notice we stretch for two and we work for like eight reps. Why is that? Come on up.

Other side. Okay. 'Cause everything that we do has length in it. So the only part that we have to repeat is the whole thing. Arms go out.

Ball on the opposite hand. Leg goes out. Flex. Okay. Ribs close.

Pulse it up. One. Two. Three. Four.

Hold the leg. Lower the arm. One. Two. Three.

Four. Five. Reverse the circles. No circling or wiggling in the ribs. That's what's important.

Hold the whole thing up. Lift the arm and the leg a little higher. Get ready for it. You're going to scoop almost sit. Flex those abdominals.

(exhales deeply) Almost sit and up. What I'm trying to do is pivot my hips under my chest and open. Scoop and open. Three. (exhales deeply) Two.

(exhales deeply) One. Hold it. Limp it. Rise up. Use the weight of the ball to help you.

Arms up. Anchor foot. Stretch to it. That's not so bad. Stretch away from it.

Oh that's where those obliques kick in. Stretch to and away. And to and away. One more time. To and away.

Rise up. Open the arms. Plant the hand. Footsteps under. Good.

Lift up through those obliques from underneath. Thread the needle, twist, look and inhale, reach. Flex. (exhales deeply) I'm thinking about drawing that rib under, up, and across my ribs. Two more.

(exhales deeply) And reach. One more. (exhales deeply) And reach. Bend the knee. Take a seat.

Mermaid those legs. Very nice. The hand comes down. The hips come up. ? Ah ? And stretch towards the legs.

You guys are doin' great. The hips come up. Push them forward. Use those glutes. And repeat.

Very good. How are we feeling? Good. Leave the balls towards the front edge of your mat. Good.

And come into a prone position. Heads towards each other. So we can bend you back the other way. Separate the feet hip distance apart. Externally rotate hips heavy.

Weights go out forward. Now when I do these exercises I like to start with them right on my wrist 'cause I know I like to get into this pull. Okay? The higher you come up into extension the more on the wrist the ball will have to be. So start on the wrist and you can always adjust.

So here I am lying on my stomach, shoulders down my back. I press down into the ball to set my shoulders. Draw the naval in. Head aligned with spine. Breathe in to prepare.

Exhale, press into the weights. Lift up a little baby. Let's just a little baby one to start. Inhale at the top and exhale (exhales deeply) back down. Inhale.

Reach through your legs. Exhale, grow longer and taller through your spine. Breathe in and exhale. Now on the next two maybe you can get a little higher. Inhale, set the shoulders.

Exhale, press down to lift up. (exhales deeply) Inhale to hold. Exhale to release. Now if you've got anything left this is the one you're gonna use it on. Inhale.

Exhale, lift up. (exhales deeply) Inhale to hold. And exhale to release down. That was lovely. Now hold on to the weights in your hands and angle your thumbs up.

Keep your chest in a small lifted position. Small extension. Reach long through arms and legs. Lift up through the left leg. From the glute.

Good. Lift up through the right arm. Nice. So swimming unilateral, repetition reduction. So we're gonna lower the arm and leg.

Lift it five times. One. Two. Three. Four.

Five. Put it down. Lift the opposite arm and leg. Lower an inch, lift it five times. One.

Two. Three. Four. Five. Put it down.

Four times on the other arm. Length and lift. Four. Three. Two.

One. Other side. Four. Three. Nice guys.

Two. Three times other side. I wanna really see that stability through the low back. Switch. Three times.

Little brain work here. Two. Lower the head just the slightest amount. Good. Two times each side.

Good. And now one each side. One. And one. One.

The core has to work a little bit more in an anticipatory fashion. It's gotta stabilize before you lift. One more each side guys. Gorgeous. Good.

Lower the legs. Bring the weights with you. Sit back into a shell stretch position. Nice. Getting some heat and energy into our back body.

Now from this position roll back up. Open the knees a little bit wider than the hips. Rise up. Place both weights behind the knees. Once you have them, you'll sort of have to bring your feet to your seat to come down.

Yeah. That took a lot of R&D to figure out. In the meantime my dogs would steal these so I had to get it right. Squeeze your heels together. Press your hips and public bone down.

Option A, fingertips to the forehead head down. Option B, arms airplane, chest lifted, look down. Squeeze the heels to your seats. Squeeze them together. Lift the femurs off the ground.

Pulse them up. Eight. One. Two. Three.

Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight.

Thighs down, hands down. Press back. Child's pose. Inhale. (inhales) Exhale.

(exhales) Come back into the position. Feet follow you. Hips down. Arms out like an airplane. Heels together.

Legs lift. Eight. Seven. Six. Five.

Four. Three. Two. One. Hands under chest.

Press back. Inhale while here. Breathe into the back and sides. And exhale. (exhales deeply) Bring the feet to the seat. Last set.

Chest is down. Arms out. Heels together. One. Two.

Three. Four. Nice. Five. Six.

Seven. And eight. Press back. Scoop the belly. (exhales deeply) While you're back here remove the weights.

They're in your hands. Enjoy a little extra stretch and then breathe in to rebuild. Bring the knees back into parallel. Stepping the left foot forward. Low lunge.

Good. Arms come up. Turn the weights forward. Scoop the belly. Tuck the tail.

Exhale, lunge into the front leg. Bend the elbows, chest up, look up as if you're doing swan. Inhale, press up. Exhale, scoop. (exhales deeply) Inhale up.

Use those feet. Exhale, scoop. (exhales deeply) Inhale, up. Two more. Exhale, scoop.

Yes, feels good huh? One more. Exhale, scoop. Inhale, up. Curl the back.

Toes underneath you. Lift the back knee. I got down, I was too afraid to do it up there. Take the hands down, chest hinges forward. Row up and down.

This is all back body work. Elbows stay narrow as you row. Collar bones stay wide. You've got four. Three.

Knee over ankle. Two. And give me a wide row now. Wide, good. Wide, nice.

Squeeze. Squeeze. Two more guys. Two. Lift the elbows, external rotation.

Knuckles up and down. (exhales deeply) And down. It's back body. Feel the back of those shoulders. The elbows stay still in place.

I'm just pivoting. And three. And two. And one. Lower the back knee.

Press back. Forehead to knee. Stretch and gracefully take the leg down. Step the other foot forward to prepare on the other side. Generous step forward.

Arms reach up to the sky. Palms face forward. You lunge forward, bend the elbow. Chest lift, look up and exhale up. (exhales deeply) Good, keep going.

There's a beautiful thing happening here. The whole front body is opening. Allow the hips to release. Lengthen and reach. Allow the chest to open.

Shining your heart upwards. Open and release. Last two. Like you're pulling down ropes from the ceiling. One and you're up.

Curl your toes underneath your back foot. Lift the back leg as the arms come down. Hinge forward. Narrow row up. And resist.

Elbows up and resist. Keep the elbows hugging close to the body. Good work guys. Good. Energy through the crown of the head as if you're pulling springs from the floor.

Good. And up. Change it to wide row. Visualize your shoulder blades coming together behind you. Squeeze.

Legs are engaged, back leg heavy. Three. Neck is long and free of tension, two. Hold it for one. Knuckles flip up.

External rotation, resist. And up. And resist as if the elbows were resting on a countertop. Good. Work the deep rotators of the shoulder.

The more you pitch forward the more you're gonna feel it in your shoulder. Three. Two. And one. Back knee goes down.

You sit back. Breathe it out. Very good. Now from here sit both feet back. Hips onto heels for a mini break.

And when you're ready to roll up I'll have you side line facing towards me with your weights in front of you. Are you loving them yet? Love hate relationship. Okay so here we are sidelined. What we're gonna do for the next one is place the ball between the ankle if you can.

If it's not staying between the ankles try the knees and you can omit it all together. We'll do our best. Okay so there we are. One long line. Hips, knees, heels, shoulders.

Good. Come all the way down so you're cervical spine is supported by your bottom arm. If this is not favorable for you then go ahead and support your head into your hand here. I want you to be comfy and cozy. Now if you've got the ball, oh Amy's using it as a pillow.

Good. She's using it for good and not evil. Okay so that works. Yeah. I like it.

Okay or hand could be on the ball here. Okay so here we go guys. Both legs come up and down. And what I really want you to feel is how your obliques have to work. It's not just legs here.

Up and down. You're squeezing the legs together for three. Two. Collarbones open here. Hold it for one.

Legs pulse. Eight. Seven. Six. Five.

Four. Three. Two. And one. Legs come down.

Top hand comes onto the thigh. Flip your bottom hand down so it's on the mat. I'm gonna come onto the mat too. And we're gonna side cinch up. So breathe in to prepare, length head to tail.

Press down to come up. That's the secret. Press. Yes. And lower.

And press. (exhales deeply) and lower. You got it guys. Press down to come up and lower. Press down to come up.

Top hand can go on the mat in front of you if you'd like. Four. Good. Three. Nice.

Two. Like you're closing a book cover to cover. One. Bend your knees in. Switch the ball to the knees.

Very nice. Now come right up onto your elbow and forearm. The other ball is in the hand or not. And you might wanna move a little bit further forward on your mat. Just 'cause I know what's coming up next.

Okay so here we go. If you have the ball, great. If not, that's good too. So here I reach and I get a feeling of thoracic extension here while pulling my shoulder down. Now I'll roll back onto both butt cheeks.

There I am. My legs will extend. My elbow will lift and I reach to my feet. Arms go up to advance. Bend the knees, roll through.

? Ah ? Open. Okay so now we flow. Exhale up. (exhales deeply) Inhale down. Good.

Exhale up. (exhales deeply) Inhale down. Good. Exhale up. (exhales deeply) Inhale down.

Four, three. There's a real sense of hollowing out the low belly here. Scoop lift, two. Good. And one, hold it.

If available both arms up. Five, four, three, two, one. Switch the legs around and get ready for the other side. Place the ball between the ankles. You can even switch balls so one doesn't feel like it's getting left out if you'd like.

Hand down. Did you do that as a kid? Did you play with all your teddy bears evenly? So one is not left out. Okay so lie on the ear.

Hands on the mat, hand on the ball. Or hand on the thigh. Just the legs up and down. Up and down. Good.

Up and down. Lift and lower. Good. Lift, hip forward just the slightest amount. Good.

Lift and lower. Good. Shoulders down. Awesome guys. Hold the next one up.

Pulse eight. Seven. Six. Go for that length, good. Four.

Three. Two. Hold one. Take it down. Hand on thigh.

Push into the ground. Inhale. Exhale, cinch to come up and inhale down. And exhale, cinch to come up and inhale down, good. The secret is you are pushing down to the ground in order to lift.

Yep. Push down to come up. Very good. Exhale, lift cover to cover and lower. Last two.

Draw those abs in from the front, gaining that stability. And one. Take it down, bend the knees in. Switch the ball so it is between the knees. Great.

If you have the other ball you can grab that as well. Come right up onto the elbow and forearms so the elbow's underneath your shoulder. The arm reaches up and back. The chest is open. Don't forget to move forward a little bit on your mat.

Yeah. From here let's take it slow again. I roll back both hips down. Legs up, arm up to advance. Bend the knees and take it back down.

Let's flow. Exhale up. (exhales deeply) Inhale down. Open, exhale up. (exhales deeply) Inhale down.

Open, exhale up. (exhales deeply) Inhale down. Open, exhale up. (exhales deeply) Inhale down. Reach for two.

(exhales deeply) And hold it for one. (exhales deeply) Up. Five. Four. Three Two.

And one. Very good, alright guys you're doing great. We're gonna continue to use these. Sit towards the front of your mat. Good.

Taking the weights and placing them underneath the arches of your feet. Hmm, this could be not for good. (laughs) Good. Taking your hands behind your thighs and roll them back. Okay so now we are on an unstable surface (laughs) usually makes things harder.

Roll the balls a little closer towards your seat so that you're preparing for a bridge. Feet are underneath your knees. Pelvis is neutral. Were you guys guessing a bridge? Course didn't do bridge yet.

Okay so push down into your arms, they're active. Open your collarbones, inhale. (inhales deeply) Let's articulate. Exhale, use the abdominals to shorten the space between the hips and the ribs. Lower back flattens.

You scoop to roll up, pressing down. Now none of the foot is touching the ground. Totally suspended on the ball. Inhale to hold, reach beyond your toes. Exhale, articulate as you feel like you're pulling your heels towards your seat.

The balls aren't moving but you feel like you're contracting those hamstrings and shortening them. Rock back to pelvis neutral, do it again. Exhale. Ribs to hip. And roll up.

Good. Inhale, reach beyond your knees. Press into active arms. Open your collarbones and exhale as you roll down. Think about pulling your feet and your heels closer towards each other.

Good. Now turn your palms in towards your body. Inhale to prepare. The arms are also gonna move now but let's wait until we have the pelvis imprinted. So exhale, contract the abdominals, ribs to hips.

Now you're stable. As you float your hips you float your arms straight up to the sky. Maintaining the position of the hips, inhale, lower them halfway down. Exhale, lift squeeze. This is not an articulation, it's a hinge.

Lower, lift, squeeze but continue to feel the sensation of pulling your heels and your hips closer together. Open your collarbones wide and stay active through your arms. Last three. Good. Excellent.

Two. And one. Keep the hips up. The arms pressed down and as they push down the hips go higher, higher, higher. Inhale, exhale.

Articulate down one vertebrae at a time. Breathe in, keep your hands down. Exhale, scoop the belly. Roll back up. Good.

Now here's a little practice on memorization and proprioception. Where are you in space? Inhale, right leg tabletop. Exhale, place it down on the ball where it was before. Inhale, left leg tabletop.

Exhale, place it down where it was before. Inhale, leg comes up as the hips stay level. Exhale, resist to lower. Inhale, lift. Exhale, resist to lower.

One more each leg. Think about walking your fingertips towards your heels. No tension in the neck. Lift the hips a little higher once both those feet are down. Exhale, massage the spine down one vertebrae at a time.

Good. Straighten your legs and move your legs through the middle of the ball. Just get 'em in there. Right through the middle, yep. Inhale, arms up.

This is a transition. Nod your chin. Exhale, flex forward. (exhales deeply) Grab a hold of those weights. Inhale as you roll back up.

Good. The ball and rolling like a ball. I could not have left this one out. So here we go. Move towards the front of your mat.

There's gonna be a little surprise at the end and I don't know if I feel ready to do it up on here so we'll see. We'll see. Okay arms go forward. Inhale to prepare. Lift the chest.

Exhale, scoop the belly, roll back. Inhale, leg up. Exhale, the other. Bring the feet a little closer to the seat. Scoop the belly more.

Look down at the abdomen. Squeeze the balls together over your thighs, over your shins but you're not touching your shins. This is your shape. Inhale, roll down. Exhale up.

(exhales deeply) Good, keep going. Inhale, roll down. Exhale, up. Yes. So you must keep the shape of your body here the same distance from chest to knees.

The same distance from forehead to knees. Be careful you don't roll too far back. Come just to the tips of the shoulders and as you come up deepen the scoop. I told you there was a surprise but I'm not giving it to you yet. It's coming up.

Okay two more like this. Good. Now on the next one when you roll up you're gonna come onto your feet and you're gonna come up. Now arms go back. You're in a chair position.

Arms go up. One, stay low. Two. (exhales deeply) Three, you sit down. You roll back, rolling like a ball.

You've got four rolls. The momentum will help you to come up. You can do it. Confidence. Good.

And levity. Here we go on the next one, ready? Boom. Yes. Inhale back.

Exhale up one. (exhales deeply) Stay low. Two, weigh into your heels. Three, sit low rolling like a ball. You have four of them and these will be your best four. These will be your last four.

Good. Deepen the abs to scoop through the spine. Here it is. On the feet but you're low in chair. Good.

I like bigger rolls. That was the whole point. Down and up, two. Down and up, three. Now this one get a little lower.

Lift up for four. Flex the spine forward. Leave the balls there. Inhale, roll up without them. Head relaxing to come up.

Roll the shoulders down the back. Good. Step back towards the back of your mat. Breathe in, lift the arms again. (inhales deeply) Exhale, flex the spine all the way up the abs.

Take the hands to the ground, bend the knees if you need to. Walk the hands forward four steps to get you to a push up or plank position. There ya go. Good. From here spread the fingers.

Middle finger points straight ahead. Feet together. Option to do push up with knees up or lower the knees, uncurl the toes. Bend your elbows close to the body. Lower an inch hold.

A second time, hold. A third time, hold. Exhale, push up. Less nose to the mat, more chest to the mat. Inhale, one.

Two. Three. Amy I am impressed. One more time. One, yes.

Two, good Haley. Three and up. Curl the toes, pike the hips. Walk the hands back to the feet. Good.

I wanna do it again but you have weights and I'm afraid that you might throw them at me. (laughs) I don't know how much I can push you guys. Okay roll on up. We won't do it again. At home if you wanna do it go for it.

I don't feel like I can be potentially attacked. Inhale, arms up. (inhales) and exhale, okay. So all we need to do is step forward, grab those weights. There's one last thing we're gonna do with it and I think you might like them.

Good. You can face in towards each other. Stand with the feet together. Roll the shoulders down the back, putting it all together. Becoming very away of our body.

Inhale, arms to chest height and I'm gonna go side so you can see. Now as I exhale right hand goes up, left hand goes down. Lift the chest, extend, reach. Glutes engage. Posterior tilt.

Lengthen and then come back to center. Switch, opposite arm up. Find the length, lift the chest. Glutes engage. And come back to center.

Now just a little bit quicker. It's an inhale to lift and exhale to center. And inhale to lift don't forget about those abs and exhale to center. Inhale, grow, grow, grow. Push the earth away, center.

Last time. Inhale to lift. Exhale to center. Open the arms, lift them up. Lift your heels.

Activate your inner thighs. If you can, close your eyes for a moment. Open your eyes. Lower your heels. Lower your arms, roll your shoulders out.

Let's give it a clap. Good job. You guys did a great job. These are not easy to use. I hope you had fun with them.

One of the words I used today was levity. Have fun, allow your muscles to move your body. You guys did a great job. Thanks for comin'.

Comments

Z A
3 people like this.
A real killer workout. Thank you very much:)
1 person likes this.
Great, innovative moves! A super workout!
1 person likes this.
creative and fun as always :)
1 person likes this.
A very unique workout. My curiosity about she would ask for next coupled with her engaging teaching style made this a hard working delightful hour.
Pele
1 person likes this.
So creative , fun, and with a good dynamic flow that wasn't just flexion.. I like how there wasn't too much instructor centered talk about clients . This kept it moving for those who want to workout( us non instructors).
Love how you incorporated the toning balls and the flow.
Thank you, Courtney! I've never incorporated the weighted balls into my classes; now I finally have some ideas!
1 person likes this.
Love this one! Courtney always gives an amazing class with excellent, clear cuing. I feel so energized (and thoroughly worked) now!
1 person likes this.
I recognized some Reformer, some Barre, lots of Mat, and some very unique exercises that only Courtney Miller could concoct in her endless array of fun things to do! :)
Yay!!! Courtney is back:) What can I say that hasn't been said already...challenging without being impossible, great flow, succint cueing, creative integration of different forms of pilates and barre work and FUN! I'm about to take my STOTT full exam and you continue to teach me so much more! Thank you and hoping you will do a tower class soon:)
1-10 of 65

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