Class #232

Simple Wunda Chair

30 min - Class
83 likes

Description

This Level 1 Wunda Chair class begins with Mat exercises as a warm-up, pedal down and no springs attached. Level 1 exercises include Leg Pumps, Washer Woman/Hamstring Stretch 1, Swan Front and Chest Press, Seated Shoulder Shrugs, Tricep Presses, and Hamstring Curls along with Side Stretch. This class is clean, simple, and pure.
What You'll Need: Wunda Chair, Moon Box

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All right, so let's go ahead. We're going to start on the floor today on her kind of level one, one to chair and more of a kind of a mat warmup and then we'll get up to the seated work. So I'd like us to start with the arches of the feet on the pedal in sits bones width of space, and just open up your arms to a place that feels comfortable, maybe low v. Let's open up the shoulders, take about three deep breaths and we'll get the ribs to imprint. Feeling that nice level pelvis, the reach of the sits bones and tailbone out toward the pedal and start centering your energy in your mind. On the back of the legs, the hamstrings up to the sitz bones that scooping in of the abdominals length out through the top of the head. We're going to start with some pelvic curl articulation.

So we'll do four repetitions as take a breath together and the exhale contract the abdominals peeling away from the floor, scooping the abdominals in and up. Nice high bridge position. Pubic bone should be a slightly higher than the hip bones. And my sense of length in the mid back. Let's take a breath here and the exhale as we roll down, focusing on the tilt of the pelvis, scooping of the belly articulation all the way down until we're level that nice triangle. And again, take a breath in and exhale, press.

So if we press into the floor using that feedback to help us articulate a little bit deeper in the bones on the chest, opening up, inhale and the exhale to come down. Let's think about the enlightenment of the legs and the use of the inner thighs. Just like we would do an irregular mat experience. We'll take two more of this way and exhale. Ah Well we feel in the back of the legs active right up into the seat. Again, working that pelvic tilt ribcage in, we've got that takeoff ramp position. We're long in the middle, back to the tailbone, inhale and the exhale coming down.

So the wonder chair work of course is one of the most dynamic for strength building. So when we get up to the seated work and some of the other work, we'll be focusing on that one more time. Exhale, pool and also working in a more confined space and on the one that are the reformer or the trapeze table or the mat. Take an inhale and then again the exhale to roll down. Feel like we're reaching our hips toward the pedal, toward the room, outside of the room, all the way down into where level, stabilizing the ribs. I'm going to have us walk our ankles and feet together. Knees, taking the hands behind the back of the head. Interlacing the hands and again, lift the elbows just above the floor so you can see the amount of the corners of the eyes. Let's take a breath. We'll take four chest lifts, so the exhale, head, neck and chest curling forward.

Let's take our eyes and make sure we're looking straight ahead to the knees and then inhale as we coming back down, keeping the work active in the abdominals and again, exhale as we curl up. [inaudible] inhale as we roll back down, two more exhale as we curl. It's to pulling out sternum Ian and get that fooled right at the base of the chest line. Shoulders pulling down and rolling back. Once again, exhale as we curl, Kinda feel it. Almost like we're tapering that waste down toward the pubic bone. Inhale, as we roll back down, we're going to add a little bit of variation.

Extend the arm, the right arm down by the hip. Take an inhale there, so a chest lift again, reach that right arm for the pedal so you can tap into that lad a little bit on that right side. Now holding the chest lift. Let's inhale. Float the right arm, so the fingertips are knee height. Exhale, we're going to add a rotation of the torso. There's a left arm also reaches on the diagonal toward the right knee. All right, now keep the chest lift. Let's take our arms up alongside the ears, back behind the head. Interlacing the hand fingertips. Inhale, return to facing forward, and exhale we're coming down, really waking up those oblique muscles. Left arm reaches by the side. Inhale, exhale and curl. Big reach with that left arm, you'll those sitz bones reaching forward. Now float the left arm, pressing that lat down. Exhale, reach the right arm against the side. There's sort of a diagonal reach. Now holding the torso here. Arms float up alongside the ears. Inhale, exhale behind the head.

Keep that rotation. Keep the chest lift now facing the knees, making sure to check that level pelvis and then exhale all the way down. So once again, you decide right arm reaches long and [inaudible]. Since you're going to float the arm and work the rotation, the pelvis might like to lose its leveling. So working very diligently to hold that level pelvis. It's really the opposing hip that may want to lift. So work to press that down.

Now let's reach the arms up, trying to frame the sides of the ears. Then the hands back behind the head rotate to face forward on an inhale. Exhale as we come back down. And then last time over to the left, reaching long. Here we go. Exhale and curl. Checking that hip pelvis. Inhale, the arm floats. Exhale the reach. Reach a little more higher.

Chest lift with rotation arms alongside the ears. Inhale, reach for the ceiling. Keep it up there. Exhale, hands behind the head. Inhale the face, the knees. Check that pelvis and exhale as we roll all the way down and rest. Okay, let's stretch your arms out to the side. In that theme of continuing to open up the torso, and I think I'd like us to actually go on a tippy-toe on the pedal. And again, there's no spring down here. We're just lightly placing the feet, working a little more rotation through the waist.

Let's take our knees to the right and lift that left foot so it stacked against that right edge. Yes. Just feel that rotation, the opposing reach in this left chest and arm and the exhale, that contraction from the left abdominal side to bring us center. Now we'll rotate to the left. Same idea, reaching strong with that right arm and chest. Kind of start focusing in on our rib hip connection. So we're in a rotation but not the throwing out of the arch. Yeah. So real lots of diligence of holding this in, containing the ribs, and we'll return to center. So let's do four more with flow.

Inhale to the right. Exhale, come back, inhale to the left, containing those ribs. Exhale coming back. You'll those sitz bones reaching to the pedal. Once again, each side inhale and exhale is we come back right into the left side. Inhale and exhale as we come back. And then from here, one inhale, use the exhale to lift the knees to tabletop and have us bring our arms right back down by your hips and reach the hands toward the chair. So the hundred we're going to do here on an exhale, let's curl our chest up, extend the legs forward. Maybe think of aiming the feet toward the a seat. Little turnout of the legs. We'll do our traditional and fives and three, wrapping those legs around. Curling a little bit more. Trying to hold that chest line in.

Sure. Open across the chest, getting the heat, the body temperature to warm. Sure. 10, two, three, four, five. Exhale, three, four, five. [inaudible] and chest down. Okay, so you're a little warmed up. Let's go ahead and roll ourselves up off the floor and we'll add some spring tension.

So I'd like us to add a one on low and the other side on the second arm up and we're using that more of a traditional one to chair. It's got four choices for us to hook the springs. If you want it a little more. Actually you could go instead of the second one. You could go third. I'll let you decide. I'm going to stay there. Okay, so for Sim seated leg pumps, so let's start with the heels on the pedal. We'll start our pedal all the way down and I'd like us to sit nice and perched right at the edge of the Wa, the one to chair.

And let's go ahead and do our traditional position of the hands in the Jeannie. So pressing the hands against the elbows, elbows down and wrap those lats back. Let's breathe here. We're going to do eight repetitions. The exhale, contracting the pool up, finding the back of the legs. Inhale, we push down all the way with control. Exhale, coming up and inhale as we push down and every thinking of that growing tall through the top of the head, flat, ribbed, hip connection. Exhale, coming up. Inhale, pushing down, so stable. How? How, how stable can our pelvis maintain? Ribs in control.

Okay, two more times here and exhale, lift. Last one. Inhale, push. Exhale, lift and I'd like us to push down and we're going to transition to the balls of the feet. Balls of the feet, let's say all the way zipped up the middle. Take a breath here. The exhale again to pull up. Turn to maintain high heels this time without tucking in, rounding in the spine. Inhale, push and exhale left.

Occasionally maybe change the arm so that the other one is on top. That's it. So pressing down. Now feel the work in the gluteal muscles squeezing to help lift a little taller. Exhale and coming up. It's another way to self cue. I liked that feeling. Those low ribs state tucked inward so that were very long and open in the lower lumbar area.

Two more and exhale, lift. If your calves begin to cramp, you can always do a lower heel here. Don't have to be so high. That was our eight. Let's push down and once again, let's go ahead and just turn into that small v Palase v once again in the Gini arm. Inhale here, knees, no wider than shoulders. Exhale again, we're pulling up. Inhale, pressing the weight down and exhale, pulling the weight up. Inhale, press and exhale. Pull. Very nicely balanced on the sitz bones.

Sometimes that image that something is behind our back like a high back dining room chair, so we noticed that there's a contact back there. We're not pulling away from it or pushing to it. Just nice and use of imagery that something's there to maintain our alignment cyst, our alignment and up two more. I think press might've meant been 10 oh well last one. Press. Okay, so let's do a little variation. Here are preparation for the day.

We're ready to do single leg presses, so I'll have us go back to balls of feet and keeping the pedal all the way down. Let's once again go into a genie. Now on an exhale, go ahead and lift your right leg. Okay. And let's lift that leg on. I think we might do a little series of pulse. Sure. Hold and straighten the leg forward and back to the pedal.

Other side, finding your lift plant. That opposite sits bone, even sits bones pulsing up. Sure. Hold and straight and from the knee and all the way down. Let's do each side again. So as we take the one knee up, this right knee, we still have to put quite a bit of pressure down on the supporting foot to keep that pedal down. The pulse doesn't have to be very big or high. Inhale, inhale, exhale. Now hold there. The femur stays still. We moved from the knee. Woo. And in good and the other side.

Let's find the lift rib cage back, little pulse and up. Sure. All the way long. And then, and let's finish the leg pumps lifting the pedal all the way up. Okay, so if we turn around, you can keep the springs as is or take one down. I think we'll be okay here we're going into soleus press. So if we step our right foot onto the pedal, ball of foot, press your pedal down enough and lightly set the base of the kneecap or the bottom of the niqab lightly on that edge. Again, we wouldn't want to jam that knee into the edge.

Sometimes we've put the pad on the corner, but today let's just lightly hold our fingertips on the chair work. A bit of extension of the spine. Ribs in there was a lift in the sternum. And then I'm going to check my pelvis cause I know my right hip sometimes likes to hike. So if I square my hips, the back leg and that heel is reaching to the floor, let's go with eight extensions. On the inhale we push it down and exhale again, paying attention. The more you push that pedal on this spring, that calf is engaging. You don't want to overdo it. If you feel like you're going to cramp. So you might just choose a half a push.

You know we're a little, a little bit of a baby press. We'll take four more. Find that extension through the top, back of the head and exhale. Lats are down, chest is open. Sure. Last time. Inhale, press and exhale, release. And then just lean back off the knee.

You can just change speed simply for eight lightening cap, square those hips, sternum up, light fingertips. Here we go. Inhale, press. Exhale, fold the ankle, let that ankle bend. Inhale and exhale. So again that back leg and heel, very firm. And exhale, four more big scoop in the belly.

Stability in the spine, strength in the posture. Yeah, two more. Inhale, press. Exhale, bend. Last time. Inhale, press and exhale and bend. And let's go ahead and actually push this. Uh, use the same foot. Let's push it all the way down. Let's climb up on two feet.

Now let's take our hands now to just to the edges of the chair or in the very back here. I actually think today here, and let's find a round spine. See Curve, look down to the feet and work the angles together. If you can zip up all the way to the inner thigh, squeeze the bottom and let's just do some walking in place. Working a little preparation for Washer woman, getting that lumbar curve. So a little quicker. The inhale. Inhale [inaudible].

So the knee is bending forward. Pelvis is rotated under. Big Scoop up in the stomach. And even though we're alternating legs, there is still uh, an energy going on. The glutes and lots are down. Last breath right there. And then just simply put one foot to the floor, release the pedal carefully with this second foot. There we go. Okay, let's walk around the back and we'll take away the heavier of the two springs. So the higher one. So we're going to do the hamstring stretch, a washerwoman on a low spring.

And today I'm going to step back a little bit depending on how do you feel in your lower back and you'll find out. So let's actually just start reaching the arms forward. Take a nice breath in here and our standing roll down, head, neck, chest, hands are finding the pedal. All right, so let's just stand there for a moment. And of course the more flexible you feel walking into the chair's fine and who we're looking to make sure that backstage is round head between the arms and that big scoop up in the stomach as well as the weight forward over the arches.

So let's go ahead. Inhale, push the pedal. Again. The effort of bending the spine is what's making us push. Now exhale, let's pull up in the low belly. Keep the head hanging down. Weight shifted forward. Just three more. Inhale as you push more spine to ceiling. Exhale and coming up. Two more.

Inhale, very broad back and exhale, lumbar spine, pulling to the ceiling, trying to maintain the c curve. One more. Inhale, push and exhale coming all the way up. Feel the spring clothes, tilt that pelvis, hang those arms down and just restack all the way to vertical spine. And then we'll walk around the back of the chair for Swan on the front. So let's come on down. I'd like us to go with our legs all the way together. Squeeze the heels together. Still on this one. Light Spring.

Just pull your pedal up about fist high and let's just hold this for a second and find the relationship of the triceps and the lat muscles. I'm acted kind of thinking almost like if I were doing the a hundred and pumping my arms, pushing into that pedal and feeling that work. Come to my back. All right, dominoes up. Let's breathe. Yeah, this exhale. Starting to engage those back extensors, pulling the upper back back and only coming up as high as you can with your hipbones on the front of the chair. Feel like you're continuing to pull your arms back. Inhale. As we come forward holding those ribs in.

Exhale again as we come up, looking forward, looking out, pulling the upper back back. Inhale as we come down, three more exhale as we curl up. Really accessing those back extensors. Inhale, coming down to more end lats or elbows aren't locked, but they are very straight and have a little softness to them. Find those triceps, pull toward the lats. Last one. Exhale as we curl up.

Okay. So as, as an option, I think we're going to today that you could stop there or let's go ahead and do just eight of our chest press. All right. Then I'm going to have us do it more with our fingertips the way they are. So let's go ahead, just bend the elbows in and press and then [inaudible] still holding the integrity of line. [inaudible] wow, that's an easy elbow motion. Once again, Ben and straighten. No our way out of here.

Let's go ahead and put our right hand up by her hip, foot down, and then our second hand can release. Good. Alright. I think we'll walk up around again to the, uh, front of the chair. Oh, let's get our wound box for a seated tricep presses. So again, in about a fist width or hand width between the edge of this base here and the moon box. Okay. So reaching back fingertips will face our hip, pelvis. Okay.

So two things from this position. Let's go ahead. First of all, does find some shoulder shrugging and do some shoulder shrugging. So it's the elevation of the Scapula and the depression of the Scapula. We'll do five and the exhale. Ah, push down. So there might not be a lot of movement here. It's okay. Or there could be a lot depending on your body. Wonderful. Hold and contain those ribs. Again, trying to keep that lumbar long and open.

That's enough there. Now tricep press, so we'll bend those elbows again, reaching the elbows back for the chair. Exhale. As we extend, maybe we can use an imaginative, a prop of maybe a beach ball between our elbows that wide inhale as the elbow stretch back. The chest is opening in the front. Head is not jetting forward. Yeah, press again. Inhale, bend. So depending on what's available for your flexibility, but make sure the ribs and head are stabilizing. Three more. Let's inhale bend.

Sure. Two more. Really reaching the elbows back. Sure. Last one. Gotcha. Okay. Carefully leaning forward.

Just releasing that pedal and we can move our moon box away. Place it right back where we had that. Okay. We'll come back for some more hamstring curls or hamstring curls to a very out what we've worked in our legs and our back. So again, we're still on the one spring, the light spring. We come down and we'll put our heels on the pedal and top of the pedal and where that sits. Bones with the part positioning. Again, open arms is fine.

Chest, nice and open. Reconnect into the stabilization on the trunk. Now let's take an inhale. As we use the back of the legs, we're only going to move the pedal about, you know, halfway down. You don't really know what that is unless you look up and see it. Inhale there. The exhale is the controlled return. Inhale as we contract the hamstrings, still having that nice level pelvis and exhale as we return.

Inhale as we pull or contract the hamstrings and exhale as we return. Again, inhale, contract and exhale return. Just make it just a little more exciting. With one leg, I'm going to have the right leg just kind of float itself to tabletop. So four repetitions on the left. Inhale, squeeze the hamstring. Exhale, return with control. Maintaining that nice stable femur.

It's not drifting out, not leaning in. Inhale [inaudible] and exhale. Last one on the single leg. Left. Inhale, end. Exhale, return right side hopefully right in line with our hip. Double check and for presses. Inhale lower. It's a great opportunity to see and feel if there's a stronger leg than the other. This one for me seems a bit like I've got more strength to pull it with.

Are you experiencing that? Huh? Uh Huh. So if it feels like it's coming from you, let's pause for just one second. If it feels like it's coming from the front, I wonder what, if you scoot back a little bit. Okay.

I'm going to choose my what felt like my weaker leg or less connected side. I'm going to do four more repetitions and I'll invite you to do the same. I'm trying to find that symmetry, the balance. Here we go four more. And is that feeling better to be farther away? Yeah. Okay.

Yes, we definitely want the work back here. There will be a little in the front. [inaudible] more of that initiation and the power from the back of the leg to knee bend and extend. And just one more flex or pool bend and finish. Okay.

So I'd like us to do one stretch on the chair and that'll be the side stretch. So if we come on all the way up again and we'll Thiess forward. Yeah, lots of different setups. I think this morning or the afternoon, we'll hook our foot around the edge, outside foot on the floor. You can go up to your toes or just keep a flat foot. And let's go ahead and start with our right arm up alongside the ear already in a diagonal. Lean to the left, nice light spring.

Feel the shoulders down and as if there's a wall right in front and back of us that we're going nice and laterally through that hallway. All right, so let's take an inhale. As you lift the right waist up, bending more in your left to push the pedals, you get that really good accordion length stretch and then the exhale is to return up and out to that diagonal. Knowing where that line is. And Inhale, lift the ribs side bend to the left and exhale as we restore and lengthen out on that diagonal line. Two more times. Lift side bend, easy shoulder and exhale as we come up. Low belly in ribs back last time and lift the little side rib cage going for that stretch. Yes, and exhale as we come all the way up and restore our diagonal coming up with control and just a quick spin to the other side. All right, so finding a diagonal ready and we lift the left ribs up to the ceiling, creating the room for the side bend to the right. Down we go.

This is our inhalation. Exhale as we pull and contract the obliques to come back up to the side. Bend. Three more. Inhale, lift, opening the left rib cage toward the side window, pressing that Spring and exhale as we come up. Find that lice long line. Two more. Inhale, press. Feel this quality of IX stretch on that spring. Exhale as we come up. Once again, inhale, stretching that leg long from the hip, going for the stretch and exhale as we come up and here. One last position or one last stretch.

Let's just go ahead and look to the chair. I'm standing behind it. Place your hands on the, on the seat, maybe in the front corners and just reach your hips back. Sometimes we do this at the end of the, over the end of the foot bar or the high barrel. Yeah, and take this where you need to. I was going to say not to lock our knees. You can do it with a little new band if you'd like. Sense of opening the shoulders, stick in.

Nice deep breath or two [inaudible] and hands to the floor to dropping that head. Still weight shifted forward. We're still scooping the DUB dominoes and we'll take one more breath and to wrap it up. Exhale as we round up, short and sweet, all the way to stand in a nice level. One wonder chair. Thank you.

Comments

1 person likes this.
Wow great class... Great warm up and nice flow.
Well Educated teacher
1 person likes this.
Thank you so much Tina!
Robin D
Great workout - it's nice to get back to Mat exercises since I seem to be apparatus obsessed (tee hee). Whoo! Loved the oblique work in the beginning. Great cues on the swan (triceps to the lats). It's so funny how one cue can connect it all. Thank you, Amy!
1 person likes this.
Hi Robin, it is nice and also wise to integrate the Mat exercises while on the equipment more often. I agree, very easy to just do the apparatus. Thank you for the response to the cue on Swan.....I love to hear what others respond to...and what works!
1 person likes this.
Very nice beginners class Amy.. thank you for sharing :)
1 person likes this.
You're welcome Anita....glad you enjoyed it!
1 person likes this.
Fabulous class, so well articulated. It is a pleasure to watch you
teach. Thank you so much.
1 person likes this.
Cecily....thank YOU so much! It's comments like this that really make me proud to be a teacher!!
1 person likes this.
Hi Amy- great class! Thank you so much for providing the basics! Enjoyed your class instruction ... Nice job!!!!
Thank you Grace! This was a class from the early days of Pilates Anytime....nice to look back on it and see what I taught. Glad you liked it. I appreciate your feedback!
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