Class #3480

Alignment Control Reformer

50 min - Class
92 likes

Description

Work on maintaining the box of your torso in this Reformer workout by Monica Wilson. She uses the Reformer for feedback while adding a lot of Plank work to challenge your alignment. She includes great variations to the Long Stretch Series, Knee Stretches, and so much more!
What You'll Need: Reformer w/Box, Pilates Pole

About This Video

Jun 20, 2018
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Transcript

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I'm excited today to be with Juliana. We're going to be doing quite an intense reformer workout. It's going to be focusing on the Palazzo [inaudible] box. Okay. So we're going to be doing a lot of plank work to challenge that. And of course it's going to be all about using the powerhouse.

But because you're using the box, it's going to be about the hips. And so when we have to take off a leg, you're going to want to watch this line of your hips. Is this one coming over up here and this line getting shorter? So just as an image that I might use that Q or are you going like this? And so then your box.

So we're going to really be challenging a lot of one arm exercises in a plank position and a one legged. Okay, so some Arabesques we'll be adding a few things like the long box to really confirm our positioning of our box a as well as some kneeling exercises to feel that. But we'll be doing a lot of planks today. So grab your reformer and we're going to start off on four springs. Go ahead and lie down from either side. We're going to start off with your foot work on four springs, so you're going to easily, the reformer frames your [inaudible] box and we're going to have your heels together. Good. And you should feel very nice from the crown of your head to your tailbone.

Maybe take your head just the teeny, that's it. Everything nice and long and you're gonna pull in and lengthen out. Great and come in good. And nine more. The knees are gonna bend shoulder width apart. As you go out, you're always using your powerhouse, but feel the glutes, feel the hips, even the side of your hips. Pretend you're pushing this bar this way instead of the carriage moving.

Pilates Stance

Imagine that the bar is moving. Use that imagery. Two more. Very nice. Last one. And we're going to go to arches. So knees together and the arches. Great. We're wrapping those toes around and you're going to press evenly out and pull in evenly gray and press good. And just my fingers being there kind of sends a little message to her to use, not just the back of her thighs and glutes, but also the side.

Arches

Great drawing that powerhouse in and up. Sink even with the shoulders. And we've got to pull it in with control out with control pulling. Hold up to heels. Great. And pull every toe back. Good and same thing. Strong pelvis and out and draw it in. Beautiful.

Heels

See if you can feel the inner thighs pull in and up and Perez and that spines nice and long. Shoulders are square on the mat and for more tooling every toe back and pull it all back. And two, you have some that powerhouse last time. Great. So right from the beginning we're rocking and rolling with our tempo. You're gonna get your toes, heels together, good knees or shoulder with the part and feel both Elio Sake, girl joints and junctions right there on the mat and lengthen out, out, out, out. Good. Stretch down to three and lift two, three. Keep your ankle bones from clunking gears and pulling up. That makes you work up. Work a little higher.

Tendon Stretch

And I want this line straight across. And so that right hip was just rolling up a teeny bit. So I have met making her work harder now with this right side. Very nice. And pull it up and two last time. Hold it up all the way up here and draw the carriage in.

We're going to do our hundred so slide a little bit away from the shoulder paths and there's two wooden handles. Draw your knees in. I'm going to lower the bar, but we'll stay on for springs. So bring the head up and extend the legs and drawing and great and pump and exhaling. Really nice form their Juliana. Good. So you're really feeling the lift of your arch, the lift of your inner thigh and pelvic floor and everything. Lower belly bellies scooping into their touch. Both my hands up here to make the pumps big and vigorous.

Hundred

Yeah, pumping the blood through that body. Good. So we have our fo box, we have our [inaudible] frame. Feel solid on that reformer mat. We're gonna pull into it and one more breath for me and then bend in everything. Great. I'm going to drop two springs and we're going to go into overhead.

So I want you to reach your arms straight to the ceiling and we're going to lengthen the legs down here. There we go. Good. So this is reaching the arms, anchor the shoulders a little more into the Ma. Ooh, that's nice. Good. And at the same time that the arms go down, the legs will come up to 90 degrees. So draw the belly in and then keep those hips working evenly over the shoulders. And then Jack knife up from those hips, lift them up, up, up, and then control it down.

Overhead

So we're really working our [inaudible] box here. And then the hips touch the arms come up fluidly and the legs enhanced back home at the same time. Arms down, legs up, pulling in hips, lift over Jack, knife up from there and controlling it down with the toes, almost over the eyes. And then arms. Great. Draw in that powerhouse. We're going to lift over over the shoulders and Jack Knife up and controlling a dent. Upper belly, middle belly. Good. And one more time. Really feeling how the arm stabilize your plots.

Frame and box. Hips over lifted up. Good and controlling it down. Stretching, beautiful and arms coming home. Bend your elbows and your knees for coordination. Lift the head up. Good. So you're going to press those arms down and reach out those legs to my belly.

Great. Open, close. Scoop in with the stomach with bring the knees in and then follow with those arms. Both go out whole. Pull your belly away from me. Plus with those outer thighs, open the legs, the outer thighs, inner thighs. Draw the knees in with your powerhouse and then follow with the arms singing and come in separately. Stretch out one open, close. Get your powerhouse. Scoop it in. Yes, and again, stretch out with the scoop. Yes, open, close, scoop it in. And one more long.

Coordination

How's that box? Yes. That's what we're talking about. And knots enough. Hang up your handles and you're going to step off while I set up for long box. So we're going to drop one spring and I'm going to come back here. I'm going to grab her pole and her box at the same time and I'm going to Tuck it in. And we're going to lay this down so it's ready for our short box and it's nice and centered. Alright, so to get into position, I want you to put your hands right here.

As you step your feet on the ball of your foot right there for [inaudible] stance. Good? Yes. Excellent. And now put your hands right here, that top third of the box. And we're going to start with our planks. Okay. So you're going to come up for a little bit into like a TP position. Good. And to bring your shoulders over, I want you to squeeze your hips down and good.

And you can push out a little further with the arms so that the sh hands are under the shoulders. So good square here. Good. I think you can draw in a little more. Yes, you can. Beautiful. And now do almost a pushup to go down. Square on to the box. Great. Your shoulders are right a little further back. They shouldn't be. Yes. Good.

All right. So all that's in place and I want you to grab onto the leather. Don't let go of your feet and slide up a little bit onto the leather. Give me your hands there. Yeah, go. And then let the, grab the handle at the same time and let the handle. Um, now try to climb up as high as you can. That's pretty good. Thank you. Good. And then start there. Now let the feet go. Not the hands. Let the feet go and that brings you home.

And then you can start sliding down where you need to be on those hands. Perfect. Okay. So we've got our hips pressing our pubic bone down. We've got our belly pulling into our back, almost creating that beautiful tunnel. She engaged her obliques and made a light, little tiny waist.

And now we're going to use that strength to bring our arms down towards the floor and simultaneously lift the head and the chest and keep using this tunnel and coming down. God. All right. Press that pubic bone down. Scoop your belly in and use that and start lifting your head on the chest. And that's it. And Dad. Nice on this last one. Do what ever you can to not let your belly go. Pull it in, keep it cupid, adds it. Add Kevin down.

Pulling Straps

Good for you. Now stay here and slide down your leather until you can put your hand inside the loop and you can either let go or keep holding onto the handle, but there's a little leather loop. There you go. Okay. And reach your arms straight out to the side like a t, like the letter t. Good fingers too straight. Excellent. Good Palm, slightly facing back. Yep, very ago. Squeeze down.

Don't tense your lower back instead length in it and support it with your powerhouse. And the shoulder blades are reaching out and the fingertips are reaching out and we're going to use that to start lifting your head as your arms come back, lifting your chest two, three and return as you reach out to the sides. Beautiful. And two more pressing down. Don't take into the ad set and pulling up the chest. Wonderful. And controlling it back.

T-Pull

One more energy pulling up, lifting really great powerhouse, Juliana, and reaching out to the sides. Excellent. Now grab your handles, the wooden ones in your hand. One Hand. Let's try your left, but I'm in your left hand and step off towards me. Good. There you go. Can you um, that one of them is kinda caught and twisted. I'm going to add a spring. Great. [inaudible] okay. And now hold them in your hands behind you. Good.

And now put your left hand about right here. Walk towards me. Your left foot right here. No bottom is going to touch that box. Your right hand on the box and lift your tailbone all the way off the front edge. So here we're on our back. We're going to be using the box to give us feedback for our plots frame here. Go ahead and lie down and bring your knuckles together. Knees into your chest.

Good. That's it. A little higher up with the knuckles. Good. All right. Bring your arms and legs straight up like a dead bug and your belly is all open. Your arms and legs, the width of the carriage. Yep. Just stay there and then pull your belly and as you come forward, and now just curl up one bone. How about one more? One mark and bend everything. Excellent.

Backstroke

I love that you didn't lift up straight up. Just curled up. Lift everything straight up. Oh pen. And now say circle down. Hold it there as you curl up. Two, three, and bend. Very nice. Two more. We're going to lift up one. Open to draw that belly into the box.

Draw it in, draw it in. Draw it in and bending. Excellent. One more. Lift. Oh, open. Draw that belly in. Use me even to come up though. So good and bending. Great job. Put your feet down, lift your bottom back a little bit and I will drop a spring. Scoot back just a tiny bit more. Good.

And we're gonna reach the legs and the arms open. You're going to do teaser. If you're working out on your own. When you dropped that spring, you just come up into a teaser and then you turn to the side. You reached down. Drop a spring in, you roll out of your teaser. So we're going to come up into a teaser, thinking about your box, scoop it in, drawn it, come all the way up and do three pumps.

Teaser

I'd love to see more weight on your right hip. All. There we go. Yes. Yes. So you have to stay even on your box. Hold and roll down your lower back. Do you feel both sides? Your right lower back, your left, lower back and rolling in. The legs go down. Stomach stays in. Excellent. Two more head lifts and drawing the belly in.

Good, good, good. And down with those arms. Very even. Love it. Pull it up. One more. Hold and use your lower belly to go forward more. [inaudible] thank you. Good. And now roll it. Damn good.

So on the next one, come up just that much more. Use the lower belly to do that. And you're going to go into circles. So head and drawing the lower valley. Yes, yes, yes. And keep using it. And so the arms are going to open to the sides as you go down and you're going to use everything you can and we're going to keep your feet with me centered, sitting on that right hip and hold and pull your lower belly back to roll down, down, down. Beautiful. Great job. Nice.

Okay, I'll take your handles and we're going to turn our box around for short box. So we're going to turn, we are ready with our pole. I'm going to grab our non-slip pad and put it about a hands with distance from the back edge. Nice and centered and add a spring. Go ahead and sit down. We're gonna do our short box work. So you want to feel both sit phones down on that box.

You want to feel that square and with your legs you kind of want to feel your outer thighs. So I like to think like I have to have a chain around my feet, my ankles, and you're trying to separate and break free and you'll instantly get those muscles going. Hug your belly, round your back, round, round, round. Bring the head forward. You're good. And the ribs rounding. Expanding. Good. And you're going to round that lower back into the box. Yes. That's it. Break those PR. Break that chain. Push it open. Yes, yes, yes.

Round Back

Go as far as you'd like. And then you're gonna come up in with the air and exhale, drawing in. Fantastic. Keep pushing open so you can keep strengthening your hips. And three more head down and then drawing in that lower belly. Good. Good. Pushing those hips away. Good. Stretching out. Beautiful in with the air. And exhale. Great. Push with those legs. Love it. I love the feedback.

It's given for your powerhouse too. We're gonna do one more cause that's extra, extra good work and trying it in, pushing open, scooping it. Good. Even reach back and grab underneath and give yourself a nice pool. Yes. So good. And then coming back. Nice. And even whenever you move your arms, keep scooping in yet you also want to move them like Juliana did. At the same time. You don't want to move them one or the other, cause that changes your whole box.

Let's grab your bar and you're going to lift your arms up from here. Good. Feel both. Sit bones down. There we go. That's nice and tall and we're going to draw in and up to go back. Lifting off the glutes, lifting off the good's, not the chest up and coming forward, but the glutes off. So he did a little bit of a back bend back there.

Flat Back

So you're going to lift off and going back. That's what I like. So her boxes literally tilting backwards and come forward. Maybe a little showing off. No, I'm kidding. And coming up. That was excellent. Keep it, keep yes and forward. And one more time drawing. Good job.

Good job and forward. So that's going to translate to all her planks in a minute. And we're going to rest your arms for a second. Relax and rest. And we're going to do side, which maybe slide back just a teeny bit. Even though it's a non-slip pad, we slit and we're going to lifting up, lift up those arms and we're going to lean forward a bit. Good.

And I want you to really lift up and then reach over to your right. Yes. Push evenly at both hips. Push open, push open and come center and push with those feet. Lift and go and over. Take your ribs over more. Yes. And Center and push open and take your weight over towards here a little bit more. Nope, you got off your right. There we go. And Center and, and take your way.

Side to Side

You're getting off your left there or do you feel that difference? That's so good and up. And one more set. So we're going to keep our weight on her right hip this time as we reach. Oh yeah, there you go. And Center. And last time lifting up and keeping our weight on her left hip. This time. Yes.

Perfect. And relax. Good. We're going to do the twist, so we're going to lift up and we're going to twist our upper part of our polis box and make it look long and trying to touch the back corner and pull back up with that length. Good and twisting. Now draw your belly away. Yes, that's the line. And pull it up. Beautiful and lifting off your hips and twists. That is so good. Now keep drawing your way. Waste with you. Nice job.

Twist and Reach

Yeah, and pulling in and do reach, reach, reach and scoop it in. Good. And one more set. We should definitely keep in mind. Go ahead. The easier it looks like somebody is doing it, that means the harder it is. One more it in and long, long polities frame and pulling it up and stretch forward. And she did such a great job of keeping that her head right in the middle of her arms while doing that as well, which is super important with here. Pull out his box. Okay, you're going to put the bar underneath your legs and let's do tree.

So the tree is a one legged teaser and it's saying, can you do it while I'm with one leg up in the air and not fall over? So take your right leg out. Huh? Little forward more, I'd say. There we go. So you have to use the left side of your abdominals to hold that hip there and extend the right up and bed. Lift a little taller and bend. Lean a little forward and hold it up. Walk up that leg, that's nice.

Tree

And the side of the right hip of the leg that's up also has the lengthen stretch forward. And then keep this leg lengthening instead of gripping in that hip flexor as you roll back. Yes. Drawing. Yes. And then keep that leg there and you're going to keep square. I'm going to let go.

You hold that square and walk down and go into a nice back bend. Good. And then coming back up. Good. Keep the left hip on the box and lift up out of that lower bar back. There we go. And two more. Very nice. Drawing back. Good.

And walking down [inaudible] and stretch. Good. And coming up. Working hard and looking good. Really Nice. One more time. Push that heel away. Inkers that hip. There you go. So you should feel your hips very square on the box when doing the tree.

Same thing on the way up. Kids, you feed back to draw in and up and then grab your toes and lift up onto your sip phones. Can you get [inaudible]. There you go. Good at switch legs. Nice job about to start having some real fun. So left leg up and sit right forward. So you gotta be right over nice and tall. Right on up over your sit bones and extended up and bent. I'm going to take my hand off and you try to stay square and hold it up and walk up.

That leg sounds that left hips turn to stretch out. And the hip flexor not to grip. There we go. And it's the right abdominals turned to pull back. Good. And walk down. And so you're looking at your pelvis, does it look even, does it feel okay? Good. And stretching. So if it was, yeah, this hand hit and coming up so then it throws off all your alignment, right?

Yeah. So the reformer keeps giving you feedback, which is great. So let's bring your left hip forward. That's it. And hold there. Good. And you're going to have to really work this guy as you go down that same there ya go scooping in and now you're beautifully square. Yeah. And keep working this guy, huh? Huh?

And lifting up out of that lower back. Good. And head down to that leg all the way like bend the l yeah, you're flexible enough. Now stay like that. As you rock back and you pull him back from here there, push that right heel away and down you go yes. And coming up sending this hip. Very nice with this right side all the way onto that leg.

And then grab your toes and keep pushing this heel forward. Thank you. And lifting up out of your chest. Nice job. Great work. Okay. Bring it. Uh, I'll bring everything down but go ahead and step off. So we're gonna use our pad for our long stretch series in a second. I just tilt this back and grab her bar and pull at the same time.

Okay. And I'm going to put the pad over the headpiece, then I'll lift up and then I'll make sure there's two springs and we're going to do some long stretch series, the lot of variations to it. So to get into our plank position, you're going to put your right hand, your left foot. You could have put either hand. Really and then put the left hand. But keep the carriage home. Square your shoulders over your wrists, squeeze his leg and the right leg floats up into position. You want to be between the shoulder pats. There you go. Perfect.

And great job. Thumbs between the fingers. All right, slide your shoulder blades apart. More. Lift the sternum up jet a little less, but pretty good. Yeah. Good, good, good, good. So you're pressing as if you're on your long box scooping up and you're going to push out for five, four and pull in. Don't fall into my hand. Good. Staying lifted. So when you're in two springs, you feel your whole body working together. Hold it in and take a little step forward and drop a spring and we'll do three on one spring. If I would add a spring, you would feel your arms more taken away.

Long Stretch

A spring makes you feel your powerhouse more. Let's do three carefully. Going out and carefully pulling everything in. Beautiful Square. One more hips. Have pretty good. Hold it in and let's take it even a step further and drop one more spring.

So we're going to try to do it on zero springs. Let's just like we're doing, what is that? The AB roller here, and we're going to put your [inaudible]. There we go. And going out and pulling it in. One more. You got it out and pull it and pull your hips in so much, Juliana, that your knees are going to fall to the mat and separate your feet and then reach down and add your two outside springs and we'll do our down stretch.

Very nice. So you're going to be pressing the hamstrings and glutes forward while your stomach lifts up your ribs and your sternum. Now before you go out, make more contact. The heel of the foot against the shoulder pad is super important and you're gonna push them into the shoulder pads from your hips. All right, so now go ahead and push out and exhale up, up, up, and you can even lie down on the springs if you support your side. Yes and good. Two more. And then we'll come up into a backbend.

Down Stretch

And one more I'm going to give you at Naz. You come in, crawl up onto your fingertips. Good. And lift forward your arms and up. Good. And now come back with your weight and exhale. Good job. And go in forward. Beautiful. Okay, we're going to coat for the upstretched. So you're gonna just have a nice fluid head down, c curve up and you're going to lift your knees up and slide your toes a little forward in front. [inaudible]. Beautiful transition. Good.

And you're going to come forward a little more off my arm. Good. And we'll do three regular and then three combo that's at softening those knees a little bit. We're going to work the hips in our [inaudible] box here. So no upper body that just holds you there. Push those hips out further. Push out all the way and then down with the hips and keep looking at your toes as you come in. Nope. Drop a high. Come in like that. Eyes are where to ooze. And then, uh, two more and then we'll do a combo. Okay, so push out down. That's it. Oh, that's so beautiful. And up. One more out, hips down and pulling up into that upper body. Good.

Up Stretch 1

Now the Combo is pushing out. Just like you did. Push out hips down just like you did, but now use these strong hips to do a back bend as you come in and a backbend as you go out and then fold up into a c curve. C curve. Yeah. One more hips. No, let's start that one again. So sorry. Cause you did ribs. There we go. Hold that. Their hips. Yes. Down, back. Bend, calming. Forward, back out, and then fold up with your power. Oh, what a beautiful, beautiful. Pull up. Nice.

Up Stretch 2

Bring your heels flat. Come forward. Just a little off my arm. Sorry. Not the feet. There you go. A regular elephant. Let's do for pushing out. Drawing up. No upper body. One more hips. Good. Let's add some Arabesques. So take one. Let's take your left foot onto demi point or onto the ball of your foot against the shoulder pad. A higher, a little higher, just like you were a second.

Elephant

A little higher. Great. And take the right leg. But before you do keep your box. So now we're started challenge ourselves here and we're going to take it up. Good. All the way up to the ceiling. I'm going to come around and support her left hip.

Arabesque 1

Don't let this line shrink and push out and work this hip one. Keep lifting here. One more good, and bring this leg down. I'm going to come around the other side and she's going to keep her box lift up a little bit more forward. Thank you. And bring this leg down the middle. Keep this right hip at out and pull that hip. Yeah, and pull with that hip one more. Yes, bring this on top of the shoulder pad. Beautiful. Keep that square boxes.

The right leg goes to the ceiling and you're going to do three. Don't shrink in that left hip and one pull in to pull them. Beautiful. Go out and now as you come in, touch your toe to your head and drop your hips back. Bend and pull the carriage in with your hips. Glue going down, down, down, and stay in as you extend back up and bring this foot down as we do the other side. Good job. [inaudible] watch your alignment and I'm going to let go.

Arabesque 3

You're going to do three out, one pull in. Try to get your hip to feel. Oh, that was so good. Now stay out good and bring the toe to your head and Brule, the kerogen with your hips. It's a big glute work. Keep the carriage in, extend straight up and step down. It's a beautiful arabesque all the way down. Fantastic Wu. Stand up fluidly. I love it. Transitions are super important.

We're going to do stomach massage and we're going to go to force. It's a little break from all that strong arm work. You're going to sit down. Nice work on those. Yeah. Yes. In the beginning they can feel a lot of quads and you just kind of have to start getting those Arabesques in your repertoire so that you can start picking it apart and feeling it right where so really great hip exercise. You're really flexible, but I need you to bring your shoulders name yet.

Perfect. And pull out and straighten those legs pulling out. Hold for me. I just want you to feel how you're like pulling up away from that bar. Okay? That's going to end. Now lower the heels, lift the heels and Ben back in. And now quick to temple.

Round Back

You're going to pull out, press down, lift and, and so you just want to really feel how solid your hips can be in this exercise so that when we do harder exercises like those Arabesques we can touch back into this. Tap back into this exercise. One more good. And now hold it in. I'm going to drop one spring and you're going to lift up your chest while the hand simultaneously. Go back to the shoulder pads. Excellent. And we're going to lift up, up, up and same solid hips, same box. Go Out, press down, lift and good and out knees. Just as why as those shoulders. Fantastic. Good ant. Good.

Flat Back

Keep all of that and going and I'm going to work on her elbows. I'm going to soften a little [inaudible] and use your chest and your waist to lift up instead. Oh, that's good. Two more. You can also next time, turn your hands the other way. And that helps and hold it in. So turn your hands the other way, just so you know what I mean.

[inaudible] that generally helps prevent women from hyper extending so it could work for you. We're going to simultaneously bring the arms forward. I'm going to drop another spring and you're going to go out in with the air and come in and touch my shoulders and in with the air. Beautiful. And exhale. We'll use your powerhouse. Good. One more. And we're going to twist our Palladio's box to the right as you go out. Go out and come back in. And as you twist, go out.

Reach

Good. This time try to stay forward over your hips. Tall. Ha. There you go. And tall and even lift the chest. I'm just really, that's it. And one more field of solid hips under you to lift up from beautiful.

Twist

And that's enough. Nice job. Go ahead and step off. Good. All right. And now we're going to do chest expansion and thigh stretch. And so we're going to do a kneeling box. Perhaps. I'm gonna. I put a pad over the springs as a safety so that when she goes into a backbend on her thigh stretch, her hair doesn't get caught in the springs. Not Good. Okay, let's come on either side and you're going to grab your handles and kneel down.

So we're on two springs and kneel down and you want to flex your feet and hook them on the back edge of the mat for this one. Great. Just a little more in here. Excellent. Now grab right here. Good. Uh Huh. Good. And I want you to squeeze, I'm going to be as pressed down for a second. Press your bottom away from me as if you're pushing your hips in front of your knees. Great. Now use your hamstrings and glutes like that.

Depend on me a little less in your feet more and hold yourself in position. Very good with the hips, but your back went way back. So we're gonna keep your hips where they are and we're going to use your bed. Okay. So right there. Now you are perfectly nice and tall. Okay.

So scooping in, press your hips forward as your arms pulled back. [inaudible] look right, hold arms, look right, look left. Look forward and control. Release. Good. And we'll look left after we pull back. Look left forward and right and then forward and release. Good.

Chest Expansion

All right. So when you're pull back the arms, your bottom wants to squeeze forward more. Look right and left and forward. And your now your belly pulls back. Bottom left, right forward, powerhouse. Resist. There you go. Good. Crawl up higher. And put your knees against the shoulder pads.

I'm going to add a spring. If you're by yourself, you just sit on your bottom to remove the pad at a spring. Crawl up a little higher. All right, Juliana, I want greatness here. I know nothing but greatness from you. So for thigh stretch we are going to hinge back. Okay. Don't go yet please. Sorry. Um, for two reps and then I'm gonna let you do a backbend for too.

Have you ever done a back bend with a thigh stretch? Okay. So the thing is, is that I want you to understand when you go all the way back, you're going to have about six inches to maybe even a foot between your bottom and your heel. When you do a back bend, that doesn't change. You don't get to drop your bottom and then back bend. You almost have to keep pushing that up to backbend. Okay? So that's the hardest part. So nice position there. Good tension scooping in, lift. Um, use your powerhouse to lift your sternum, your weight of your shirt and forward a little more. Good. Okay. Eyes on your belly. Sorry.

So there you go. Okay. So here's your box. Okay, you're gonna Watch this line. Pull your belly and behind that line I thought so. And you're going to hinge back from your knees though. The carriage note that's from your shoulders. So look right down at my hand. And then just start stretching those thighs as you go back. Perfect. Just keep going. Just keep going. Keep pulling this back.

Thigh Stretch

Keep pulling that back. Pause. Huge stretch. Lift the arms up and use your seat to come up. So good. So what I had you pause. That's that moment of strength where you're going to open up your chest but you don't get to drop your bottom. Okay, one more regular pulling in good eyes a little bit here. Good. And keep feeling that joy. Yes. Yes, yes.

Maybe one more edge and lift the arms and bottom goes up. Yes. So we'll do one or two back bends now, but same, pretend you're doing the same exercise. So you're going to keep drawing this in. Yes, keep going. Keep going. Keep going. Now stay here and open the upper back. Keep the belly in and head to your chest. That's so good.

Lift the arms and up at the bottom. Good for you. You want to do one more? All right. Is there a right on your hip flexors and thighs? Okay, so you're going to squeeze your bottom forward, forward more and draw your belly in and go back. Good, good, good. Keep going. Keep your hips preaching and now open the chest. Head to your chest and scooping in and hips.

Lift a nice job. Good. Take the handles in one hand and step or both? Hands one hand, Yad step off to the side. I'm going to take off two springs and we're going to do um, knee, knee deck, kneeling arm circles. So put them in your hands behind you and you're gonna wanna kneel down the same way you did earlier with the heel. Really pressing against the shoulder pad. Yes. Good.

Because that sends a message to your hamstrings and glutes that we're just on fire. Draw your belly in and then bring your arms just in front of you. You slightly lean back, so use your belly to have your weight more forward as if you were standing. And we're going to pull in and lift and hold it there. Really lift, lift up to the fingertips and an open to the sides. Good. Two more. And stomach in good and lifting. Good and open. I love it. One more.

Arm Circles

So this is still working on that [inaudible] box and the plank work here and reversing it. Your hips should feel the same way. Reaching good. It's really crazy. But when your arms don't feel strong enough, you just squeeze your bottom mark, pull your belly and more. And then you can do it. And one more. And keeping, lifting forward and up. Up, up. Good and coming down. Excellent job. Good. Go ahead and step off. Hang up those handles behind you. So we're going to remove the pad, put it down, and add a spring for our knee stretches. You're gonna get on hand, foot, hand, foot, kneeling down, and hang up. These handles, you can leave them on if you have them up, they'll just get clunky. Okay, so let me see a beautiful c curve head to your chest and pulling up. Beautiful.

Keep pulling in. Good and great feet. Great heels of the feet. If you can't get your feet like that, just keep working on it. Just keep stretching it because it is a lot of footwork to do it. And you want to keep that range of motion in your feet. So we're going to do five regular and then I'm going to make her not change a thing in her box. This is what Joseph [inaudible] did. It's like, Oh, you can do that. Well how about one handed?

Round Back

So then you're gonna take the one hand off and do a set of three, and then we'll switch to the left hand off and do a set of three and you won't even notice that she's taken a handoff. Let's see, where are you up for the challenge. All right, so f five regular. Here we go. Pull. Pulling out and scooping in. Yeah, out and scooping it out in. That's it. One more. And now, right arm. I'm not looking. Everything's staying the same. Left arm. Hips are staying the same. One more. Alright. Right. Put both arms and do a nice fluid switch to a backbend.

Using your powerhouse to lift good and strong hips five times out. And then it will do the same thing with the arch. Pushing out, lengthening out to one and right arm up. Ooh, that was good. Two, three left. Arm Up. Yep. Two, three. All right, we're going to do knees off and we're going to add what in my time was called the Michael Jackson, but I'm not sure what it's called now. So we're going to scoop in and do five regular scooping in one and pull it in and pull it in and two and hold it in. Extend the right leg down the middle, straight back. Good.

Knees Off

Bend it in and straighten that leg back. Hold. Kick your head. [inaudible] and again Ben. Good. This time as you kick your head, lower your hips a little. That's it. And one more. Yep. There you go. And that's it. Switch legs. Nice. Pull it all the way in for me. Bring your chest forward. More knees lower. I know your thighs are on fire. Left leg out. She is such a good student. And, and switch.

Flat Back

Yes. Kick your head when it's out. There you go. And yes, one more. Woo. Good job. And lower your knees gently onto the mat. She's like, thank goodness. And Go ahead and step off and we're going to do balance control front and back. So I'm going to put it in second gear on the grads reformers.

Single Leg Knees Off

They have for extra safety, a little block to lock it in place so that when you bring the carriage home, the spring doesn't come off the bar. Okay, so we're going to face this way this time and you're going to put a hand either hand and then a foot on the reformer bar. A little more center. Cause your feet would be in Peloton stance basically. There we go. Don't push out. Hold it in. You're going to come up into like a pike position. So bring the other foot and [inaudible] and get a little pull. There we go.

And now as you look, pull up in here. Yeah. As you lower into a pushup position, you can push out. Yes. So this is obviously a more challenging long stretch. Good. Lift the right leg up as if it didn't move it all good and push out and then pull in two more times. Push one more beautiful. Return that right foot, left foot again. Her boxes and going to move it all.

Balance Control Front

Yes. Three challenging that Pele's frame. One more and foot down and three pushups please. Down up one, wherever you can. Good. Try Not to get your shoulder blades to smash too good. Pull up that sternum. One more. Good for you. Now Pike, all the way up to bring the carriage home and step down to the side.

Either side. Good and stand up rolling through your body. Of course. Good. I'm going to put it back into first gear. So for the tricep one or balanced control back here, you're going to be one spring and you're going to go ahead and put her. Face me this time. So you're gonna get on hand, foot, hand, foot, good foot, and then great job. Little bit more of a Ha. That's it. You like my accuser. Really Great.

Scooping in as you push out, kick up, right? Like good left leg. Good fan kick, right as you push out. Fan kick left as you push out. Reverse fan kick as you push out and pull it in. Yes, reverse as you go. Left. Nice. Three tricep presses and down. Up. Lift one down, up. Lift down, up. Hold it up. Step off carefully. Nice job bringing the carriage home.

Balance Control Back

Nice work. We're going to add one spring. Cool. Down a little bit with running and pelvic tilt and we'll end with side splits. So go ahead. And that's kind of like our only side box position today to end with. Nice job. Okay, good.

An out to go and running. Good. That's it. Lifting with the powerhouse adds it. Reaching at four and three and two. Good and come all the way in. And we're going to put your arches on the corners. Good.

Running

Turn the knees out as wide as your toes. Exhale, expanding the lungs and then draw up your, curl up, your tailbone towards you. Yes. Although there we go and out you go hamstrings and glutes and come in. Good. And because you're pretty advanced every time you come in I want you to expand the lungs back to the mat. I don't want those lifted. There you go. And I even want the lower vertebra, the lumbar vertebra to expand more.

Pelvic Lift

So hold it in. Beautiful little lower here. Yes. And these, I want you to work the hips to give me one more inch that like that. Each time for more like that out and a little more length. Yes. And out and drawing it in and too little slower and smoother on this last one. Really pull it into as you rolled down. Really lengthen, lengthen, lengthen.

Great. Slide your knees together and hug him in. And we're going to get ready for side splits. So go ahead and stand up. We're going to do it I think on two springs cause we're going to work more on strength today. So you can do it on two or on one spring. And we're gonna put a pad underneath the foot, the reformer bar, and a pad against the shoulder pad so that your foot doesn't want to slide under that area. All right. And we're going to stand both feet right there, one at a time. Good.

And then take your right foot to that book, Pat out and have a nice solid. Okay. So bring up your arms into like round arms forward a little bit, like holding a beach ball. Great. Okay. So what I want to take note here is you have your piles frame. Okay. And the idea is to keep it even as you heel toe this foot out.

So go ahead and he'll tow it out to that pat. Take it a little forward. Quite a bit forward so that it's even with your other foot. Keep that pull out his box. Good job adjusting. Yeah. Cause those feet need to be straight out and turn the hill. Very good. Alright, so right there is square, right, lengthening that lower back, working the hamstrings and glutes. And even here I want you to lift your arches, lift your inner thighs, lift your pelvic floor and pull the carriage home just a little more. Oh yeah. Good.

Side Splits

And now keeping your box push out with those outer thighs as far as you can. Push it's work cause it's on two springs. And then draw up that Palladio's box. Beautiful. Two, push out. Push, push, push and scoop. And so you have to work the hips evenly. Last one, pushing out and pull in up, up, up. Now keep your frame as you heal. Toe that left foot back into position.

Keep lifting through your body. Swivel it in just a little more. Hold it, uh, the right there and bring your right foot onto the mat. Turn towards the springs for me and we'll do the other leg. So you're going to stay here and you're gonna take your left foot out. Go ahead a little bit forward so the toes are almost ear, don't jam them.

You poor thing. But um, so that you can be even with the shoulder pad. How's your pilates frame looking? I think so. Just leaning back a little bit with that chest. So use your powers [inaudible] and heel toe, the right foot out. Trying to keep that [inaudible] frame.

Nice job staying even with the feet though. And now this time reach your arms straight out to the side. Long. Good, good. Alright. And work those hips evenly. Push out and pull in and there we go right there and push and pull. And one more push and draw up the inner thighs, the pelvic floor and the belly and keep that going as you swivel this foot in. Love how you kept it nice and square. Keep going, keep it going. Keep it going.

Good. Bring this foot on and carefully step off that carrot and you're all done. Thank you for letting me lead you through all those planks and keeping your [inaudible] frame vox. Great job. Nice.

Comments

Wonderful alignment observation and cues. I learned a lot. Thanks Monica for this workout.
Lorie H
1 person likes this.
Being classically trained it’s great to refresh and do exercises I typically do in a more challenging, more deliberate pace with more attention to my box. Thank you!
1 person likes this.
I loved this! This is going o be one I come back to over and over because of the alignment and control cues! Awesome thank you!
1 person likes this.
That was a great refresher class! Your details and emphasis on the Pilates box was perfect..thank you Monica!!
1 person likes this.
Love this class!!
Tanya B
1 person likes this.
Fantastic class thank you Monica! :)
I have not done this class in awhile and I am so glad I took it again!! You always provide great cues and provide the details to really make every movement count. Love your classes. Thank you! 

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