Power Reformer

Hi. I'm Ashley, and I'm gonna take you through a power reformer workout with some of my favorite exercises. Let's start with footwork. I have all springs, so that's three red, one blue, and one yellow, lie down on your reformer. Find a nice snug position into those shoulder rest, toes apart heels together, and pressing out for 10. Just starting to warm up the body, pressing the heels together, and feeling the rib cage breathe back into the reformer.

Nice brisk pace to get it all working and going. One more here, and we'll move on to our arches. Feed our parallel together, let the arch of the foot push into the foot bar, and draw the inner thighs together as the legs straighten. Feeling hips heavy, ribs heavy, breathing your ribs towards your arms and back into the carriage as you deepen the low abs between the two hip bones. Two more here, and we'll go to the heels.

And in hard flexed feet, heels on the foot bar, and again, zippering the inner thighs, so it's more about lengthening upward than pushing the knees back towards the springs. Getting tall like you're standing up from a squat with each repetition. And four, three, keep pressing the hips into the mat, two. One, tend and stretch. Toast come back to the footbar with a little space between them. Press away to straight legs, keep those heels zippered, and lower the heels under the footbar and lift.

Nice brisk pace here as well. Let the shoulder rest push your shoulders down. Keep your head heavy into that headrest, pressing the arms into the mat, finding that full activation throughout the body from top of the head to tip of the toes. Breathing as you go, and three. And two waking up that lower leg and ankle. One, and bring it in all the way.

Sit up to lower the foot bar and change the springs for the hundred. So foot bar will come down. And I'm staying on two red You can always go a little lighter or a little heavier if you're feeling super strong today, and I have some space between me and the shoulder rest, grabbing straps or loops, and bringing my knees into my chest. I've curled up And instead of pumping the arms, I'm gonna cross the legs as I breathe in, and out. Keep reaching those fists to the other side of the reformer as you lengthen your spine to the back end of the reformer.

Breathing in as you crisscross, and out. Breathing in, expanding the ribs and exhaling deepening the front of the body into the back of the body. Two more breaths breathe in. And out. And one more, keeping that nice, high curl that reach the whole way, bring the legs together, bend the knees in, bend the elbows, and lower the head down.

We're doing what I call a coordination snow angel crisscross. So starting with the head down, arms reach long, palms face your body, right leg to the ceiling and left leg is long, wherever you feel you can still connect that leg into your abdominals. Open the arms and legs to the side, come right back into this scissor. So not changing the legs. Inhale. Open. Exhale close. Three more this way.

Head is pushing into the head rest. Rib cage is staying anchored into the mat, and you feel those arms moving from your back as the legs work on this asymmetrical angle. On the next one, hold switch. So now the left leg is to the ceiling, right leg is long, inhale as you open and exhale close. So a little bit of coordination, a little bit of snow angel, but adding that scissor and crisscross action in.

Last one, bend the knees in, bend the elbows, and let's repeat that with the curl up this time. So I'm giving myself a I'm giving myself a little space between me and the shoulder rest. Curling up and reaching the palms, right leg to the ceiling, left leg long, inhale, and exhale. It might even feel a little easier to coordinate when you're curled up because you can see where your body is going. As opposed to just having to feel it when your head is down. Two more here. And one, switch those legs.

We're almost there. For five, inhale, exhale four. Inhale, exhale three. And two, keep curling. High last one, reach, bring the legs together, knees, bend, and elbows bend, and rest the head.

Hook your loops on to sit up and change the spring change. I'm taking one awesome on one red for rowing from the hips. Hooking the thumbs into the long loops, but making fists and placing them on the mat right next to my hips flex feet, inhale at the top, exhale as you round, forward, reach your head towards your toes, punch to the wall in front of you, lift up tall, stay tall as the arms circle and come back to fist on the mat. Inhale, exhale as you reach. Inhale as you come up tall, stay tall as you circle around. Inhaling, exhale to push.

Inhale tall, exhale to circle one more time, inhale, exhale abs punch back as the heels head and fist punch forward, everything lifts up, legs pressed down and together to finish the circle. Hooking your straps on, we're grabbing the long box for pulling straps. Long box goes against the shoulder rest. You shouldn't need a pad here, and I'm staying on one red spring, your option to go to a blue if you like a little bit later. Placing my shoulders at the very front of the box Lacing through the loops to hold on to the little double tape on these straps.

Hips press heavy abs pull tight, legs are reaching long, and I'm looking to the head rest. Pull the arms back to the hips, lift your chest when you get there, add a tricep, press pushing back, and then lengthen everything back down to the ground. Push the fist down, reach the fist to the hips once they're there. Lift into that upper back extension, tighten the abs as you do a tricep press, and then lower everything back to the ground. Three more times, drawing the arms back, lift the chest, tricep, press with the collar bones widening, and down, pressing that hip crease into the box, lift the chest as the toes reach to the wall behind you, punch the fist to the heels and bring it all down one last time.

Head reaches forward as the fist go back. Eyes look up the wall in front of you, elbows bend, and push, and lower with control. All the way down. Take your handles into one hand and step off to the side for teaser. I'm staying on a red spring, one handle in each hand behind you and sit at the front of the box lying down till you're draped over the box.

Enjoy this moment. If you wanna start with your knees into your chest, that's absolutely fair. Inhale and exhale roll up into that teaser, punching your fist towards your toes, lifting those legs and then rolling back down. Just three of these. Lots of control, breathe in. And as you roll up, try to articulate your back up and off of the box.

Pull those legs into your abs, and then roll down as you keep that punch of the fist, toes and eyes can lower at the same time. One more. Rolling through finding that nice teaser, feeling strong in it, and roll back till you're all the way down. On the box, take a little moment. And then you can place your handles or loops into the well, step off to the side, and grab a sticky pad for some swan extension on the long box. I'm placing it where my hips will be, lifting the foot bar back to that footwork position, and adding a spring.

So I'm on two red springs, a little heavy, but it's gonna help us extend. Lying onto my stomach, head is hovering over the foot bar. Hands hold the footbar, and hips push into the box strongly. Push away. It's a nice heavy spring. Let that heavy spring lift you as you keep your arms straight. Bend your elbows to pull the carriage in, and when it's in, lower with control all the way down till you're looking at the foot bar again.

Abs pull tight as you push out. Leg stretch long as your eyes go up, arms rotate in towards each other. Bend the elbows and then let your eyes scan down the wall in front of you. Three more times. Push away.

Inhale can take you up. Exhale as you transfer all that work into your upper back, to control the lower. Push. Let the heavy spring bend you, but then you take over from your upper back as you bend those elbows. And one last time, legs keep stretching long and together.

Eyes go up elbows, bend, chest lowers back to the box. Stepping off, and we'll take the box to the back, and set up for long stretch. I'll put my pad into the headrest and have it in its highest position. Staying on two springs to red, hand, hand, foot, foot, and finding that nice, long position through the body. And I'm only gonna push back as far as I can keep that long position and come back forward.

Let's do three more, reaching the heels back to the headrest reaching the crown of the head forward. Upper arms rotate in towards each other. Like, I'm squeezing a magic circle between my elbows, legs pressed together. Like, you have a teeny tiny magic circle between your knees in this position. One more, and glide forward with lots of resistance. Lift the hips. For elephants, toes are lifted, heels are heavy, and find half the weight in your arms, half the weight in your legs.

Drop the head, drop the tailbone, push the carriage out, and draw it back in with resistance, like your head and your tailbone could come together as your abs punch to the ceiling. Exhale as you come in, inhale push through the heels. So only moving as much as I can keep that weight distributed half in legs, half in arms. And when I'm all the way in, going into single leg, I'll move my right hand a little bit more to the center. Right leg steps on the wall behind me, hips square.

Push and lift the abs as you draw the carriage back in. As the left leg pulls the carriage in, The right heel stays standing on that wall behind me. I'm still trying to bring my top of the head and tailbone together one more, and we'll switch the side. Lowering that right leg, widening the right hand, narrowing the left hand, right left leg, excuse me, stretches back, and you're pushing and pull the carriage in as that left leg stays standing on the wall behind you, abs punch up to the ceiling as the carriage comes in. Oh, my left. Hamstring is really working here. Two, one more all the way in. Step both feet on the carriage and carefully step down.

I just wanna complete the work on the front side and back of the body. So we're going into star. Left hand is in the middle of the foot bar. Left foot is on a little sharp angle against the shoulder rest, and I'm coming up shoulder over wrist, hip over hip, foot over foot. Option to just hold here or give it a little action.

I'm not lifting. I'm just lengthening through that right leg, right arm, two more times, keeping my left ribs lifted as I push away from the arm, from the side, from the heel, and then carefully stepping back to go to the other side. So coming around my reformer, my right hand is in the middle of the foot bar. My right foot is on this nice little edge kind of making a triangle, so we don't want to be overextended either which way. And then pressing up to stack shoulder over wrist, hip over hip, foot over foot. This might be enough, or you might feel strong to push away and pull back in, creating two directions in the body two more times, and resisting that carriage bringing you home as that right waist lifts, lifts, lifts, and carefully step back and down safely.

I'm gonna take this pad and move it forward for stomach massage. I'm staying on two springs as we're gonna go into a twist. Have a seat, very close to the front of your performer, uncomfortably close, toes apart and heels together. Push away. And once you're there, feeling the tailbone curled with the lift out of your low back, reach your arms up. Stay here, pushing through those legs evenly and rotate. See how far you can look behind you.

Come back to center. And look the other way. Come back to center, bend the knees and bring the carriage in. Now we're pushing out with the twist, so looking behind and coming forward alternating sides. I'm looking behind and reach forward.

Looking to the right and reach forward, growing out of that low back, left, and reach when I'm reaching forward, when I'm reaching back as my ribs rotate around my spine, one more each way. Legs pushing evenly as best as they can, and bringing it in all the way. Hands can help you get off the reformer. We'll take this pad away and set up for the glorious short spine massage. Head rest is down, and foot bar is down.

I'm staying on two red springs. Lie on to your reformer, head into the headrest, grab your loops, and bring your feet up into the loops, finding a little frog position. Settle here for a moment. This is a little reprieve for us. And then pressing the legs forward, lift the feet, lift the hips as you push the arms down in opposition, bend the knees. And in this little ball shape, roll down.

I know this isn't just my favorite. Many of us love short spine massage because it feels so good, but we want it to come from a place of control. So pulling the abs, pulling the knees, pulling the heels to the seat with all this upper body opposition, which we'll use when we go into overhead in a moment. Lift out of the hips, keep that lift as much as you can, and pull the knees to the chest as you roll through the spine. Taking a breath here.

Grab your handles Send your legs long over the footbar and arms to the ceiling for overhead. Arms press down. Hips go over and legs stretch up to the ceiling. Keep that reach of the toes over the hips as you create all that opposition in the upper body, and two more times. Arms down hips over and up and keep those legs shooting to the ceiling as you articulate through your spine.

Whoo. One more. And lift and keep sending those toes out to challenge that abdominal work as your head pushes heavy into the head rest and rest. I'll hook my handles on. Take a moment. I'll lift my headrest up, and we're going into semi circle. So toes are apart, heels together, and sliding out into this high shoulder bridge, staying on these two red springs for good support.

If you like a little higher foot bar for less knee flexion, that's another option. I'm staying with the foot bar low for flow today. With the carriage as far and as I can bring it then I'm rolling upper back, middle back. Low back, let my hips touch the springs, but I'm keeping my heels off of the frame, pushing through the hands and the feet, articulate the spine up staying in that shoulder bridge as you pull the carriage in. Nice stretch through the quads, rolling down.

My thoracic spine, my mid back is pushing into the carriage. Curling up, letting it lift last, and pulling in one more in this direction. Ribs melt, waist melts, hips touch the springs, dust the springs, as they say, roll the hips up, and bend the knees and come back forward for the reverse. Hips are high as you push back. Keep the carriage still as you roll down, let your ribcage wrap around the carriage and curl to come back up. Two more times. Push, roll through.

Enjoy that stretch and that mid back. That's always so tight. Last one, carriage is still while the pelvis moves. Pelvis is still while the carriage moves. And then we try to keep that carriage still as the pelvis moves, we wanna bring it all the way in, and then pull yourself back on or shimmy back on any which way take a moment once your head reaches the headrest to just feel that deep ribcage stretch and mid back stretch.

Come up to stand to set up for knees off knee stretches. So foot bar comes back up to that same footwork position. I'm still on two red springs. Hand hand foot foot. Let's start with the knees down just to find where we wanna be in our upper body as we hover those knees off.

We're going for 10 times, so rounding that spine. Again, like elephant, tailbone to the top of the head looking in, hover those knees and push and pull for 10. Nine, emphasis on the in eight, seven, six, five rounding that upper back, four pushing through the arms, three, two, and one hover and lower with control, a little single leg knees off. So my right foot's coming forward. I'm still rounded. It's similar to mountain climber on the Wounded chair.

Hover that left knee and push through the left leg and pull in for eight, keeping that upper body stable, and six, and five, four, three, Two and one, woo, burning in that left thigh. Let's even it out. Right leg goes back. Left foot comes forward. I'm on that ball of the foot, rounding and stabilizing through the upper body.

Lifting that right knee and pushing and pulling the legs underneath me. Two, three, four, five, three more. And in on eight to lower down with control. Let's add one spring. I'm gonna add a red, so I'm on three red for running. Just to give myself a nice little centering cool down, toes parallel pressing out pedaling through.

Running's always a nice place to connect and see what's a little heavier on the mat since I started. What's a little more open? Check-in with myself. Three more. And Benden come in all the way with control.

Stand up for some side splits. So I'm lowering the foot bar down. I'm going to do a red and a yellow today. So I'm taking off two red adding a yellow, keeping red red on, one red one yellow, carefully standing on to the carriage. My left foot's going on to the frame.

My right leg is heel towing out, to that shoulder rest. I can already feel this is gonna be a good challenge. Let's push out two, three, and hold two, three, bring it in two, three, and keep that carriage in getting tall, outer edges of the feet pushing out hold and draw it in like you've got the biggest magic circle you've ever seen and you're squeezing into it, and one more time push. Two, three. Hold that lowest point that you've got and safely coming back not arching, not tucking, but using inner thighs, outer hips, and heel toe that foot back to center carefully stepping on the carriage to turn around for the opposite side. My right foot is going on a stable surface.

He'll tow the left foot out against the shoulder rest. Second side's gonna be hard and press away. Two, three. And then I really want that challenge on the in and pushing out through the outer edges of the feet. And then it's like a big scoop up inner arch to inner arch. And one more time, both legs evenly pressing. And both legs pulling together stay tall, heel toe the left foot back to center with control, step the right foot on carefully stepping down.

And thank you for joining me for a nice