All Prenatal Reformer

Hi. I'm Ashley, and I'm gonna take you through a prenatal reformer workout today that should be safe through all three trimesters of pregnancy. Let's get started. We'll come to the foot bar end of the reformer, taking a nice wide stance and you wanna have your fingertips reaching. You're not fully grabbing yet onto the foot bar. We'll do a deep knee bend, not hanging off of the foot bar, but just using it for support to get more of that knee over heel feeling and come back up to stand.

Breathe as you go, exhale on the inhale coming back. We're doing 10 of these and up. It's like we're gliding down a wall with our spine, and then using the hips to push us back forward. Think of going up as you bend your knees with your spine as going up and then pushing through the ground to stand back up. We have five and up.

And four glide down that wall. And three. This is in place of lying on your back for footwork. A nice way to still work the legs in a standing position. Bringing your legs together, heels together toes apart, and step a little there are ways to have clearance.

We're gonna do a deep knee bend. So again, my fingertips are reaching for the foot bar, and then as I go deep into my knee bend, heels lift, I grab the foot bar for support and come back up. Again, gliding along that imaginary wall behind us. Inhale on the down and exhale to bring you back up. Legg should be feeling activated and warming up.

Let's go for five and stand. Heels lift to take you into that deep knee bend using the bar to not hang off again, but just to give you a little bit more ability to take your body back instead of having to counterbalance leaning forward if we were just doing a regular squat without that support and come all the way up. I'm gonna stay here, but now I will lean my hands onto the bar for tendon stretch some calf raises, bring the legs parallel in together, and just lift and lower for 10. Nine keeping the spine long, neck long shoulders relaxing down the back and lift knee caps stay pulled up the thigh, nice quad activation. Breathing as you go.

And on this last one, let's lift the right foot can connect to the leg or just hang out really firm that left leg and lift the heel and lower a little single leg calf raise eight times. This is three. It should be firing up that whole leg for it. Don't be afraid. To put a little weight into your arms. Three, two, one other side. Caff's alive.

Up and down. Other leg is just hovering. Like I said, you can connect it, but you wanna just feel everything going up as you push the ground away through those five toes on the right foot. And lift right knee, stay super straight and pulled up through that quad. Last two, and one, and rest. I have one spring on, and we'll lee it's one red, and we're stepping into the well for some rowing standing.

So carefully stepping into the well, facing your shoulder rest. And when you reach forward, you can have a little reach to then pull again back leaning your hips back behind your heels, chest is open. Pull the elbows towards the ribs and reach the arms back forward. Pull the elbows back, chest open, and four. So getting nice and low here and exhale as your elbows pull. One red is quite strong.

You can always do a blue and work your way up or even a yellow. And pull 10 times, and then we'll take a little break into a second set. So feeling those shoulder blades, glide back and forward, as nothing changes in the hips or the ribs, two Exhale one, and a little break here. The carriage is home. Just give them my hips a second because the legs are working even though they're not moving to stabilize.

So I'm leaning back, pulling the carriage with me, and pulling watching for my shins, but I have that space. The headrest just goes right towards my legs and back and pull and reach and pull, and reach. You wanna feel the length of the low back without overarching or tucking. So pulling the low abs deep, using the exhale to find that nice control and control the carriage coming in, step a little forward to come up all the way, and we're stepping out of the well carefully. We'll sit on the reformer and straddle the carriage. So one foot on each side while we're here, let's add a blue spring. So I have one red and one blue for where we're headed next after this little cat cow variation.

So Hands on the foot bar, feet nice and wide. If it doesn't feel available to open all the way like this, you can do a little crisscross applesauce. Round your spine, dropping the head down. And then arch your back looking forward as you and you can even bend the elbows to go further. So a cat cow here, a little push through the legs, letting the spine move through all of those angles.

Getting blood flow in between each vertebrae. One last time, and then coming up tall. My left hand's gonna stay on the foot bar. My right hand reaches behind me, and then it comes right back up and switch. There's just a little rotation, neck, shoulder, rib, and I can hug my legs into the reformer to feel the stability of the inner thighs and the hips, looking behind, and looking forward one more time and looking forward and rest.

Sitting on the reformer, for bark and stay there for rowing seated, lots of rows because we need that upper back strength to counteract. All of the things we do to take care of baby when they get here. Grab your loops or handles, and choke up if you need. I like to get a little more attention by holding on to those little tapes, and then I'm coming up shoulders over hips. Elbows pull back and forward.

So again, a row, but challenging the stability in a different position from standing. We're now sitting. And you can feel if you feel too much pressure on the abdomen, you can always lean shoulders a little in front of the hips, and an option to also sit on your heels of crisscross Apple sauce isn't feeling available right now. So a red and a blue spring to create a nice connection between the shoulder blades. Last one, and return it forward.

Put one handle back on its loop, and then I'm grabbing the opposite across for a little bow and arrow criss cross row. So I'm holding the longer loop now because it's enough tension. I'm not changing the springs, you can always go down to one red if you like. Elbow bends row, and then look an opposite hand is pressing just to create some support. Elbow pulls to the side body. I look and forward.

So that left shoulder blade pinching towards the spine, eyes guiding the action and forward exhale as you twist eight of these. So we've got three inhale. Two, exhale. One, reach it forward. Hook that back on and taking the opposite side. So holding the long loop.

I'm taught here, but not pulled yet. And then twisting into the pull and forward, right shoulder blade pulling towards the spine, just using that left hand for a little support and guidance. And I want my eyes to guide the movement Look where you're going. Four. Breathing in out. Three.

Just twisting as much as it feels good in your body today. And one, and rest. Hooking that on. Let's turn around taking off a blue spring for shave. So I have one red spring on, and again sitting against the shoulder rests with knees, bent legs crossed.

Grabbing your handles or loops, pushing forward leaning forward. I like to make fists, touching those fists, bend the elbows, and punching up. Elbows are wide as you shave towards the back of the head. So that means staying close to where your head is instead of letting the l the fist pull really far behind you. Elbows go wide, fist stay close to the head. 10 total.

Make sure you're leaning forward. If you're upright, it's gonna put a lot of pressure on the abdomen. So that lean forward helps you lift and stretch out of your back as you feel your shoulder blades glide up, and down one more, glide up, and down, let those arms open, and let it give you a little stretch placing the long loops back on. Going into side lying leg work. So two red springs, the foot bar is up.

Head rest is down or you can use a pillow. I'll rest my head on my arm. And make sure that I have plenty of space between chin and shoulder rest, bottom leg stays bent in. And top leg, this is my left leg I'm lying on my right side, is gonna be maybe toes just a little off the foot bar. As long as you feel secure, you really wanna reach to that heel.

Now I'm gonna find space in the under waist by reaching that top side. I can find even more space when I push just straight and bend. The carriage does not need to come all the way in. It's really about where that back can stay flat and where you can still keep that length. So I'm using the left hand to push the shoulder rest as my left heel pushes into the foot bar, lengthen and bend, getting into that left glute as I bend, and two, ten times.

And one, now we're gonna pulse into that action, two. Three 10 times. Four. Five. Six head is just resting into that arm, but I'm active through the left lat and then holding the carriage. It's still a little out.

You've still got that length and the knee pulses towards the ceiling 10 times four. Five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10, push to a straight leg. Left leg stays straight, extend the right leg for some inner thigh lift. So just creating a lot of stability here as you lift and lower. Lift and lower.

Three And four, working that bottom side as you stabilize from the top side up and down nice inner thigh work, feeling that adductor, helping to stabilize the pelvis as everything is shifting and changing. We're doing a 20 total of here. So we've got about five more, and four, and three, keeping all that length, two, And one, bend the right knee in the bottom leg so you feel that support to come all the way in. Use your hands to help you come up. We have a second side to do. So lifting up I'm gonna rotate over, lying on my left side, head resting on my arm, holding on to that peg behind me.

Right foot is on the foot bar, with a little bit of my toes hanging off hips are pretty far back, so I can keep that long length, and then I'm trying to find that reach of my right hip, and keep it by using my right hand to push, extending all the way out, find that reach through the top side. And keep it as you bend. Two, ten times and in. Only coming in with the carriage as far as you can keep all this length, so keeping that right hip away from the right ribs. And breathing as you go, breathe in, and out.

And two, bottom leg pushing down, and then almost all the way in, find the length through both sides of the waist as you pulse, and sit into that right glute, you wanna feel right back there. Up and push and lift and three, and two, and hold carriages a little out, and that knee is pulsing towards the ceiling. Three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10, push away. Keep that right leg strong and stable. Extend the left leg, the bottom leg, and lift, and lower. And just take notice if you have a different range of motion on this side, different sensation, and we're going for 20.

So as you lift and lower, just finding that full activation of the inner thigh inner leg while working the stability of the right leg. Let's go for five and four and three Two, woo, inner thigh shaking, bend that knee so you feel the support on the left thigh as you come all the way in, and using your hands to help you come up to sit. And we're gonna straddle the reformer facing the other way now for some pelvic circles. So opening the legs up, holding on to the shoulder rests, and shift your ribs to the left. Bend your elbows as you lean into the shoulder rest, ribs go in front of the hips, shift the ribs to the right, and then round kind of hanging off.

I'm gonna come a little bit forward. So I have more of that space to traction my spine, to the left. To the right, feeling each side of the pelvis, two sit bones, one sit bone, the front, and all the way around two more times. The shoulder rest are just helping guide the movement. And when we get to the front, breathe in, and we're gonna reverse.

So going to the left rounding to the right, chest open. These felt good to me at every stage of pregnancy. Especially towards the end, though, just to really feel where your pelvis is and kinda loosen up stuff that's gripping as we get looser and more of those relaxing hormones in the body. One more. And come back up and just feel where your body is in space.

Let's do some mermaid or side bend. So stacking the legs up If that doesn't feel great, you need a little more space. Bring this front leg forward. I'll show it with legs stacked today, and then I'm gonna change my spring to a red and a yellow instead of two reds. Holding on to the shoulder rest to help me find the foot bar with my left hand, getting nice and tall, and then pushing away, and coming back up of keeping that right arm towards your ear so you get the height and then bend pushing the shins into the shoulder rest as you push the left palm into the foot bar.

Try to find yourself on your left hip as you push out to really extend through both sides. And that was our third and final one on this side. Let's take a counter stretch grabbing the shoulder rest. If this is too much, because you're really feeling tight, you can always have that hand here and make it a little bit more about a neck stretch. Coming up, and we'll rotate towards the shoulder rest to turn to the other side.

Again, you can have stack shins or one leg in front, a little bit of a like cheerleader stance. Right hand on the foot bar, sitting up nice and tall without arching, left arm towards the ear and push away through the shins through the right palm and coming back up to a straight spine. Find that lean onto the right hip as the shins and arm push away from each other and lift through the center. Reach away. And as you come all the way in, grab that shoulder rest.

Right arm to the ceiling to take you up and over, or using that hand to help push a little into the counter stretch. Alright. Stepping off as a performer to grab our long box. For some overhead press. So whenever you grab a box, if you're super pregnant, you can use it as an exercise, lots of awkward equipment after baby comes to move around so we can practice that deep squat hinging at the hips.

I'm placing the box right in line with the carriage. Taking it down to one blue spring. You can adjust to a red spring if you feel you need more challenge. A blue is a nice place to start. So hands and knees on the box for this overhead press, knees are hip distance apart. And while you're here, I'm gonna push my fingers into the box to lift up out of my wrist.

Right hand is against the shoulder rest and I'm squaring off. Push the shoulder rest away and resist it in. So you've got that overhead push and the lat pull down. Well, everything else stays strong and stable. And in exhale, inhale, trying to fill the lungs, and then really push out to find that transverse, that feeling of hugging the baby into the spine a little bit.

Last two. And one controlling the in, and we have another side. So more awkward movement of equipment. I'm gonna take this deep knee bend hinge at the hips to lift the box. Bring it around.

You'll be moving bassinets from room to room, car seats. Everybody's trying to make the least, heavy car seat. Because all of a sudden you're traipsing around 15 pounds on your arm. So let's get strong so we can do that, pressing through the right hand, even through the hips and ribs, and the left hand is pushing away. Again, I really like to make sure the fingers are in action.

Otherwise, we sink into the wrist, and it hurts. We get so much more work through the forearm. And the grip strength when the fingers are involved and not just long. That's a lot of pressure in the joint. We've got three more and two and one, and bring it in.

We'll take the box to the back of the reformer, one more option for a deep squat, bringing it back, and going into knee stretches. Foot bar is up. I'll add us two red springs and take off the blue. So two red is a nice place to really work lifting, strengthening the quads. Alright.

Sitting back onto the heels. We're just gonna do flat back today because if you're in that third trimester, it might not feel great to round. It's totally available. We're gonna do two sets. So if that's feeling good to you still. Second set can be round, but let's all start looking forward, hips are back, and upper body stays strong as you push and pull.

Exhale, sit bones go one way, collar bones go wide, eyes go forward. 10 times. Push and pull. Push and pull keeping that spine nice and long. Heels kick back. Push those heels into the shoulder rest and in.

Take a breath, take a little wiggle, just a little break, a little maybe lift, and we'll do a second set staying flat. Elbows wrapping towards each other and heels kick back for ten and nine, building that stamina through those legs, and six, and five control, and four push and pull, and two, and one. Alright. Let's come up to stand and take a nice standing elephant at the front of your reformer. So foot bar is coming down. One blue spring should feel nice and supportive.

I'm standing in front of your reformer, like how we started. Just find a nice, wide position between the feet that doesn't feel imbalanced. You wanna feel nice and secure. Take the arms up. Look up. Circle the arms to the side, look down, place your hands at the front of the carriage and push it away.

You can bend the knees here. Absolutely. Let the head drop. Push the carriage away. And then let it pull you in and facilitate that roundness through the thorac, through the lumbar. That's so hard to find.

Roll up, look up, circle the arms down, and go again, find the edge of the carriage. Push away. It almost feels like a down dog, but it's finding that elephant position without such a deep emphasis on the abdominals bringing the carriage. And letting the carriage facilitate our back stretch. Looking up and look down. Grab.

Once you feel secure pushing, let the head drop and feel that stretch from top of the head to the tailbone. And let the exhale and the blue spring bring you in rolling up one last time. Inhale look up. Exhale circle the arms. To the front of the carriage, push it away, find that extension through the side body that we worked, a little wiggle of the hips is nice, and then slowly letting that bring, push your hips back over your heels. And when the carriage is home rolling up, looking up, bringing the arms down, And I hope you feel energized and a little stronger, ready for baby.

Thanks for joining me.