Form & Strength Reformer

Hi. My name is Ed Botha. I'm from Sydney Australia, and I'm here to take my dear friend Meredith through an intermediate reformer session. So today, we'll be using this balanced body reformer. You'll need a box. And as you can see, Meredith's got a magic circle as an accessory, which we'll be using through the session.

Sometimes we'll be putting it down, but so just make sure that the circle is close enough that you can pick it up and, try some of the exercises. So let's have some fun together. So, Mary, what I'd like you to do is to start with your palms pressing against the circle fingers long. Right. We're gonna reach the arms up to the ceiling. So Mary's going into shoulder flexion. Without her rib cage flaring.

Good. And she's gonna allow the arms to lower. And as the arms come down, she's gonna start rolling from the top of her head. Good. And just allowing that circle just to relax out in front of her, bending her knees, and we're just going into this beautiful stretch. Nice and soft through the back of the neck, Mary.

So we're gonna take a breath in. And on the exhale, I want Mary to think of leading up through this part of her back, right through the lower back, keeping the scapula stable so she could retract her shoulder blades slightly for me. She's gonna roll back up once she hits her vertical, She's gonna bring the arms back up into the vertical, so we're getting the shoulder flexion. Beautiful. Just opening up through the lats a bit. And we go again, Mary, so let the circle come down.

And you really just want those arms to relax down And then from the top of the head, good, not overdoing the compression in the neck, good, scapular, stable, so Mary's not pushing her shoulder blades forward, taking a breath in. And on the exhaled, Mary, I want you to press up So think of that area directly behind your navel, keeping the pelvis pretty relaxed. Yeah. It's good. There we go. And then stacking the spine, straightening the legs, and then we'll bring the arms. Back up to the vertical.

I think we'll do that one more time. So just letting the arms come down, and then we follow with the spine. That's looking great. So she's softening the knees And I don't want you to think of too much tucking or tilting of the pelvis. Really think of the movement coming from the spine.

So the pelvis, yep, it's really relaxed. Beautiful. So it finds its own neutral, natural position. Legs straighten, and we'll finish arms up all the way, checking our ribcage, beautiful, and then we can relax. Great, Mary. Thank you. I'll take the circle for a sec.

So we won't need the circle for the first exercise. Mary and I are just gonna switch positions. I've got Meredith on one red spring. Alright? So one spring, if you need to go a little bit lighter or heavier, please feel free. And we're gonna do a hip bridge on the box. So, Mary, if you could go ahead and put your shoulder blades on the edge of the box, and we're gonna place the feet on the foot bar, and you can see the foot bars angled. Right? So some of you may have bigger platforms or foot bars that can drop out of the way, feel free to use it where it's comfortable.

But I've got her legs in an open position. Mary can put her hands behind her head, and she's starting up in a horizontal line. Alright? I'm gonna bring her knees in a little bit towards me, so bending slightly beautiful. So the idea here, Mary, is to stay as straight as possible through your spine. So you're gonna hinge. Right? So we're gonna lower the pelvis down.

Just to there. Good. Keep a little bit more abdominals, and then we're gonna just press up through the legs. Good. So, Mary, we're gonna drop down again. So she's creating this hinge over here. And we're pressing up.

Good. We're gonna do that three more times. And you can see the carriage. It's feel, feel free to move with the carriage and up. Good. Two more. And exhale, so trying to really engage the gluteals.

And we'll go one more time. Please, Mary there. Excellent. And then we're gonna come down. So let's have a seat. So, Mary, what I'd like you to do is could you put the circle on the outside of your knees for me, please? And I'd like Mary to do it, so I don't help her so that those of you who are following along, you can do all of these movements yourself. Alright?

So you can see Mary's got the circle on the outside of her legs. So I want her to think about abducting. So she's pressing her knees out into the circle. So we can really get the glute medius and max to engage as she bridges up. So let's set up in the same position, Mary, with the hands behind the head.

I'm good. You feel you wanna scoot a little okay. She's good. Alright. So here, we've got the press.

So we're gonna hinge down again. We're gonna do five times. Marissa, we're gonna go down. Just watch. We don't go hyperlaudosis. Yep. There. And then up and abduct at the same.

That's as this is the part where you really wanna focus on the abduction. And down And lifting up, good press. A little bit more left leg. Yes. Good. And then down. And awesome.

Good. Let's do two more, and she's keeping her feet pretty neutral. So we don't wanna roll on the feet as she's abducting the hip and we'll go one more time. Good. And then she's gonna come down. How are we going? Yeah. Great. Right. So what we'll do, same exercise, but we're gonna bring the feet a little bit closer together. Alright.

And I'm gonna ask Mary to extend her left leg out. So her left leg. Yeah. Good. So we're gonna do the same thing single leg. So the same abduction of the hip.

And we're gonna lift up. So if you need to adjust your arms as well for balance, absolutely. You could even hold on to the edge of the carriage. That will be good. So we're a little slide off. Yeah. So give that a try.

And how's that feel? Yeah. Yes. Good. So we wanna keep the abduction. So important that we keep the abduction. That's why the circle is there. Otherwise, we could do it without the circle too, but this adds that extra little bit.

Good and down. Beautiful. Getting the gluteal to work. Awesome. Do you wanna change? Let's change. Good.

Alright. So we'll extend the right leg. Perfect. Good. And I'm also trying to keep the legs pretty level. That's it. So a little bit of hip flexor, and then let's go from there. One Good. She's doing a great job there. And two. So on this left leg, I'd love to do five.

There we go. Three good. Keeping good pressure on the circle. Oh, yes, Mary, one more time. And, yeah. Good. She's got it. She's got it. She's got it.

And then she's gonna bring it all the way down. Well done. Great. Mary, and you can glide in there for me and take the circle out. Awesome. Beautiful. So I'll just take the circle for a sec as Mary hops out. And we're gonna change our box to the long position. Right? Same spring. Alright. We actually don't need the spring for this exercise.

Alright? So if you feel you want the carriage a little bit more stable, you can add on more springs if you want. So, Mary, I'm gonna give you the circle. Alright? And we are gonna go into all fours. Alright? And we're gonna place the circle between the gluteal fold and the heel. Alright? So this can be a little bit tricky if you're not used to it. And again, If you don't wanna do this exercise with the circle, it works just as well with the leg bent at 90 degrees. So, Mary, give me a little bit more extension of your back in the lumber area. So tail out's like, yeah, there. That's perfect. So I love that position for Mary.

So we're gonna do some hip cars or hip circles. So what Mary's gonna do is she's gonna extend her left hip, not too far. She's gonna abduct and then bring the leg forward flex. And back, and we'll go again. So that's beautiful.

So just finding that beautiful circular movement, and she's keeping that circle connected. And it's all about the stability of the lumbar spine. Alright? And getting that beautiful movement through the hip, so we go. There. And I believe this is, is this number five?

Yeah. I think we'll do one more just to make sure. So we'll call this number five. Good, Mary, can you reverse? And we're going one, and bringing it back. Beautiful. It's doing a good job.

Push out of the shoulder blade a little bit there. Two. So Very, very important that we keep the scapular stability, and re. Awesome. Sting a great job of keeping the pelvis still two more. Good one more time. Beautiful. Alright, Mary.

Could you do the change for us with the circle? Thank you. Okay. Good job. So you can see you want that circle sitting right under the gluteal fold and just under the heel. So you've got a little bit of hamstring recruitment going on, and extend the hip, good abduct the hip, and bringing it back in. Beautiful. Three. Just trying to keep that movement small and smooth. And two more times. One.

Excellent. And two. So we're waking up all the muscles around the hip. And let's change direction. So abduct, extend the hip, and then flex the hip. Good. And Mary, your shoulder blades look good.

They look good. They look good. And, yes, three more. One. And in beautiful. And two. Good. Last one. Well, you're getting a lot of hip extension and really difficult with the circle and out and up.

And let's bring it all the way down. Great. Awesome, Mary. So you could take the circle out. And I'll take the circle from you and you can hop out for a moment. Awesome. So I'm just gonna take the box away. We don't need the circle for this next exercise. So, Mary, I'm gonna bring the foot bar up for you.

Alright. And I'm gonna set you up with the same springs that I'm gonna use for your footwork. And so what I recommend for Mary is just three reds and a blue spring. Fine for you. Yep. Yep. So three and a half springs.

And Mary, you're gonna go onto your back. Alright? So before I go straight into the footwork, I'm just gonna do a couple of spine twist supines. So we get a little bit of rotation. So, Mary, you can either. So we've got three options. One is to hold the poles. Can you show us the poles? Right? Good.

Two is to hold the shoulder blocks, and three is to take the frame. This is the best stretch. Alright? But it's not always accessible for everyone's shoulder. So we're gonna bring the legs to the table top position. Good. And almost thinking of flattening the back a little bit here, and we're going into our spine to supine. So we'll take the legs to the window side first so we're inhaling.

Just letting those legs relax over to the side, and then exhale drawing back from the waist. Good. And inhaling. And all Mary needs to think about here is the ankles and the knees staying together. And don't worry about the alignment of the knees and inhaling. Good. I wanted to go. Go.

She can get a little bit more stretch. Beautiful. And then exhale as long as those scapula are staying stable. So her shoulder blades. Good. And now hold there, Mary, now on this next one. As you bring the legs, and think of sliding the scapula down a little bit.

So you almost pull on the frame slightly. Beautiful. So you're almost like you're doing a little bit of a pull up. Alright? As you bring the legs back in. So as we bring the legs back in, Mary's thinking of the scapula sliding down her back.

Good. Let's just do one more. And back in. Awesome. Good. Alright, Mary. So let's place the feet to heels parallel position.

Arms alongside your body. Good. And let's just go for a couple of footwork presses. So we go one and back. So you don't have to touch the stopper and fully extending the knees to and back in, and she's keeping the feet nice and stable for me here. So she's moving at the ankle joint, but keeping the foot stable. Awesome. So extending from the hip joint.

Good. And I'm not looking for a specific number. I'm just moving her until I feel comfortable that she is working perfectly One more she is. She's straightening both legs and good. So let's change to the toe position. Alright? So, Mary, I'm just gonna lift your right leg up. So where I'm looking for the the footby is right, just above the ball of the foot and the joint of the toes there. Alright. So keeping the heels stable. So, Mary, let's just straighten both legs out and hold it there.

Good. So she's in her maximum plant deflection. Right? Without rolling the ankles, and now she's gonna keep her heels stable in my hands. Good. And pressing equally through both legs. So again, there's the movement that's happening at the ankle joint at the knee joint and at the hip joint, but the foot stays stable.

So the plantar flexes are working. Good. And press and back in. Good. And we'll press out. And we'll do one more.

So she goes all the way out and she's coming back Beautiful. So we're gonna go small v. So we just touch the heels together and let the hips just respond to that action. So she could you just show us collapsing over the legs? So I don't want that.

So her adductors are still engaged. So heels are squeezing together. Same as the plantar flex position or the toes parallel. She pushes out. We find the stable position where she's at her highest point of plantar flexion, and then she's gonna bend the knees. Good.

And press. And again, keeping that stable, abducted position of the hip joint. Good. So she's not letting the legs collapse out to the side. Beautiful, and she's going for the full straightening of her legs. And this might be knee joint dependent for some of you.

Right? So I would just be happy if you can touch the legs together. Alright? So we press and back and her heels are staying together as well. Do two more. One and in and one more time. And coming back home. Great. Right.

So we're gonna go parallel again. Mary, we're gonna just do 10 calf raises, right, straightening the legs out all the way. And we lower the heels. One, and up. And two so for the calf raises, I'm a little bit more particular about getting to a a number. Three because these are muscles that need endurance, four.

So I wanna make sure I get to the the 10 for five full range every time, five to six. Good. So she's actively drawing down seven with the heels. Three more. So that's one. And two. Good.

And three, and in plantar flex, beautiful, bend the knees to come back, and in we go. Okay. So, Mary, we're gonna go to the single leg side. Alright? So for this, we're gonna drop the springs. So I think for you one and a half to two springs, one and a half. Alright. So that's a a red and a blue spring for Mary. So, Mary, if you could lie on your side for me. So she's gonna use her bottom leg to push against the frame of the reformer so that we make sure that she sets up in a straight line.

So most people will sit with their pelvis a little bit too far back towards this window side. So I'm gonna bring your pelvis slightly for Mary. Is that okay there? Yep. Good. And I'm gonna bring your left leg back slightly. Perfect.

Right? So she's in a perfect lying, side lying straight line. Her bottom leg is gonna bend. Good. And now she's gonna bend her left knee only as far as she can keep her heel down and her pelvis stable. Alright? Good. So I'll abduct slightly on that hip there. Good.

So this depends on your ankle flexibility as well. So Mary, we're gonna do a bit of a a two in one. So Mary's gonna extend her knee. Once she gets to maximum knee extension, she's gonna plant her flex her foot. She's gonna come back down onto the heel and then bend.

The knee, keeping the pelvis stable, and we go. Two, lift, and back in. Good. It's there. Three fully extending, lift. Down, and in, and four full straightening, lift down without rolling the pelvis back for five, full knee extension, full plantar flexion, dorsey flex?

Back end will go five more times. And one. Good. So now she can find her flow. And two.

Beautiful. She's continuously reaching out of this hip joint, and three length. Two more please? Good. And then on this next one, we're gonna press and hold out. So lift up first to just finish the movement, coming back down on the heel, and then we'll stay on the heel, keeping this leg straight.

So we want this knee fully extended. Now we're gonna allow the pelvis to hike. So we tip and we press out. So we're trying to work on this lateral stability of the hip. So pressing two and in and three. So you see the carriage is moving? And five.

Good. Let's do five more Mary. You good there? Yeah. One, and two. You can see how my hand is moving. Three, and reach, and four. Lovely exercise for balance of the pelvis. And on the next one, we're gonna hold out. We're gonna press out There we go reaching out of the hip joint.

Good position. She's gonna extend her bottom leg. Alright. And then we're gonna just do 10 little adduction. So we're going one. And two, keep the reach out of the top leg. Three, and four. Beautiful. Now she's got her space in her waist for five.

Six. Good. Try reach for the bar. Seven. Three more. One.

And two good one more time. And three beautiful Mary, you can bend your knee, and then glide back in. Awesome. So, Mary, just turn through to the other side for me. Alright. Good. So use the bottom leg to push out. And you can see Mary's got her bottom. She had it long and she was holding the shoulder rest.

Some people might prefer the head rest up and the bottom arm reaching below the shoulder rest. That might be more comfortable if you struggle with shoulder flexion. Alright? So, Mary, just gonna roll your pelvis slightly forward, beautiful bending the bottom knee, and we'll pause over there. Alright? And now she's gonna start bending her top leg and while her heel stays stable, and her pelvis doesn't roll back. Good. So let's press out.

One, and then plan to flex. Dorcey flex, and in. And two, good all the time thinking about space in the waist. And three there. And just two about there.

Four. Good. If she comes in too low, that's when the pelvis will start rolling. It's good. Doing a great job of keeping space. And six reach.

And in and seven. And in and eight. Two more, please. Full knee extension every time. Yes. Good. And there and last one, Mary.

So we go full, and we reach good. And then we lower the heel, pause there. So now she's keeping the knee extended. She's got her space. She's reaching out of this hip joint, and then she allows the pelvis to hike, carriage drops, and push up. And let the carriage come in, two, and move the carriage out.

And three, good, and move the carriage out. Good. And four. And carriage out for five and out and six and out and seven. And eight.

Good. And nine. And one more time, right? And then 10. And hold it out there for me. Good. Get beautiful reach.

Reach the bottom leg out straight. Good. Pelleva stays stable. Now we're trying to keep the space. Now she's gonna adduct. Bottom leg. One and two.

And three. Good. Four. Yes. He's keeping the reach for five. 67.

Three more. One two good job, Mary, one more time. And three, and good, bend your knee. You can draw yourself back in. All the way. Good. Alright.

So what we're gonna do, we're gonna go into some abdominals. So if you haven't got your circle, you can hop up and go grab your circle. So I'm gonna pass Mary the circle Alright. And we, again, the spring setting, I would recommend a red and a blue for this exercise. If you want a little bit lighter, you could go towards a red or a red yellow. So, Mary, you're gonna take the circle and we're gonna put it between your ankles for me, please. Exactly. Leggs are gonna go to the tabletop, and Mary can reach back for her straps. Alright.

So we're gonna do some two variations of the hundreds. Her arms are up straight to the ceiling. She's got a little bit of tension on. Alright? So we're just gonna play around with the choreography. So on an exhale, Mary's gonna lift and reach the legs out long for me.

She's gonna take an inhale to prepare. On the exhale, she's gonna pulse the arms for five. And then inhale pulse the legs. Duh. And out two, three, four, five. In two, three, four, five. Ah, two, three, four, five.

Two more sets out two. Four, five, into three, four, five, and r two, four, five, into three, four, five. Good. Mary's gonna bend the knees. Alright. Bring the arms back up. Good. And she's gonna put her head down and just hold there for a sec. So it's hard not to try do something with the arms while the legs are going.

So you wanna try to keep the arms stable. Now, Mary, we're gonna make a change. So could you put the circle to the outside of Your legs. Good. Beautiful. So we're gonna do the same thing, but with a b duction of the hip joint. So Mary's gonna take her straps, reaching the arms up to the ceiling. Same spring setting.

She's gonna exhale as she lifts up. Reaching the legs out, take an inhale to prepare Mary. Good open across the chest and exhale two, three, four, five pause, in two, three, four, five good, two, two, three, four, five, in two, four, five, three, two, three, four, five, and two, three, four, five, good. And abduct, abduct, abduct, abduct, abduct, abdock, abdock, abdock, abdock, abdock, abdock, abdock, abdock, abdock, abdock, good. Last one.

Five good and then exhale bend the knees, and let's take the arms up and over. Good. So, Mary, we're gonna go into the long spine. Alright? So if you could push out with your legs, put your feet into the straps, and then we're gonna put the circle between the ankles. Yeah. So you may just need to pop your head up. Good. And then the legs can straighten out. So you want your legs at about 45 to 60 degrees, arms alongside your body. Alright? So just keeping that little bit of tension on the circle. So, Mary, we're gonna inhale as we get our hips to 90 degrees at the hip joint. Good. Trying to keep the carriage still.

It's like you're doing a pelvic curl. You can squeeze into the circle rolling up. Beautiful. And we'll pause just as great. Take a breath in at the top, and on the exhale is rolling the spine down.

Good. Vertebra by vertebra. And she's doing a beautiful job keeping the carriage still for me, and then we press the legs back down to that 60 to 45 degree. So we're gonna inhale as we go up to the 90, pause. Exhale, Mary, we're gonna roll up. Good. Keep pressing through the circle.

Inhale at the top. And then exhale as we roll back down. Beautiful. Yes. And legs go down. We'll do that twice more, please.

So inhaling. Good. Give the circle a little squeeze exhale, abdominals are good, rolling the spine up, keeping the carriage still beautiful. So feel like you're extending the hips here so you don't give in to the ropes and exhale as we roll. Back down, and doing a great job of keeping the carriage still, and then press the legs. Down, good one more time, and inhale.

And exhale. Good. Beautiful. Give the circle a little squeeze. Feel like you're extending the hips, and then coming back down. Rolling, beautiful vertebra by vertebra.

All the way. Awesome. Good. So, Mary, we're gonna take the circle out, and good. Thank you. And I'll just pop it. Above us over here. Alright. So I'm gonna get Mary just to lift her legs up, and I'm gonna take one of her straps off. Alright. So, Mary, if you can, we're gonna try and do this on one and a half springs.

It's pretty heavy. Alright? But it's all about hip extension. If we have to go lighter, you can. So Mary's gonna stay on the red and the blue, and we're gonna take her left leg out, and we'll pop that down over there. Good. And can you keep that leg in a tabletop for me?

You think so? Okay. Well, then let's bring you in, and then I'll just pop out the blue spring. So Mary's opting for the red. Alright. So Mary, if you could table happy days. Alright. So Mary's gonna table top her her left leg, and I'm also gonna pop the the foot bar down, just out of the way for this exercise. So Mary's gonna extend her left leg, and we're gonna do a few hip extensions with scissors. Alright? So on the exhale, Mary presses down with her right, and lifts up with her left.

One and I want her to find this edge so you can, yes, get into extension of the hip, and then we'll switch. So we'll do five of those. And then we're going, too. So this is the working leg pressing, and try to get that little bit of hip extension off the edge and coming back in. We'll go.

Three beautiful, and she's getting a nice vertical left leg. Reach here's the stretch. Good. And you don't have to take your leg off the edge if you feel that you're losing your stability last one, but it just offers that beautiful hip flexor opening and then bringing it back all the way up. So American use the frame here. And then we'll change legs. So, Mary, you could just show them how you change.

I think she was a little bit light, but that's my opinion. So she's gonna switch. So we're gonna take the leg up to the ceiling. Beautiful. And, yeah, so you're good.

You can bring this one down now. Yeah. So we're good to go from here, and we're gonna press all the way down. So we're taking the left leg Again, you wanna break that horizontal line if you can't dipping down below the carriage. Beautiful. Good. But, definitely, you should feel stable in the abdominals and the lower back there.

Reach. Good. And then and press and reach are extending from the hamstring in a thigh, and then the glute max there. We'll do two more, Mary. Look at it.

Beautiful. And so what I'm also looking for is that the left leg as it's going down into extension that she's not abducting her leg. So she's keep good. Mary, could you just do one more for us? So as she's pressing down, I wanna make sure that this leg is running right down in line with her sitting bone, and she's getting it over the edge there. Beautiful then we can bring it all the way. Back up. Good. So, Mary, you can pop your strap out there, and you can come into the stopper.

Good. So, Mary, we're gonna go into the lunge forward. Alright? So I'm gonna have her hop out for a sec. Great. So I'm just gonna pop the football back up. So, Mary, would you like one red or one red, one yellow? What's gonna feel more comfortable for you? Yellow too. Yeah. So this you've just gotta consider that this is an exercise where the carriage wants to run away with you. Alright? So the more spring you have, it's gonna help you just contain Alright? So, Mary, if you could come and stand up on the carriage for me, hands on the foot bar. Alright?

And we'll start with the left heel up against the shoulder breast. So, like, a up stretch one position, and then her right foot, she's gonna step up onto the foot bar. So there's many ways to get into this. This is the simplest position. Alright? And Mary, could you go onto your fingertips for me?

How's that spring for you? Feels good. Alright. So I'm really looking for Mary to think about her upper back. Alright? Back hip is in full extension there. Pellevis, we're squaring off. So I'm actually gonna lift you up a little bit on the side. Is that okay there? Good.

Awesome. So she's gonna take three to five deep breaths for me. So I'd say we're about there. She's gonna place her hands down onto the footbar. The first thing she's gonna think about is anterior tilt of her pelvis as she's straightening Her front leg, beautiful, and she didn't let the carriage run away with her and drop into the splits. Good. So I'm gonna open the side of your pelvis slightly, Mary there. Good.

And we're doing three to five breaths in this position. And then we're gonna bend the knee gliding back in, and she stays the same height. Go back onto the fingertips. Good. Upper back is active. Beautiful.

So, Mary, we're gonna do that same thing again. So hands go down, palms on. Right. You see how she changes from fingers to palms. That just makes the stretch a little bit more intense. Pellevis tips anterior as soon as she starts straightening the leg.

Good. Anchle stayed nice and stable, so no different from doing your toes parallel footwork. Position there. Good. And we're gonna bend the knee and glide back in. Awesome. So, Mary, you can change for us wherever you or however you feel comfortable. Different story on the side.

We'll take what we get. Right? And perfect. Good. So knee is over the ankle joint. Although, I'd say your pelvis is more, lined up on this side here. Yeah. So she's got her position good.

And then we'll go hands. So palm's on and pressing out. Yes. Good. So just don't over rotate the right side. Beautiful. And why I think she's more lined up on here is I think her left glute is more flexible than her right glute.

But it could mean that the hamstring becomes a little bit tighter when that happens, and then we'll bend the knee to glide back in. And pause good. So she's gonna hold her position here. Again, in this position, I she looks great. Pelvis is very stable and lined up. And let's go hands, go down, and we're gonna start pushing away again.

Stable ankle. Good. Yes. So we'll count another three. Two. Good. Well done.

And one and then let's bring it back home. Good. Mary, so you can step out with that front leg for me. And, Mary, we're gonna go down onto your knees into the knee stretch position. Right? So both feet are flat against the shoulder rest. Mary, I think I'm gonna have you on one and a half springs for this.

Would that be okay? Yep. Yep. So I've taken off the yellow and put on a blue. Am I right? So Mary's gonna put her hands on the foot bar shoulder width apart. And so we're gonna start in a neutral spine, and she's sitting down. You can see her feet are absolutely flat now, Mary, we're gonna start with a round back.

So if you can imagine where your belly button is, and there's that piece of string that's connecting to your lower back, I'm gonna pull that string as you lift up with your pelvis, and that's what's gonna create that curve. And just like the roll down, she's not overdoing the pelvis. Right? She's just getting that nice shape through her spine. So, Mary, we're gonna push and pull with the legs. So push and pull one. And a little bit faster. And three and four. Good. Just maintaining her shape. Four.

Five and stable shoulders. Six. And seven good. She's keeping that c shape. Seven eight. Nine without moving the pelvis and drawing it in 10. Good.

Now from there, Mary, we're gonna transition back into a flat back position. Good. And we're gonna do the same 10. So shoulders are stable, and we're gonna push and pull. So push and and good. So the reality is you're pulling in with your hip flexors here, but at the same time you use your back extensors in opposition to help keep that neutral position there. So let's do another five.

One give me a little bit more tailbone art. It's just there. Yeah. And two so I can feel those muscles working here. Three good. And four, one more, and five good, and then you can have a seat.

Good. Mary, we're gonna do the same thing. We're gonna do single arm. Alright? So working on a little bit of scapular stability. Okay? So she's gonna float her pelvis again. So we find the same setup. Good. We're gonna take the left arm out to the side in a horizontally abducted position.

So her posterior deltoids holding her good. And we're gonna push and pull. Push and one. And two. Good. And three.

So try push from the hips. And four and stabilize with the shoulder one more. And five good and pause. Now try stay stable as we change. So left hand goes on, right arm, a b duct, and she's got it.

And we push and pull. And one. And two. At three. Good. And four.

And five beautiful, and we'll bring it all the way back in. Good. Okay. So I'm gonna change to a red. Alright. And we're gonna do like a a long stretch push up variation, right, with a foot bar down. So here, and we'll just pop the bar out of the way.

So American place her hands on the foot bar. Mhmm. Perfect. Heels exactly. You've got your feet pressed up against the shoulder rest. Alright?

Again, you can change your resistance. So if you want an extra yellow, you can. The red's just gonna make it a little bit more unstable. So she's gonna oh, she wants the yellow. There we go. She's she's a lady who knows what she wants. Okay. So, Mary, we're gonna go move the shoulders slightly forward. Perfect. Let's see if you can press the legs out so you're extending the hips good.

And she's got a beautiful front support position here for me. So, Mary, we're gonna do one push up. So she's gonna bend the elbows, push up, and then let's move back slightly. And then she glides forward. Good. So I'm just looking for the stability of the spine here. So she's going down two.

She pushes out, and then she's going back, flexing the shoulder joint. And coming back in. So we're doing five in total. This is number three. And she's gonna push out.

Excellent. And again, two, and out. Good, Mary. This is coming up into your last one. And she goes down. One, up, and she pushes out beautiful, and she's gonna bring it back in.

Good, stable, spine, stable shoulders. Try not to collapse. Just bend the knees, bring the carriage in underneath you, and relax. Awesome. Cool. So, Mary, we're gonna go into some arm work. Alright? We're gonna use our circle again.

Alright? So what's gonna happen is the football's already down. So that's out of the way. We're gonna bring the straps from behind you, and we're gonna have the circle alright, between the palms. And from here, we're just gonna bend and press while we adducting slightly. So again, you can choose your springs. I would probably recommend one or a half a spring for Mary. Alright.

So you just need to take your circle again. You can see Mary sitting long legs. That's a skill on its own. Some people may wanna cross their legs to sit. Cool.

Beautiful. That's it. Good. Yeah. So start push the circle out just so that you get beautiful line with those straps, and you're gonna press in with the circle for this first variation. And Mary, you're gonna bend your elbows as you bring the circle in. Good pressing and extending the elbow. One. Good. So she really wants to use those pecs and horizontal shoulder adductors.

Two. Three. Good. And, for, sir, as the arms go straight, think of the scapula retracting slightly. Yes? And then as you bend the elbows, think of your scapula spreading slightly. Good. Yes. Excellent. So it's almost counterintuitive to what you want to happen here.

So she's keeping her shoulder blades wide. And now as she straightens the arms, go push Good. She thinks of almost pulling the scapula back a little bit. Do one more of those, Mary, and then we'll change. Good. Alright. Now, Mary, see if you can change and bring the circle on the outside of your wrists.

So you're gonna be pressing out. Good. Can you do that? Yeah. Yep. So it's a little bit of a t rex arm position when you start with it. But then once we've pressed out and you have your tension, you should feel a lot more comfortable. Good. Okay.

So now we're focusing on the horizontal abduction. So using the deltoid posterior to stabilize the shoulder. So we're gonna bend the elbows. Yeah. Absolutely. You want it up. Very good.

And get your press. So you can't lose it. You gotta keep the abduction. Otherwise, that circle's gonna pop out. So we're gonna bend the elbows. Good. So you won't go in as deep.

Just there and then press good and really push out to the sides there for me. Good. So we bend the elbows just to there and press out. Good. Just focusing on the abduction. Right? So we're gonna do two more just like that. One so you see she can't bend the arms very deep. And then the last one, we hold out.

And we're gonna hold out. Good. So keep the circle for me. Keep it. Keep it. Keep it. And then I wanna do 10 little AB Ductions. So we go, one, press.

Two, three, four, five good, six, seven, eight good, keeping the scapula down, and one more 10, and Relax. Beautiful. Good job. Okay. Mary, we're gonna turn the facing this way, cross legged. We're gonna place the circle. Just around the sternum area or where you feel comfortable.

And I kinda wanna just wrap my arms around the circle. The strap's gonna be in my right hand. And from here, we're gonna do a little bit of, rotation. Okay. So one blue spring, yeah, a 100%. So Mary's going to a half a spring here. Here we go.

Awesome. Yeah. So it's just a comfortable circle position. So she's looking straight ahead. She's sitting pelvis is facing straight ahead. Now from here, we're just gonna rotate the head and the thoracic spine. Just there a bit of trunk rotation one, and then back in. That's it. As easy as that. And two Good. Rotating from this inner oblique here.

There. And the outer oblique on the opposite side. Good. Growing taller as you're rotating. Good. We'll do three more times, please. One. Lifting, lifting, lifting, lifting, and two. Beautiful.

One more time, Mary. And we go lifting, lifting, lifting, three, and back. Good. So we'll turn around. So we did eight in total. Right. And you could do this exercise tall kneeling as well, which would probably make it a little bit more, challenging.

So her left hand is gonna hold the strap. Mhmm. And she's hooking over. Cool. And she's just got those arms. You can see she's just creating the shape of the circle. There's no force on the circle whatsoever.

So we're gonna rotate and exhale one. So she's looking for right in her oblique there. And two. Good. Stable scapula. And three. Excellent. Five more times. One, and two.

Three. Four. Good. Watch the scapula wee a little bit there. That's it. One more. It's your tricky one. Well, and There, that's it. Good. Beautiful, and then come back in. Awesome.

Okay. So, Mary, you're gonna hop off. Alright. Football is still gonna stay down. We're gonna go to the skating single leg. Alright? While we skate, we're gonna have the circle on the outside of our wrists. And for every skate, we do a slight shoulder abduction again, just like we did sitting.

Right? I'm gonna give you one spring for this, so one red. So I recommend you get on safely. Alright? So you can hold the circle, alright, and step on, and just make sure you step onto the stable part first before you put your right foot up onto the carriage. Yeah. Good. So, Mary, we wanna have this foot half on half off the carriage. Yep. So it's wedged in. Alright. You're gonna reach, so hook your circle on the, yep, outside of your wrists again.

Beautiful, and then the arms out. Now good. Yeah. Cool. Okay. So, Mary, what we wanna do is first thing I want you to do is just bend your knees, but without arching your back. Right? So the common thing here is people, they go into this hinge pattern. I'm not looking for that for this exercise. This is a upright position, and it's pure abduction of the hip.

She's gonna sit more onto that right left leg. So All her weight is on that left leg. And now her right so I'm gonna knock this knee in slightly. You see that? So she's got a bit of an angle. And now we press out with the right leg. One, and the circle gets the little abduction. Two, and in, and three good.

And there we go. And four. Five good. Five more times. This will do 10. One. Two.

Good. Three. A little bit of posterior tilt. And four. So you're keeping the weight on the left side for five and bringing it back.

In. Good. Alright. Mary, I'm gonna change you to a heavier spring. So if you're at home, alright, you can roll down and change your spring. Alright? So Mary, was it a red and a yellow for you for the split? Yeah. And what we're gonna do, Mary, is you're gonna roll down for me again.

Uh-huh. And then she's gonna scoot her leg out to the side. So she's just gotta support herself. She's gonna bring her leg out. If she can, she brings it all the way to the shoulder rest, which makes it tricky. Alright? The hardest part of this exercise is coming up. Alright? So she's squeezing the legs together, and she's gonna roll her spine up. And the circle goes between the palms.

Alright? Are you good? Alright. So same as the previous exercises. This time we adduct the circle every time we adduct the hips so we squeeze. So we're gonna inhale not too far.

And then as we close, so we just do five of these. One. Yeah. I thought so. And Two. Good. And exhale. So she's squeezing.

Very beautiful. And for adducting and adducting. One more, please, Mary. And exhale. Good. Now the tricky part, squeezing, and rolling down.

And then just place your circle down on the carriage. Yes. Hands onto the frame. And then we're gonna step the dangerous leg off first. Right? Take it off behind you. Good job.

And let's go around the other side. Cool. So I'll change your spring again. So we've got the red. For the skate, and then we'll do the red yellow. So she can just step on for this one.

Good. Beautiful. So here, foot half on half off. That's really important here. Alright? We're abducting the shoulder.

So we're pressing the circle out in front. You needs a hand with this one. A little jewelry action going on here. Okay. From here, we're gonna bend the knees. So she goes into just this little I'd even call it like a quarter squat. So leans slightly forward through the trunk.

All her weight is on her right leg. This knee, I'm gonna knock it in slightly. So if you pull in so the It angles the shin so that when the leg goes straight, the ankle is gonna be straight, and we're gonna press out. And we go, one, and in. Little bit posterior. And two, yeah, good.

And three, trying to get the left leg to fully straighten, four, and five good. Keeping the weight on the right leg, five, six there. And seven. So the working leg is the standing legs. Eight. This one's just gliding up nine into abduction. It's just cruising and 10, and we bring it back in. Beautiful, and you can stand up tall.

So for if you're at home, you're gonna roll down and change your spring. Mary's getting the full service here, so she's got her red and yellow, and she can roll down and yep. Roll down for me. Perfect. Stepping the leg across. Oh, good. Now she centers herself, adduct, and we're gonna roll up.

So the circle is between the palms. So Mary did that for you. Arms are reaching out. Good. And this is a five repetition exercise, so we're gonna inhale to open. And then she thinks of lifting and squeezing, so arms and legs, one.

And inhale. And two and inhale. Very good. Beautiful there. Lifting rib cage down for one more time, please, Mary. And she's gonna hold good, and then she's gonna roll down.

Roll keep the carriage stable, still adducting. It should stay on the stop, and she can place the circle hands on the frame. One leg goes off. Good. And then the other. Awesome. Good. So, Mary, we've got one more exercise to do. Okay? So we're gonna do a variation of the breaststroke.

Alright? One yellow spring or your lightest spring you have, I would recommend. Alright? I'm gonna pass you the circle. I'm gonna put the long box on for Mary. And Mary, so what we need to do is we would need to mount the box while we have the circle, alright, and the straps in our hands. Alright? So you're gonna walk around to the side for me. Yep. She's gonna come to the back.

Cool. So if she places the circle, she can reach with her straps Yep. So she hooks them in her thumbs or palms. It actually doesn't really matter for this one. And then you're gonna take the circle, and then move a little bit forward, and you gotta lie down and shuffle your way forward by pressing the arms out a little bit. She's got it. Alright? So unlike the breaststroke, alright, that we would normally do where we really take the shoulders into high flexion, thus the arms are gonna stay a little bit lower. Alright? Oh, did you put them in the palms? Okay.

So she's opted for the palm position. Right. So bend the elbows for you, Mary. So you're just bringing the circle. So you're just pointing the circle straight out. So it's in line with edge of the box there. So Mary's just in a long line. Alright? So we don't want a very big lift of the arms.

So all Mary's gonna do, she's gonna inhale, press the arms straight out, not lifting them, but she can extend her thoracic spine slightly in this position. And then exhale as she comes back and down, and just bringing the spine down a little bit. So we're gonna inhale so we press the circle. She lifts into this little bit of thoracic extension. And then exhale. So really tough, particularly on the deltoid posterior position. And we go reach circle, just pushing the circle out and trying to lift the chest up a little bit.

And then bringing it back and in. Good. And I can see her mid and lower traps working here, which is a good thing. So she's not overusing those upper traps good and in. And again, so the arms, they're just reaching perfect.

And then coming back in for me. And one more time, Mary. So she's gonna lift and lift and lift and lift. Good. Mary, let's just try bringing the arms a little higher there. Yes. There she's got it. And then coming back in for me all the way.

Alright. So, Mary, you can take the circle and just put it down next to you. Uh-huh. And just slowly let the straps release behind you. Good. And then you can eventually just drop them, and she's gonna push back on the box in a rest position for me. So just take the opportunity, Mary, just to stretch back. She drops her pelvis, neck is soft, and she could just let her arms hang down at her sides.

But and Mary just carefully. She's just gonna roll herself up to tall kneeling. Good job, Mary. Thank you. Lovely session.