Strong and Fiery Reformer

For today's total body reformer workout, make sure you have the ball and also make sure it has a little bit of give because that feedback is gonna be very valuable for this workout today. Let's begin with some footwork. Shall we? I'm gonna take off a spring so I've got four springs loaded up, and I'm gonna put the ball between my inner thighs as I get nice and comfortable on the reformer. Let's begin on the toes. Lay on your back.

Put the ball right in between your inner thighs. On all 10 toes, get nice and comfortable and let the games begin pressing out and bending all the way in. Let's find a flow together. As we take a deep breath, And notice this ball between our our legs. Let's give that ball a squeeze here as we also again connect with our abs, our breath, our flow, and our our familiar footwork, Now, on this next one, bring it in halfway so you're doing a wall sit, hold it still, squeeze that ball as you lower and lift your heels in that tendon stretch.

Snap crackle pop. I heard a few things going up and down, and sometimes those joints just need to lubricate a little bit. And that's why we begin with footwork warming up the body from the ground up. Let's do two more. Don't forget to squeeze the ball. It's there for a reason to connect to the inner thighs and also to ensure the symmetry.

Come back in. Come on to the arches of your feet, but wrap your toes over and your heels under right on top of those arches. Press yourself out and in. Find the same flow. Bring the carriage all the way in to the stopper. There it is.

Boop. Now make sure you make any adjustments. I'm gonna find that sweet spot right on the cushy part of my arches. Now, draw the abs in and up, give the ball a squeeze, hold it halfway in, and let's squeeze it together on tempo. In in holds, in, in, hold.

Squeeze that ball in, in, hold. Keep your pelvis nice and stable. Lower back is neutral. Don't forget to breathe. Or you will die like this ball, squeeze, squeeze, squeeze, squeeze, squeeze, squeeze, squeeze, squeeze, squeeze, four three two push out, bring yourself in.

Now come on to the heels of your feet, and let's hold the ball over our chest. Glue your legs together, no ball there, notice how that feels, squeeze the ball with the heels of your hands, when the legs are straight, bend the arms, when the knees bend, straighten the arms. A little mental acuity here. And again, this ball is not just a prop like a top hat and a cane. We're trying to connect the back of the shoulders down the back.

Squeezing the biceps, working the lats, but I'm feeling those inner thighs. Let's hold this next one out halfway, little pulses, up and down, little pulses in on the ball. Squeeze it at the same time. Squeeze. Squeeze. How small can you make the pulses on the reformer? Squeeze.

Can you make them smaller than me? A little friendly competition here. As we conclude our footwork with our tendon stretch, push all the way out. Bring yourself in. Let's put the ball in between our ankles.

I love doing tendon stretch with the ball here because again, it gives me a better connection head to toe. It forces me to be symmetrical as I push out, lower the heels, lift the heels. And I always think all 10 toes, even though that pinky toe doesn't always feel necessary. It's there for a reason, I say, lower, lower, lower, lift, lift, lift. Let's do this three more times, and then we'll go for a quick run and a quick stretch to conclude our footwork block. Now bring yourself back in.

Grab that ball. Just hold it at your chest as you push back out. Lower one heel at a time. Find the full range of motion. You can give that ball a squeeze a little extra upper body work. Oh, I am feeling the burn in my calves. Let's do four more here.

This is great. I was planning on wearing high heels tonight anyway, so my legs are nice and warmed up ready to be shown off on the town. One more time. Just kidding. Or am I? Press that heel down, stretch stretch stretch. Break is over, other side, give it a stretch, coming up next.

We we are going into our bridge series. So bring yourself all the way in, gently rock yourself up to one side, and let's change the springs. Now I'm going too heavy. If you want a little more support for your back, you can add a third spring. Also, make sure the headrest is down because of this inversion. And the ball, get this.

It's gonna go behind the right knee. Now I love having the ball here because it's going to force me to keep the carriage drawn in. If I start to cheat and push out, the ball's gonna fall down, and that's gonna be kind of embarrassing on camera. Just kidding. It happens to even the Pilates masters. So with your feet on the foot bar, tuck your tailbone, keep the carriage drawn in, and roll up to your shoulder bridge.

Roll yourself back down. One vertebra at a time through the waist. Through the sacrum, through the tailbone. Let's do that three more times, tuck the tailbone, roll it up. Just think of a day at the spa, massaging the spine, noticing the ball because that is going to keep us drawing the thighs forward and help us feel the bridge in all the right places.

Now on this next one, roll yourself up. For some of us, maybe we come up halfway. For some of us, we're gonna go so our back shoulders and ribs are down, tuck the tailbone, lift the right leg, and tap the foot bar where you found it. So a little tap and a little lift. Keep your weight even through your right and left side.

Use your core muscles and give me three more. Don't forget to breathe. Last one, hold that leg up for hamstring press you're gonna go out a little and then pull in back out, pull in, out, pull in. Last few presses, feeling this in that hamstring. I really hope you drink enough water this morning because otherwise you're gonna feel that hamstring.

Last one, hold it in. Press your hips up just a little pulse up and up. When it's up, then it's up cardi b. Make sure you're feeling the smile of your seat where the hamstring and the glute connects. We're gonna do three more, two, one, hold at the top, place the foot down, roll down your spine.

I am already burning up here, and I love it. Put the ball behind your left knee. Wow. And this is just the warm up, arms by your side, feet on top of the footbar, make any adjustments. You'll know right away, when you tuck your tailbone roll up, Try to find more articulation through your spine on the second set of bridges.

So the tuck, the roll through each bone, and then on the way down in printing the spine through the back ribs, the empire waist, through the sacrum. Good. One more time, but let's hold it at the top. Tuck the seat, weight is in the shoulders out of the blocks, lift that left leg up, tap the footbar and lift. Absolutely. No movement in the carriage.

The judges are watching. And at the time of filming, this is an Olympic gear. Down. I'm going to Milano. Let's go hold that leg up.

Let's go for those hamstring presses. You're gonna push out and pull in. I want the accent on the in. Good. Feel the hamstring glute connection on that standing leg. Give me three more before we pulse.

I wanna hear that stopper, just that little brush hold it in. Lift the hips. It's up. It's up. Little pelvic tilts. Little presses up. Feeling that right hamstring.

Oh my goodness. Do I feel that standing leg? Last four. Three, two, one, place the foot down, roll through your spine. Wow. Let's bring ourselves up. We are going to change the springs here because next, We're doing arms and abs with the ball underneath our sacrum. So, typically, I do too heavy for arms and abs, but for this series, I'm doing one heavy, one medium.

Put the ball underneath your sacrum by coming to that familiar bridge where we just left off. And first, as with all of these positions, never accept a first offer. I want this ball above your butt at the base of your sacrum so that when you grab your loops, your handles, what have you, that when you have your arms over your shoulders, shoulders out of the blocks, that you can safely balance one leg up at a time. Let's come to that tabletop, check the body head to toe, how do we feel, heels together toes apart, Now just the single leg stretch as we balance, stretch one leg forward, pull the leg back in. Extend the other leg, pull the leg back in.

Don't take an exercise like this for granted, the ball is creating an unstable surface for your pelvis, and that is going to ignite all of the stabilizers. So that means more muscles more recruitment, more mind body connection. When you're ready, we are going to extend one leg out. Let's start with the right leg out and hold and make our circles in direction one. For the circles today, holding the single leg stretch, keeping the circles to the front high diagonal, pull the abs in, feel the shoulder back connection. Let's do two more, and then switch legs and switch directions. Mental acuity, hold at the top, switch legs, and switch directions out to come down.

I feel like Peter Pan right now with my leg position. This is lovely. I'm flying. Let's do three more circles in direction number two, and then I'll find that double straight leg stretch with some opposition in the arms. Hold it at the top. Straight legs up, heels together toes apart, keeping your pelvis anchored on that ball at the apex, lower just the legs and lift.

Now option to keep the knees a little soft, especially if you feel a little tight in those hamstrings, Now the challenge, legs down straight arms up. When the legs go down, the arms come up, When the legs come up, the arms come down. Pilates one zero one, two way stretch and every exercise. Come to your point of control. How low can you lower the legs without manipulating your pelvis. The ball is very helpful because if you are cheating or if anything a y is happening around here, you will fall off that ball.

We don't want that to happen. The ball keeps us honest. One more. Good. Bend the knees for some snow angels. Thumbs up. Arms come out to the t.

Arms come into the hips. So we are flying. Yes. We began class like a bird on a perch, and now we have our wings. Now, not all of the little babies are gonna fly out of the nest. Unfortunately, but we are extend those legs, reach out, bend the knees, reach in. So, hands to the pockets, reach those legs to the high diagonal, double leg stretch.

Let's do this three more times. Last two snow angels with that double leg stretch, we are multitasking today. That's for sure. Place your feet safely onto the foot bar and put those loops back onto the pegs. Now, the magic, lift your hips up, we're gonna roll back down, bone by bone by bone, and come into our windshield wipers Now use the ball between the ankles here. Give it a squeeze because that is going to ensure the symmetry of our lower body. Now arms out wide, back ribs down, move your legs from right to left, and continue to press your back shoulders, your back ribs into the mat.

So you allow the pelvis to rock from side to side. However, you are impaled into the mat. Let's take a little bit of a risk if that feels okay for you. Reach, reach, reach, reach, squeeze to come back up through center, inhale as you stretch, stretch, stretch, exhale squeeze, squeeze, squeeze back to center one more time on each side. And what a beautiful day here in Carpenter. Yes. Bend the knees. Place your feet down.

Grab that ball and gently rock yourself up for yet another ab series with the ball. Now place the ball in the middle of the carriage as you come to the front. I'm still on one heavy and one medium light spring. Rock yourself back and make sure the ball is right at the bra line right at the shoulder blades. So with your toes on just as we did for footwork, but now heels together toes are fist distance apart, cradle your head, pull in on your abs, back is into the ball, push yourself out, tend and stretch, lower lift the heels one time, bend the knees, bring yourself in.

Let's flow. It's out, lower lift, and bring it in. Every ab series we do, we're getting a little bit deeper into our powerhouse. So here, make sure your heels are pressing together. The inner thighs are connected. The abs are pulling in and up under the ribs.

Let's do two more before we try one leg. Oh, yes. Last one, and let's go on to the heels. So come on to the heels, parallel position, flex those feet hard, and take your right leg out to the high diagonal, push out, take a twist, left rib to the right knee, and then back to center, exhale as you twist, inhale as you center. Now think of that left, lower rib coming up to the right knee and follow the line through the crown of your head.

Twist in the thoracic twist, inhale back to center. Let's do two more before we try some pulses, you know I love a good pulse to feel the burn and to get very specific, extend that right leg, push yourself out halfway, left pinky to the right toe, up and twist. Up and reach. Think of the saw on the mat. Saw it off. Think of the movie, saw.

Whatever imagination tools you have, pull them out pull them out now because we have six more. Up and over, reach. Keep the rest of your body still. One, place that foot down. Whoo. Other side, reach your left leg over the foot bar, lift and twist right away to your crisscross on side two. Exale twist.

Inhale center, ring out the lungs and reset, carriage to the stopper each time. Make sure that standing leg is parallel, hip distance, thinking as much about our stabilizing side as we are about the twist. Let's do one more. On this next one, hold it in halfway, extend that left leg, right pinky to left pinky, lift and twist, lift and twist, do your best to stabilize on that right side, keep your sits bones, your tailbone, your back side down, and it's only the upper body from the waist through the thoracic, the head neck and shoulders follow. Come on. Give me three more.

Two, one, foot down, bring yourself in, gently rock yourself up, and let's reward ourself with the swan. Yes. We're gonna use the ball as well, but first, grab that long box, set it up on top of the reformer and change to one yellow, one blue or two light springs. And we're gonna place the ball right between the ankles because if I there's one thing I've noticed while teaching is that the lower half of the body sometimes gets disconnected, but now that we have the ball, we have something to squeeze into just as important, just as beneficial as the feedback we get from the springs in the upper body. So push yourself out. One long line, long neck, abs lift off the mat, squeeze the ball feel the active lower half.

Shoulders down the back, draw yourself reluctantly in, and then press yourself out. Hold yourself out. Give me one shoulder press out in. Let's flow between the two positions. Lift your chest on the in and then bend the elbows on the out.

Do you have that ball of squeeze? Remember not to grip in the low back. So that's why it's so helpful to do all of our ab series first. So we have that awareness. We're pulling the abs in and up, and we're feeling that wrap around the waistline.

Let's do this one more time before we recreate the magic without the foot bar, and we have a little game of pass behind the back. Now bend the knees, take the ball in one hand, and put your legs together, heels together toes apart, arms come out, palms down, reach back, pull straps, pass the ball, and then reach out. Notice the limited range of motion but keep the same articulation we just left off on the reformer. Good. Pull the abs in, including the low ribs lifting off the mat, wide shoulders past the ball, mindfully from side to side right over that booty. Let's do a few more passes to make sure we get that healthy dose of extension so important for our postural muscles up up up up up On this last one, give the photographers their shot long line. I don't care how high you lift.

I wanna see the long longest reach you have through the crown of your head to your feet, and let's come off to one side. And take a little spinal decompression. You can put the ball down for a moment. I'm just gonna hold on to something here. This is more for me.

Roll yourself up. Let's set up for short box, but we're gonna put the short box in front of the shoulder blocks here and we'll switch to one blue spring and we'll put that foot bar up to its top position. We're gonna do some planks with the short box here. One blue spring, one light spring should be perfect. For this one, less is more.

First, let's begin with the ball in between our inner thighs. Give it a squeeze. Put your hands on the foot bar and bring yourself up. You're on that demi point so that heels are on the box, toes are on the carriage, bring those arms up to the ears one at a time, and let's squeeze the ball twice and lower once. So we go squeeze squeeze down up. Squeeze squeeze down up. Squeeze, squeeze, down up.

I'm feeling this in my thighs, but the mental part is to put the exercise, put the focus in the unassuming places, the upper body, the shoulders are down the back, the arms are reaching long with energy. The inner thighs are squeezing the hell out of that ball. And, of course, I'm working my seat. Every muscle group in the body has a responsibility. Let's do this two more times to prepare for ski season. And then place your hands on the foot bar.

Now take the ball and place it behind the right knee as we did in bridge. You're gonna take that leg over the box and press yourself out bringing the knee to the nose and then pull the carriage in, bring the leg up 90 degrees. So knee to nose, and then over the box parallel position, feeling the burn on that standing leg, do your best to keep your collarbone over the gear bar. Now add a little flexion with the spine. If you haven't already, so you round the spine in and then lengthen the spine on the out.

Let's do this two more times. Before my left leg burns off. Last one. Great. Place your knee on the box, flatten out your standing leg, lift that right leg up and down. Let's flex the foot to connect with more muscles and that back chain of the right leg, give it a squeeze.

You know what I'm talking about, that ball, squeeze up and squeeze down. Use the foot bar for symmetry. So I'm used actively pulling with my right side so I can help keep my shoulders and my hips square. Hold at the top, point the toes, squeeze, squeeze, lift, squeeze, squeeze, lift, feel the smile of the seat, connect to the hamstring. Squeeze, squeeze up two more.

Now this is gonna burn fire hydrant abduction out to the right and in, add the plie of the standing leg continue to lengthen through the back so that you are not rounding, you are not hunched. You are finding the two way stretch from the crown of the head through the sits bones, but also keeping the thighs in perfect alignment. Where is that standing plie? There it is. That's why I was avoiding it.

It's so challenging. Hold that right leg out abduction, squeeze squeeze lift, squeeze squeeze lift, keep the hips symmetrical. If that leg is too high, I know you're probably cheating, and I know all the cheats. Trust me. I was there too. Last one, not today.

Hold it up. Small circles. Two. Three, four. Final circles switch to the back for eight. For six, the size of a dime, four, three, two, have a seat.

Holy moly. I'm so proud of you, and I'm expecting even better on side too. So let's give ourself a moment. Go back into our chair, ball between the inner thighs, get those heels on the box, And let's do this one more time. Squeeze, squeeze, lower. Squeeze, squeeze, lower.

When I said lower, I want you to go lower each time Sceeze, squeeze. Keep the low back lengthened. Squeeze, squeeze. Tap the box. Squeeze, squeeze. Unbelievable. Only when I film, for pause anytime. I'm gonna take the adrenaline.

I'm gonna tap one more time. Bring yourself up. Put the ball behind the left knee. Let's get right to work on side two. Need to nose, leg up.

Need to nose, leg up. Make sure you're tracking in the hip line. And after a few reps, just as we did on side one, we're gonna add the back. So you're going to round the spine and extend slightly as you lift. Round it. And extend it. Keep the shoulders out of the ears.

Feeling that burn already on the right leg. And I know that there's a battle to come, but we can do it. I believe in you. Two more. Take that right knee onto the box. Left knee on the box, right foot is going flat.

We're gonna lift that left leg up and down straight behind us. Let's flex the foot once again. To connect further into the posterior chain, flexing the foot will ignite more muscles here. Give us a give us a better chance to hold on to the ball. Shoulders wide, lifting, and lowering.

We have a few more before we go into that first set of pulses. Anybody else feeling it more on the standing leg? Drop a comment below where you're feeling it. I wanna know all about it. It fuels me.

Let's do one more time, hold it at the top, point the toe, squeeze squeeze, lift, squeeze squeeze, lift. Try not to turn out the leg. I was showing what not to do. You don't want the Pilates police after you. Right? We don't wanna be pulled over.

So we're gonna stay in our lane. Yes. Headlights. Forward. Down. Last one. Awesome. Let's go for our our hydrant out to the left. And again, we're encouraging that standing leg work So bending the knee and lifting out, bend and lift fondue to melt and try not to think about food Dane.

I'm a little bit away from the lunch break. Out and in. Let's do a few more. Just checking in on the sacrum. If you want, you can take one hand behind your back to make sure everything is in alignment.

On this next one, hold it up to the left, squeeze, squeeze, lift. Squeeze, squeeze, do not give up on me. After everything we've been through, the footwork, we were so young for arms and abs. And now the acclimation here Give me two more. One more. Hold it up.

Small circles, the size of a dime, or I don't wanna see it. Smaller. Come on. Reverse it. Who's gonna out circle me? Come on.

The smaller, the more specific, the more muscles you need. Two, one, and lower yourself onto the box. Unbelievable. I'm so proud, and for my gift to you, we're gonna end with our feet in the loops. Woo hoo.

So take that box, put it back where you found it, and decide for springs, I'm gonna go too heavy. You can also go medium light but definitely use two springs. I'm gonna put my foot bar down just so my legs have a little extra freedom. And we're gonna, of course, use the ball for a final inner thigh battle. So headrest up, lay on your back and safely get into this exercise by pulling on the loops.

Let's get these loops over the arches of our feet. I wanna make sure those loops are in the right spot. So right on the middle of the foot for the most feedback. We're gonna put the ball in between the ankles here. And let's begin with a simple leg lift.

I am so looking forward to this. Come to 90 degrees. Give your knees a little softness so that you can feel the full length of your spine, the mat, noticing that lumbar curvature. We're gonna keep that through the exercise. Remember. So squeeze the ball on the way up.

And then simply hold the ball on the way down. So if I'm watching you, I want to see the ball visibly change shape on the way up. Squeeze, squeeze, squeeze, squeeze, squeeze with your adductors, the inner thighs. And then as you lower, simply hold on to it. You're still using the inner thighs, but now you squeeze them up, connect that with your abdominals, and then let's reverse it.

So simply hold at the top and then squeeze, squeeze, squeeze, squeeze, squeeze, squeeze, squeeze, squeeze, squeeze, squeeze, squeeze, squeeze, squeeze, squeeze, squeeze, squeeze, squeeze, squeeze, squeeze, squeeze, squeeze, squeeze, squeeze, squeeze, squeeze, squeeze, squeeze, squeeze, squeeze, now in order to find a better connection. I'm not just thinking about my inner thighs, but also on the way up the seat. And, of course, navel to spine and feeling that the legs really begin at the mid back. Combination, bend the knees on one, extend the legs up on two, lower three, four. Let's find the flow.

The Pilates principle flow. Oh, and the breath. Breathing one more time in this direction, and then let's go the other direction. Bend and push. Lift the legs, 90 degrees, tabletop, lining up the ropes over the shins.

And that's why I love the reformer. It keeps us honest. Always a challenge every rep to be as perfect as possible and then push internal, external rotation through your thighs, internal, external holding on to the ball. How many of you have dropped the ball? Come on, be honest. Extra push ups out there.

Just kidding. Well, the push ups are non negotiable. But it happens to the best of us holding on to this ball in space. Again, all the proprioceptors, all the stabilizing muscles, everything is coming into play. But luckily, our our reformer workout together has prepared us for this moment.

Let's do this one more time, right in that ball and socket joint lubricating the hips. Parallel position for a variation on short spine. Let's make sure that your headrest is flat. Your arms are by your side. Push yourself out.

Option, if you're not feeling the inversion today, you can do your leg lifts. Otherwise, the legs come up overhead, the low back peels off, bend the knees, into your ears, and then roll through your spine to push back out. Let's do this three more times. And really enjoy as we grow taller longer in our spine, find that decompression after all that standing work. This is what the doctor ordered. Two more, float one bone at a time.

Make sure the feet go right over the eyes, stay in place as you bend the knees in, roll through your back, and push out one more time. This one's for you this one's for me, bend, and bone by bone, by bone, push out. Bend the knees, remove the ball, Heels together toes apart. Let's go for the frog. And now we really have something to push into.

Heels together toes apart. Keep pressing those heels together. I feel so much more connected in this exercise than I normally do. I'm gonna be honest, and it's because of all that inner thigh work we did today. Last one, circle the legs down out together up.

It's very tempting to make these circles go just crazy big. But instead, I want you to reach as long as possible into the springs, while keeping your pelvis, your spine, everything in place. Reverse. Beautiful circles scribing into the sky. And we deserve an amazing stretch. So let's put our soles of the feet together, knees out wide, and come into a shavasana corpse pose. Thank you, yoga, for the inspiration. You can hold on to the ropes over your chest and let the hips just widen.

Now here, breathe deeply into your pelvic floor, exhale everything out. Extend only the right leg option to hold the stretch, or you can take your left leg to the outside of the reformer for an internal stretch on the right as you externally rotate the right, internal rotation on the left, breathe. Other side, come back through center, and notice how you might feel. You might feel a little different inside to left inner thigh option for that internal rotation foot comes to the outside. Let's take the deepest breath of the day right here together. I gotta admit that felt pretty good. Bring yourself back up through center. Happy baby.

Rock yourself from side to side. Give yourself that final massage for your low back. Because folks, that is a wrap. Let's put those loops back onto the pegs and finish class on our feet just like we started together, gently rock yourself up. And just one time, let's roll down and up and just take inventory, how we feel a little different than when we started class.

So shoulders down the back, grow as tall as you can. Chin to the chest, drop the head, the neck, the shoulders, peel off the wall, Come all the way down. Shake your head. Yes. If you got a good workout with me. Whoohoo. Shake your head. No.

I don't want it to end. Well, as you roll yourself up, just know. Plenty of workouts available with me on Pilates anytime. I'm so blessed to be here with you. Thanks for working out with me. Hope to work out with you again soon.