Strong Mat with Ball

The ball provides feedback, support, and challenge. So today, we work smarter, not just harder. Go ahead, lay on your back for your shoulder bridge, let's put that ball between our inner thighs because we are gonna squeeze it. Squeeze it on the way up and simply hold it on the way down. Arms are planted feet are parallel, tuck the tailbone roll up through your spine, sending those thighs forward, squeeze the ball, and then simply hold the ball on the way down. So, yes, we continue to hold it, but give it an extra squeeze as you tuck your tailbone, roll up one vertebra at a time, weight into the back shoulders, and then simply hold the ball on the way down.

So again, working smarter, inner thighs, abs, tuck the tailbone, roll up through your back, and then simply hold it on the way down. Now let's reverse that. So the ball stays a ball on the way up, tuck the tailbone roll up, and then squeeze squeeze squeeze the ball as you roll yourself back down. Two more times, I want to visibly see the shape of the ball change on the way down. That ball becomes an egg. I don't know. Try to pop the ball.

The ball should fear your inner thighs, not the other way around. Nice little warm up for the back to mobilize but now we go into the Pilates 100. Let's prep. We're gonna put the ball between the ankles, bring the arms up to the sky, and do a few chest lifts, sweep the arms forward as if you have those handles from the reformer, curl up off the shoulders and lower yourself down. If this feels good, feel free to add the legs, reaching long, bending, and then lower yourself down. Let's flow a few more times before we start the pumps.

And lower, squeeze the ball. Use your breath. On this next one, really imagine you have those handles in the springs below you curl up, squeeze the ball, inner thighs ignited, start pumping those arms down, down, down, inhale deep breath in, exhale everything out. Pump pump pump pump pump pump pump. Exhale everything out. Continue to reach into those springs as you pump those arms with vigor, and also make sure you're breathing.

I'm gonna take a deep breath with you there. Three more cycles of breath, reach into the springs a little bit deeper, pull the abs in under the ribs, squeeze the ball if you can, two more breaths in, exhale everything out. And on this last one, girl, deep, reach, reach, reach to the front of the mat, bend the knees, lower yourself down and gently rock yourself up to a seat. Let's do some roll ups here with the ball in between our ankles, squeeze the heck out of the ball, and for extra precision, I want you to line up your feet with the front of the mat. Because when we do the roll up, squeeze the ball, we want to make sure our legs stay in place, drive those heels down, pull your abs in. If sitting upright is a little challenging today, just soften the knees.

No problem. Round it back. Keep the ball where it is. Look at the ball. Keep it there. And then hollow body, stretch up and over.

Drop your head, but keep your arms up. Pull your abs in. Round it back, and then round it up and over. See if you can go all the way down for your roll up, feel free to stop halfway. Keep the legs where they are.

We have the ball today. And the ball does not lie. Ball, please stay still. Everybody's watching. Roll down one bone at a time.

When you come back up, arms up, head up, peel off the mat, bone by bone, and then Up and over for your stretch. I love having the ball here because it gives my inner thighs an extra reason to work, but also, like we keep mentioning, we can see if the ball moves. Keep the heels down. Stay connected from head to toe. One more time, peeling up, pull your abs in, up and over, and bring it up. Wow.

I feel better already. Let's put the ball behind the shoulder blades at the bra line or so I hear. I've never worn a bra. Okay. That's a lie. Cradle the head.

Let's go for our chest lift. Elbows point forward, extend over the ball and exhale lift. Now we're talking. One of my favorite ways to use the ball is to get this glorious, thoracic extension. Let's make sure we're doing it right.

Plant those feet. Pelvis should be anchored, navel to spine, extend up and over like a beautiful rainbow. And then at enable to spine, lift your chest, curl inward. Let's do this two more times just because it just feels so right, exhale lift. But also that ball is wanting to move under me so it requires more concentration and more proprioceptive muscles, the stabilizers, to keep me in place, and that has made all the difference. Lift your left leg and lift your right leg.

Lift your left leg and hold it little pulse, chest lifts to the knee, knee lifts to the chest, little pulses in, feel the burn and your six pack muscles here forward and up forward and up. Last two. Didn't take many to feel the burn there. Let's try this side. Chest lifts, chest lowers, chest lifts, chest lowers, up, and up, last four, last three.

Last two, exhale one. Amazing. Hold those thighs. I'm so sad to have to come up already, but good news, we're gonna do a leg series with our sacrum underneath the ball. So to perform a rollback, as we did before, and now doing a bridge, you're gonna find that sweet spot where the ball is supporting your sacrum at the base of your spine right above your butt.

So We don't want the cereal bowl to spill. So let's see what happens if we spill it, and let's find the place right in the middle. Weight is in the shoulders and the back ribs. Back is supported by the ball, which is definitely unstable, time to concentrate, breathe. One leg up.

The other leg up. Table top the legs, 90 degrees. Breathe. Tap one foot to the floor. Don't move anything else in your body, except for that breath flow.

Inhale down, exhale lift, inhale down, exhale lift. In these moments of silence, you can really see how a simple exercise as a leg lift is so complicated for the body. How many different working parts have to work together here to make this happen? One leg down at a time. On this next one, let's go for some frogs heels together toes apart, make sure the ankles are higher than the knees, and then push out to the high diagonal.

So we're challenging our center of gravity with this two way stretch, flex the feet on the way in, point the toes as you stretch and reach out. Again, I don't want you to worry about how low the legs go. As always, in Pilates, we are focused on the length of the exercises. And let's be honest. That's why Pilates are so glorious.

We get to incorporate a stretch in everything we do. Two more of the frogs, how is the ball doing at home? Do you feel like you're under control? Bring the legs up. We're gonna take a little walk.

So I want the arches long and the toes curled back as if you're on footwork on the reformer. Let's move one foot at a time. I feel like I'm in the Barbie movie here. Let's bring it up. One foot at a time.

So easy to lose control and just use momentum back and forth. Let's speed it up. We go down. Two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, and up. Two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, one foot at a time, down, down, down, down, one foot at a time, up, up, up. I love using the ball here because I'm forced to work the correct muscles. If I want to stay on top of the ball, the ball will reveal if I'm using my back when I'm more doing the leg series. So I'm going to keep my pelvis neutral on top as I take one more walk down.

Yes. My little Barbie doll legs are coming to circle, turn out the legs down circle around and up. So tempting to go for spectacular CERC delay circles, but that's not what this class is about today. It's about the control. Inhale, exhale full circle up.

The two ways stretch, imagining those legs begin at the torso, and that the abs control all of the movement, reverse your circles, out, circle front, zip up the midline. Deep breathe. One full cycle of breath. We'll oxygen oxygenate the blood. And help facilitate all of these movements. So we get that strong circulation, reversed blood flow, in this case, one more time, and the best part, putting our feet down lifting up our back and seeing how we feel different, more connected, more aware as we roll down the spine.

And now back to work, crisscross, extra challenge today to hold the ball table top between your elbows, and then crisscross to one side. And then switch to the other side. Now I love the crisscross here because it forces us to stay off of our shoulders the entire time. Oftentimes, the crisscross gets a little violent. I've seen some people at the gym throwing themselves from side to side, and I wanted to call them out.

But that is their battle. Our battle here is to do the crisscross off the shoulders twisting out of the ribs with control and then transfer this to our mat work without the ball. One more time on each side. Okay. This is where it's gonna get very difficult. Left elbow to right knee, hold it, pulse it up. Up.

Option to put that foot down. Squeeze. Squeeze. Squeeze. I'm keeping it up. Eight. For six, let's go four, three, two foot down. Take the ball in your left hand. Put it over your right shin.

Continue to cradle the head. Let's roll that ball up and down. I often perform this exercise without the ball, and it becomes just an up down pulse. But with the ball, this is an articulation, and this is gonna help me connect deeper into the muscles by being more specific with the movement up up up down down down two more. And let's switch to the other side Let's do a few more crisscrosses just because I love you. Let's go side to side.

Alright. I've gotta go to the other side because we've got 16 of these little pulses here, lift and twist, lift and twist. Squeeze the ball with the knee and the elbow up and twist. We go for eight, seven, six, five, final countdown. Two, one. Oh my goodness. I'm putting my foot down for these roll ups. Take your hand behind your head just as you were, little up, little down, little up, little down.

So nice to have this rolling ball help me articulate and stay connected through this small movement. Up and reach. Up and reach last few here before we go into our side series. Coming up next, but stay in the moment. Last one.

Awesome job. Let's lie on our right side and put the ball underneath our left knee. Lying fetal position, make sure your upper body is intact by having your elbow at the back of your mat, your back side, your tailbone, and then 90 degrees in the legs. Hand on top to help feel supported and active through your stabilizing side, lift your leg one time, wrap it behind you, lift it, and lower. So it's a lift. It's a wrap. It's a lift and a lower abduction.

Little extension to the back. Lift and lower. Squeezing the ball will give the hamstrings a little extra something something, and that's what the ball is about. Making sure more muscles are invited to the party. More stabilizers are forced to join and we get the most out of our time together. One more time, hold it to the back.

Let's make little circles about the size of the ball. We are just obsessed with this ball today. We're holding on to it, and we're circling the other way, making ball sized circles, and remove the ball Let's come into a kneeling side leg. So option to stay on the mat, but if you can, foot, knee, hand, in that one straight line, look up at the sky, and lower the leg, lift the leg, lower the arm. Down and up.

Now, continue to look up at the sky so you can keep that line of your upper body, exhale, inhale, use your breath. Reach and lower. And again, if it's too much, come down to the hip because coming up, we are going for our pretzel wrap. Now take that ball again, underneath the left knee as we were, wrap that leg behind you, that same up and back motion, but now in pretzel, up and back, lift up and back. Awesome job. This is even more difficult than it looks.

So smile, make it look easy, put the work into the right places, relax the face, work the glutes specifically. One up, one back, one more time, eight small circles, so small. I can't even see them. Less is more. More is less. Come on.

Reverse those circles for four, three, two, and remove the ball. And let's go decide number two. I'm gonna be feeling this tomorrow, and I hope you are too. Hope you're thinking about our work today, even after this. Is over. Cradle the head.

Make sure your arm, your backside, tendency is that the tailbone starts to tuck under. So we're gonna do the opposite. We're gonna reach our sits bones behind us. Fetal position with the legs, hand comes on top. Let's do that same combo.

Just a little lift and a little down. One up, one back, one up, one down. We're squeezing onto the ball to make sure the hamstring stays connected through the series. We are lifting abduction. We're squeezing back and down. So important to work and isolate the abductors because that's what makes everything else possible, walking, running, frolicking, whatever you got planned today.

For me, it's a lot of frolicking. Good. Let's do a few more before we try those circles to the back. Really focus on that, with the bottom left waistline here. Make sure if I can see you at home. I see a little mouse hole under there.

Make sure that stabilizing side is ignited. On this last one, hold it up, wrap it back, and make those small circles. Well, these are a little bit bigger. Let's make those circles the size of the ball. I can make them a little bit bigger, reverse it.

This right side feels a little tighter for me because I'm being very diligent keeping my hips stacked being honest about the exercise, and where I'm at today, remove that ball. Let's come on to the knees, that kneeling side leg, hand, knee foot, one straight line. Look up to the sky. And lift the leg. Lower the arm.

Lift the leg. Lower the arm. Awesome. That kneeling side leg. Again, option to come down. If you're here, really helps me feel my obliques, my upper body, and a true isolation, I can't lift my leg any higher if I'm in that if I'm in that frontal plane of motion, So notice if you start to fold at the hips and then fix it. One more time, take that ball behind the knee for that pretzel lift and wrap combination, flex the foot Let's do one lift, one wrap, one lift.

Holy moly. One lift. I'm just gonna keep it real with you right now. This burns. And that means I'm doing something right because I feel it right in my abductor. Conditioning it, and strengthening here two more. Let's lift that leg and make those small, precise circles the size of a dime.

I don't wanna see them any bigger. When I say small, you ask how small. The size of a dime so small, I can barely see it. And then let's come down. Unbelievable work.

We need to reward ourself with another set of bridging. But this time, we're gonna put both feet on top of the ball. Now talk about an unstable surface Both feet on top of the ball, arms down by our sides. Keep the ball still as we've been aiming to do so much today in class. Tuck the tailbone, roll up.

And notice right away how this bridge feels different than the beginning of our class. I'm feeling my hamstrings, needless to say, as you can probably see me shake tuck, scoop, try to keep the integrity of the bridge by rolling, bone by bone, legs always together, what my mother taught me. Up up up, roll through the ribs down, down, down, down, down, on this next one, we are going to do a pelvic tilt. So hold up at the top, tuck the tailbone, tuck your tailbone. Tuck your tailbone.

Tuck. So you're not lifting your hips. You're tucking your tailbone underneath you by squeezing your sits bones together. See if you can keep the hamstrings burning by maintaining position and not dropping the hips. Let's go for eight. Breathe, tuck.

Squeeze. Come on. Give me more here. Give me give me more. More. I'm a little greedy.

I admit. Hold it here. Press the legs out and in. If you're doing this off of the ball, you can tap one foot at a time. If you feel okay, I want you to go for more range of motion, a little out, little in, but only as much as you can control with that pelvis, staying staying a little tucked. Keep that squeeze.

Let's do four more. No hands. I might be showing off here. We'll see if I can stay up for one more. Put those hands down if they're up, roll down through your spine, grow taller, grow longer.

Finally, we get to do the roll over. I've been looking forward to this moment all morning. The roll over. Put the ball between your feet. Give it a squeeze. Lakes come up.

And if you're feeling okay for the inversions, the legs are gonna lower. The legs are going to lift. The weight of the legs are going to peel my back off the mat. Flex the feet, squeeze the ball, and then keep the legs close to you as you roll down bone by bone by bone. If the rollover isn't working. You can continue with the leg lifts. If you feel okay.

Inversion, up and over, flex the feet. Keep the thighs close to you. Head neck and shoulders. Stay down. And roll down the back. Two more times, the ultimate spinal decompression, grow even taller Maybe one day I will be five eleven, like what my acting resume says.

Yes. Opp and over. Okay. I'm not the only one that has lied about my height. Roll down, but Pilates, we are honest, and we have to work hard to lengthen the body. Reach down.

Bend the knees. And let's remove the ball. Amazing job. Human pretzel. Pull the right knee into your chest.

First, circle the ankle a few times in each direction. Imagine that somebody's pulling that left leg away from you. Now with control abs in, take that leg across the body and look over the opposite shoulder and breathe. Option to bend the left knee and grab the left ankle with the right hand to complete the twist. We have a little bit of everything in this stretch, and that's why we're gonna hold it for another moment.

Deep breathe in. Let it all go. Other side, release the leg, come back through center, and switch. Pull the left knee into the chest, circle the ankle a few times in each direction. Take that left leg across the body, bone by bone.

Important not to over twist, be honest about where we are in this moment. What feels best to you? Trust your instincts. Bend that right knee, feel free to grab the ankle, and just be. Take a scan of the body from head to toe, check-in without judgment.

And release the leg, bring yourself back through center, and then gently rock yourself up. Let's finish seated towards one another. Souls of the feet together, knees out wide in a butterfly, a little booty massage, circle your body around and up, and then try the other direction. Across your ankles, take a side body stretch, up through center one more time to the other side. And class, I'm so proud of you for battling today with the ball all of the stability, all of the coordination in the world.

We did it together. I hope to do this workout again with you soon. Have a wonderful day, and, see you next time on Pilates anytime.