Knee Safe Reformer

Hi. I'm Gia, and I've gotten a few requests for a knee safe performer. So we're gonna do the full body class, but just some additional exercises to help your knees if you have any knee issues. And also, we won't be kneeling on your knees at all if you have any knee issues. So we're gonna start with footwork. So I have my, foot bar up.

My headrest is up. And I have two reds and one blue spring on, but you can do whatever springs that you prefer for footwork. So we're gonna lie down. We're gonna start with a prehensile. So you're gonna have your toes on the bar. Your legs can be hip distance apart.

You're gonna wrap your toes around, push your heels under, and just push all the way out. Feel a nice little stretch in your legs. Take a deep inhale here. And exhale. One more time, inhale.

Just set your body up and exhale. Come all the way in. Keep pushing your heels under the bar. You're gonna flow in this position. So pushing out and then coming back in.

So each time your heels are reaching under the bar, you're trying to track your knees in line with your hips and your feet so they're not going in and out and back. Think of using the backs of your legs, to pull you out and in two more. And in last one, then we're gonna come on to your heels, staying kept distance apart. Flex your feet, all five toes pulling back, inhale stretch long, exhale to come back in. Trying to keep the neutral position of your pelvis.

Again, using the backs of your legs to push out and then pull you in. It's really standing on your heels. We have two more last One, and then come all the way in. We're gonna come back to the balls of your feet. This time you're gonna have your heels together toes apart, knees in line with your shoulders, glue those heels together, inhale stretch long, exhale to come back in. Again, keeping that neutral pelvis, trying to rotate around from your hips, keeping the knees in line with the toes, really focusing on your alignment to protect your knees.

Last two. And last one, come all the way in. We're gonna keep your legs turned out. You're just gonna come onto your heels, flex your feet. I'm not turning out as wide as I can. I'm thinking of going just to the corners again, keeping my knees in line with my toes again, rotating from the hips, inhale stretch long, exhale to return.

Again, wrapping around those legs, feeling those inner thighs coming forward. We have four more, all five toes pulling back to your shins. Last two. And last one, come all the way in. We're gonna come back to parallel, hip distance apart on your toes, heels are nice and high. You're gonna push all the way out one time, hold your leg straight, lower both heels under the bar, and then lift all the way up.

Really pull up in your quads so you're not hanging into your knees, especially if you're hyper extended like me. Lower and lift. Lower use the glutes to lift you up. So it's not just your calves. Really working the whole leg.

Last one, and then we're going to running. So lower one heel, bend the other leg and lift back up. And switch. Nice and slow, really articulating through the feet, getting a nice stretch on both feet. Lower and lift.

And just find your breath, whatever feels good to you. And we're gonna flow with the running a little bit more. So we're gonna switch and switch. Again, making sure your pelvis is stable, knees are facing straight up to the ceiling. You're not rocking or doing a little hula. Let's do two more sets.

And then both heels up, bend your legs come all the way in, and let's sit up, we'll change your springs. So I'm taking off two springs. So I have two reds, Again, do what feels good to you. I'm gonna do a single leg exercise. So lying back down.

You're gonna come onto one heel. You want it right onto your sits bone, flex that foot, and then the other leg's gonna come into tabletop. We're gonna push halfway out. And then from here, just little pulses here. So it's gonna work the vastus medialis, the muscle around the inner quad.

It's really good for your knees. If you have any knee pain, just kinda strengthen the muscles around your knees. Let's do four three, two, one, switch all the way out, find that length, and then come all the way in. Other leg. So you're gonna come onto that heel, flex that foot as hard as you can. The free leg is gonna be in tabletop, push halfway out.

And from here, just one inch in, one inch out little pulses. Trying to make sure that knee is facing up again. So it's not wobbling back and forth, really controlling that movement, trying to engage that inner quad. Four three, two, one, push all the way out, and then come all the way in. Scoot down away from your shoulder rest.

We're gonna give your legs a little break. Grab onto your straps, You're gonna bring your legs up to tabletop. Pull your hands so they're right over your shoulders and plug your shoulders down. We're gonna push your arms down, curl your head up, stretch your legs out, and we'll go straight into the 100. So you'll inhale two, three, four, five, exhale two, three, four, five, inhale.

And exhale. Arms are pumping strong, inhale, squeeze the legs together, exhale, inhale, and exhale. This is number five. Try to lower the legs a little bit. Pull into those abdominals. And exhale. Inhale. And exhale. We have two more and exhale.

Last at inhale. And exhale. Hold curl up a little higher. And then pull oil the way back in. Bend your arms so your elbows are right by your side. We're gonna go into coordination.

We'll keep your head up the whole time, but if your neck bothers you, you can put it down in between. Inhale here, exhale stretch your arms and legs out, curl your head up, open close your legs, pull your knees in, elbows bend, stretching out, open, close, knees pull in, arms bend. Keeping the chest lifted up, pulled deeper, and in. Three more. Reach those arms and legs long.

Pull it in. Two. And then pull the knees. Arms bend last one. Reach open close. And then come back in. Lower your head down.

Hang up your straps, and we're gonna lie on one side. So your headrest can be up or down, whatever feels good to you. I like mine up, and then I just like to hold on to the little, pole here or post. You're gonna have one foot on the foot bar, parallel. You want your whole foot down, or especially your heel.

Your bottom leg can just be bent with your, leg resting on the carriage. From here, you're just gonna push all the way out, and then come all the way in. As you're moving, make sure your hips and shoulders are stacked, and try to have a little space underneath your waist so that your waist is long. Think of using that glute again. So the glute's pushing you out, back of the legs pulling you in.

And then back in two more. Last one, come halfway in. Little pulses here. For eight. Seven, six.

Really control that movement. Start to feel that glute. Burning out a little bit. Last two, and then push all the way out. And then come all the way in.

Stay on this side. You're just gonna turn your leg out so your knee's facing up to the ceiling. Think of turning out from your hips, so it's not your foot or your knee turning out, it's that whole leg and your foot stays in line with your knee. Flex your foot and then you'll push all the way out and in. So as your leg is turned out, again, make sure your hips and shoulders are stacked. You're not rolling back toward that knee.

Or in the direction of the knee. Let's do four more. Again, using that glute to push you out three and two. Last one. Halfway in again. Little pulses here for eight. Seven flexure foot a little bit more.

Just keep checking to make sure it's in line with your toes. Last one push all the way out. And then come all the way in, and we'll switch to the other side. Again, you're lying down hips and shoulders are stacked. Bottom leg is just bent with your leg resting on the carriage, your top foot. The whole foot is on the care on the foot bar.

And then from here, you'll push all the way up and then come all the way in. So it needs facing forward. You're not letting it turn up or down. And then just keep checking, make sure your waist is long. Do you have a little space underneath you?

Your abdominals are engaged. So we're really working that full body. Last one halfway in, little pulses here for eight seven Make sure it's not a bounce. You're controlling that movement. Four, three, two, one, push all the way out. And then come all the way in, staying that heel.

Just turn your leg out from your hip, knees in line with your toes. From here, push all the way out, and then come back in. Flex that foot as much as you can, really work through that leg, find the length, and then control it in. Four more. Three.

Two. Last one. And then halfway in, little pulses for eight. Seven. Six, five, four, flex a little harder, two, one, push all the way out, and then come all the way in. Line your back.

We'll stretch out your hips before we move on. So you're gonna cross one foot over your opposite knee, and you can turn that leg out to the side. Or if you wanna deepen it, you can pull your leg into your chest for a figure four. And then release switch sides. So cross your foot over, turn your leg out, or you can pull that leg into your chest.

And then release, and then come on up. We're gonna grab your box. Do you wanna use the long box? Your foot bar is gonna stay up because we're gonna push on it. So we're gonna keep the same springs, but if you wanna lighten it, you can, we're gonna do some arm presses.

So lie down. You want your chest just off the box. Hands are gonna be right in front of your shoulders, and then make sure your thumbs are on the same side. You're not grabbing onto the bar. Lakes are long. Pull your abdominals in and just push all the way out. And then come all the way in, whistling, and then push out, and then back in, pressing out.

And and so I'm not pushing my elbows straight down. I'm kinda letting them go where they do. I'm not trying to force them in any direction. Reach and in two more. Last one.

Now from here, I'm gonna take off one spring. So I have one red spring left. I'm gonna keep one hand on the foot bar right where it is. The other hand's gonna go behind my back. Trying to keep my shoulders square.

I'm gonna push with one hand, and then back in pushing out. And then back in. Trying to keep my shoulder away from the ears. Again, keeping my shoulder square, especially as I get tired, I'm trying not to rotate. One more.

And then switch to their hand. Again, right in front of your shoulder, other hand behind your back. Reach those legs long, pushing out, and in. Obviously, one hand is gonna be easier than the other. Because we all have one dominant side.

Try to stay long on both sides of your waist. Two more. Last one. Both hands on the foot bar again right in front of your shoulders, push all the way out one time. From here, you're gonna keep your arms straight, lift your chest up, find a nice swan, and then lower everything down. And then lift up.

And lower. I'll try not to lift my legs. I'm just thinking of reaching them along and lower. Two more. Just a little extension we get our spine moving in all directions. Two more. And lower last one. And then pull yourself all the way in.

And then we're gonna sit up on the box. So you're gonna sit on the side. You can sit about in the middle of your box. You might need to adjust as you move, and then gonna keep my red spring on, but you can change it to a lighter spring if you need to. We're gonna have the front strap in your closer hand to the straps, and then you're just gonna interlace your fingers with your hands just in front of your chest. I have my feet on the carriage.

Trying to have them on the frame because you'll get stuck. Just gonna twist toward the footbar and then come back to center. Twist toward the footbar and center. So I'm trying not to lean, and I'm trying to keep both sit bones anchored down. Think of using your abdominals or your obliques to rotate and center, keeping your spine growing tall. Two more. Rotate.

And center last one. Now we're gonna keep the strap on that same hand. Just gonna bring it onto your elbow, hands behind your head. You can interlace your fingers here again. You're gonna lift up and over toward the foot bar.

And then back to center. So when I side bend up and over, and this time I'm trying not to rotate at all. I'm trying to keep my elbows up and down. And lower and over back up and keeping both stitch bones on the box. Two more.

Last one, and then come all the way up, hang up that strap and we'll do the other side. So again, you're gonna take this front strap and just gonna interlace your fingers, have your hands in front of your sternum. Here, you're just gonna rotate toward the foot bar and then back to center. Make sure you're not using your arms to rotate zero obliques, lifting up to rotate, finding a nice long spine. Four more. And center, three.

And two. Last one. Then bring that strap onto your elbow. Hands behind your head, you're gonna interlace your fingers here. You're gonna lift up and over to bend toward the foot bar and then back up to center. Up and over.

And reach. Think of the elbow going up and down. So there's no rotation. Four more pulling into your abdominals each time. Three and two. Trying to keep both its bones down.

Last one. I take this off of your elbow. I wanna bring my headrest down. And then I'm gonna turn to have my feet on the headrests. Grab onto the ropes or you can hold on to the straps if you want a little less weight. Scoot all the way forward and do some rollbacks.

So arms are gonna stay straight. Plant your feet into the headrest. You're gonna lift up, and then curl your tailbone under as you roll down just to your shoulder blades. And then take deep inhale, exhale roll you back up. Length in your spine at the top.

And then you're gonna roll down just your shoulder blades and then roll up, think of squeezing your legs together pushing down into the headrest. Lifting your spine at the top, two more like this, and do a little series. And then push down and the feet, roll up, squeeze your legs together, lengthen your spine. Last one, trying to keep the arms as straight as you can. So you're not using your arms. You can let the spring help you, but think of using your abdominals to pull you up.

So you can continue like this, or you can add on. So you're gonna roll down to your shoulder blades and hold. From here, you're gonna lift one leg up to tabletop and then lower it back down. Other leg lifts up and lower. Try not to rock between the two sides.

Trying to stay centered as I can. Two more each side. Pulling into your abdominals to lift. Last set up and down. Both feet stay down.

Take a deep inhale, exhale roll up one bone at a time. Lift up. Pull your waist back as you roll down. I'm gonna continue where you were or you can add on. From here, you're gonna lift both legs up and then lower them back down. And both legs lift up.

And you don't have to touch the headrest to score where you can. Two more up and lower last one. Both feet down all the way and then roll all the way up. One more set. You're gonna roll back. From here, you're gonna bring both legs up.

You're gonna roll up into a teaser, stretch your legs out, or you can keep them bent. From here, you're gonna pull your knees into your chest, come into a little ball position. Like you're rolling like a ball. So you're gonna roll up to a teaser, stretch your legs out. Lift your chest and then pull into your ball shape.

Two more. Stretch out. Roll up. Pull your waist back as you come into your ball shape. Really control that transition. Last one. Reach squeeze legs together and then roll down. One at a time, lower your feet down. Both legs down. Take a deep inhale.

Exhale roll all the way up, lengthen your spine, and then you can hang up your straps. So we're gonna take your box off. And then we're gonna go into some planks. So I'm gonna keep my same spring. I'm gonna lower my foot bar down though.

And then we're gonna have our feet on the care on the platform and their hands on the shoulder rest. So find a long plank position. You want the balls of your feet on the platform. Find that nice long plank. From here, it's gonna push the arms out in front of you and then pull them back in.

Arms push out. And then pull it back in. Squeeze your legs together. Squeeze your glutes. Pull into your abdominals.

Push out. And in four more. And three. Two. Last one. And then step off for a second, shake out your wrist. Shake them out. We're gonna do one more plank.

So find your plank again. You're gonna come onto the balls of feet right on the platform. Leggs can be hip distance apart or together. From here, you're just gonna pike your hips up. And then push back out to your plank, pack your hips up into a little v, and then push out to your plank, like up, and then push out two more.

And then push out last one and push out and then bring one foot onto the floor, the other foot onto the floor, and then we'll come all the way up. Shake out your wrists. We'll bring your foot bar back up. We're gonna go into some scooter. So we're staying on the same spring.

I like to do minimal spring changes. You're gonna have one foot right against the shoulder rest. The other leg is just in the middle of the carriage on the floor. Try to keep your knee off the carriage and then keep a nice long spine. Hips and shoulders are square. You're just gonna push it leg all the way back and then pull it in.

Then you're using your glutes to push back and in. Push out. And and try not to go with your leg. You're staying over that standing leg. Let's do four more like this.

And three. Two. Push it in through that heel. Last one. Now from here, you're gonna lift your hands off.

You're gonna have your hands on your hips, bend your standing leg just slightly. Still keeping your hips square. You're gonna push it leg out. And and your leg might not get all the way straight, and that's okay. Just go where you can.

Focus more on balancing on that standing leg and keeping that knee facing forward. Four more. And three, two, Last one. Now from here, we're gonna stay with your hands on your hips. Just gonna lift that heel up on that standing leg. If you wanna bring it back down, you can, or if you need one hand on the foot bar, you can do that as well. From here, push out. And it. Let's focus on balance.

Find something stable to look at so that way you can maintain your balance while that heel is up. Four more. And three. Two. Last one. Now from here, we're gonna bring your hands onto the footbar. Just hop your front leg forward.

And then we'll keep your leg straight as we go into a little lunge to reach out your hip flexors. Normally, when we do each lunge, your knee is down, but for this class, we're just gonna keep it up. So you have a nice long line. Trying to square off your hips as much as you can. Come all the way in, and then we'll walk over to the other side.

So hands on the foot bar to start. One foot's against the shoulder rest that knee is up. The standing leg is right in the middle of the carriage. From here, you're gonna push it leg all the way back and in. Trying to keep a long neutral spine and the hips and shoulders square. And in.

Again, try not to go with your leg. You're staying over that standing leg. So it'll come be important when we take our hands off. One more. Now from here, bend your standing leg just slightly hands on your hips, keeping that long is just fine.

You're in a slight incline forward from here, push back and in. This is my more challenging side. We all have one. Four, or if you need to lighten the spring to do that, you can. Think of using the back of the leg, having that whole foot planted on the floor.

Last one. Now from here, lift that heel up. You want as high as you can. And then from there, you push out. And in again, the leg pushing might get a little smaller.

That's okay. Just try to find the movement where you can. Saying between your big toe and your second toe, try not to roll out toward that baby toe, especially. Last two, and last one. Bring that heel down, hands on the foot bar, hop that standing leg forward, and then keep that back leg straight as you push back into your lunge.

Shoulders down. Trying to find a nice long spine, and then come all the way in and bring your foot off. But just stand right in front of your former. Just bring your shoulders up as you inhale and exhale as you roll them back down. And just take one more deep inhale.

And exhale. Catch your breath. And that's it for today. I hope you enjoyed that class, and I'll see you next time.