Stability with Theraband

Hi. I'm Delia, and today we'll be doing a reformer class and using a band as a prop. We're gonna start on the reformer lying down, and I'm gonna have one red spring on, which is a full spring resistance. That's my choice and it's probably not going to change for most of the workouts. So just so you know, we do have a section where all the springs will go on. But for the most part, Red Springs is gonna be your my thing. Okay? So I'm gonna lie all the way down.

On my back, head between the shoulder blocks, and we'll start off with because a quick little warm up with the arms since we'll be using the band. Just as a little review of the band, the band could be not everyone's best friend that can be a little annoying and sticky and grabby. Sometimes can be really crampy with the fingers. So if you start to really cramp in the hands because you're over gripping or don't quite have the band right or cutting off your circulation, you need to change the grip of the band. Or just drop it all together and go through the motions with the arms.

So I'm gonna have the arms up towards the ceiling. My band has a little bit of slacks that I don't totally hurt the shoulders here in the beginning. I'm gonna pull the arms apart and bring the band down towards my chest as I find length, almost like a little wing here with my arms, and then I'm gonna bring my arms back up to the ceiling and find that slack. So I found the first one. It's just about the right resistance.

I'm going to keep going. Arms right above the chest to start, they're gonna open up to the side. You can take a big deep inhale as you feel the shoulder blades glide into the ribs or into the center of the ribs in the back and up against the carriage and then the arms up. Let's do two more. Inhale as the arms come to the side, and exhale as the arms come back.

Last one, and I want you to hold it out to that t position, see if you can keep the arm fixed at the shoulder and just a few bends of the elbows. Inhale and exhale. As you could see, I'm holding the band between my thumb and my forefinger. That's the most comfortable spot for me. Last one, and then the arms will come back up towards the ceiling.

My heels are on the bar to start. My arms are gonna reach up towards the ceiling as my head rises, I'm gonna flex my spine and bring the band across my thighs to give myself a little bit of resistance and flexion and then roll myself right back down to the mat warming up the torso. Inhale as I nod the chin, exhale as I press up against my thighs, bringing the arms down towards the hips almost as though you're about to go into the 102 more, nodding the chin, turning those wheels, putting that little tension on there, waking up those inner core muscles, and then just one more as my arms come down onto the thighs, exhale breath. And then release back. So let's place the balls of the feet on here and just keep the arms nice and steady.

You'll notice there isn't a lot of resistance. There's one red. Feel free to add if you'd like. I'm gonna press the legs back and forth. And when I press the legs back and forth, because I don't have a lot of resistance on the reformer, it's gonna be mainly focused on torso stability and honestly comfort of my shoulders because it'd be coming into upper body flexion.

And if I have too much resistance, then I'm going to rub my shoulders up against those blocks, or when I come down back onto the mat, my shoulders might have slid back a bit, and then I'll hit the shoulder blocks, which might hinder the flow of the exercise. So now with my arms straight up towards the ceiling, as I press the carriage back, I'll lift my head and shoulders up, bring the band towards my thighs, staring at my toes, and then I'll slowly roll back down to the mat. Now I've got a little bit more tension less slack on my band as I press it up against my thighs, hands come down to about hip height right above the carriage. Let's do four more exhale breath. Inhale, and lower. And exhale to flex, and inhale the heel to lower will do two more, flexing up, scooping through those abs.

Last one, And then we're gonna revisit this position in just a moment. So lying all the way down, I'll extend both my legs and bring my band around the sole of my right foot. And this is where it can become a little tricky, so you wanna have the band a flat across the ball of the foot. You're welcome to cross the band depending on the lengths that feels like it's a little bit more secure. My left heel will drop down under the bar, and we're gonna go into a little windshield wiper with the leg. So you could do this without a band, but the band does provide a nice bit of support, and it feels as though the leg really meets that hip socket there. So you can really feel the support of the femur on the hip.

We'll go right into a leg circle. So we'll start with across the body first down towards the bar, open up to the side, and then back up towards the ceiling. Inhale breath, exhale. The goal is to bring that leg perpendicular to the hip, but if you're very flexible, do what feels good to you today. We'll do one more, and then reverse that. So inhale to the right scooping through.

I always like to think that my leg comes out of the water, then pulls resistance into the water, two more. Last one, and then just hold that stretch. We'll go right into some more abs so drop those elbows down into the carriage with the elbows at 90 degrees. Lift the head and shoulders up and bend the knee in towards the chest. You'll bend the leg that's on the bar and then extend the band leg over the bar.

Inhale breath, exhale breath. I have the band on the outside of both legs as I'm pressing out, but be careful not to cause too much tension into the shoulders as you're going through this exercise. This is your single leg stretch. The next time you go over the bar, I want you to hold, keep the leg long, and then bring that leg up to the ceiling, scissor, leg over the bar. And as you can see, I'm actually guiding that leg.

So that I also get a stretch with that work in my abs. Three more. Two. Last one. And rest all the way down. We're gonna switch legs and the easiest way to do it is to open up the band.

Just put the left foot into the band, bring the other foot to the bar, and then cross. And then we'll do that again. So you'll lift your head and shoulders up and oh, sorry. We're going back. Sorry. We're gonna extend the leg that's on the bar, and then we're gonna go into your windshield wipers.

Apparently, I'm a little excited to do my apps, but we're gonna stretch that hip first, side to side. And one more getting that nice range of motion in that hip, and then going into your circles across the midline of your body, and then around and up. Inhale breath, exhale and circle. We're doing six in one direction and six in the other. And again, you'll see I'm guiding my leg with my arms so that I don't strain my fingertips.

We're gonna go to the other side, inhale. Giving myself a little give there. One. Inhale, exhale two. We'll go four more. On three.

Keeping that right hip nice and stable, which is great to have that foot onto the Buckmaster one and return. Now you'll bring that knee into chest as you lift your head and shoulders up, and I am planner flexed in the bar foot. So I've got a nice high toe, and I'm gonna reach over and back. And over. And with both legs essentially being supported, I could really focus on upper body flexion. Two more.

Last one, Now the leg goes over the bar stays long, and then that supported scissor leg. Nice stretch. And take your time on these to really feel the hamstring stretch on the left side. Two more Last one and return. This time I want both feet in, so I'm gonna rest my head, put both feet on And then I'll cross again so they stay there and then I'll bring both feet now to the bar.

So you should have the band between the foot and the foot bar. Make sure that you feel stable here. I'm gonna actually, undo the band because of the length of the bands so that it doesn't rub the top of my leg and is more on the outside. I'm gonna hold it this way. Now as I extend my legs, I'm gonna hold that position, lift my head and shoulders up, and I'm gonna do the 100 from here. So you're gonna start to pump your arms down inhaling through the nose and exhaling through the mouth.

Inhale two four five and exhale two three four five. The band is assisting that flexion up. So the tighter I hold onto the band, the more support it's going to give my upper body inhaling through the nose, exhaling through the mouth. We're halfway there. Take a deep inhale two.

Four five, exhale two three four five, inhale two. Four five, exhale two three four five inhale. Exhale. Let's do two more sets. Inhale. Last set. Inhale two, three, four, five, exhale two, three, four, and five, and bend, and release. We're gonna continue on with the band against the feet and against the bar. So keep the feet where they are.

I want you to lift your head and shoulders up on the next one. Flex extend the legs and drop the heels down for a stretch, and we're just gonna hold this position for six bicep curls. I've got a hammer curl positioned with my hands, thumbs pointing towards me. Two more. Last one, and then return the carriage. And that concludes the footwork part of the workouts.

We're gonna take the band off of the feet. And then sit all the way back up. We're to go into reverse. So I'm gonna start kneeling facing backwards and go into some upper body work and glute work. So the band is now gonna be across The back end of the blocks, and you wanna make them even. Again, it's a matter of how long your band is and the type of resistance you have.

Blue happens to be my favorite. It's just enough of resistance for me. So the hands are gonna be to the outside of the block because you wanna be able to hold the band in place. And over on the other side, we'll be moving with one arm or the other. Let's start with the hands down and start with a few cat cows. We're gonna flex through the spine. And this straighten out the back and extend through the spine, and again, and exhale to flex, and inhale.

Last one, finding some nice spinal articulations setting the shoulders up for success. And then into extension. Flatten out the back and make sure that your back and your abs feel like they're working as a team. So you wanna think of your back as a ceiling and then your abs underneath you like the foundation there. Let's take the left foot.

So I'm putting the left foot on because it's the closest to you onto the bar, and I'm gonna start with a few extension exercises of the hip. So I'm gonna press into that leg, keeping the heel at about a high half toe. Is I press away. Not a lot of resistance for the lower half of the body. It's more about the mobility and movement, and you can give your butt a little tight squeeze as you extend back. The purpose here is to keep the arms stable.

Return the carriage, drop the knee down for a moment, and let's go ahead and grab on to the band on the opposite side of the bar foot. So we have it on my right hand now. I'm gonna give it a little bit of tension. The right arm is going to come off. So as I extend my leg out, I'm gonna pull against the shoulder block and bring that arm back down towards my hips. The arm will come back to a tee.

It'll rest to return the carriage for balance. So I'll press away, extend the arm back, and then repeat. And inhale, holding steady, returning the arm. That holy study of the carrot is what's gonna get that glute and hamstring to fire and repeat. We'll do it one more time. Inhale to press away.

Bring that arm back. Now from here, you can give yourself a few tricep kickbacks, trying to hold steady on that left arm, left leg, two more, last one, and then return. Let's do a little counter stretch to that hip, bring the foot that's from the foot bar in between the blocks in a low lunge position, and we'll do a little shoulder exercise here. So the arm will come up towards the ceiling, Behind the head and shoulders, you'll give your collarbone a little stretch, arms reach up for the ceiling, and then back down. Not only is this a nice mobility exercise after you stabilize the shoulders on all fours, but you get a little stretch in your hip and a little balance work on that leg that's in front that's bent.

Let's do that one more time. Inhale the arms up. Let those shoulders depressed down. You reach the arms to the ceiling, and then bring the band down. Okay. So, of course, there's always another side. Band comes back down, and then the knees come back down.

You were gonna place the hands on the band to keep it steady. Right foot goes to the bar. Left knee. Hopefully, you'll see a long line for the with this femur here as I extend the leg out and press away. The knee that spent that foot on that side, that left side, that foot needs to be relaxed. Sometimes I'll see a little bit of a grip here in the hamstring. You wanna keep that nice and relaxed on to the carriage. Let's add the arm.

So I'm gonna grab the band, and as I press away, it's the opposite arm presses back towards the hip, you're holding strong, and then you return and you rest completely. Inhale and exhale. And I'm choosing the inhale. If the exhale works better for you, you choose the exhale. And again, let's do three more and press. Try to keep that shoulder in line with that arm.

On the next one, we're gonna hold it out. So you're gonna hold And here's your tricep press. Press. Press, you have three more, two more, one more, and then you return that carriage. Take the right foot that was on the bar.

Place it forward for balance. And there is a little bit of an assist cheat. You can place the foot up against the block, and that helps for a little bit of support. Let's go back to the mobility exercise with the arms. You're gonna reach into the ceiling, You're gonna pull it back, open up through the chest.

Any opportunity you get to move your body in the opposite position, take it. And again, inhale. Stretch. Let's do three more. And to last one, and rest. I'm gonna step to the side that's closest to you, which the reformers gonna end up being on my left side, and we're gonna go into a little lunch series. So we'll start off with the band on the floor.

And again, you're gonna have to decide how much of the band you want in that arm because that's how much resistance you're going to have So I'm gonna place my right foot that's on the outside on the floor on the band. Again, it's flat. My left foot is gonna go on to the carriage and assumably, it's just a normal lunging position. We'll start off that way. Hands on to the bar, left arm in line with the shoulder. Let's just push back and forth into a nice little stretch.

Opening up through that hip. Once you find that position, we can start to use the band arm. So now let's go ahead and take the band, bring it out in front of you, and hold on with as much resistance as you think you'd need. So I'm gonna grab a little bit lower. So as I'm pressing back, reaching up, that's about right. Make adjustments as you go if you need to.

I'm reaching the arm in opposition, but the left arm being right in front of my shoulders is what's gonna keep me nice and square. Let's add a rotation. So as your arms come forward, your arm, you rotate, open up to the side, try to maintain that same height with the band and resistance, and then bring it back. So you can sweep forward, open, return, bend the elbow, exhale, inhale, exhale, inhale. Let's do three more.

Two more. And we'll have one more. So you'll just reach out, open, and return. We're gonna stay on this side. And since we didn't actually have a lot of leg work in the beginning, because of light resistance, let's add some leg work.

So I'm gonna take the band now and wrap it around my rib cage. Again, you wanna have it so it's nice and flat if possible. Don't be hyper focused on it. Just try to make it as flat as you can. Now my left foot is gonna be up against the block. My right foot's still on the floor, but with my knees bent in this hovered position, the knees are the same spot.

So they're level. The lift the carriage leg up, and when I lift it up, that left knee now that's on the carriage should be slightly forward to the right. If it's not, you're not gonna have enough range of motion. Well, the slight hinged position you're going to press the carriage back and forth, working on hip extension of the left glute. Now this is gonna feel like a lot more resistance than we were kneeling.

The knee only was more of a prep. This you can really feel that hip extension. Not only that, but you feel the standing leg as well, which as we know balance comes from the feet. So now as the leg goes back, you're gonna reach the arms forward, and we're gonna do like a little pseudo offering or hug a tree. So we get this in here too. Three more, three two bonus out. Now hold the arm straight and little pulses here. We're doing just six.

So three and two and one hands to the bar. Step the right foot forward and find a nice little stretch on that hamstring. A little transition exercise next. So just hop onto the carriage. We're gonna keep the bands that's already in our back.

We'll keep it there and do a modified long stretch. So hands back to the bar, both of them, shoulder width apart. This is one where the band probably needs to be in a good position. Otherwise, it might roll up or down your back. But let's try to keep the body nice and straight, so flat back tailbone to head. And let's press the legs back and hold this modified long stretch position. From here, just move nice and gently through the arms.

You're not gonna get the full range because of full range, you might lose the band. So inhale, especially having it wrapped like this. Three more. Two. Last one. And when you press back this time hold, round your back to return the carriage.

One more exercise here, and it's gonna involve a little modified push up. So let's straighten the legs back opening up the hips. This time, press back to your end range and then bend your elbows and extend your elbows. You'll get a little bit of slack. Try to keep the head in line with the tailbone.

But this will bring some nice awareness to those ribs, try to breathe and inhale into those ribs. One more time. Same thing. Press out with long arms, flex the spine, tuck the tailbone under, and now let's go to the other side. So I'll take the band away from the back, and I'll place it back onto the floor for my lunges. Left foot goes on the band, and it's probably aligned right in front of that bar.

Right foot goes back. Palm faces in and we do it again. So, actually, let's start with like we did in the beginning where both hands are on the bar. Just find a nice little stretch first, keeping the hips open. And now let's add the arm. So the arm comes forward and back and forward and back.

I like exercises like this because it really feels like I'm creating, like, opposition length with the slings of my body. Let's add a rotation. So you go out, rotate, and try to keep that arm at the same height. So with this one, bend the elbow into a row, reach it out. Rotate and return. Two more.

Last one. And bring it back in. Now comes the scooter. So we wanna take the band around the back again. And then you'll align the knees up, even though one foot's on the floor.

You start with the knee down. But when you come up, the knee is slightly forward. You'll hinge the body forward pressing back with the leg. Spread those toes out with the band, the foot that's on the floor. And we're gonna add the arms.

Little hug a tree, exhale. Three more. Three, two, you should be a little tired on that left leg. One. Now hold it. Little bonus, press for six, five, four, three, two, on one, on return. Alright.

Hopefully, your legs feel pretty good after that. I'm gonna drop the bar down for a little short box. So I'm gonna place all the springs on so that the box doesn't move and we will be using the band again. So placing the box up against the shoulder blocks. And of course, if you need a little bit more space, go ahead and bring that box over the blocks.

I'm gonna have a seat band in hand, I'm gonna place my feet under the safety strap. We'll start with a few simple round back exercises. Placing the band out in front and then giving yourself a little slack. Arms are gonna be about the height or width of your shoulders. From here, let's go ahead and flex during the wheels of your pelvis, rolling yourself back till your lower back touches, if that feels comfortable to you, and then sitting up nice and tall.

My palms are facing down, and the band is running between my thumb and my four finger, and then back up. I'm just gonna scoot myself up just a teeny bit. Sometimes with these very shiny leggings, we do a little bit of sliding around. Xhale. Inhale.

Now the arms are going to go overhead, which will load the torso. So exhale as you roll back, pause, feel secure here, bring the arms up to align with the ears, bring the arms down, and sit up and we'll do that three more times. Exhale to flex. Keep that band nice and tight. Arms come forward and then back up.

And two more. Exhale breath. Inhale arms up, exhale arms down, and then back up. Last one, flex it. Bring the arms up. Now bring the arms forward.

Don't come all the way up. We're gonna rotate slightly to the right and do a little cheerleader arm. So the right hand comes towards the bottom of the box, the left hand towards the ceiling. You're gonna come back to center and sit up because it's a lot to hold. So exhale to roll back.

Left hand comes to the back corner of the box as the arm comes up towards the ceiling. Return the arms forward and then sit up. Exhale to roll back. Inhale. Arms, exhale center, inhale up. Now we went to inhale and exhale creates a little bit of flow, which is nice.

Arms reach back to middle. Let's do that just one more time. Arms reach side, and to the ceiling, right arm up, left arm back. Back to center arms reach. Let's do a quick little stretch, opening up through the chest. Arms reach up and over.

And then release. Now, little bit of extension. So we're gonna turn the box back to a long position, and we're gonna pull the bar up not to the very top. So not that's lowest or its highest, but there's one from below, which we call the low bar position. And I'm gonna take it down to a blue spring. We'll be prone to on her belly facing the bar and the band will come with us.

So lie all the way down, chest over the bar, and then try to flatten the band across the bar. If you have a lot of extension, you can have the bar at the higher position if you'd like, but this works the best for me. So with the hands onto the bar, it's a very light resistance. This isn't gonna feel like much as we press away into an overhead press, firing the posterior chain. So I want you to press the pubic bone down into the box, floating those legs up, and focusing more on the energy of the back of the body, more so than how much weight your arms are pressing away.

Now we're gonna take the band and this you might have to check out how much resistance you need, but I'm gonna hold the band maybe a little bit past the foot bar here, and then bring that arm out in front. So now as I bend with one arm, so one hand on the bar, one hand on the band, I'm gonna bring the band around to my hip and come into rotation with extension. And then I'm gonna bring the hand back down rest it on the bar, and then do it again. Arm comes out, inhale, extension, and then return and support the hand on the bar. Now let's try not to use a support.

I'm gonna lift up, reach the hand back to the hip. And as I come forward, my arm hovers above the bar. Let's do two more, inhale extension with rotation. Last one. And then return. Okay? So now, other hand, hand goes in line with my shoulder on the right side.

I hold to the outside of the bar. Taking the arm out into an a long position. I'm gonna take the band arm, bring it around to the hip, extend, rotate, bring the hand of the bar for support and return. Inhale breath, two more resting the arm, one more, extend, and then return. And now with the arm hovered for three arm reaches out. I push with my right arm.

I bring the arm around making sure to push my pubic bone into the box of support, my lumbar spine, twice more, inhale to rotate and open, exhale to return, last one inhale. Open extension rotation, and then return. Let the band just rest of the floor in front of the reformer and push yourself up into a cat cow stretching out the back wiggling out all the tight spots, and then release. That is one exercise if the band wasn't conducive to your body. Today, just drop the band and do the arm work. Moving the box at the back. Alright. I'm gonna come around here and bring this bar down. So I'm gonna pull from the center, bring it all the way down, and then grab onto the band.

So to step on to the reformer safety first, I'm gonna put a red spring on for more resistance, take off the blue. I'm gonna place my foot on the standing platform that's attached, and then I will bring the right foot onto the carriage. So this is the safer way to get up. So you don't wanna put the band on your foot before you get on top of the carriage. I'm gonna bring the band down and place it underneath my platform foot. Okay?

The left hand holds on to the other side of the band because you don't want it caught into the spring, and I'm gonna hold the other band with my hand. That's with the carriage leg. Let's start off by just pressing the leg away and finding the right amount of resistance. So the closer your foot is towards the edge, the more resistance. Now, turn the palm down towards your thigh.

So my thumb's facing medial in. My fingers are facing down. I'm gonna pull the arm to the side. As I press the carriage out, inhale away, exhale return. And stretch.

Funny enough, because I'm using the band, my left supporting leg on the platform is working harder to keep me from leaning over to that side. Last one, hold it here, bend both your knees and skate the carriage leg with the arm out to the side. Arm could be about shoulder height a little bit lower depending on where you want to work or how your shoulder feels. Just two more. One more and return the carriage. We're gonna go ahead and do the other side, but for safety, especially with this band, I'm stepping off and coming around. Again, don't place the band down before you get on top of the carriage.

I do sometimes leave the bar up high for clients that fear standing up here. They can put a hand on the bar. Now I'm gonna place the foot. You see my heel never leaves the platform because I don't want to put all my weight on a moving carriage. So one hand on the hip, arm down, and let's just start by pressing out.

Your hands can be wherever they feel comfortable as you go into your adductors. Nice and tall with the spine. Two more. Last one, and then we're gonna add the arm. So palm faces towards you, and the arm goes to the side and back. You're just reaching.

It's like you're pulling a sword out of your pocket as you press away. And definitely, that standing leg is getting way more work. So it keeps me from leaning into that side. Now let's hold it on the next one, soften both knees, bend and skate as you extend the elbow. We have three more. Two more. One more.

Slowly return the carriage. Grab the band with the platform leg arm and step off the back. Wiggle that foot out. Let's go ahead and stand to the side of the carriage or side of the reformer, reaching your arms out in front of you, and just doing a little roll down here, stretching through the arms. I want you to drop the band to the floor, grab one of the opposite at elbows and rotate from side to side. Holy on to the band can create a little bit of tension into the shoulders.

Just make sure that you always feel comfortable here when you're using a prop. Finger tips down to the floor. Roll yourself all the way up. And you guys are all done today, reformer, and banned. Thanks so much.