Stretch and Strengthen Mat

Hi. I'm Delia, and today we'll be doing a mat workout using the band. So in my hand, I have a green band. Just note that bands come in different resistance. So make sure you have the right resistance for you so that you can have a great workout with me today. I'm gonna take the band, and I'm gonna open it up.

And I have quite a long band, which is what I because it gives me a little bit more room to play around with the resistance. Try not to be hyper focused on the length of the band or on each side, but just kind of by eye know that these are level and then step onto the center of the band. And it'll be nice and flat under the feet. I'm gonna grab really low onto the band, so I have a little bit more resistance when I stand up. And then the shoulders will draw down and back, and you don't wanna over depress the shoulders.

We're gonna actually start with a little depression and elevation of the shoulder. So let's go ahead and lift the shoulders up towards the ears, and then lower the shoulders back down. And the movement should come from your shoulder blades. So I want you to imagine that you have pockets at the center of your spine. So you're taking the shoulder blades out of the pockets and then into the pockets.

And I've got a nice gentle hold of the band. You never want to over tighten the band around your fingers. It'll be uncomfortable. One more time is you elevate the shoulders And then down, and then you could do some circles back with the shoulders. Feels really good, and then a few circles forward just to get them prepared. Now a little roll down.

So as you roll down, head towards the floor, you'll get slack in your band. And then as you roll up, you also have the opportunity to pull a little tighter on the band if you'd like. But as you come up, you'll feel your shoulders naturally depressed and roll back. We'll do that twice more. Knot the chin, flex forward. Let the band go. And then roll all the way back up and roll those shoulders back one more time.

This feels good to me. Nod the chin, exhale and flex. And then you're gonna roll yourself all the way up and then draw those shoulders down. I'm gonna release some tension on the band so that I can move my arms. We're gonna go into squats.

So first, find your squat, make sure the feet feel like they're flat onto the or the band is flat under the feet, and let's go into your squats. From here, I'm gonna take the arms forward to add a little resistance to the arms so that we can quickly warm up the entire body, bending through the knees, And then moving forward with the shoulders. Let's go for three more inhale, exhale. And two more, make sure not to have too much tension onto the shoulders with the band so you don't over fire those upper traps. Last one, and then stand. And you can do any other exercises that make your shoulders feel good.

We're gonna move on to some single leg work. So I'm gonna take the band and place it under one foot this time. So it's under my right ball of the foot flat. And then my other foot is just side by side. You might need a little bit less resistance on this because we're gonna be reaching the arms eventually towards the ceiling.

So I'm gonna take the band leg up. So you'll see that the knee should be about hip height. I'm gonna hold tightly to the band and then extend my leg. So if you want more resistance, you could either choke down on the band itself or lift your arms up a bit higher to give you more resistance. You can even reach all the way up if you have enough length in your band. Two more. Last one, and then place that foot down. I'll be stepping backwards with my left leg off the mat. And as I do so, I'm gonna extend my arms out in front in a lunge and then return. I'm gonna rotate for you guys and come into some lunges. So still holding on to the band.

I'll sweep my arms forward in a rowing motion as I lunge my left foot back. And this resistance of the band actually helps with a bit of balance here on this exercise. Last one, and then return. So now we're gonna do a set of two. So I'm gonna reach my arms to the ceiling, bring my leg up, press twice. One, press two.

Put the foot down lunge for two. And we'll do two more sets to reach the arms to the ceiling and press down one. Exhale two. Bring that foot down and lunge again for another set of two. Last one, arms reach the ceiling, leg up. You press one.

Inhale exhale two. Place that foot down. Two more lunges. And then release that tension. We're gonna go on to the other foot and I'm just gonna stay facing side.

So the left foot's gonna go to the center of the band. My right foot's gonna go side by side, and we'll go back into your single leg press. I'll bring my arms up for resistance, and I'll press that leg down for six one. Inhale exhale two. Four more or two more, I should say.

Last one that foot comes down and then into lunges. So I'm gonna bring my right leg back into a lunge and do a little front row and reach three more. Two more. Last one, and now I'm gonna alternate in twos. So you're gonna reach the arms up.

Press that leg down twice. One, and two. Bring the foot down. Bring the leg back for lunge one. And two. Again, arms reach. Exhale. Bring that leg back. One.

Inhale. Two. We have one more arms reach to the ceiling. The leg presses down twice. And then you lunge back, and you can repeat that as many times as you like if you wanna get that heart rate up. We're gonna end up on the mat now.

So I'm gonna have a seat And I'm gonna place the band again around a single foot. So I'm gonna take it over to the right foot, and you can cross it if you want it to be more secure. So I'll go ahead and cross it. And then lie all the way down. Once I'm down onto the mat, the supporting leg has two choices.

It could be bent for more support of the hips or it could be lengthened. For a little bit more of a challenge. From here with the elbows down, we're gonna press the leg down towards the mat. We'll do six of these, and your goal is to keep the hip nice and stable. Try not to hike the hip up off the mat and focus more on the leg moving away from you. Bring that leg up to the sealing bend the knee, hold a little bit tighter onto the band, and then bring the free leg up to meet it.

Lift the head and shoulders up for single leg stretch. You're gonna keep the left leg. Fixed over the hip as you extend the band leg. Three more. Two more. One more and now add the movement of the other leg.

One has a band and one does not. So it's gonna feel a little bit different, but be intentful as you reach through both legs and keep the upper body steady. Last one, and return. Place that left foot back to the mat. Make sure your elbows are down.

So you've got support from the four or from the top of the arm to the shoulder. We're gonna go into some bridging. Let's roll the hips up reaching that foot in the band towards the ceiling. Now if this band isn't correctly wrapped around your foot, this is where you can lose the band. So make sure it's nice and flat, and then roll yourself back down.

I want you to imagine that there's a little hole in the ceiling. So you're trying to reach for that hole with your toe and then roll yourself back. And we'll do that again for six total, exhale. And inhale three more, two more. And on the next one, we're gonna hold it up. So you'll hold it up, And then we'll lower that leg towards the mat, driving that heel.

If you could touch the mat, great. If not, only go as low as you can maintain stability. Should feel a lot of work on that left supporting side. Two more. Last one, reach the leg up with control, lower the spine to the mat, and then you're gonna undo the band if it's crossed, and then place the left foot down so that you have a smooth transition.

From here, my leg's gonna be extended long like it was on the other side, and just a nice lower and lift. This is a great exercise for hip mobility and flexibility. And also for the supporting side stability, two more. One more. That stretch feels really good with that band.

I'm gonna take my leg up to a tabletop position, bend my left knee that's in the band, lift my head and shoulders up, and I'm gonna press single leg out, single leg stretch. Eyes gaze right at the toes, two more and then we'll add the other leg. Last one and we'll add the other leg for one. Two. And three And if you want this to be more challenging, you can pull those legs, arms up off the mat, last one.

And the foot comes down, toe towards the ceiling, and you're bridging. Tilt that pelvis back, roll up evenly through the spine as you reach the toe to the ceiling, and then roll yourself all the way back down. Make sure this feels nice and sequential through the back and then lower. One hip is going to be more stable or have more flexibility. Try to move through the spine as evenly as possible, try to feel each side of the spine. On the next one, we're gonna stay up there.

So roll yourself up. Lower that heel to the mat opening up that hip and then reach. Three more for a three and two, and one leg to the ceiling. Spine rolls down, and then you take the foot. Keep that foot in the strap.

And we're gonna put both feet in now. So now both feet are gonna be in, and I'm gonna cross the band again. So I have a little bit of resistance. If you can feel the little play here with the resistance, I'm gonna cross and hold on to the band. We're gonna go into your bend and stretch as though your feet are in the strap on a reformer and we will add some upper body to it as well.

So to start, secure the knees and then just press out. Now because your head is down, you're not gonna be able to go as low and still feel supported in the back. So only go as low as your abs are supporting your spine. So they're working together as a team. Now in the next one, the head and shoulders will come up, and then you'll press the legs away.

And you can add a little opening of the leg so you can feel a little adductor as you press out, or you could just keep your inner thighs adductors connected. The whole time. Two more. One more. Slowly as a knees bend, head and shoulders come down. From here, I want the band to go to the inside of the legs so that you have the heels together toes apart for frog.

Eyes towards the ceiling as you extend through the legs. And press, I want you to think about a zipping feeling from the tailbone to the heel. And exhale. You've got three more, and then we'll add the upper body. Two more. A last one.

Now knees start bent, head and shoulders up, Now I can go more out into a diagonal and press. Three more. Try not to rock that torso off the mat. One more. And then go ahead and lie back down to the mat. I'm gonna take the band out from underneath my feet.

I'm actually gonna bring the band to the mat underneath. I'm gonna hold it with my hands, but we're not necessarily gonna use it for this next exercise. We're gonna go into the rollover. So the hands are down holding the, bands. You're gonna take your legs and we're gonna bring the legs perpendicular to the hips. Now the rollover could be from here or it could be out at a diagonal.

I'm gonna keep the legs right above the hips. Pressing down into the band on the mat. I'm gonna take my legs overhead. My legs are going to be parallel to the mat. I'm gonna open the legs, flex the feet, and then roll myself down one vertebra at a time.

And when my sacral meets the mat, the legs come together and they point. Take an inhale to hinge and flex at the hips, use the arms to assist the rollover, legs are in parallel, you open, you flex, and then you roll down with the legs apart. One more time, legs together and they point. Now you can bring the legs up and over and touch the floor, flex the ankles if you have that flexibility, and then roll yourself. Back down. We're gonna keep the legs open at shoulder or hip distance apart.

Flex at the hips. I'm using my arms. Why not? Bring the feet to the floor, point the toes, and then roll down. You should never in this exercise feel like you're in fight or flight. So when the legs are up overhead, if you can't breathe here, then your legs have gone too far.

I want you to keep it into a safe place. As you work to massage the spine into the mat. One more time, legs open, they flex, and this feels really good. It's a nice exercise after having to hold that band in your hands for a while, point through the feet, But this time when you go to roll up, go ahead and let momentum take you all the way up to your seat. So from here, I'm gonna extend my legs, and we're gonna take the band and police it around the feet wide.

So now my feet are as wide as the mat, and then I'm gonna cross the band. So you do wanna have some resistance. We're gonna go into rowing prep exercises. Think of the reformer sitting backwards on the reformer facing towards the shoulder blocks and then grabbing onto those straps. So it's a nice exercise to incorporate into a mat routine here. I'm gonna go ahead and do some rows.

So I've got some mid rows here. So if you think about a clock, I'm bringing my elbows to about four and eight o'clock. Nice and tall with the spine, stacking the head over the ribs and the ribs over the hips. Now what's great about the band as you can hold as tight as you want to use even a tighter band in this green one. I'm gonna go into rotations now.

So arms stay long. My right elbow is gonna come back and I'm actually gonna go more into a low row as I punch that arm forward and then back to the center. Have patience with this exercise and focus on the rotation and try not to move quickly into start position. Enjoy that resistance back as part of your exercise, your negative resistance here. We're gonna go one more to each side, exhale or inhale whatever you feel works the best to open and facilitate that rotation, and one more.

And then back to center. From here, I'm gonna close the legs up, and we're gonna go into back rowing from the reformer as well. So legs are together just like they would be between the shoulder blocks, and you might have to play around with the resistance here after the first repetition, but I'm gonna bring my fist up towards my chest. I'm gonna hold that resistance and you'll have to keep the feet flex. Otherwise, you might lose your band and you're gonna roll back and away from your femur, so you top of your thigh, turn the palms down like you're sweeping crumbs off of your chest and bring your arms out to the side. As you dive your nose to your knees, pull the arms even further back into extension, lift as high as your shoulders will allow and allow the shoulder blades to glide up the spine stretch. When you see the band again, you could sit back up, fist towards your chest, exhale to roll back, inhale arms out to the side, push the palms back, dive, and then reach the arms up and around, and sit up. Four more.

Arms out, dive forward, circle around. Remember that rowing is a shoulder mobility exercise. So let those shoulders move. So as you're pulling the arms back, if you can't, let go with some of that resistance or do it without the band altogether, just to find that movement twice more, exhale, arms out, dive, circle, reach back up, and last one, roll back, arms out to the side, dive, circle around, and release. Onto the saw. So I want you to grab the band, hold it into your hands, back to your mat work, and the feet are going to be wide like the saw.

And you're gonna hold the band with a little bit of slack because we're gonna be pulling this band apart. Let's start with the arms out in front and keep the arms in the high same height as your shoulders as you rotate towards the right foot. You're gonna reach the left hand just as you would in regular saw towards your pinky. I'm actually letting the band slide a bit, so I have a little bit more resistance. And I'm gonna pull that opposite hand towards the ceiling.

My eyes are gonna stay at that knee for comfort of my neck. I'll come all the way up and back to center. Inhale to the left, reach the pinky finger, reach the arm back, and then return. You can move your head in whatever position you've been taught to do the saw or whatever feels comfortable on your neck. And again, inhale to the left, exhale to reach, inhale back to center, and return. Let's do one more set. Inhale, I'm gonna do a little faster reach, and then come up all the way to the other side and reach, and then back to the middle folding forward for a little stretch.

Up to your knees here for some kneeling side kicks. So once you're on your knees, this will give you a little bit of release of the shoulders and the hips, we're gonna take the band and place it around your right foot. So back to the band onto the mat, right foot goes in the center, if you're watching here, and then I'm gonna go ahead and I'm not crossing this time. I'm just gonna grab on to the band with the hand. That's in alignment with the leg.

Once that foot is wrapped around the band, I'm gonna bring the hand down. And find the mat slightly forward of my shoulders. This hand is gonna go right onto the hip or you're gonna hold that bicep curl. We're just gonna go to a kick kick and then release and kick kick and release. Four more and press.

So I want you to reach away with that band pushing into the resistance. Two more. One more. Go ahead and hold that leg height, give me a little bit more resistance on the band. And you can do a few donkey kicks here and press band and extend for four and three two Last one, and then reach the arm up for a nice stretch on that inner thigh and then bring that foot down. We're gonna go to the other side.

So take your foot out of the band, bring it to the mat, and then bring that foot down, holding on to the band with your left hand out because it's with your left foot coming down into kneeling, hand slightly forward, hand back towards the chest, kick, kick, and sweet back. Kick kick and sweet back. Try to keep that leg the same height the whole time. Imagine there's a little prickly plant underneath that leg. Trying to keep it right above. Two more Last one, inhale inhale exhale. Hold the band tighter and do a few kicks. One, exhale two, and three, three more.

Two more. One more hold. Give me a big stretch if you can, and then release back down. I'm gonna rotate sideways for you guys so you could see the thigh stretch from the side profile. Grabbing on to the band, giving yourself a little slack.

You can test it out first to see if you've got enough resistance here to feel a little chest expansion. Once you have that, let's start with the arms out in front. Shoulders are nice and wide, and you don't have much slack between the hands. Let's start off with a little stretch in the thighs. Start to lean back and think of your knee to your head as one long line allowing your eyes to lead the position of your spine, and then come back up.

And we'll do that again. Inhale as you lean back, and then exhale. And my glutes are a little bit of a break. So they tighten just a bit. To keep me from going into my back so that my lumbar spine is supported. Now I'm gonna lean back and then I'm gonna bend my elbows extend slightly through my back gazing up towards the ceiling just like you would with the Cadillac roll down bar. You're gonna extend the arms out steady and then come back up.

And again, inhale to lean at the knees. From the thoracic spine and cervical spine, your middle back and your neck, you're gonna extend and draw the shoulders back. Reconnect the ribs and hips. I am shaking a bit here to maintain stability. One more time is you lean back.

Bend your elbows, open up through the chest, extend the arms out in front, and now I'm gonna place the hands up against the thigh, and I'm gonna do little pulses here just to open up that collarbone And I'll do three more. It's three and two and one and release that tension. Let's focus on the lower half of the body again. I'm gonna place the mat flat onto the mat again or the band, and I'll place my right foot in the band. I will cross at this time. Cross This is how you get into this position.

This one, you butter, make sure that that band's flat because it'll come back and just give you a little smack in the rear. So you wanna place the hands down and then shift that foot back. Once you've shifted that foot back, hold the band where it doesn't give you too much strain between the forefinger and the thumb. You can even roll it up kind of like on a little ball. Just don't let go. Okay?

Hands underneath the shoulders, heart, between the thumbs, and you're in this quadruped position. Extend that right leg back and then bend and extend and bend. You could also hold the band in one hand If it feels like you want a little bit more attention or you don't want the band crossing over, I think I'm gonna keep my band here because it's less tendency to grab on to my leggings. So I'm gonna take the leg back and hold it back there. From here, I'll extend my spine slightly to find a little bit more extension, and I'm gonna pulse my heel towards the ceiling.

And you can really feel that glute to hamstring connection. Hold that leg long and do slight side work here. It's a little abduction work, very small micro movements, and really works those stability muscles around the hips. Take that knee down, and hold, and then I love to add a little swimming to these exercises. So I'm gonna take my right leg back, left arm up, and I'll pulse for six, five, four, three, two, and one, and return. Let's go in and switch feet. I'm gonna take that foot forward, open up the band, left foot, cross the band, and then bring that leg back.

Hands come down, and I decided I'm gonna hold the band in one hand because I like the resistance of hands under the shoulders, and then press that leg back into hip extension. And press. The hardest part here, especially if you don't have a mirror to look at is where are you in space? Keeping those hips nice and square so that you're really working the hip and not the lumbar spine. The lumbar spine should be working for stability. Take that leg back and you're just some little baby kicks and start to open up through the chest. Widening that collarbone almost like your collarbone's trying to smile.

And then you can take that leg slightly to the side. You can put yourself back in neutral if that feels better here. And then you're swimming for six, five, four, three, two, and one, and lower. Those exercises on all fours are total body work. So you get almost everything there on that one. We're gonna end this class standing today.

So if you're familiar with some exercise on the Cadillac, I call these fencer lunges or this is what I was taught, fencer lunges. So we're gonna end on our feet today. So we're gonna start with the band at the left foot. So I'm gonna flatten it out. Here. And then I'm gonna take my heels together my toes apart. So I'm gonna start holding the band with the lay hand that's in line with the band foot.

Heels together toes apart, I want you to imagine a rectangle. You wanna take your foot from the back corner of the rectangle, take it to the front away corner at a diagonal and step back. And let's just do that twice more. Inhale, exhale. So once you have that movement, then we can add the arms. So I'm gonna take the band, separate them, palms face back, fingers face down, And I'm gonna take the hands up so I've got enough resistance and they're gonna be together.

So as I press out, I'm gonna take the band away from me. Like I just pulled the sword out of my pocket and I'll come back for two more. Inhale. Inhale and exhale. Now to complicate things and make them a little harder, I'm gonna use the other hand too. So I've got two people on each side of me. I've got two swords. So I'm gonna reach this sword out and reach this sword back and return and reach and return.

Last one, and back, and let those arms go. We're gonna switch sides. So I'm gonna take the band now scooch over to the other side. So I've got a little room. And we start by finding the position on the mat first. You go to one side and back.

The standing leg should pull you back. One more return. Now, one arm. Okay. So here we go. We got it.

Pull the band like it's a sword and reach and return. One more and reach return. Let's add the other arm. Ready. You reach. Bring it back. Inhale. Last one.

And return. Go ahead and take the hand or the feet off the band. Let's hold the band into our hands and catch our breath, taking a deep inhale, and let's do a quick roll down. We're gonna roll all the way down. Nodding the chin flexing through the spine, stretching through the hammies, rolling yourself all the way up, reaching your arms up to the ceiling, take a little side stretch.

Pull the band down to the right side where you're flexing and look down towards that band, give it a little extra stretch with a few tricep presses, and then reach all the way back up. And then you'll look down the other way, pull, and then press to the mat one, keeping the band in front of your eyes. Last one all the way up, one big stretch. Release the arms, and you guys are all done today. Thank you so much for joining me on the mat with the band.