Invigorating Advanced Mat

Today's advanced mat workout is a celebration of my favorite Pilates mat exercises. Let's get started with some standing marches, arms on top of one another, bring one leg up at a time, and let's get to work. We need to warm up the body from the ground up. So point those toes as they leave the floor, press those arms down and smile, baby. I hate when guys say that to me.

But you know what? It's important to smile and have fun because Like I said, this is a celebration of some of my favorite moves that I've been inspired by over the years, moves that my teachers have taught me, and I'm gonna pass on to you because this is a community and we all get to work together here. Let's do two more and go for our jumping jacks. So take your arms out. We'll start with some low impact options. Low impact never meaning low energy. Right? So get the energy up. And if you feel okay to jump with me, let's jump and let's check.

Soft landings, towball heel, heel ball toe, just like you're jumping on a cloud. Like a care bear. Let's do a few more. Maybe you go back to that low impact option. One more deep breath here, and let's warm up with our lunges.

Take one foot back at a time. Three pulses down and come to stand, switch. Hips, two headlights forward, knees, behind the toes, maybe getting a little deeper each time. Can you kiss Your need to the mat. Last few.

And I know Joe is looking down at us. So we're gonna give him a little homage to Jacob's pillow and his standing mat workout. With some alternating lunges. Now let's go a little faster from one to the other. Place our hands underneath our arms here.

And let's go back and forth. Jump, jump, jump. If you've seen the archival footage, you know what I'm referencing. A few more like this for three, for two, for one, come to second position, turn it out, knees, behind the toes, second position, back is up against the wall, bring yourself back in. Feels great to open up the hips, make sure that your tailbone is down, The ribs are cinched. And when you're ready, let's add some flow out and in flow out and in just a few to give ourselves a little stretch Work the weight on the outsides of the feet.

Make sure the knee is over that second toe. Let's add a flow. We're gonna take the legs down and lift one leg up down and lift the other leg up. You are a superstar. So let's give ourselves the star position.

Lakes and arms are equidistant, challenging our balance, seeing how we feel today a few more before we hit the mat. Great warm up. Come to the top of the mat, and let's go come down to a plank position for a little homage, a little reference to yoga. I hope you have that yoga anytime subscription because that will come in handy for our first vinyasa flow, elbows in tight to the body, lower yourself down. Lift your chest up Nama, slay, chin to the chest, tuck the toes, push yourself back to downward dog, or shall I say Pilates v, bring yourself back to plank, lower yourself down, for that beautiful expansion, extension of your spine, chin to chest, tuck the toes.

We'll do this one more time. I can see why they do this in yoga so much. Bringing yourself down because we get that push up, We get the extension of the spine, tuck the chin, and let's be honest. We all could use a little hamstring stretch, pedal out the heels. Let's do the same marches that we warmed up with.

But we'll do them on all fours. So this is an advanced mat class, but that doesn't mean that you can't layer up or down on these exercises. First challenge to keep your low back completely still as you march, Next, mountain climbers march the knees up. Try to recreate what we did standing. So your back is up against the wall or the ceiling in this case. Pull the knees in one at a time.

And then just like we did with the jacks, adding a little speed, but trying not to shift forward and backwards, that will happen. And then if you turn on the powerhouse, plug those shoulders out of the ears, grip the floor, perhaps you can eliminate that shifting, that tracking for three, for two, for one. Hold it here, jumping jacks just like we did on the warm up. I'm so glad we had that movement rehearsal. Let's try some jumping jacks out and in. A few of these jumping jacks go a long way.

Try not to twerk. I've never said that in my life, but do you really wanna make sure the abs are pulling in and up and that you are in one place? I've gotta take a break. Maybe you're still going at home. Lowering on to the forearms.

Completely changes the center of gravity. Therefore, the muscles that keep us lifted. Coming to the forearms, shoulder blade push ups, lower your chest, and lift your chest. The range of motion is gonna be limited. The scapula come together, the scapula, press apart, wrapping around the back, pressing away from the spine, lift the back neck, reinforce that beautiful posture, two more, hold it, shakira hips, bring the hips to one side, bring the hips to the other side. I'm looking for range of motion and a beautiful rainbow.

What I'm not looking for is to that you shift your weight in the arms. Keep arms dead even. Up and over. Up and over. What would Shakira do?

Come on. I know I said no twerking, and now I'm changing my mind. Last one, child's pose. Sit on back. Let's keep moving.

Bring your feet out in front of you, and let's go for our tricep dips. Bringing your hands back, fingers face forward. And again, I don't wanna see any of this. Save it for the weekend. I want you to instead move from the elbow.

Press down and up. When I teach this in group classes, a lot of people like to have fun here, but no, we want to burn it up. So feel the work. Needless to say in the triceps. The shoulder stability is the name of the game.

The most important thing here. A few more. This is gonna prep us for the 100 when we pump those arms strong for three, for two, for one, control facing back. You're gonna have your legs out in front, and then with your legs pressing into the mat, push those hips up and kick with one leg and kick with the other leg. Most important thing is that the standing leg is pressing and really doing the opposite of sir coming to gravity.

So shoot yourself up, keep your hips up as you lift. One more on each side. And lower yourself down and stretch. Great warm up. In this mat class, we begin with the teaser. So make sure you bring yourself to the middle of the mat. Let's take our right leg up into a one legged teaser variation.

I in line with the feet, arms parallel with the legs. Let's go down a little, up a little. Inter thighs are squeezing together. Chest is lifted. Chest is expanded.

We'll do a few more. Reach the energy through your fingertips. Pull back from the waist. Continue to squeeze the legs. On this last one, roll yourself down to the tips of the shoulders, cradle the head, and let's crisscross to the right.

Now if you are more advanced, you're looking for that challenge that that's why you hit play today. Take the opposing leg and reach it out up and twist back to center. We have a bunch to go. So make sure each rep gets a little stronger, exhale as you lift, inhale center, exhale lift, ring it out. The left leg can either stay down, or it's gonna stay out 45 degrees. We'll do two more.

And then gently rock ourselves up and go straight and decide number two, inner thighs squeezing together, teaser one leg. We go a little back. We go a little up. The intention here is to maintain your lower body position. You're pulling back from the waistline. So, again, imagine you're being glassed by the sexy cowboy, and you are resisting them.

I don't know why, but that is the intention. I'm gonna be a good boy, back and up one more time and roll yourself down for crisscross on side two. The first few. Of course, Just plant the foot down, get the opposite rib to lift towards the knee. And then when and if you're ready, that opposing leg can come up I can see why this is advanced, up and lift, but I also can see why you can modify and still keep it advanced.

Yes. XL. Modifying. Doesn't mean you're weak. It means you're finding the hard. Yes. A few more.

And we are just about to hit the 100. This is gonna be tough, but that's why we're here. Everybody on your back arms up, imagine you're grabbing onto those handles of the reformer, legs up in tabletop, curl up, extend one leg, single leg stretch, and start pumping. Pump those arms up and down. Look at your own stomach.

Now I gave you that tricep work so that you can really feel invigorated with these pumps. So keep pumping. And if you are feeling a little fatigued, I want you to rest your back and place that foot down, but I don't want you to stop pumping. Never stop pumping. Deep breathe in, neutral spine on the mat, exhale out. I'm gonna curl back up.

And then we're gonna switch legs, pump pump pump pump pump another twenty seconds on the clock. Deep breathe in. Deeper breath out. Those pumps need to be 12 inches up and down. And the fingertips need to be together.

Joseph Pilates is looking down at us, and he wants the fingertips together because this is Pilates. Keep pumping. Three for two both feet down on one. Twist from side to side. Let's go for our double leg stretch to even out the body.

Begin with the frog. Long arches, curled back toes, heels together toes apart, curl up, grab the ankles on one, inhale stretch the arms and legs away on two. Let's work, exhale. Inhale. Like, you're being pulled in two directions. Grab the shins looking forward.

Inhale stretch inside of the knees to the temples. Keep the pelvis and the low back anchored. Let's do four more Coming up. Probably my favorite exercise. Andrea Spears taught me this one.

Beat down burlesque legs. In place of our single leg circles. So here, right leg is gonna come up. Left leg is out 45 degrees, circle the right to the right, left to the left, and then scissor kick switch. We'll just do four in each direction.

Switch option for more difficulty, cradle the head and lift the chest up. And let's switch directions. Circle left to the left, right to the right. Let's lubricate those hips up with the synovial fluid. It's just gonna make everything in the system a little easier.

And bend one more exercise. This one I came up with. The knees together, we're gonna open close for the clamshell and get into some deep oblique muscles Now lift your chest as you open the legs and bring your right elbow and the right knee together. So I'm going to allow you to slightly lift your hip, bring the right knee and elbow together, and let's pulse these together. In and up in and up in and up. Good.

For twelve eleven. Keep the feet together. Last two. Right away to side number two. Left elbow to left knee, lift the chest.

Let's work. Fifteenth. You wanted an advanced mat class, honey. You got it. Keep pulsing here for eight. Let's go for six. Oh, honey. If it was easy, everybody would do it.

Everybody wants to be us. Generally rock yourself up. Come back up. Let's hit that teaser finally with two legs. To transition to swan. Yes. Little seam change. The transitions just as importantly a part of the work here. Now for swan, no assist from the hands, hover those hands and inch off the mat, squeeze the elbows into the body, chest expansion, pull the abs in, peel yourself up, up, up, and lower yourself down, down, down.

Four more times, see how much articulation you can find in a simple chest lift here. Two more, retract those shoulders, squeeze the lats, lift the spine. One more time, up, up, up, up, up, down, down, down, down, down, single leg kicks, push those fists together like a sphinx, tracking yourself forward, kick your butt twice with the right, kick your butt twice with the left, engage the upper body like we did in our planks, track yourself forward, stretch those quads. Let's do a few more of these kicks. Taken from the classical mat repertoire.

Why fix something that's not broken? Kick kick. Kick. One more time on each side. Well, sometimes we just like to reimagine these exercises, bringing yourself up to that Pilates v, and we'll go into some salutes, both hands out front, like a diamond shape for the salutes with the dumbbells. We push to the high diagonal for these reimagined salutes we're gonna go to our pilates v. And in that same vein, we're gonna let those elbows press out and in. So soften the knees, lengthen the low back.

Try to get the crown of the head to come to the mat. You can modify by coming to the knees. Otherwise, I want you to do your best as if you are dive bombing the floor from the crown of your head to the mat. Slide forward and down. Slide back while keeping those shoulders connected down the back.

Let's do two more. One more all the way down and all the way up. Right into thigh stretch, both arms straight out in front of you. Abbs pulled in and up, tailbone down, reach back, and return to kneeling. Now find the hard, feel the burn, even in those first initial moments of descent. And then once those muscles have been turned on, Let's take it a little bit deeper.

Our limbo competition is on. Round four. Try to go a little bit deeper and then come up a little bit slower. Thighs stretch. This is more like thigh annihilation.

Back. Back. Back. Back. Back. Back. And it wouldn't be an advanced mat class without the full expression. Reach back as far as you can. As far as you can. As far as you can.

Extend back back to your thigh stretch. Bring yourself up. We did it. Let's go into our side series. So now that the front thighs are woken up, we're gonna work the side sides, all the glute muscles, the glute max, the glute med, glute everything.

Bring yourself so that your arm is on the back frame of the mat along with your tailbone. Bottom leg can be bent or at 45, whatever your preference. Top hand is down firmly planted. Let's keep it classic. Flex the foot forward, point the toes stretch back.

If we keep it classic, we're gonna give that kick kick to the front, and then a long stretch to the back. Kick kick and stretch. Whenever I do my side series, I always imagine that my legs begin at my mid back so that I feel everything comes from my center, everything is connected, My leg is an extension of my powerhouse. Last one, flex and point. Split the difference. Turn it out on the way up and then back to neutral on the way down.

Up and down. So we did front to back. We did up and down. Next, let's do a few circles. Again, keep the circles.

Instead of a big circle, Roundisham, Think of how long can I reach my leg out as if your feet are in the loops, and then reverse it? And that's why we love the reformer. Right? Because it helps us feel all those muscles and then we can bring it to the mat with a new sense of purpose and connection. Bicycle, sweet forward, bend the knee, sweep it back and extend. Sweep, bend, and kick. I always feel like I'm treading water when I do this, like I'm in the ocean.

I might just go for a dip after class, switch and bend and extend, sweep back, bend, and extend two more. And I've got a secret surprise for you. Oh, yeah. Now I have your attention. We are going to do the same exercises reimagined on the knee. So prop yourself up.

No time to think about it. No time to hit pause. Bring yourself up on the knee. Find yourself hand, knee, foot, and that connection gonna combine the first two few exercises. So it's a lift on one, reach back on two, lift on three and down.

So we get that up and down. We get that front to back. And my glute is screaming at me, and that means it's working. Lift, reach back, lift, and lower one more time. We're gonna trace those same circles five in each direction.

And breathe through the other side. And I have no idea how I'm gonna do these bicycles, but we are gonna do them together. Lift that leg. Bend, kick, sweep back. Bend, kick, and sweep back one more, and reverse it.

Sweep to the front, bend and reach, sweep to the front, bend and reach, one more time. And I commend you. That was so challenging. A super set on our side and then propping ourselves up to the knee. This is customer service. You came for advanced math, and we are delivering the goods here at Pilates anytime.

Let's go to side number two. Lay on your side. So important that you set yourself up for success We don't wanna train the body to hinge forward. We do that enough in our real life. Let's be honest. This is where we make the changes.

Long sits bones back, pelvis neutral, stacking all of those cues. I already know you know. Give yourself the reminder here because we've gotta do our side too. Flex the foot to the front so you get the full stretch in the back leg, point the toe to the back. Kick, kick, kick, stretch, and reach. Kick, kick, kick, stretch and reach. And again, whenever you're on the mat, think about the time that you've put in on the reformer and try to bring that into the class. One more time.

Reach that leg to the diagonal up and down. There is no reason to manipulate anything. You're perfect the way you are. You don't need to lift the leg any higher. Trust me. There was a point in my life where I thought I had to show off. But now through my pilates work, I realized I'm doing this for me, and I realized that kicking your leg higher is not necessarily better.

What's the best is what's healthiest for this femur bone in your hip joint, and that's what we are exploring here with control. How high can I lift without dropping my hip? Simple as that. Hold the leg out. Circle to the front.

Circle. Oh my goodness. I'm trying to play it cool here, but my legs feel like they weigh a ton. Let's go. How about you at home? How are you feeling?

What? You have ankle weights on? That's it. A few more. Good. That's for hers for that bicycle. I'm already feeling it on as I lay on my side.

I am a little nervous for the kneeling, but I will say I feel alive. Let's switch directions. Sweep, bend, reach back first and kick. I remember my teacher, Kira, Wily telling me to keep that heel to the bump and till you reach for the extension. Oh, that makes all the difference, and I never forgot that. It's amazing how one cue from a teacher can stay with you forever.

One more. Good. And now enough of that sweet talk. Let's see what the work can do. Kara, I hope I make you proud. Bring yourself up, cradle your head, lengthen your body out. Let's lift up on one, back on two, up on three, down on four. We're just combining the two exercises together, the lift, and the front to back sweep.

Up, back, up, and down. One, two more. We gotta make sure we're nice and even. Last one. And five circles.

Smile. Come on. Think of the Olympic circles. The LA Olympics two years from now. At the time of filming. And I'm gonna be competing I'm not gonna watch at home like the last Olympics.

Let's go for those bicycles, three in each direction, and switch to the other way. Front, bend, sweep back. Come on two more. Do it for your first pilates instructor. Come on. If not for yourself, in child's pose, take a reset.

Roll yourself up. Let's finish class on our back with some yummy stretches, a bridge to get things started, lay on your back, arms by your side. Let's give ourself a well earned massage arms fixed to the ground, tuck your tailbone, roll up through the spine, bone by bone by bone, weight in the shoulders, weight in the back ribs, and spread your back out as you roll yourself back down. Let's do that again. Talk the tailbone, roll yourself up.

The most helpful cue I can give you is to send your thighs forward. So you really feel this in your hamstrings. You're getting that length through the muscles, and then enjoy the length as you roll through your spine and create more space in your back on the way down. Yes. As much as I love a massage at the spa, There's something so gratifying about giving yourself a massage and working the muscles around it. So well earned.

Let's do this one more time. My resume says I'm five eleven, and we all know that's a lie. But with Pilates, maybe I can grow or at least feel a little taller. Lakes up. Let's bring the legs from side to side and a windshield wiper.

Let's take the arms, splay them out and impale those shoulders into the ground as we bring our hips from side to side, allowing the pelvis to rock back and forth. While pulling in and up on our waistline, stretching the obliques, stretching the low back, and again a little massage from side to side. You can also do this with straight legs. For your advanced practice. On this last one, bring yourself back in.

Grab your knees. Let's circle the legs in one direction. So try to literally do nothing in the hips and let the arms do the work and then switch directions. Just what the doctor ordered, this feels wonderful. Bring yourself up to one side and have a seat.

Thank you so much for doing that that advanced math class with me. Again, an homage to my teachers like Kara, Breanna, all the ones that have taught me over the years, and I hope I've inspired you the same way. Let's keep this flowing. Let's hit play again. I'll see you next time at Pilates anytime.