Class #4825

Progressing on the Reformer

45 min - Class
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You will create a strong connection to progress in your Pilates practice with this Reformer workout by Karen Sanzo. She layers in movements that will take you in all planes of motion so that you can feel the work in your entire body. She also plays with tempo and rotation to bring a new sensation to exercises you have already learned.
What You'll Need: Reformer w/Box

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Hello from Pilates Unlimited in Dallas. I'm Karen, this is Roger, my colleague. We work together at the studio. Progressing ourself on the Reformer from beginner, advanced beginner, or advanced beginner to intermediate, we have to start layering in these, we have to start layering the exercises in in order to feel a good connection for progression. So we will start this exercise in standing, and I have one red spring on.

So I like to start and stop my exercises in standing. It's just, it's probably a new kick I'm on or something, but anyway, it really makes sense. And you're gonna put your left leg up on the carriage. So he standing here in this split stance. His right leg is long underneath him.

I'm not gonna turn this into a workshop. I want you to move along with me, but this is not a typical exercise, but it is a typical connection. As you push with your left leg to the left, this right leg, right buttocks is still working, okay? And then release it. So you stretch the spring out, right?

And then you control the spring closing. I'm gonna just keep an eye on his frontal plane here. He's doing just fine. Now, arms come out to the side like a T, and then they grow, right? So the arms are involved here.

So right leg is firmly planting. Right heel is firmly pressing, good job, just like that. Keep going, three more, inhale and then exhale, and then push out, inhale and then exhale. And then last one out, last one in, and pause. Now, hands come behind your head, lace your fingers.

As we grow up tall, we make sure not to extend, right, we just lengthen. Rotate to the bent-knee side with the carriage closed. As you open your chest back to level, you push the carriage away. We'll get five of these in. Rotate the trunk to the bent-knee side, open the trunk, press the leg.

Be mindful that the leg tries not to go into internal rotation, there you go. You feel the outside of that hip, good. And then we've got two more, facing front, pushing leg, nice and firm on this right side. This will be the last one. And then return, pause right there.

Trunk flexion, bending your trunk or flexing your trunk towards your bent knee, but just stay in the sagittal plane. You're just basically doing spine stretch forward, and then come up, and then the belly scoops in. You do spine stretch forward, and then you come in. And then one more time, spine stretch forward, and then come in, and now we have spinal extension. So we lift up the chest, and we shine this star to the sky, and then return.

Notice pelvis not moving, moving spine. So two feet pressing, opening up the chest, and then return. And then we'll do that one more time. Offsetting the legs does provide a little challenge, and then return, very good, leg comes down, switch sides. All right, so standing tall, put your right leg against here, right?

So you're just, the heel is down on the ground. The back is long, the back of the head, the bridge of the nose, right to the center of the occiput, and then just start first just juicing up that right leg, nothing fancy to start with. So you feel the left thigh anchoring down. The left leg is actually pushing to the left. It's just not moving.

All right, arms out to the side like a T, growing wide through your arms as you push, and then come in, push, and then close the spring. Inhale, open the spring and then exhale, close the spring. We'll do this one more time. Very good, and now the hands come behind the head and pause. Rotate to the right, holding the carriage still.

Open your chest, push the leg. That's very nice, and then rotate, close the spring, and then push, and then return. So we have to be mindful that we don't go into extension when we rotate. Very good, and we'll get two more of these. Sometimes I just gently touch the top of the head as well.

It just gives this upward trajectory. Very good, and then pause right there. Now trunk flexion forward, as the belly pulls back, it's like spine stretch in standing. Very good, and do that three times, exhale. The front ribs meet the back ribs.

If you had stripes, the back ribs, the back stripes would be getting bigger, and then they get level, and you flex, the front stripes get closer together, the back stripes, very good. And now extension, so as the foot presses down, the chest lifts up. Now these back stripes would get shorter, front chest opens. Talk about stripes, I love when clients wear stripes. And then return, and then we'll do that one more time.

Very good, all right, come on down, lie on the Reformer. Go ahead and put your springs on there for me. Put on two greens and two reds. So we're gonna have a little hefty spring here to start with. He's warmed up his spine nicely.

And how about a cushion? You like a cushion or the headrest? Okay, let's give a tiny cushion. I like to add this because the whole idea of that little headrest lift is just to melt those ribs down. So starting first heels in parallel, feet on the bar, we're not gonna over-pick the footwork here.

Just push yourself out and come in. So as you push yourself away, one of the advancements, I'm just dancing with him, one of the advancements of the work here is to get a little bit more of a brisk movement. So what's going to happen now is as you inhale, you'll go out and in. Good, and yeah, that's it. So now you're gonna even do that even a little bit quicker.

I'm just gonna, you keep doing that. I'm just gonna move these straps because they make noises. That's realtime. That real happens. Good, good, and then I'm gonna ask, can you do it quicker? Your out meets your in meets your out meets your in.

And five, four, and three and two and rest, pause. We've never done that, but that's a little bit quicker. It's just gets a nice little connection through the trunk. Okay, go to bird feet for me. Roll your feet over the bar, and then roll your heels under the bar.

So just do a little mobilization, that's it, through the feet, good. (inhales deeply) Ah, good, and then flex your toes, and leave your heels in one position, so if toes flex over the bar, just like that. So we inhale out, exhale in. So we start with the, just the normal challenge of the footwork. Again, he's on a hefty spring here to go fast, but the inhale is going out, the exhale's coming in.

If you breathe another way, that's certainly fine. But what we're going to do is change that breath so there's one inhale out and in, one exhale out and in, good. So the first challenge is to increase the breath. Can you feel the inhale and then the exhale? And then the next challenge is to increase the speed, and 10 and nine, pull eight, pull seven, watch those toes, don't bounce off the bar, out, pulls in and two pulls in, and one and rest.

Whew, because jumping then becomes much lighter spring, of course, leaving the Reformer. So breath going, muscles going. Now, slide your feet down one more notch, lift the heels. So without changing where your heels are, same thing, good. Sometimes I love this one on the balls of the feet.

And I just say, let me have puppet strings on your knees. Notice pelvis, he's not pushing from a posterior tilt. He's pushing from the bottom of his thighs where it meets his bottom, you got it. He's already changed the breath on his own. He's ready to speed it up for 10, nine, eight and seven, six and five, good job, four, getting tired, three and two and one, and rest.

Whew, I feel like I was yelling on that one, but it gets it going. That's a really nice way. Love footwork, love to change a speed. Love to change a variability. Okay, lower your feet down here, because this is just a nice feeling of a regular bridge.

So it's a little interlude here. We've done some work, so we're not gonna cool completely off, but just do the kind of bridge you like to do. So maybe articulate a couple up and down, good. And then as your feet press down, if the carriage moves a little bit, that's okay. And then drop your ribs down, and maybe just one more, just like that, very good.

And then bring yourself down, very good. Okay, feet come on top of the bar. All right, so switching now, we're going to have a red and a green for some arm-connected work here, okay? So straps are gonna go, go long here because it's a little bit heavier spring, and believe it or not, we have new green springs, so they're a little bit heavier. So shimmy your shoulders away just a smidge, and then pull the arms a tad, and then just let the legs come right off, okay?

So we've already done the marching. We've already done that business. Your beginner person understands all this, but what they don't understand is the holding power of the hold. Big inhale, big exhale, holding power. Now, can you do single leg stretch one leg out, one leg in 10 times?

And it's for speed, switch your legs and go now, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10, and rest, release your arms. The power of the hold. We gotta find something for that. Someday I'll have a little T-shirt business, Power of the Hold. Anyway, okay, so arms press again.

What's the next exercise in our mat sequence? Double leg stretch, two legs come in. We have to hold, we have to get the integration with the arms and the trunk. It's a heavy spring, legs by themselves, 10 times. (exhales loudly) The out meets your in, meets your three and in and four.

Good, don't need to over-cue this. His head's perfect, his arms are attached to his trunk, thankfully, integration, and we'll get two more, and then last one, and rest. Sometimes the progression is more of the same in a different way, okay? Arms up, next exercise in series, single straight leg. Knees come in, legs go up, a gentle point of the toe.

Switch your legs 10 times. It's a brisk switch, yes. Switch and switch, switch and switch. And here we go, four, four, three, three, two, two, one, one and rest. Wow, awesome, I didn't tell him beforehand what we were gonna do today, much like in a regular class, right? You don't always tell your clients what to expect, but they know there's gonna be a concept there to be built on.

Okay, double leg lowers, hold the arms, bend the knees, two legs go up. Now, double leg lowers three times, just the legs by themselves. Good, good quiver, good hold of your trunk. Now we challenge, now arms go away a little bit, legs go away, arms pull, legs pull just a smidge, and then they pull just one more, you got it. And you did it, bend the knees and rest.

Okay, for the criss cross, it's going to be an advancement. So what happens now is, turn around, you're gonna lie on your back, right? You're going to do thigh poles with a strap. I'll take the headrest away. So now we have to start to teach that body, come on and lie all the way down on your back and put your bottom way close to the edge, right?

So lace your leg through here one leg at a time, and then let your leg rest for a second while I ramble, because sometimes rambling is hard for the client because they're ready to move. Anyway, so on here now, I'm going to just have one red spring, and I'm gonna take this cushion. I'm just gonna put it right here, 'cause I want him to be kind of, yeah, there you go, how's that? Okay, so now when he pulls the thighs, right, so pull, you got it, so now the weight of the spring wants to arch his back, but he's not gonna let the back arch, right? So you're gonna pull your tummy in, almost even think posterior tilt, you got it, because, can you hold that while I ramble?

The posterior tilt moves the hips into extension, but we're not moving the hips in extension. We're moving the hips into flexion. So it's okay to have an imprinted spine here. What's an imprinted spine? Belly pulls in, two thighs move simultaneously.

They pull and then they release, but they keep the tension, good. Look your eyes down your cheeks, good. Because we're what that does is it puts a flexion force in your whole spine, yes, two more. Good, last one, and then let the carriage go. Put your feet on the wood. Does your back feel okay?

Fabulous, okay, hands come behind the head now. Remember I said the criss cross was gonna get a little bit more challenging. So now you can kind of guess what's going to happen, right? So trunk curls for one, thighs pull for two, hold. Criss cross upper body, that's it.

And then the opposite leg pulls that spring, you got it. Here's two, and then two, one more time here, three, pulling that strap from the deep hip. Rest your legs down. Rest your trunk down and rest right there, awesome. Let's come outta there.

So that's having the client of course facing the other direction. That's a really nice progression. So come on up from there, alrighty. So now we're going to jump right to knees kneeling. So come onto your knees facing the back of the carriage.

So we have one red and one blue, and for this exercise, I'm going to have him grab on the straps, right, so that you make information into your arms, right? You're trying to press the shins down. That tones up the back of the thighs, right? So from this position here, head, here's your sacrum, chest back. So pull the arms just a smidge and hold.

So you feel the back of your triceps. You feel the connection here. Just pull your arms to other level with your thigh. Take an inhale, exhale release, but don't let all the straps go, good. And then inhale pull, exhale release.

Inhale pull, turn right, shoulder blades stay, exhale center, release the arms. Big inhale, pull straps to thighs. Look left, exhale release. Now inhale pull, look right, look left on that same inhale, exhale release. Inhale pull, look left, look right, and center, and release and pause.

If we want a larger journey, we can grab even higher up. Maybe grab the tape. Why have a higher journey, I mean a higher hand placement? It means longer journey. It's on a red and a blue.

Just inhale, pull your arms to your thighs, exhale hold, good job, inhale stay, exhale return. The holding power's so important, good. And then pull and hold, pressing the knees. His thighs are engaged, buttocks, you got it. And then return, last time.

I hope you're keeping up with this, inhale pull, hold. Just turn the head side to side several times as the arms work from latissimus. When you turn your head, it helps you stretch those muscles in your neck because the arms are being stabilized by the humeral extensors, good, and then release. That was a little technical, but anyway. Okay, so now we go to thigh stretch.

So now as we progress, we have the strength in the arms. We have the postural muscles in check. So we still have a red and a blue. How's that for thigh stretch? You want two reds? Red and blue is good. Red and blue's good.

Alrighty, so all arms pull, thigh stretch from the knees. I'm looking for space right there, he's got it. Hold and then return, good. Doesn't need a lot of cueing. Let him have at it about three times in a row.

Hold the arms, thigh stretching, repress the shins, return, release the arms. Here's the second one, that's it. There's the thigh space, you got it, and then return. And this will be the last one. He's gonna go back and stay back there, and then say, hey, I think I can do a thoracic extension and then come out of the extension and then release.

And there you have it, adding on the arch. I didn't really help him. If it were a beginner, we'd start with a thigh stretch. If you're a beginner, start with a thigh stretch, add the arch later. Staying on your knees now, your hands will come to the carriage here.

So I'm gonna take this down just to one red spring. So now we've worked that, now we're gonna work in flexion. So he is gonna pull his tummy up to the spine, lengthen this, pull the thighs forward from the action of your belly, even though the thighs pull, and then release, good. Pull, good, and then release, beautiful job. One more time, pull, and then release.

And then pause right there. I'm going to take it to a blue. You take it to a blue as well. Give me one extension where you look in front of you, buttocks lifts up, and then come to level. Now with a lighter spring, I want him to initiate hip flexion just before the belly lifts.

And then he is gonna get a little more range of motion because there's less spring. Go to neutral, good, pull the thighs first, deepen the belly second. And then the thighs come in, lengthening the back, connecting through the front, and then release. You've got one more. Fabulous, right, kind of a forgotten exercise sometimes, a loaded cat, really good as clients progress, as you progress yourself.

One leg out, opposite arm and leg reach. Now, I have the foot bar here. Go ahead and rest your leg just down on that foot bar. Now, before you even lift your leg, can you tighten everything? Good, yeah, so you don't even really have to lift it, right?

So it's all engaged. Now from here, no movement of the spine, just maybe pull the left thigh, maybe not. It's just a connection, you got it, three times. It's just a connection, outside leg holding, you got it. Let's get one more, and then switch.

Opposite arm and leg reach, love that exercise. Let your leg rest a second. Pelvis is level, lengthen head, chest, sacrum all in a line, and then pull, just three times. Spine not changing, you got it, last one, very good. Bring the knee down, and then come up from there.

Whew, tying in some good flexion connections there. Now move yourself backwards. Stay facing that direction, please. But yeah, so your feet are now going to come off the edge to give your ankles a little break. Open your knees almost as wide as the carriage.

Put your hands here. Keep your bottom down for me. And just flex your head forward to the mat, yeah. So now with the ankles off of the edge and the feet resting, you can really get good contact of the shins. Can you feel the shins? Now, press your knees, your shins down really hard, like you're gonna lift this to the sky.

Good, and then release, yeah. Press the shins, you got it, good. And now take your hands down by your heels behind you like you're gonna grab them, there you go. And his head is almost touching. So we're getting a deep flexion connection, because what other exercises do we need this deep flexion connection on?

Knee stretches and elephant, right? One more time, you got it, and then release. And then step off of there. Turn around, facing the other direction. Now we have two red springs for knee stretches, round, neutral, and we're actually gonna do a little knee stretch a little over-arched.

Okay, so progressing along, nod the head a smidge. So now belly pulls up, right? Sit your bottom back till you feel my hand, very good. So can you see how this is almost the same position when your hands were on your heels there? So arms stay, looking about at the springs.

Have that, oh, let's touch both those feet to that shoulder rest there. I'm being a little picky. Okay, off you go, 10 times, good. Nod your head a little bit more, nod your head, even drop your chin even a little bit more, there you go. So we want this whole flexion connection.

You got it, and three more, and two more, last one, and rest. Left hand behind the back, remember that exercise we did in the very beginning where we added a rotation? So you're going to twist your chest now to the left. When your chest faces down, you're gonna push the carriage back, one arm. And then when it comes in, you're gonna twist the chest.

You got it, and then go and then twist and then push and then twist. And then down, left shoulder blade, you got it, one more. Woo-hoo, very good, and then down, right arm behind the back. Whenever you use one arm, y'all, it should be challenging. It should be telling you something.

So you twist, good, and then you face down, press back, and then you twist. When you twist, you have to pull the shoulder blade and twist, oh, nice, twist that trunk. There's always one side that's just a little more challenging, good job, twice more. Last one, nice job, come off of there to high kneeling. Catch your breath for a second.

Fix your shirt, rub any sweat off, you feeling okay? Yeah. Okay. Okay, same position, same exercise, but it's with a more flat back. So really curl those toes, I like that.

And then I'm just gonna guide the pelvis. Yeah, so it's just flat. It's not extended, it's just flat, okay? Arms press, give me 10, go, push, pull. So as you push and pull, open spring, close springs, right?

Open cling, blah, good. Don't even need to over-cue, message to myself, good. You got one more, pause. Now for today, we're actually going to start to introduce extension here. So as the bottom goes out and the chest comes forward and the head lifts up, good, now you're gonna do it right here.

Now the abdominals are lengthened and they have to pull in in that lengthened position. You should feel a little tug way up by the belly button, good. Three more, and two more, and then last one, and then rest. Whew, bring yourself up to high kneeling. Just make some circles with your arms here.

Yeah, big circles. (inhales deeply) Inhale up, open and down. Good, and just because it's real good to get rotation here, right arm comes out in front. Left arm comes behind you, twist your torso to the left, like you're that little toy, you know that little toy? Oh yeah, and then we pull these arms apart as we twist and then come back to center.

What is that called? Oh, the Chinese finger torture. When you pull apart and then twist, reach the left arm. Left arm not crossing midline, right? So it's just reaching in front of that shoulder.

Good, and then come back, and we'll do that one more time. Twisting, as he twists to the left, it's the right buttocks, good, and then return. And then one more time to the other side. Use your left arm forward, use your right arm back. This also is saw on the mat.

How much can you reach and lengthen and spiral, and then return yourself all the way back, and rest. Alrighty, progressing now to our side plank, okay? First of all, we're gonna do a side mermaid. So have a seat with your shins facing the carriage. We'll just put on a red spring, not a picky mermaid here.

Just something to get him going. So left arm sweeps up, press with the right arm, over you go, and then come back. Do that three times, so over you go, so now it's shortened on the right, lengthened on the left. Now on this last one, you're gonna go over there and stay over there. And then you're gonna turn this into, nope.

You're gonna turn this into a side plank by dropping your left ribs down and think, yes, there you go, now hold that right there. So now we have two sides that are level. And what I'd like you to do is just press the carriage without side-bending your torso anymore. Can you feel the two sides even? Looks really good, and then bring yourself all the way back and switch sides.

Oftentimes in a plank it's really challenging to recognize the evenness in the side plank, I mean. Alrighty, so arm out, and then just side bend first. So get some breath into those top ribs, very good. And then sweep the arm like you're painting the ceiling, pushing with this one, there you go. And then last one, come on over.

Now, stay over there, and then let your left ribs navigate downward, good, belly pulls backwards, right? So we still keep these same packages in line. That's hard, that's a quiver. And then bring yourself all the way up, and rest from there, nice job. Okay, please grab the long box.

Remember, this program for you, yourself, and we're gonna take this box, now we're just gonna put it like this. Remember the program, just to give him a little breather here and give yourself a little breather, the program is advancing yourself, it's moving forward, so progressing some of the exercises in a fun yet challenging way, speed, holding for time. Those kind of things are really important. So this is a side plank now. So two knees stacked there kind of like Cleopatra, mermaid-ish, you know?

And then your forearm will go here or just kinda like on the mat. So side-sit your bottom down, yeah, there you go. And then move, yeah, your knees have to come this way, I think, yeah, a little bit more, good. Now are you sweaty? I think I need to get a little sticky pad, yeah.

Let me get a little sticky pad. How's that? All right, so let's have this little challenge here. So in this position here, you see lengthened on the bottom, shortened on the top. All's I want the body to do is understand level, all right?

So big inhale, right arm presses down, pelvis lifts up, and show me level. Take your left arm to the ceiling, you got it. That's it, that's all we're doing right there, hold, and hold, he's quivering, he's fully connected, good. And then bring yourself all the way down, rest. So this is a progression, if you will, from mat, right, because you're pushing against the carriage as well.

So you're on your forearm, ready, here we go. This is the second one, whoa, nice job. Hold, you got it, just like that, and then come on down. When you're ready, you'll go up. You'll hold it for a breath or two at the top.

Yeah, so you make the challenge, right? You can make a circle with your top arm even. You can use that to challenge you. Your bottom arm is pressing down. Your bottom knee is pressing down, very good.

Bring yourself down and rest, and we'll do two more. (inhales deeply) Press down, lift up, hold up, yeah, very good. And then come down, and then this is the last one. Hold yourself right there, yeah. Maybe you, can you open your chest to the ceiling a little bit?

Good, can you face your chest to the floor a little bit? Getting a little twisting in, very good. Are the two knees pressing down to the floor? They are, and then rest, so many questions. We really need to just ask ourself questions, right, when we're doing this, can I do this?

It's okay if the answer's no, right? Okay, the other side, Can you see how this almost leads to snake, right, where you're upside down, getting through the core, getting through the trunk here. Alrighty, five times, ready and push and lift and hold, strong right arm, very good job. Just like that, and then come down, five. Two knees are pushing down to the basement.

Elbow is pressing down, you got it. And then bring yourself down, that's two. Here's the third one, and then press up. See how his two knees press down into the carriage? So important there, good, and then return.

And this is gonna be the last one for us. Down, lift up, ask yourself the question. Can I open my chest to the ceiling? Good, can I return? Can I turn my torso to the floor a hair while I connect through the trunk in the front?

You got it, bring yourself all the way down and rest. All right, we're gonna take this box away. Lift your foot bar. Put on two red springs for our plank. So come to standing.

Plank, right, the two, the just regular plank. So let's lift the headrest up, two balls of the feet here. Never let your knees touch down, 10 planks, off you go. Something familiar, something fun that people know how to do. You don't have to build a complex exercise with every exercise.

You want success to be felt. You want accomplishments to be felt, and they know how to count to 10, right? Are you about six or seven, aren't you? Yeah, I can almost guess how long I can talk to get this done. When you stop, you're not gonna kneel down.

You're gonna lift your butt and climb your feet forward a smidge to prepare for elephant. Now the elephant today, first he's gonna do a very common lengthened elephant. Go ahead and tighten up these thigh muscles. Lift up those piggies, lift them up, good. Pull those thigh up, that's it, and just gimme 10 to 12.

Staying nice and long, very good. Regroup those thighs, regroup those toes lifting. Good, very good, are you okay? Alrighty, now pause. Now, the body is going to come a little, move your feet forward just a hair, so as if the shoulders were moving, the shoulder pads are moving with him.

So your torso is gonna come more forward this way, right, 'cause we're getting a flexion connection, right? So now legs, toes, we're gonna lift those toes, good. Push out, no, no, feet, heels stay down, that's it. And then pull in, there you go. We've never done this before.

Keep the work from here, keep your body forward. Can you come even more forward over your hands? It's gonna feel like you can't, but you can. Three more, I'm yelling in his ear, two more. Ah, last one, very good, and then lower yourself down and rest.

Whew, okay, really important in that nice elephant to keep that deep flexion connection in the front. Other elephant is fabulous, just making a little challenge, building that flexion connection just a little bit more. And now we have extension. So now we grab the long box again, or the box, and we'll put it long ways for pulling straps. Okay, one green, on the belly, excuse me.

Okay, so we're gonna grab the straps. Alrighty, so first we recognize level, right? So we're gonna let the chest rest. We're gonna reach the thighs long and then the shoulder blades, there you go. Give me five, just five regular pulling straps, one and two and three, four, good job, last time, pull and hold, good.

Hold the straps right there. Now take the chest and lift it up as you reach your arms any bit longer. Lift your face now, and then everything goes down, release the straps. We'll do that five times, arms first. Then journey the chest forward, right, as the arms continue to pull back and then lower down.

That's it, pull and hold, pull, nice triceps. Now journey that chest upward, legs are long, and then lower yourself down, very good. This is last one, best one. Pull, reach, lengthen, shine the chest forward, very good. And then lower yourself down and rest.

Whew, okay, take your arms longer on the straps. Grab the thickest part. Take your arms out to the side like a T. Now pause for a second here. Raise them too high, 'cause we don't want that.

Now take 'em too low, and we don't want that. We want somewhere in-between. Punch the knuckles wide to the side, and just pull the arms two to three inches, and then release, and then pull two to, that's it, good. And then release, one more time, pull and hold. Now, like a little airplane, turn your torso to the right and then return.

Turn your torso to the left and then return, arms reaching wide, twist to the right one more to time, and then return. And one more time to the left and return, release the straps, and hang up those straps, and come off, all right. Short box side-ups, but not the side-ups, just holding the side plank. So we're gonna put a little bit of extra spring on here. Can you come and have a seat, go ahead and face the camera.

So now, we really have to understand the top body hip here. So just get yourself over in the position. Put your hand here, and just hold yourself. Let's see what that looks like, oh, nice. So he just happens to fit this perfectly, good.

Arms come up, good, so all's we're gonna do here is pull. Well, we, not we, he is going to do this. Pull up this leg until you feel this muscle. Then your other arm is just gonna hover, that's all, that's perfect, just like that. The hold is the advancement, don't need to do anything else.

Very good, and then rest. (exhales loudly) Just three times, you all right? Yep. We're hitting the home stretch here, okay. Pull up on the side hip.

Lots of good information here, good. We've already worked that side hip when we started in standing, and then let go and hold. And then come back down and rest, and you just have one more. Pull-up on that hip, load that side pelvis, load that side, you got it, and good. Count to five, count to four.

Good, Roger, three, two, one, rest, switch sides, nice job. Be sure and check your strap. Make sure nothing is, you know, unconnected or coming off. And then it's different from each side sometimes. So take out that arm, very good.

Now, first just feel the length, and then just hover that right arm up, you got it. That's it, hold for five. Push the heel up, yes, you did it. And then rest, makes a difference. Just like in the side plank, you have to press the bottom heel down.

So many rules, okay, press up, here we go. Hold right there, checking out the side. Yep, very good, and then rest. Okay, y'all last one, best one, take it on up. Ooh, I get so excited here, good, hold, hold, hold.

And then release, and then take yourself off of there. Come on off of there, alrighty. All right, and just come and lie down on your back. I'll give you your little cushion back. I'm gonna change the springs, they're already there, to what we started with.

Two knees into the chest, last little bit of core, holding there as I reposition the foot bar. Two feet on the bar, arms long, running, and then bottom lift, good. And then when we run, when we run, I think it's so important that we make it be active, that it's not just a swish of the booty, but it's a work leg lift, leg lift. Good, good, and 10, nine and eight, seven, six and five, good. Four, three, two, one, bend the knees, come all the way in.

Now, I'm gonna take the headrest out. This bottom lift is gonna be so little, okay, that all's I want him to do is tip the pelvis. Yeah, it's just the tiniest bottom lift to get that lengthening of the back, and now go halfway out and then pull in, yeah. So it's really, it's even more than an imprinted spine. It's actually a posterior tip.

Your back ribs are heavy, right? And you can even lift up a little bit higher now, that's it, but it's only from that tip. And we're not extending the legs all the way because in the posterior tilt, it's already using up the back of the legs a little bit. So this is really nice for the back, last one. Very good, and then bring yourself back in and pause.

Roll to your side, come up to standing, and then stand in the front, or excuse me, the back of your carriage. So a little light springage here, this is just one red spring. So we're all done, but just to finish up with a little standing roll forward, we'll just stand and put the palm of your hands on that. Nod your head, look towards your thighs, right? And then just push the carriage away from you.

Take your body with you, hold, and then pull it back, yeah. So this is kind of combination of push, right, and then come in, and now can you hold the carriage in, lift your heels up a couple of times, good. And lift the heels up a couple of times. One more time, good, now drop the heels. Now press the carriage out.

Now can you hold the carriage there, hold your sacrum here, but now let your chest slide through. So now we invite the extension in. We hold that, and then nod the head, flex the trunk up as the carriage comes back, and then one more time. So we press, hold, we lengthen, (inhales loudly) big inhale, and then exhale, come back in, and then bring yourself all the way up. The hands will come behind your head, and back up just a little bit.

And now kinda how we started, take your right foot just up to that platform several times. So up and down, right, switch to left. And then yep, other side, and then ask yourself, can I lift my leg to the bar? Yeah, can I, there you go. Can I take it on top of the bar?

Good, these hip flexion core, can your arms go to the ceiling and you still do it? You got it, five and four and three and two and one and rest. Awesome job, thank you for joining us. I hope you had as much fun as we did, thank you.

Key Connections: Find your 'A-Ha' Moment

Comments

1 person likes this.
I enjoyed this class a lot. Thanks very much.
Janie J
1 person likes this.
great class.  good info.  
Sure do miss your studio live and in-person! But this is definitely the next best thing. More Karen Sanzo, please!!
1 person likes this.
Lots,of good goodies! 💋
Lori
1 person likes this.
Really enjoying this series! Am definitely going to try this version of side plank.  Thanks!
Christine S
1 person likes this.
Love this class Karen, great ideas for progressing and layering. Thank you :)
Amazing work and progressions. My classes will  love this! Thank you. 
2 people like this.
I love when clients wear stripes! I think I can "read" the seams! 
Ollie S
2 people like this.
Always enjoy your class- very clear instructions! Thank you
1 person likes this.
Lovely class Karen! Love your encouraging and tempting cues, along with interesting progressions and variations! Adding spice along with strength and length! Look forward to more of your classes!
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