Tessa I agree! I don't think I do any classes that don't include a lot of the back body (this baby does NOT have back, and needs all the help she can get!)

Carla  I didn't do any more posterior chain only classes, but all of them included a lot of it! I try to make sure my classes are about 1/4-1/3 back body!

Ben de burdayım

Ben de burdayım

Delicious! Thank you Mariska!

Hi. I always enjoy your classes. Thank you this one was excellent too. But I have a dilemma. I work with a client and whenever in we do hip lifts her calf cramps up. It’s very painful. Do you have any suggestions on how to avoid this. Of course she’s tried hydration and magnesium. But nothing seems to work.

jeannene Hi Jeannene - Here's a couple of things to try. First, see if having the feet slightly elevated helps. You might try bringing the feet up to the wall and doing it there. Second, let's make sure she's not overusing her hamstrings and missing her glutes (or she can even use her quads to create more balance). First, try doing some side lying isometric presses and see what the knee bend angle is where she feels her glutes and hamstrings without cramping. She can lay on her side and bring her foot up to the wall to press into it (you make sure she remains with her hips stacked). Just have her keep her hips level and press into the wall with her top leg. For actual bridging, play around with how much bend she has in her knee. You can also ask her to lift and press her legs like she's trying to straighten them. That shifts the bridge into a quad-focus over a hamstring-focus. If it stops the cramping, try to make it so it's more even - a contraction of both the quads and the hamstrings when she lifts. And let me know if any of this works! Good luck! Mariska

Mariska Breland thank you for this class. I only discovered you as a Pa teacher during your first few live classes (which I loved and have watched now on PA as recorded) and I have to say your classes have such fun and flow and I never know what’s coming but really find the pilates-ISH element really enjoyable. These classes fly by. 

Kerry Thank you! My specialty is actually in neuroscience and exercise, and when you don't know what to expect in a class, it often feels like it's going faster. (Less of the "oh crap - we're only at single leg kick..." moments). But I just have always taught like this - I get bored easily so I try to mix things up a lot. :) 

Thank you Mariska, great one.