Create Connections

Welcome to Pilates anytime. I'm Elizabeth Larkham, so happy to be with you for this tutorial, create new strong connections. We're going to do some moves in this class and introduce them to you in this tutorial that you have never met. You're going to be using the box in a variety of orientations with a carriage that has no springs attached. But wait, don't be concerned.

There's nothing dangerous about this. We are only finding new vectors of connection that you've never met before through your abdominals. First of all, let's set up the box exactly in the middle of the frame. Just get out your measuring tape and measure the distance that the carriage slides from one end to the other and then have that distance and put a piece of tape right on the frame that mark the middle of the runway of your reformer. The box is going to go.

The middle of the box goes exactly aligned with the middle of this tape. Now, when you use the box, you'll use it in a variety of orientations. So for example, you have the large surface area of the box up just in case you might like a foam roller. And then thank you Nicole. Then you can put this foam roller right in the middle of the box, and you will be all set for your lateral translation.

Now be sure you check the show notes that give you detailed instruction just exactly how to keep your pelvis steady on the roller while you challenge yourself with different abdominal connections. Now, right away, you can appreciate that the conventional use of the reformer does not involve a lateral translation of your thorax with respect to your pelvis or your pelvis with respect to your thorax. We'll just hand the roller off to Nicole and get you back to your work at hand here. Now, Not only can you use your thorax and your pelvis translating with your abdominal control when you lie on your back, but you can also, do some of those translations when you put the box in a different orientation and work on your quadruped translation, your quadruped translation with rotation. Now as the class progresses, you will come to quadruped with rotation that requires an anterior and posterior glide.

And I just would like to bring to your attention that this particular abdominal activation, although you might not have met it before, is only effective when you stay low in the saddle to the carriage. Many of my students think that they're going up, rotating up and down, but no. Get the side of your pelvis, your greater trochanter, closer and closer to the carriage. Then you activate your abdominals in deflection. Now not only do you create new strong connections in quadruped, but also for your hamstring bridging Let's put the box in a different orientation now and put the box with the large surface area up sufficient distance from the carriage so that you can support your entire torso on the box and put your feet on the carriage.

Now I promised you that we would sequence for success so that you could move safely through the exercises, which is why when you first lie on your back with your on the box, with your feet on the carriage, You keep your pelvis on the box and prepare your hips, knees, ankles, feet, and lower spine area for this side glide. Then, you'll be well prepared for bridging. Now in bridging, there's a particular technique that will prepare you for efficient success, which is plant your heels and lead your heels in the direction you want to go. Plant your heels and aim your heels towards the risers. Plant your heels and aim your heels to the foot bar.

When it's time to advance to your single leg, at first, you'll have the experience of your foot one foot on the carriage without the bridge. Here, your heel leads where you're going to the foot bar and then your toes lead the way to the risers, then your heel can take over. Your toes lead where you're going, then your heel takes over. So you make a a distinction between your rear foot and your forefoot. Your forefoot leads.

Your rear foot follows. Your forefoot leads. Your rear foot follows. So you can appreciate You can appreciate that. There's a lot that goes on behind the scenes in terms of your, organizing the connections between your feet and your abdominals.

Now another exercise that we do that you might not have met before is the side plank. You'll keep your box in the same configuration. And then you slither to the edge of the box, preparing a platform with your shoulder girdle. Your elbow is aligned with your shoulder. Your bent elbow forearm is on the box. Your hand is over the edge of the box.

When you have your knee shin foot on the carriage, first of all, you sequence for success. Stay in your side plank and just enjoy the experience of hip extension with thoracic rotation and hip flexion. As your knee glides, slides back, you turn to look over your shoulder. Now, keeping your pelvis on the box, your floor leg moves in opposition to your carriage leg, you're building your skill level here. Then get ready to intensify the ground, the box contact with your forearm, your elbow, and your hand.

Lift your pelvis up. And then when your pelvis is lifted, you have a platform to stand on so to speak on the box. Now all of these different orientations of with of you with respect to to the carriage They are, quote, out of the box from how long box and short box are usually used in our more conventionally choreographed conformer classes. In those classes, with the short box and the long box. You can pretty much count on the fact that organizing inflection in the sagittal plane is the primary way of strategy for using the abdominals.

But here in this class, you have an opportunity to use your deep abdominals in a variety of orientations in lateral translation. Also in rotation, thoracic rotation, as well as the more conventional, sagittal plane. Now all of this is useful, for two main reasons. One, it has to do with, stimulating your motor cortex. Always giving you a new orientation, something novel, a novel experience or position with respect to the reformer. That is useful for you and your students because our nervous systems love novelty.

And if it's the same old, like, oh, I've done that exercise before, I'll think about something else. No. Here you have a chance to say, try this. It's safe. It's effective and you've never met it before. That makes your students and you curious and also gets a little surge of dopamine, which is good for keeping attention. Now, another reason, that this is useful, useful for your Pilates practice is that the the narrow myofascial system is so complex in terms of vectors that if we limit ourselves to the sagittal plane, we are limiting the amount of, the amount of the number of, fibers that we can recruit.

So that when you leave the reformer, you'll be all sequenced for success and ready to go. Thank you so much for joining me for this tutorial. I would just like to thank ever so much balanced body for, giving us this bravo reformer. The bravo reformer is making its debut at Pilates anytime, with this class. So thank you for joining us. I look forward to the next time we're together.