Class #1168

Advanced Reformer

65 min - Class
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Niedra teaches an advanced Reformer class that demonstrates the strength, flexibility, control, and coordination needed to get a well rounded and challenging workout. You can see in the beautiful movement by Micah Wylie how athletic and powerful Pilates can be. She includes many challenging exercises like Headstand, Backbend, and Kneeling Side Arms for you to work on.
What You'll Need: Reformer w/Box, Baby Arc

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Good evening everybody. I'm very excited that I have my student and pure Micah, Micah, why, why I don't even know his last name. And I've known him for many years now. He is now a teacher trainer. I wanted, he's a teacher I should say probably to be a trainer down the line. What is wonderful about Mikey really represents a lot his method from the perspective of healthy athletic, powerful men. And when you work with people who works extensively with guys and athletes and PR professional to be athletes because the method offers so much high level of fitness we often don't think of because it cha demands strength, flexibility, control coordination, a lot of mental dexterity and speed and it's an extremely well rounded and challenging workout. And we don't usually think of plots like this, like a real high level fitness program. And yet it truly is.

I will be doing the advanced reform, a workout with Micah. And um, I think it will be a real, real pleasure to work out with him and to see what it looks like when a man truly does this work with the masculine energy, power and vitality that Michael will display. So we're going to start with the court work and um, as you can see, my Mike knows all of the transitions starting out. He knows how he changes the machine himself. I will be doing very little. For me it's a fast track, little bit faster. Micah nine and last one 10.

Moving onto bird on a perch really worked the toes. I want to see all the metatarsal is visible as you're working out a little bit faster now. And the focus totally on pulling the machine back in every time it's drawing the machine in. And when you're done with those, you move on to your heels, flex and allay even a little bit faster. So all the footwork at this level is to warm up the body, spread the toes a lot and keep pulling the little toes up towards the outer needs of the little toe and big toe. Part of the foot is extremely active and moving on to tendon. Stretch all five toes on Michael Little toes as well.

So adjust the fee to get the little toe on little toe. It's off. I want it on there we go. And lower down and lift. Very important to get the foot foot working and to innercise. Nicely held and three and force a nice length up through the crown of the head. Long Spine and very narrow held hips.

It also long. This is a beautiful example of what can happen in the pelvis when you start to train that whole part of the body. Well and hundreds are next for me today I'd like you to um, do the a hundred starting with the legs up, lowering down every, every 10 a little bit to work, all the aspects of your powerhouse reaching long start your pumps nice and energetic. Keep softening into the sternum and reaching through the arms. So he's lowering and the beauty of the lowering of the legs gradually is it works different parts of the powerhouse. Keep softening the sternum and lifting a little bit further up with yes and reached through those arms a little bit more. So you're trying to touch the foot bar. Yeah, just keep going and hopefully you're counting because I am not advanced work.

I don't have to work very hard. Wonderful. Okay. Overhead. So we've gone from four springs to two springs is a grads. Machines only see four springs and they are, and then wrote down. Very nice work and press over and lift way up where?

Push against my hand even higher. Lift the chest and roll down when you go over it. Now don't bring the legs lower than the hips. Too Low. Lift up even more. Mike and bear. Yes. Roll down. And one more time so that feet say higher than your hips.

Now presses hips way of pushing down with the arms and rolled down. Coordination and inhale, hold the breath. Opening close. Bend your knees, Bend your arms. Inhale. Hold your breath. Exhale, exhaling, soften the chest even more. Last one, add little beats and cross the legs. Go lower legs, lower legs.

There we go. Keep lengthening through the powerhouse. Bend. Swing around for rowing. So as he's swinging around, he's releasing his spring. He's setting the pelvis up. So it's one hands with from the edge of the roof of the edge of the uh, this bed and scoop your navel to roll back. Soften the chest, arms out. Don't move the body. Push now bring the head forward.

Touch the hands behind you. Big Circle with the arms up, all the way around. Pull your head down and stretch and come back up and roll back again. Open the shoulder blades and soften the front body out. Push. Come forward. Some stuff. Big. Stretch. His shoulders tend to be a little yes. There we go.

Big Circle all the way over. Nice stretch. Come back up one more time. Rolling back. Take those arms out, sums down and bring those sums together and from the shoulders, stretch the arms. Lift them up, and now open up the back body as you stretch. Pull back to release the rib cage. Awesome. Now 90 degree angle, lift the chest up and hinge back. Only 45 degrees. Micah, come back up and hinge forward. See if you can touch the floor with the hands. Thumbs, touch behind you. Big Circle with the arms all the way over.

Beautiful work. Very even. Work with the arms. Nice stretch down and come back up. Lift the elbows. Come to all the way. Power to the floor. Hinged hips tight. Come up in one long piece. Lift. Stretch the arms out. Bring the arms down and back and links and big long circles.

Giving him a little extra stretch. Lengthening out. Come back up one more time. Stretch the arms out by your ears. This last one all the way down. Parallel to the mat. Strong hip. Stretch the arms out. One piece from the hips of the reach with the arms. Reach with the arms.

Reach long body, long arms. Bring those arms behind your thumbs. Touch and big circle. Long circle all the way up. All the way. I grab your feet in length in your body, out on your legs. Swing around the face, the front. Very nice work reaching from the armpits and stretch the arms out and fill up the back ribs.

Keep the shoulders down as the arms come up all the way out, all the way down. And again, reach out. Bring the hands down, lift the chest, lengthen the spine up all the way out, all the way down. Phillip. These back ribs. As you stretch forward, keep them full as you bring their hands down. Come up through their head. Reach up, tighten hips more beautiful all the way out. Flex your feet and slide further. Keep the stomach off the sizes as you reach. Roll up and lift the arms all the way out. And again, slide forward. Heels away from you. Stretch the hands beyond. Yes, roll up.

Shoulders are down. Lots are strong, all the way out. One more time, still up the back body reach as you roll up, feel the shoulder blades gliding down your back up. Very nice shaving elbows are wide and shaved the back of your head and lengthen from the waist. Very good. Keep the elbows behind the plane of the ears. Lifting links in the neck. That's it. And lengthen from the hips. And the last one, stretch up and pause here and stretch from your tailbone through your hands even more. Let yes, open the arms out. Cross your feet the other way.

Take a breath in and breathe out and close and inhale open. Exhale, close. Inhale, open. Exhale, close. Inhale, open. Reverse your breath. Yes, lift the chest. Very good. And third one. Excellent work.

And step up. Set yourselves self up for long box so each machine is a little bit different. Always takes a moment to get used to the apparatus where the hooks are, where the handles are pulling on. The straps is done on, oh, I'm sorry. Before pulling out the straps. Swan. Yes. So two springs for this one. Oopsy daisy. There we go.

I would push out a little bit more. Micah, because you're tall and then bring the arms up and back. Lift the arms up and scoop the naval as you go down, hovering over the box, sweep the arms forward. Up, stretch out. Scoop the navel. Lower your chest down, scooping and bend the knees and come back down. Open the arms out. So next one, Mica, reach the arms forward towards me as you come up with the arms forward by your ears, keeping the knees, no, go back down again. We'll go over this variation. So press out, just attack. Just the attack. Now bring the arms up forward towards me. It just slipped, you know from the front, reaching. Yes. Now lift up. Lift up as much as you can. Take the arms out. Hover now, arms come from the side up.

Lift your chest, press out with the legs. Lifting further. Come forward, scoop the navel. Bend the knees and come down. Opening the arms out to the side. And one more time. Arms come forward towards me. No forward. Lift the chest. Take the arms out, scope the navel and lower the body. See you hover. Now the obstacle from the side up, side up, lift, press out, lift even more. Come over the bar, the box and hover.

Bend your knees and come all the way down. Very nice. Arms, go to the side and now lift up and release the spring. This was done on two strings. Now pulling on the straps, press the carriage out and lower down. Beautiful work. Long arms, legs are long. Scoop the naval a little bit. So from your tail through the crown of the head, you tried to be a straight line. If the ribs a little bit more, know before you start pulling. If the ribs up. That's it. Now lift your head a little bit. There's your beautiful line. Okay, pull back with those arms. Pull and release the arms long and again, pull and release.

See I'm squeaky arms even closer to you or the box and only back then in the upper chest. Yes, that is good. So from here to here, your long and release arms to the side, t-shaped, arms out nice and lifted arms and pull the arms back above your buttocks and open the arms I have now internally rotate and soften the elbows. Squeeze. Yes. Open the arms out. One more time, even more. Lift in the chest. Open those collarbones. Bring those hands. Alright. Together, open the arms out and on your backpack. Stork. Hold the handles and step off. Add a spring. So he's back on two springs again.

And this transition should be almost flawless. Minimal movement, arms and legs up open. Pull down and lengthen those legs. Lift that chest, lift that chest, lower the legs and come back in. I'm the n*****s up open and reach. Lower the legs. Lift the chest. Yes, come back down one more time. Lift open, pull down, reaching long. Lift that chest. Come back down and teaser.

Hold the handles. He's now releasing one spring lowering back for full teasers. So arms a long legs are long. Naval is tight. And roll up the teaser. Scoop and roll up. Reach the arms towards your feet three times down and up. Keep lifting a little out of your lower back, Mike, but keep the back ribs full too. One more time.

Lift the arms a little high or lift and scoop the neighbor. Roll down, roll open everything out. Release and relax and roll up again. Gather into the powerhouse role and see if you can circle those arms. Yes. So you can get those arms higher and even higher. Lift them and roll back down. Roll back down.

Open everything out and release. And last one, reversing the circle. Scoop to lift up the teaser. Roll, roll, roll and lift. Reversi arms lift from the lacks up. Good. Tried to get the arms higher. Eventually the arms will come by your ears. You lift that much you have? Yes. Good, good, good.

Open everything out. Release and breaststroke. So one spring. So his knees are just over the edge. You Ready? Okay. Bend the knees. Here we go. One, two, three. Stretch the arms forward. Lift the arms up. Open them, open them.

Open and bent. When you bring the arms up next time, try to get them right by your ears. Stretch. Lift them up. Pick those arms up back towards me. Keep opening. Good. One more time like this. And stretch, lift, lift. Open the arms. Keep moving. Keep moving. Very good. And rest. Okay. Horseback. Very nice work. So the more you can get the arms coming up, the more you'll be able to use it to open the high chest and shoulders.

So we'll do horseback backwards, back, horseback. So this is an archival version. It's fun to do it slightly different. Works the triceps. So scoop and lift up in your saddle. So stretch the legs up and lift right and take the arms down and pull them six times. Keep the hands much closer to your side. Yes. So you stay with the heads almost under your box.

Keep filling up the back ribs and yes, that's until you lift the stomach, but you lengthen the back and then sit back down. And one more time and scoop to lift up as, as someone's punching you in the chest, Mike. I want, yes, that's it. So there's a contraction in the pex and a broadening a car across the back and there was a cute rabbit running outside that was so adorable and sit back down and rest. Awesome. Okay. You are now going on for long stretch series [inaudible] so I like Mike is moving it now. He's sick two so he's adjusting.

So it's a longer range that he's working with. He's on two springs. I would like you to bring your heels even more forward. And then press out, keeping the navel in very, very good. And tighten the hips as you come back in. Yes. So you are in a locked position for out you go again, further out, further out, further out if you can, and then come back in. Keeping this steel rod of a body. That's very good. One more time pressing out.

I said long and then come back in with control. Hips. Very firm. When you knees down for down stretch, get all five toes on Micah and the heel. [inaudible] the hips and shoulders down. Yes, not back down. Why children's out you go, keeping the powerhouse held so you're not letting the back open too much. Come back and you're just lengthening front and back.

Body tried to lift out of your lower back and narrow the hips. So you're just long. One more time. Go back, go back. Further out. And this time when you come up, come into an arch, lift that chest, open the shoulders. Good. Lift the arms up and go into a little as much of a backbend as you want and then bring the arms up for up. Stretch. Very good. Hips come up. Head is right in towards the knee. So you dive your head way, way, way in.

Scoop the tail and press out hips. Bring your carriage out. Come straight forward over this bar. Scoop the Navel and bring your head to your knees. Nose. That's it. Press out again. Work the hips more right there. Press all the way forward and scoop the naval in.

One more time. Ribs. Pull in floating ribs in. Good, broad, upper back and lift. Elephant flat-footed. Toes up. Shift the weight more forward. Mica and broaden across the shoulder blades. Yes and eight times. Bring the carriage in and lift the toes more and bring the carriage in little bit faster and pull it in. Three, pull it in. Four. Try not to move in the upper body at all. Five and six.

Two more times and seven and eight. Lift your right leg up for Arabesques. Take it straight back. Just parallel to the floor right now. Parallel. Flex the back leg and three times. Keep the right waist pulling up one right waist pulling up two.

Yes, there we go. So your whole trunk is even. Take the leg to the side and again, three times. Bring it in one. Bring it in to bring it in. Three and in front or stork with the knee. Straight or bent and keep that right. Waist lifting and the right hip for the back. That's it.

Two and three other side. Yeah, there like parallel. Good. Both sides of the waist. Long ripe hip back there. You're too good. Don't drop this hip so much. Lift the left hip. Okay, out you go. Three times one, two, very good. Three, take the leg to the side and again, one, pull it in. One, pull it in to pull it in. Three, bring the leg in front of you both sides of the ways. Work one and two and three. Now take your left foot. Step up on the top of the shoulder. Rest, lift the other leg in the air and you're going to push out and in three times with this leg at just as hot. Then bring the carriage in. Bring it in. One, bring it in to bring it in. Three other legs.

See if you can do it just with the leg, not with the arms. So the leg pushes out pool. Paul. Very good and pool. Okay. Okay. Step down. Good work, long back, stretch and foot, hand, foot. You're still on two springs and lower the hips down. Push out, way out there. Lift the hips up and bring the carriage back. And again, press out and use a power in the hips to get you out and come back in and press out. Use a power they have. Suppress you out and come back in. And now lift the hips and go out. Hips up, up, up, long back and open the chest and press way out and lift out of your dad's it. Press and lift way up and stepped down.

Good work and stomach massage. So back on the forth springs and lovely way to get in and out you go. So even this stomach massage is indeed a massage. She's been working really, really hard quite fast. Keep the speed going. It's in a funny way, a form of a cooldown because the body's been working really hard. Muscularly and the fast movement actually allows the muscles to relax a little bit. Make sure the head is soft. And when you've done your 10 you release this spring and take the hands behind you.

See how high up on the hips you can go still keep the back ribs full and the shoulders pressing down a little bit faster and broaden the shoulder blades. Don't let them be crunched so much. That's it. Because you're prepping your whole trunk for the one without hands. Very, very good. And when you're done, release another spring and instead of the arms in front, I want the arms up and press out and keep the chest for word. So you work the powerhouse. That's it.

So there's this tendency of the body to collapse and you're fighting that tendency. And then go from here to the twist. Open the arms out, lip between the hands, twist, lift, that's it. Twist and lift. One more time. Twist and lift. Come back and hold the football. Give yourself a stretch. Stretch the hamstrings, ankles, and one more time. Whatever feels good. Press out again. Lower and lift. Very good.

And come back in tendance stretch. So two springs, I would have the two outer springs. Micah moving back into normal gear to outer springs. He has a slight block just to make sure the springs don't fall apart. So lift your hips up and three times out in, in ports and hips come up right away. Again, power and keeps come up right away. One more time. Press and come back up and step off or sit down and step up.

You're going to do the side ones from standing behind. So get one foot on the yes. So on this for spring one, this foot is here. You want to aim your hip right opposite your foot. No, you actually can work with the outer swing. Oh, with the out, right? A little bit less in. So you have the four hooks. You between the two outer ones? Yeah. So cause the pelvis. Yup. Okay. Here you go. So you press south with the leg and lift the leg up. One, lift the leg up to lift the leg up. Three leg to the side.

You're not going to the back. Get it to the side. You going back? There it is. Good. Other side. Okay. Take a moment and other leg so you swing the leg up and push. Keep this left leg lifting and lifting to the ceiling.

Up to the side. One more time and leaf. I'm going to lift it. Bring it in front. It's in line with your hip. Get the leg to go up. Okay. Very good. Step down. Short spine massage. Do you want a towel? Yes. You work hard. [inaudible] okay.

And press up with the legs and lift right away, Huh? Amazing roles for the spine. Push the heels down. Press out again. Lift the hips right away. Bend the knees. Try not to push into the knees, but use your stomach and your backlinks in the sit bones and relax the legs. Relax the legs. Yes. Bend your knees in. Pre-Sold again, Micah, and start lifting your hips from here. Lift the hips. Push up, up, up, up.

Very good. Bend the knees. Roll away. Just making sure your back. It's nicely massage and come down. And now frogs in the air. So pressing, lift up. Okay. Oh, she's going like you're going like that. Okay, good. Now eight of those you've done two. I'd like you to suppress these out as much as you can as you go.

Keep pushing the hips forward. Yes. So you work into that Galong diagonal. Very good. And when you've done your eight, you'll come on down. Very, very good. And roll down. Get your feet out of here and head stand front.

So hook the handles back behind you on the hooks, right? So football is up. So He's put it again into third year and he's added a block so it fits his body size and stepping up. That's it. Head is down. And step up and straighten the leg. So just this, narrow the hips. And now when you're ready, press out. Lower the hips, lift the hips and bring the carriage and keeping the shoulders high. Yes, press out again. Nice narrow hips. Lower the hips, lift the hips, bring the carriage in. One more time. Press out, lower the hips, lift the hips, bring the kerogen and step straight down. If you can. Very good headstand back.

Very nice. Lift the shoulders and just press out three times. So a lot of work in the neck and in the upper arms to keep the weight off the neck and it control a lot of control in the legs. Very good. Lift your head and then lower down. Very, very good. And chest expansion is next. So long arms narrow. Hips and pull back with the arms.

Pull head to one side, head to the other side. Look straight. Release the arms. And when you pull again, squeeze those shoulder blades together. Head and head and straight and release. One more set. Try to hold the front ribs in and still squeeze the shoulder blade. Yes. Head, head straight. Release and long, long, long. And the elbows and the wrist. Last one, Paul had head straight and released.

Very good size trucks. So he's adding a spring. So he's on three springs now. Long arms. Lengthen the arms way out. And remember Micah, I want the ribs closed and the shoulders for like stomach massage. Hollow up. Look down at your navel. Totally hollow. Yes. And lift the arms to come up. I'd still like your chest in front of your hips.

You're still leaning back, that you serve even more. Four round down even more before you start round and get the handles out there. They'll make a lot of noise, even more. Lean, more forward note. Keep the hands closer. And so Micah, have a look at me. You're still a little bit here. I want you more. Yes.

Keep like that. And then hinge back. Make the thighs do the work. Yes. And if the arms to come back up. So the hips go almost to the heel. Look right down and go into back bend. If you want way down, narrow the hips. Open the chest and the shoulders. Only close the chest and shoulders. Close the shoulders closed.

Yes. And bring the hips. Make the hips, bring you up. Very good back then. So the handles will go back. The foot bar comes up. And do you need a spot? Yes. Okay. So yeah. So remember when you do the knees, you want to drop the hips and lift the hips?

Drop the hips. Yeah. Yeah, we'll have a go seat. So big lift through the shoulders, back. You go back, you'd go back, you'd go back, you'd go back, bend the elbows more. There's a bar bend more and lift. Yes Ben, think of the chest to the ceiling. One more time. Like this little press now push out with it. Yes. And lift and press and lift and press and lift enough from your lats up.

You come sit back into your heels. Pull your head down and just bend over and rest. Very, very nice. Swack a t series. Now your coming along so well. Really, really well. Okay. Swap it two series by choice. He could have done arm circles, but this is the guy version. It's usually like women have a hard time doing this and the strong Grad Springs, they are tough. But for men, this is a fabulous upper body workout.

So first one you'll be holding with your right arm. Left arm is right close to you, right? So pull the arm out a little bit higher than your shoulder and it comes opposite your sternum. Know a little bit more in front. Even across. Yes. Just so you just feel the tension of the strap. Now out you go. That's it. So it's like you're hitting someone too.

One more time and three change hands and press up one. That's it. Keep the ribs steady, two to the trunk and then you alternate back and forth. And first I'm really pressed it out and shift and press. Keep the elbow forward if you can. And press of the elbows lifted here and here the elbow is in press.

Excellent. One more time. And Paul and other side and press. Very good. And a windmill. Okay, so you want, I would say bring the o k I would take your knees back a bit to you're exactly on a profile line. Yes, yes, yes. So fully arms, three times one. Make sure the side body is very stable, so waist and back, half to stabilize each other and then go for your circles. So the arm will press, bring it down. The circle stays just that here, line in front of the front body. That's it.

So it's not exactly a lateral line, but the head turns and reverse it if you can and pull out and up. Good. And pull out and up. Keep the head turning and keep the left ribs. There you go. One more time. Excellent. Okay. Um, lotus flower. God knows why it's called Lotus flower one. Close those ribs. Yes.

Bigger movement with the arms a little bit wider. Yes. Three. Okay. Other side. Very good. So remember elbow is lifted. The hand is quite wide in front and big arch. Yes, they got yes, exactly. That's kind of the energy of what this movement is like. Sock it to me. I was, I'll sock it to you and two and three and alternating.

Pull. Keep those ribs and stretch. Good. Good. I had stretch third one and watch the right elbow. When you work with it, keep it close to your body on the way up. Yes. Very good. And then the side stretches. So [inaudible] no, that's almost too open with your ribs.

I would bring this rib in a bit. Yes. Close. Yes. Even more. That's it. There's your side. I would bring this elbow just a little bit forward. Just a little bit silly. Yes. There it is. Now pull one and two and three now. Three circles and one. So you watch that.

Keep going. You're doing great. This the arm, you don't want it to dislocate behind the body. You want to keep it in the front of the body. So you working the front techs as well. And two very good. And then I'm not sure if you're doing an okay, go for it. Very good. And Lotus flower. So can you get your hands wider? Yes.

Bring them a little bit peripheral vision and now see if you can lift, think of lifting from the lats. So it's not the arms. Your arms actually started the base of the ribs. That's it. So you make those ribs work. Okay, very good. And next one is mermaid. You're working on two springs. That's what you'd like to do it on.

Okay. Okay, fair enough. So he's a strong guy. Usually ladies would work on one. So press out and pull the right ribs in and come back up. Change hands and lift the raw. Yeah, I much prefer that. And don't over lean back slightly. Bring this forward. Yes. Yes. So you keep your shoulder blades wide as you stretch. Good.

And again, nice, wide back and come back up. And then reversing the stretch. Keep that side body long and back. One more time. And stretch. Pressing out with control. Come back up. And last one really stretch way over as far as you can go. Good other side.

So make sure you feel this back. Plane of the back. That's kind of the theme of the day for you. Come back up and okay. And come back up. Now let's have you do the other side. So you stretch right here. Don't over back. Bend slightly. Close the ribs. Yes, that's it. And back. Exactly.

So you're stretching the broad back part of the floating ribs and other side and stretch. One more time pre-sold. And when you bend in into the mermaid, come back up. Keep the shoulders in front of your hips. Keep them in front of the hip. So that's the line. That was so good. Micah. Okay. Snake to snake and one snake twist.

So when you come up, make sure both hips are square. Very good. Press the carriage out. Press the care. The forward. Further out as you drop the hips, lift to a plank position, pulling the ribs in and bring the carriage in from your powerhouse. Good. And press out. Lower the hips a bit more. Micah, bring them down. There we go. Lower further lifted chest. Lift the hips a bit and pull in from the powerhouse.

One more time. Press out. Keep the right hip down. Yes. Lower two. Lift the chest. Lift and scoop the naval to come back in and step down and do the other side. We forgot the twist, but all well, we'll do three snakes. So sculpt, enable and press out. Press, press, press.

Push the carriage out further. Lift up with the cat, the carriage moving, and they bring it in from the powerhouse. Nice work. Press out again. Tail under. Press the carriage. Further out. He work to create lengths. One more time, pressing out, lower the hips, hips tight. Micah, lift the hip. That's it. And use that power house to come in. And good step off. Very good. And Cork screw.

Sorry. That's okay. So over and lift, way up. Yes. And now swing the legs to the right. The leftover and lift way up high. Beautiful. Other side. Keep those shoulders. Y Yes. And lift. One more time like this, right, left and up and other side left, right. And all the way up. Lower the hips, down to your hips are on the mat.

Feet are above the hips and ticktock low the feet in line with the hips and use the hips and stomach to bring him up other side. So you're also stretching the side body. Come back up. Now the feet will be in line with the ribs. So a little higher. Yes. So you close the ribs and chest a bit more and feed in line with the ribs. And the third one, the feet in line with the elbows.

So it's a big stretch across back and a very powerful contraction in the front body. Lower the feet all the way down and balance control. So we have those kinds of handles here. Very good. So start with your like, okay. Up you go. First one, just touch the frame. The top like doesn't move. No. Find that frame. Good. And lift the leg up again. Reach both feet to the ceiling. Way Up. Yes, other light goes down. Touch the frame a little wider. Micah more. There's your frame. Come back up first side again, just so that you get aware of the dimensions and up other side.

Right now you go for the walkover so you step over. Keep this leg reaching behind you on a long diagonal. Lift up the balance. Bend the knee. Keep that leg pressing in the air. If you can, up good and somersault back onto your shoulders. Lift that leg up and other leg joins a good roll all the way down onto your back.

Adjust yourself on the reformers so you're in the middle again and do the other side. So start. Let's have you. Okay up. You go too fast for me. Lower the leg down. I would have had you start with the legs. No, you have to find the top of the frame. Now. Slide that foot down close to the floor. Reach the other leg behind you. Yes, yes. Reach it out to help you counter balance your body weight. Yes. Now bend the knee and keep this leg lifting. Good. Lift up, keep this leg lifting and then keep pressing this leg up. Now as you come down, press it up, press it up to the ceiling, up, up, up to somersault, lift both legs up, way up, way up, way up and lower down. Wonderful work. Okay, take a breather because you've got airplane.

Next to take a moment. This is a spectacular move that is really inspired from gymnastics is part of the method. Not Easy to do. You need a huge amount of trunk control. Micah. Micah does it so well, so I would start with your legs long and straight. So you're going to swing all like Jack Knife. You swing all the way over and lift way up and then float down.

The legs will go away from you and with control you lower all the way down and relax. Very, very nice. Okay, second long box. So lots of trunk work, a lot of control in the front body. Now we're going to back extensions that are on a rather small platforms, takes a lot of control. They have definitely a progression for math work. So starting with Swan, you'll go into rocking. Then you'll go into swimming, take your time, don't want you dehydrated, you're losing a lot of water. And then grasshopper, which was first a first you'll do swan swan will be for, so naval is quite, that looks like a good placement for me. So you can't really go wild on swan for this one because you're on a small platform. So first just lift up, lift up, and kind of get connected to your feet, your legs, your back.

And when you're ready you do three swan guides and one and two and three. Very good. Move your naval a little bit back for rocking, right? So your naval, just about in the middle three times you lift up. So you pull your feet to your bottom to stretch and lift and again and lift a warm up the quads, warm up the spine. And third one you'll go into three rocks. That to use it to open up your shoulders and then reach the arms that makes up for swimming. Long arms, long legs, big movement with the swim. Very, very good. And now go into your grasshoppers. So move away. Way, way forward.

The hips will still be on and your Chin will just about get to the bar. So lock the legs before you start. Lock your pelvis and your powerhouse. I would start lifted up mica with the arms. Okay. Um, maybe get another spring sliding off the box. Okay, so if the legs then lift up a little bit more on clap as you bring the chest up, up, up, up, up. Now close with just a little bit cause you back. Yes. Use those hips and lift the legs again. Make the hands. Yes. Bend the legs.

Lift the legs further and lift up from the back of the stomach. The arms help. One more time. Pull the stomach in as you go down. Ben, lift and clap, clap, clap, clap, clap, clap, clap. Step off the machine and bend over. Have you knees slightly bent. Just pull your head down, stretch out your back, stretch out your stomach. Just work the spine out and very slowly. Roll ups.

Unravel all of that compression and heavy work that you did into the spine. Shorts. Find massage. I'm sorry. Not True. It's fine. Massage. What am I saying? Short box box. Second long box into short box, right? So round back.

Okay, very good. So he's on four springs, just so that the, the whole frame is nice and stable. Roll the way back and just relax and then gather into your powerhouse to come back up again. Fertile and forward. This time when you go back, roll back again, grab under the frame and stretch and then press your heels away. Use this as a way to create a lot of links in your body. Like you're pulling the ribs away from your hips. Push into the heels. Yes. And then come back up again. Hands to your waist.

Lift your head and chest closers webs. Use that powerhouse to bring you up. And last time if you want to go into a backbend, so roll back again. Put your hands on the floor and you too. Slippery. Okay, so that's good enough. Yes. Hands under and roll up. Grab your ankles and pull your head down.

I'll give you some a stretch. Every time it'd be tween. Just give yourself a nice stretch because it allows the nerves to relax and the tissue to get soft. Cause when you work hard, you also have this vast opportunity to get really open with the body. Muscles assimilate and then they let go flat back. Nice long spine, hands a little bit further forward. Micah, just a tad. Yes. Now fill up the back ribs just a bit and lean back. Nice lifted you. Go back, come back up, lift a little higher out of those hips and come back up.

One more time, even higher out of those hips. And then bend forward, relaxed down. You can hook the stick, let the head drop and just kind of give yourself a nice juicy stretch. If you take advantage of the relaxation in between each exercise, come back up for the side bands, arms are law and Ben Right to the side. Let and come back up. So you're working and do the other side. So you're doing this a little bit more on a diagonal to the obliques. Come back up. I want you vertical.

And now just think of opening the side ribs and open the sidewards. Done a lot of oblique work. Now it's just to take the whole trunk to another level of opening and power and other side. Very good. Go right into your twists. Lift. I will bring the legs together for me. Sit a little bit back. And first one, just go for normal twist. Close the ribs a bit. Come back up. Good twist to the other side. Reaching out. Very good. Come back.

We go back because the next one I want you to roll onto the hip. So lift up, twist and go onto the hip and stretch. Hip brings you back up and other side. So you're hanging off the strap and hip brings you back up. Are you okay doing around the world? It's a little bit of a narrow box for you.

So lift, extend, roll to your back, roll to the left. Hips bring you up. Nice work. Other side, lifting, stretch on your back, all over with that hip and bend forward and down. So more hip work. But that was a good, good attempt. Um, Simon's sites, it ups. So I would like this, this bottom foot hooked by the ankle. Yes. So eight of these hands behind your head. Nice and long one.

Keep those back ribs full Micah. Every, that's it. Four, five, six, two more times seven and a eight. And just stretch out. Just anything you want to do here. Nice twist. And when you're ready. Other side, very good work right. Long in the waste. One to [inaudible] three very good. And that makes sure the hips of from five, six, seven and then give yourself a stretch. Way down. Nice stretch. Make sure the arm gets a stretch. Two and pull and good. Come back up.

Take the box off and set yourselves up for knees off. So nice stretch series, but we're only doing the knees of art. So two springs, I'm not sure which year you would want to be in. Move back to second gear and ran. Actually Mike, I would like you just knees off, but I want you without deaf football up. So take, put the foot bar down, put your hands on the side of the frame and just eight of these. So lift up and really fill up your back body.

One full movement out in if you can. Three, four, five, six, seven, eight kneeling back down. Very good. Long spine massage, right? So just three frogs to begin with just to get used to the tension. Headdress should be down. [inaudible] gathering into your center and then start rolling up onto your rolling up open and reach with those legs to yes, bring the legs together, tried to lift the hips right away, up open, long diagonal. And then reverse the legs. Pull them out in, roll up legs together and roll through and down.

And again, roll up together and roll down and [inaudible] bend the knees. Just grab the straps and take your legs aside to give yourself a stretch, working d or no size and gradually bring the legs over towards your head and you can left your bottom. Lift up so you bringing your feet closer and closer. Try to take your feet all the way towards the floor and if you want to use somersault through that is so cool. He just learned that last week. So that was good. Okay, I'll running and pelvic lift. So a form of a pool down now. Okay.

Max It. So just kind of gathered back in and get a sense of stability in the pelvis. Stability in the center of your body, get a sense of the spine, being long the shoulders wide and relaxed at the same time. So it's a form of a cooling down the body after a lot of heavy work, this running part. And then pelvic lift come back in and do a few with the hips lifted and just for in maybe five or six times.

Make sure your feet and your knees are going in the same direction, right? Yes. So either knees. Yes. Very good. And you know Micah, I would actually put your heels on the corners of the bar right now at the center of the foot. So yes. So you have more of an anchor into that bony part and it's easier to control the knee. And the foot. That's it. Just one more like that. That's very good and rolled down. Okay.

And now we're going into the balance controlled front. So this is very much more often done by men because it's more core upper body strength and control. So three times with the arms, three pushups. So press out to plank, hips for Mike. That's it. Lower the hips a tad. There's your perfect, that's great. Three.

And then three pushups without the carriage moving. If you can. Very nice and just stepped out. One foot comes down and other side balance control back three times out in n and then leg up, leg up, like, like out, like in again. One, two, three, one. The gout up. I mean, yes. Up and out. Okay. Now Rhonda, jump out. That's it. Other lanes. And now reverse the circle. Still going out.

And I see if you can reverse it. You go out, out in him it out, and then you're done. You're done. And stepped down and star. So what you'll do, you'll just do twice, just pressing out an in and then twice lifting the leg to the side. That's all we'll do with that variation. So nicely anchored into your yes one and to now two more. I want that like higher lift the lake as you've got good stability, keep paying attention to this hip. Step back with this leg to the floor.

You're done. Other side. So the big secret is getting the hip up and the shoulder locked into the rib cage. Very good one. Yes. Two and two more like this. So you match the other side three, keep the tail long and the hip firm and four step down and side splits.

Good. Is this too, too wide for you or are you okay? That's good. Okay, so now really pull the hips narrow as you push out and bring the carriage in and get taller. Good. And press out and come back in. Now press out, bend over, keeping the carriage there. See if you can, that's it. Come back up, take the arms out, bring the carriage in, hold it there and saw.

Reached one foot and come back up. Reach to the other foot and come back up and step down. Very nice or other side. So arm's a long, very good. And press from the hips. That's right.

So you feel from the hips to the outer knee, the pope pelvis actually gets wide. Very nice. Press out again and hold the carriage there. Bend over. Use your powerhouse to bend over c round or very good. Come back up. Take the arms to the side. Bring the carriage in, keeping the hips from and saw. Reached to one foot without the carrots moving. Come back up, reach to the other side without the carriage morphing.

Come back up and step down. We go in and step down. Yes. Okay. Splits to the front. So front splits. So that's actually thigh stretch. I would like the yes. Let's get the head rest up. Do you need a pad, Mike in the back? Yes, please.

Do you have a preference? Thanks. Right. So in this position, I think the back foot should be more turned out. It'll give you a little bit left. Yes. It'll give you more leverage. Right now. This hip I want in line with your knee. So lifted a bit, not so low.

So your hips a square and just lengthen from your stomach. So the stomach is long and out an in three times without your hips going up and down. Just straight forward, straight back. Go back and forth and keep focusing on the hips being narrow. So you're powering the hips together to give you stability. So as you go into the bigger positions, you're not falling apart or losing it.

I keep the hips steady and see if you can lift your body up. Russian dancer position and back and forth. Same Way. It doesn't have to go to straight. I actually prefer it doesn't too. So this is very good. So the nice thing in line with the hip the whole time. And then put your hands on the foot bar.

Bend the back knee down for side stretch. So I'll get the pad out of the way for you can get all five toes under. Bring the hips forward. Good. And press out. And think of the back leg as much as the fun plate. I think you can go further. Mica, press side, let the body come forward. Bend over the front leg and push.

Yes. Yes, yes, yes, exactly. Come back in one more time. Press come back in. Lift your left arm up. I'm stretched. Very good. Other side. Okay, so square, left hip back just a bit and I would turn the right foot out just a bit if it would give you leeway. Yes. Now your hip is lower than your knee.

That's it. So your focus right now is to get a sense of contraction between the femur bone. So the tops of the way, the legs connecting with your pelvis. So you kind of pressed together there to give you stability because on the next one, after you come in you will lift the body up. But keep the hip in line with the knee or too low. A little bit less. Yes.

So just staying very, very steady. It's all and keep the stomach pulling in. Very nice because both hipbones are staying straight forward. Very, very good. Hole the foot bar with your hands. Use Your powerhouse to control your movement and thigh stretch. Get that here way back. All five toes, bending if you can.

And as you press out, think of the back leg and let the head drop down. See if you can go. That's it. I think you could probably press a little bit further. Think of the back leg moving away from you. Yes. And stay that lower if you can with the hips. One more time.

Press the back like way away and come back in. Very, very good. Lift the right arm up and side stretch. Very good. All right. And Russian splits. Okay, so back leg is always first. Very nice hop. Come back in. Mica for a minute and straightened both knees.

Now press all the way out as far as you can go on this machine. That's it. Now stay that low and bend in, right. Keep the back knee very straight and keep the hips very low. Now you try and get those hips lower than the knee if you can. Allah Russian dancers stay that low and lift three more times.

So the ups have to be very strong to be able to control the movement of the carriage. Very good. And bend over. Grab the foot, the shoulder rests and press out right here to your shinbone. And as you come in, lift the left hip up right hip forward. Press out two more times. Press owl and lift the right left waist up. Let yes as you come in, you want this side lifting that until you open the lumbar spine. One more time.

Press and pull the left waist way up. Very good. Other side [inaudible] and press out. Good, nice and low. With those hips if you can, we keep sinking down to keep the hips low. The trick is to keep them in low when you're in low, low, low hips. Yes, that fit. Stay nice and low there and too. Now Mike, come in, put your hands on the foot bar and the shoulder rest. Press the leg out out and drop your left ear onto your shinbone. Yes, and bring the carriage in.

Keeping the right hip or you're always over-correcting itself. Now there's your square and two more times. Press and live. There you are. Very good. One more time. Press and lift all the way up and step down. Now. Have you ever done this front stat? This is the last one.

Have you done the front standing splits before? Not My, I'm not sure if I'm sure. So football will be down. You will be standing with the back, one foot on the shoulder rest, not in front of the shorter rest I should say. And the other foot, heel and toe here. And you will be pressing out and coming up. So you're in a standing position. I would bend over. Okay. I would bend over and hold the frame and hop the back foot back and I would turn this back foot out. It has to be flat. It has to be flat in both knees will be straight.

I think you need the heel here. Yes. And more turned out more turned out. Now straighten both legs. Can you bring yourself up to an upright position? Bring the kerogen, bring the kerogen. You're not started the exercise yet, right? Left-Hand in front row. That's it. Or hands to the side. Now you hold those hips super tight and you hold your stomach. You just push out a little bit and Zipper the legs together. To bring them up, shoulders square, press out again and zipper them up to two more times.

You can go deeper if you can control it and zipper up and one more time and zipper up, bend over and you can bend the back knee. That's one of the ways to come out of it. And other side, no, I had never done that before. Okay. So eventually they can go down pretty low as the power and the leg comes in cause they, you cannot, this is not just a stretch anymore. There's a lot of strength as you can feel now. Legs have to be straight, hips have to be straight innercise working and powerhouse working and zipper up.

Right shoulder forward, right shoulder, hence not behind you in front and yes, so you hold that front body two more times and up. One more time, presses size apart and bring them up and then bend over with your hands, bend the back knee and then you can step off. So my car, I think as Romana used to say you've had an elegant sufficiency, this is a hard workout. It's a great example of what Peloton is, is like done by a guy and how how impressive it is. Range of movement, strength, and coordination. So thank you so very much, Mike. It was great.

Comments

Olivier C
video stops playing after 4min. sound still there though
Olivier~ Losing the picture in a video but having it continue with the sound is usually because the internet connection being used to watch the video isn't strong enough to support anything but the sound being streamed. This may be fixed by restarting your computer or you may want to consider looking into our alternate video player options, where I'd recommend selecting a Low quality, by clicking here to read the FAQ about these options.
2 people like this.
GULP - Micah, just so you know I stood up in front of my computer and gave a standing ovation! WOW - you were awesome, really,...movements were beautiful, exact and immaculate....down to the last detail! I would just love to know one thing....Did you know you were signing up for a workout like this? I mean, with Niedra you wouldn't expect anything less!

Please, would love to watch you again!
2 people like this.
Yikes! Would love to show this to those people who say "Pilates is just stretching right?"....Way to go Micah!!
1 person likes this.
Awesome fast-paced challenging workout. Thank you both. I loved the rolll onto the hip obliques on the short box. Great no nonsense, to the point cueing too.
Niedra Gabriel
Yay, all of you - so thrilled you enjoyed Micah, he is awesome, and such an example of what a great workout Pilates is FOR MEN! yes, way to go - Pilates is for everyone, anytime!
Thank you. I work with men in cross fit competitions and this class has a nice fit.
It's a really great video! I learned a lot! Thank you!
wow amazing
Elsabe D
This is absolutely amazing!!! Thank you both to Niedra and Micah!
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