Fundamental Reformer

My name is Dana Santi. And today we are going to do a reformer. Okay? I want you to take all of your toes, all five of them, and find a place on the bar for each of them, okay? Sometimes our pinky gets lost in the mix, okay?

And from here I want you to feel okay, that whole back on the carriage. We don't want to lift the pelvis in order to get that low back flat, okay? We want to keep that long. I want you to reach your tailbone long, but it's, it's the work that comes internally here that has to, has to supply the, um, support that the low back needs. Okay? So you've got to really get deep into the guts there. When you reach that tailbone long, take the arms, your triceps and press them into the carriage, okay? Give them substance, make them work. And from here, right underneath the shoulder blade, okay?

I almost want you to, to make a muscle with it. So as if you were flexing your Bicep, right? And you were going to show somebody, take that muscle that wraps around and now press into it and give it to me. Okay? So lots of support coming from that back there and pressing.

Yeah, make it go keep it. Yes. So [inaudible]. Okay, so from here, now we're going to keep that. That's it's, it's all of your connections. We'll call them. Okay. So the ABS, the tailbones long, all of the toes are on the bar, okay. And we have substance in that shoulder blades and the tricep area from here. I want you to think of pushing the bar away from you. So push the bar away long, long, long away. Now as you're there, squeeze under the bottom, okay. Not on top of it. Go under.

So you get into those upper inner thighs as you come back in. Push the bar away from you as you come in. So you push the bar away and you push the bar away as you come back in. So work, work, work that whole time and push it away. A little schoolies. Push it away as you come back in. And again, push it away.

Keeps squeezing and push it away. As you come back in. Let's get the inner thighs going. So keep pressing away. Squeeze those heels, create a little resistance in the feet there. That's it. And come back in and push it away and come back in and push it away and come back in. Now take the feet and let's move to your arches. Okay, your toes wrap around the bar just as much as your heels do. Okay, so they both work equally. Knees Nice and tight. Connect your arms.

Pull those abs away from the hip flexors and reach the tailbone long. Push the bar away. Squeeze. Push the bar away as you come back in. And again, now squeeze, squeeze, squeeze, squeeze and bend and bring it back in and push it away and push it away as you come back in and push it away and push it away as you come back in. That's it. And again, push it away. Stretch longer, longer energy out your head and come back in and push it away and come back in one more time and push it away and come back in. Now to your heels. Really pull those toes back.

Don't forget about your pinkie and now push it away. Lengthen. Squeeze. Now push it away and reach that tailbone to me and push it away too, and bring it back in and push it away. Three tight, tight, tight, and bring it back in and for even tighter and in, and push it away. Squeeze and bring it back in and push it away and bring it in. Pull that back and push it away and bring it in and push it away. I'm an awful counter and bring it back in.

And now let's drop down to your toes. Okay, now let's get all those toes accounted for. All right. Don't let that pinky get lost in the mix, reaching that tailbone long. Now here's your tendon stretch. So push the bar away from you. Go Nice and long, long, long, long, long, long from here. Push the heels down.

Now push the heels down to lift yourself back up and push the heels down. Squeezing. Push the heels down to come back up. Yes, and again, push the heels down. Push the heels down to come back up. Okay? Don't forget about the connection in the arms and push the heels down.

Push the heels down to come back up and the heels down. Push the heels down to come back up. And again, lower and lift and lower and lift. One more time. Lower and lift. And now bend your knees. Take the bars down in front and we're going to move on to your hundred. So from here, grab the handles and I want you to reach those arms up to the ceiling.

Stretch your legs long and we're going to keep the legs down the whole time. We're not going to lift them at all. Doesn't mean they don't work. Okay? So there's that constant energy calming out of your hips, reaching the legs long, long, long. Squeeze the heels nice and tight. And now keep the hand nice and even on your handle. Okay?

You'd be surprised how much that self corrects the position of the person's body without even having to give them a cue. Okay? From here, lift those arms up. Lift your head up. Now Push, give me some substance and push. And lift. Lift, lift the head reach, reach right above the thighs with your hands, so put them right above your thighs. That's it. It's harder and inhale and exhale.

That's it. Again. Inhale. There we go. That's exciting. Exhale and inhale, keep reaching and exhale, reach more. Inhale, make that pump happen through the back of the arm. Exhale and inhale. Don't forget about your legs. Substance. Pull the abs away from the hip flexors and again, inhale and exhale. That's it. Bigger pumps.

There you go. Inhale and exhale and reach. Inhale, reach from under reach, reach, reach, and exhale and inhale long. Exhale. Exhale, exhale, exhale, exhale, exhale, exhale, exhale, exhale, exhale. And then reach those arms up and bring it back home. Okay. Keep the the handles into one hand and I just want you to swing yourselves off to the side, keep them with you, and we're going to add your black straps. We'll take the two end springs away.

Okay? Yes. Take it so good here. And then when you lie down, you're going to pick them up one at a time. It's prettier. Hmm. Okay. Lying down. All right, take one strap off and place it on your foot and then your other one and then bend your knees in. Yes, frogs in circles. So again, substance in the arms.

Tailbones reaching long so you can pull the knees in. You just have to have an opposition. Having, uh, an opposition happening where you're reaching the opposite direction. Okay? From here, he'll stay glued. Now just as if our feet were on the foot bar, okay? Push the strap away. Push it away, push it away. Now lengthen longer.

Now push the strap away as you come back in and just bend your knees and let these handles just kind of fall on the inside. There you go. Little less wide and push it away. Reach, lengthen. And now push it away as you come back in and push it away. Stretch, reach, reach, reach, and push it away as you come back in and push it away and push it away as you come back in. And now push it away and stay there. Now your leg circles important on leg circles that you start with the legs going open. Okay? You reach those legs out, the moment you lift, when you start up, you disengage your, your abdominals. Okay, so that's it. That's huge. So bend your knees in and from here, push away. Push that strap away. Push it away, reach it longer. Now take the legs open, down and together and up.

Open down and together and up. And You keep reaching through that strap. Open reach, long and up. Open reach. Lengthen. Pull the abs away from the toes, up. Open, reach and home. Now reverse it. Going down. Open up and home and down. Open up and home. Are Your arms working?

Is Your back working? Are Your abs working? Are Your inner thighs working? Reach the energy out the top of the head and out the toes and reach and home. One more time and reach open and push through the strap. As you bend your knees back in. And now go ahead and take your straps off of your feet and you're going to just place them behind you.

And now step off to the side. You can just let them lay on the floor and grab your mats. We're going to do your stomach massage. And so whatever spring you started with on footwork, we're going to start on that spring. So both of you started on four. So we're going to start on four, right?

Okay. The stomach massage, the stomach massage is complicated. And Ramana said once in a continuing Ed, I could write a book about this exercise and it took me years in years to understand what she meant. And we tend to just rush through this exercise without hitting all the points, okay? That we need to. So from here, all of your toes are on the bar, okay? Hands here now lift the ABS. Okay, so you're not, you're not, you're not only pulling in, but you've got to lift up in a way, okay? Your shoulders stay a little bit in front of the hip bone. Okay?

And those arms are activated nice and strong from here. I want you to give me that muscle. Make that muscle there. Yeah. Okay. So keep the eye look nice, okay? From here, push the bar away from you. Stretch, stretch, stretch. Push the heels down. Now push the heels down as you lift them up, push the bar away as you come back in. Push the bar away, push the heels down, push the heels down to come up. Push the bar away as you come home. That's a lot of stuff.

Push it away. Push the heels down, push the heels down as you come up, push the bar away. Keep the ABS lifted and press it out. Squeeze Lower and lift and come back in. So again, it's not just an ankle pop, right? It's work. It's work right through your gut and lift and come back in and press. The hard part is you actually have to at some point pick up the pace a little bit and that's hard on the brain and lift and come back in.

Do One more that way and push it away and lower and push it away as you come in. Take one of your middle springs away and reach your hands back behind you. So we're going to try to have the fingertips facing the back there. Now lift up, keep the chest open. Okay, from here. Now Nice and strong there. Push the bar away, push the heels down, push the heels down and push the bar away. And now bring that carriage all the way in and push it away and push the heels down. Push the heels down to lift.

Push the bar away to come back home. And again, press and lower. Now s give me some tension here. Squeeze. Yes. Inner thighs, right inner thighs, inner thighs, inner thighs. Give me some tension right there again, and press and push and push and push the bar away and again, and that's it. You feel your inner thighs. Little squeeze. Squeeze. [inaudible] two more. Push it away. Push the heels down. Push the heels down to lift.

Push the bar away. And one more time. Push the bar away. Push the heels down. Push the heels down to lift. Push the bar away. Take your other middle. Spring away. And now I want you to take those arms and reach them forward. Okay, so now strong, right? That was a little bit weak. I was ready to roll. Okay, from here. All right.

Reach and push down on something. Reach and push. Push the bar away from you nice and strong. Now give me that muscle and bend the knee and come back in. Bend, knees and again and push it away. Now pull those abs. Give me some space in those hip flexors. Come back in and again and push it away and come back in and push it away and come back in. Now feel the muscles connected here. Okay.

Give them to me. Yes. Now from here, keep that. That's what's hard. And twist to the right. So reach, reach, reach. So now don't lose them. Keep them there. Find them more here. Yes. And now come back in so your brain has to stay connected and somehow we lose it as we go to twist. So pay attention and twist to the opposite side.

Don't lose either one. And now come back in and push and push it away as you come back in. And one more time. Push. Keep that connection. Keep lifted, keep lifted. Now keep the connection as you come back home and reach. Reach, reach in. Nice and easy. Step off to the side. Yes. Okay.

Your foot bar comes down and we're going to set you up for your short box. So we'll use a pad and a pole [inaudible] and place it right over the shoulder rests. Okay. And then put the pad on top this way, either way. Yeah, if you're used to it that way. Short box. So you pushed through those heels. Okay. Push through those heels. Push through those heels and push the feet wide.

Okay. Push more. Push more, and push the feet open. That's it. All right, so we're trying for no noise with those hooks. Okay. Take the hands on the low abs. You don't want to be the one that made the noise from here. Drop the head down. Now keep pushing through the heel again.

It's not a flex in the foot. It's a push through the heel. All right? X activates the whole back of the leg and now roll backwards. Keep pushing, keep pushing. Pull the ABS away. Go as far as you want. Pull those abs away. Get the stretch on top of the hip flexor and now chin to chest and come back up and again and roll back.

That's it. Now squeeze. That's it. And pull it away. Push through those heels and come back. Come back, come back. Yes. And one more time. See, you have to enjoy things when you can get them and reach and Chin to chest. Come back up, keep pushing through the heels. Push, push, push and release. Grab the pull from under and hold a little bit wider. Hold on. Almost the outsides. Yeah, of there. Okay. From here, I want you to feel your tailbone connected to the box. Okay. But at the same time, you have to be ready to fight, right?

So the shoulders have to come a little forward, but we can only come as far forward as we can. Keep that connection back there to the tailbone. So there's energy coming from the tailbone to the fingertips and from the tailbone to the feet. All right, lift up. Push through those heels more. Now don't go back. Okay, go up and now keep going up. As you go back.

Just keep going. Lift now lift. Come back up. So now find that spot. Get your brain connected to the tailbone and bring the shoulders a little forward. Pull back there more there and again, and lengthen as you go back. Okay. And come right back up. Yup.

Keep it connected. Pull back more. [inaudible] not shoulders though, and tip backwards. It's like we have two different bodies and come back up and home. Now stretch over to the right. So as you stretch over to the right, push through that left heel, the heel is what keeps the hip down. Not you pressing into your hip. If you press into your hip, you stop the energy and the energy has got to go from the top to the bottom. Reach over to the left now length and more, and reach. That's it.

Now push through that right heel. Push more and come back up. And again, now think about this. Are those shoulder blades connected to something? Reach. Push through that heel and come back up and stretch over. Reach. Reach more. Reach more, and come back up.

Take the pole right underneath you and now your tree. So grab underneath that thigh. And from here again, we're going to box. We're going to fight. So come a little forward. Take the leg now, extend it, and then release and stretch and release. That's it. More forward and stretch. Yes, and release. And now stretch it out again. Walk the hands up towards the ankle.

Now this whole shape take and go backwards with it. The foot goes directly up to the ceiling. Walk your hands down in a way. Now push through that left heel. Get that stretch. Go as far as you want. Keep reaching that leg long to the ceiling.

Now don't move the leg that's to the ceiling. Come back up. Keep it right where it is. Aim the top of the head towards the kneecap. Keep it there. Keep it there. Don't move. Right. If I move my hand, you're going to stay right. Thank you. And back down again. Push through the heel. Get that stretch on the hip flexor. Now come back up top of the head to the knee. That's it.

Pull that away. Give me some space here that a girl right now, your stretch and and back down. Okay. Push through that heel and chin to chest. Come back up. Stretch, stretch, stretch and change legs.

Yeah. And extend the leg just to come forward to me and stretch and release and two and release three and release and stretch it out again. Walk the hands up towards the ankle, drop the head down and now take that whole shape back. Keep the leg there, keep pushing through that heel. Walk the hands down. There it is.

And now chin to chest. Walk back up. Leave the leg, go all the way up to your ankle. Go Higher. There it is. Stretch, hold, hold, hold and go back down again. That's it. Now keep the arms activated even though they're not doing anything. Keep them strong. Come back up top of the head to the knees. Stay there, stay there. Keep the leg up higher and one more time back down and come back up. Push through that heel. [inaudible] stretch, stretch, stretch and release. Step off to the side.

Take your box away. Take Your Pole and your pad away. Oh, okay. Flip your head. Rest up. And we're going to stay on two springs. Yeah. Okay. Your elephant. So I want you to take your hands. Place them on the bar and stand up on top of your carriage.

Walk the feet back so they bought up against the shoulder rests. There you go. All right. Now from here, you're going to pull those abs in in a way, right? Open your chest a little bit so you can breathe and we're trying to hide the tailbone, okay? I'm going to bring your body weight back a little bit there. Okay? You have to make sure you get a stretch in the backs of those legs. Now from here, dig those heels down more. There you go.

Push the carriage out a half inch. That's it. There's way too much. Now come back in. Okay, little, little, little, and push the heels out. Hold it there. Now give me some energy in between the feet in between the calves in between the inner thighs. Make that work and now pull it back in and press it out. Even your fingertips are pushing equally on the bar and pull it back in and again, press it out and pull it in.

Dig those heels into that carriage push. Dig them in, dig them in and come back home and push. Dig The heels in and come back home. Can you breathe and push? Squeeze and come back and lift the ABS. Keep lifting them away, away, away from the thigh. Again, push and pull it in. And one more time.

Push and pull it in. Kneel down on your knees and we're onto knee stretches. So your feet press up against the shoulder rests. You're going to bring the bottom back towards the heels. Okay, now we're very round, but at the same time, don't close your chest up. Okay? Cause you need to be able to breathe through this. Take the heels, push them into the the shoulder rest.

Keep these hands nice and even up there. And now push through your heels as you go out. Now here's the hard part. Push through the heels as you come back in and push the heels out. Now squeeze the inner thighs, push through the heels, come back in. That's it.

Open your chest a little and push it out and school. Ease it in and push it out. Keep the heels, pull it in and push it out and pull it in and push it out and pull it in. That's it again, and press it out and pull it in. One more time. Press it out. Squeeze and pull it back in. Arch that back open. Okay, now keep the connection with the arm, right? You can push into the shoulder, into the bar, but you've got to pull the arms away from the wrists.

Okay? It's like a push and a plug. Push and a pole. Okay. Right into these shoulder blades here. Sit back a little further. Same thing now. Ready and push through the heels. Push through the heels as you come in and too, and squeeze it in. And three and school. Ease it in and four and squeeze it in and five and in.

That's it. Make this work. Six, give it to me and in Nice and seven. Keep it though on the way out. Keep it. That's it again. And push one more and in now knees off. Okay. This is bloody hard. It's always spicy though. All right, you're back to your round position. In a perfect world.

We want to be able to lift the knees off without shifting our body weight forward. Okay? It's hard. It's very hard, but it's, you know, we, it's, listen, it takes a lifetime and now lift the knees up and off. Push through the heels, go out and in and to push through the heels. Bring that carriage all the way in. Push, pull, push, pull, push. Now make a juice here all the way out, all the way in, out, in, out, in, out. Squeeze the inner thighs. Push, pull, push, push and release. Step right off to the side. Let's go back to four springs and we're going to lie down for running, right? Okay. Again, on this one, put your thinking caps on. I want all those toes on the bar.

Okay, so right back to where we started. Okay. All of those connections, the tail bones, long energy coming out the toes, out the head. Pull those abs in an up and then give me that substance in the arms. All right. Push the bar away from you. Now in reality, we squeeze under the bottom. There you go. We have to push the heel down both ways. Correct.

But now we're moving both feet. Okay. So again, it's another one. It's kind of messed up in the head. So push the heel down as you push this heel down to lift it right now. Push the heel down. Push the other heel as you lift. Okay. And again, and stretch. That's it.

Squeeze there and stretch. So make those inner thighs work. Make that Tush work. Push and push and push and push. Keep pulling the abs away and push and push and push and push and push and push. One more on each side.

And now lift both heels. Push the bar away as you come back. Yeah. And now your pelvic lift. So we'll put one arch of the foot on each corner. Okay. And from here, just relax your toes. Lift the hips up and we're going to lift them a little bit higher.

But keep, keep that shoulder blade, keep that muscles in there. Lift a little bit higher there. From here. Tension in the inner thighs. Make them work. Lift up higher, higher there. No, keep that working. Push the bar away. Stretch all the way out. Now squeeze those inner thighs.

Now push the bar away as you come back in and reach that tailbone to me. Reach it, reach it, reach it, and push the bar away and push the bar away as you come back in and keep reaching, keep reaching. Lengthen it longer and push it away and push it away. As you come back in. [inaudible] and press it out. Squeeze, squeeze, squeeze, and come back in. Keep this going. Come on, get me again. No, keep me there. Keep me, keep me, keep me [inaudible] and come back. Push. Get me. That's it. That's fiery, right. Push.

Squeeze. Now keep those inner thighs activated as you come back in and keep tight, tight, tight, tight. Don't let me push you again and Perez it out. Stretch and come back in. Keep it tight now stay there. Nice and slowly roll down to your tailbone and let your spine keep chasing the tail bone. So it's reaching away and getting longer. Yeah.

And longer and longer as you go all the way down and you ladies are done. Good job.