Traditional Reformer Flow

Okay. So, um, I am going to do an intermediate workout, uh, Ramana style. So, um, I'm using the grouts piece of reformer, which is four springs and my body I use for springs. You may use three depending on your body. You sit down and get right into position and a nice wide plotty stance and you begin out and focusing on lengthening and then sinking your navel in and uh, and you'll do 10. Okay, six and getting a nice wrap in the thighs as you're moving and not pushing from the knees, but really from your powerhouse. And of course trying to make as little noise as possible.

And right away you'll transition to your arches. You want to keep your gaze down, your neck long and everything else fairly relaxed. Knowing where you're in is as good and 10 going to my heels. And this is something that you do when you're moving as you're also counting. So I'm doing 10 and really try to flex as you come in and always engaging and 10 then to your tendon stretch, lower, lower level. Let's lift her up.

Still sinking in, keeping those ribs together. And the rep transitioning to your hundreds. Take the bar down now. For whatever reason I could not find it got lost in the interim. All right, right into position in for five out for five 30 40 keep the length reaching out. Okay. 60 squeezing in the bottom, wrapping and fixing your position. As you move 100 and I'll sit up, drop a few springs and my headrest and on the grouts you just adjust your straps.

If you're at this level, you should already know your springs as well as how to adjust the strap. The leather strap goes in between the handle. Do a couple of frogs to get the feeling of the springs and then float over. One, two Epson legs taking advantage of the stretch, but the pool is coming from the spine extending out long. The goal is to get your tailbone flat on the Mat. One, two there feels good to so about five of these and the powerhouse is what's lifting you up, not the momentum of the movement or the legs. Last one.

So hips and legs ideally should be going together and of course not tensing your neck or shoulders into the coordination [inaudible] so of course it doesn't feel like a lot of springs, but the resistance of course is they're in the power house. Yes. Working on the sternum coming up and the heels staying lined up with your knees. Alright, so finish with the shorts. Fine, I'm going to get my box and set it for the long box series. Okay, so you've dropped down to one spray and already to get on and go into your pulling straps. Shoulders right on the corners of the box and holding for three counts. Reaching down, lifting the arms, opening the chest and hold two, three slower, a little noisy one more.

And then also slide down to the teeth. Arms out to this side. And I'm trying not to crunch my neck. You can lift your head a bit, but really focus on keeping your bottom, squeezing shoulders, pulling together and long. Okay. Backstroke, no step off. Making sure you add a spring and that you round up and as you round up you adjust the straps. And you'll sit right on the carriage into position, ready to go. And again, when you're moving and when you get into your position, you fix it. Always trying to perfect your movement.

Yeah, so you lift open reach and hold hope curling into it and rest. Sitting up to transitions into the teaser. Hopefully I don't drop anything. All right, so I've moved back slightly to get the right position and ready to come up articulating off the mat and up into position to the ears. Two, three and I have to relax my toes a little bit, peeling off and going around, trying to stay tall and in control. Reversing my circles and the circles are optional. Excuse me. Hey, let me just talk through that again.

You'll come up and now I'm going to reverse them. Hard to talk and move [inaudible] and then this drops drop will step off and set up for your short box series. By adding a spring, I'm going to turn the box around, put it over the shoulder pads and get my pad and my bar. [inaudible] not a lot of time to rest because you're adjusting the mechanics of it and still moving. It's all about moving really. Okay. So you want to handle it through in the back. You always can check, give yourself a hug into that C and you're ready to go. Making sure your feet are underneath the safety strap and flexed [inaudible].

These I see all the time and what people will do is they'll come up like that and then they start rounding. So they break right in here and it's really about articulating spot and curling into it. So about five times [inaudible] and do you stretch over the hips to give your back and extra stretch going into your flat back? None of it has to be super big movements. It's to where you can control it and eventually that can get bigger. Yeah. Then you can rest left side stretch and trying to keep the hips from lifting all the while, keeping your shoulders and neck relaxed and stretching out the opposite side. So right now I'm trying to stretch the left side and the strength is coming now from the left to come up. So here the right side, we'll use the strength to lift over like an accordion and you're lifting your back and ribs off your hips going into your twist.

And here too, you have to be conscious of what your feet are doing and your legs that you're not sickling them, which hopefully I'm not. It's hard to see it in your own self while you're moving and you do come all the way up and then center yourself out. Okay, going into the tree, trying to sit on top of your hips to stretch. [inaudible] squaring my hips off for ending the c walking down and curling and then you lift and that's where you always want to be conscious of what your box is doing your shoulders in line with your hips, et cetera. The stretches out you're pulling in and lifting, making sure the legs lined up with the right hip [inaudible] and then you flex in 0.3 times staying as tall as you can in that back and switch legs.

Go into my left three stretches. [inaudible] I'm exaggerating my left hip four cause I could feel it was behind me. So it's again something you have to be conscious of in your own body where your hips are in relation to the shoulder to the box. I probably went back a little too far there. You could, which is more advanced, but I just wanted to show you a nice simple way of working out for yourself without putting too much into it.

And then you reach. Of course, that's my tighter side. Okay. In a step off, I'm getting rid of the box but keeping the pad so no bar and no pole, no box anymore. [inaudible] your head rest comes up onto the groove. Make sure it's secure as well as the bar. You put the pad on and you go into your long stretch and you should get right into position. So hand, foot and foot ready to go. Heels up, nice long, straight line and out and all the way and trying to keep your tummies lifted. I lower backs from collapsing just about three to five times down. Stretch.

[inaudible] lifting that powerhouse and it's still squeezing the bottom. Come up to your other stretch position. Get a c curve. So tuck your hips, drop your heads and drop your shoulders. Keep your head close on top of that bar as you can. The crown of the head. Use your hips to push out, clink. And then you want to control the carriage all the way in.

It'll feel like you're going to fly forward. And then you round back up. Make sure you're in the deep sea out like and you'd do again about three of these. Three to five, one straight line going to my elephant back into the sea. Upper body is relaxed, it's the hips, the stretch on the back of the legs and the toes lifting. So three counts in one, two, three pulling your stomach's up. Two more and your shoulders down.

Okay. Stepping off, slide the pad down and add your springs back to the same springs you started with. I started with four, so I'm going back to four stomach massage, so you'll get into a better position once you extend out. If you want to stay over those hips, drop and lift the heels. Have you had bad knees sliding a little bit. You want to skip the lower and lift? Enlighten your springs. So listen to your body's possibly even working parallel [inaudible].

That's about seven. Try and keep my lower back up and over my hips. Dropping a spring. The accent is in and lift [inaudible] so keeping your backs lifted, your elbow soft. 10 Times. I've dropped a spring, so now I'm down to three and keeping the heels together, dropping another spring or reaching, lifting the back so you get in and then lifted a little bit more. Lifting that lower back. These are great.

No do more than four. And then you can twist, making sure your knees are go wider than your hips as you're moving. Okay. And I'm going to get rid of my pad, drop the bar and go into my [inaudible] circle. So well sticky. Okay, so here we go. I'm going to try to keep the hours long and articulate down bottom to the well. Then you push it out, keeping the carriage still lift your hips and then drag it back in ribs, middle back, lower back, and then push it out. Lifting your hips. Try and think, keep the carriage style one more time and then we'll reverse. So three times each way.

Okay. Reversing ribs, keep the carriage still. Drag your bottom and the well and lifting. Come back two more. [inaudible] keeping your neck long. You didn't want to do that. [inaudible] okay. And if you want to get an added stretch, grab onto your ankles, keep pulling up and in and lifting.

Okay. Slide yourself back. And then you step off and set up for your kneeling knee. Stretch theory. You can read into position in a nice c and your heads are down eight times staying rounded and tech and then transitioning to the arch back eight and then back to your seeker, knees off. And eight to 10 just so on. Those they want to talk too much cause I've only really, we're just trying to work on the curl. The tuck, go back to your four springs. But again the challenge that Tuck as you come in going to your recentering or walking, it's called for 10 or 20 counts, still rapping and flattening that smiling the last 10 fast, which the carrots should slide. If you're on a wood floor, pelvic lift squaring the hips so it's not up here.

Your ribs are still on the mat but your tailbone to the top of the hips are off the mat. Shoulders relaxed, chest is open, neck is relaxed and about maybe five to eight of these, making sure the hips don't wobble as you move, taking advantage of the stretch and the strength you are in control of the springs. Okay. And then you articulate to come down one vertebrae at a time and that is an intermediate workout so could go a little bit faster. But again, I would just wanted to give you a version of how to start an intermediate level at your own pace and working up towards the faster pace, but always perfecting the movement as you go. Okay. So after you do any kind of reformer work or any apparatus work where you use, you're using the springs, you should always do some mat and it's really the whole workout that the lattes intended was bad. Both Matt and the equipment is that intermediate mat followed by the reformer or vice versa.

Hundreds breathing deep pull five counts in, five cans out and it's a flowing workout trying to keep the lower spine rounded to stretch so it doesn't really come off the mat so much here. So not just popping and down, articulating the spine. Nice. Still hips, nice long neck, reversing five circles. One, two accent. Is it up? Always lengthening right leg as long left leg as long, five times each side. Transitioning to your rolling [inaudible] and again, stay nice and relaxed in the neck and shoulders and massaging the whole spine.

[inaudible] pulling the needle in [inaudible] double leg, keeping the tips of the shoulders. It was barely touching the mat and the back really supported. Yeah. And if your dad gets tired, you'll put it down, two pulses and then the lower left. And these can be small or big depending on how you feel the day that day. So big meaning all the way down.

And then you go to Chris Cross, try to stretch as well as strengthen. Yeah. Then two, this mind stretch. So once I get to that right about here is where this wants to go forward and it's right in here that you're stretching to help open up those hamstrings. So the more curled you are in here, the scoop, the more stretch you end up getting. Okay.

And to position for the open like rocker, getting the mic out of the way. Okay. The balance. Oh five to six times [inaudible] and trying to stay centered as you move. My hands are slipping. The higher you reach, the harder this becomes. And one more time. And then you lie down for your, the corkscrew. And again, these, you have to be careful of your neck here, not just strain it and not to use the arms and they can be big or they can just be the first four vertebra.

It's really up to you how intense of a workout you want. That's what's so wonderful about the workout is it can be very advanced or somewhat moderate, so every body can do it. So there's modifications to each exercise. [inaudible] nick rule, this is a massage for the neck as well as a preparation exercise. We're the swan dive, which you'll see in a more advanced workout.

No more than three to five of these to each side. Double leg, and then, excuse me, I'm just adjusting and these can be kind of quick. We really work on the stretch going back right here and then give yourself a stretch. Like I said, if you do this with and conduct conjunction with the reformer, you'll see it's a very intense workout after being on your stomach, going to the neck pool. The first one seems to be a little more laborous and then it gets a little smoother as you move along. Feet stay flexed and trying to keep elbows from popping in.

Okay. So again, what's wonderful about this workout, another added plus to it is it helps you to do everything else smoother in your life from running, tennis, whatever it is that you like doing. Swimming, bike riding, it all relates to the powerhouse walking and anywhere from five to 10 of those. So you can make it, um, more by adding a little bit more repetition. But again, not more than 10 lengthening the leg and not locking the knee and circles reversing five times. And then you flip over to the other side, hide or transition beats, lengthening the lakes [inaudible] and then to the other leg, which I think I will go this way to demonstrate. So hip hop on top of hip, shoulder on top of shoulder and your ears should be forward and long.

Next little not letting the hip bone drop back or forward, but really keeping them right on top of each other. [inaudible] or the bottom leg lift. And remember to breathe throughout the workout, lengthening and circles. And then you go to your teasers. So you're on your back and get into a nice position getting centered again, that box. Okay. And you can start with the knees into the chest and up and down to about 45 degrees. Lift your back and control the movement going down.

Soon as your heads touch, you want to come back up. Then you can go to teaser to where it's just the legs and back up three times I left trying to keep the backup talk. And then teaser three, you're trying to lift your back and reach the back of the room once you are up again. How trying to perfect the movements as you're in them finishing with your seal, trying to stay in a nice curve. So you want to get as deep into the in between the knees as you can, as you're rolling. No momentum.

Then about six times, and then you'll finish by coming up. So the last one, pressure legs crush here, come up to a standing position and finish. And that is an intermediate workout.